Jackie Senior

"This thesis would definitely not have been the piece it is today without your magic wands. I was always scared before sending my manuscripts to you about what you would find of my nonsense. After your touch, everything flows." PhD thesis, Dr Javier Gutierrez-Achury, Nov. 2015

"Voor een Nederlander is het moeilijk om de ontelbare Engelse nuances aan te voelen, ik heb veel van je geleerd" PhD thesis, Dr Jorien Seggers, Feb 2015

"Een speciale plaats wil ik ook inruimen voor Jackie Senior ... Zonder jouw correcties en editing had dit proefschrift er lang niet zo goed uitgezien ... Enorm bedankt!" PhD thesis, Dr Peter van den Akker, Graduated cum laude 2013

"... to be honest I think Jackie has done a great job of this already" Dr Katrina Halliday, Senior Commissioning Editor, Life Sciences, Cambridge University Press, UK, 2012

"Your input in this thesis is immeasurable!" PhD thesis, Dr Gosia Trynka, Graduated cum laude 2011, UMCG

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News

• Presentation "The diverse skills and many roles of in-house academic editors" by Kate Mc Intyre & Jackie Senior at METM16, Tarragona, Spain, 13-15 Oct. pdf of presentation
• Interviewed for book on "Editing Research - The Author Editing Approach to Providing Effective Support to Writers of Research Papers" by Valerie Matarese (2016). "Sheds light on the hidden world of authors' editors and demonstrates the valuable work they do." Read more: http://books.infotoday.com/books/Editing-Research.shtml#ixzz4GkmE48Hk
• Introducing the SENSE guidelines for the editing of student texts, see p.4 of this pdf. Guidelines and form to confirm agreements with editor now available here (NB Proofreading here also means editing, as used by the University of Essex, UK. The use of this term is explained in the Guidelines)
• Presentation "Become a mentor and pass on your editing skills and experience (before you retire!)" at METM14, El Escorial, Spain, 30 Oct.-1 Nov. 2014. pdf of presentation
• "English editors make Sense" in ODE EL Gazette, London, April 2014. See item
• Plea for more editors in science research. See "Reporting -the final phase of scientific research- can and should be supported. A case for integrating language professionals into the research setting". Valerie Matarese. RT. A Journal on Research Policy & Evaluation 1 (2013) pdf
• See articles (in Dutch) about my work in the University newspaper, Groningen, Dec. 2012; and in Nuffic Transfer (pages 22-23) May 2013

What can an editor do for you?

Has your paper or grant application been revised three times already or do you have several authors writing different sections? Then the chances are great it will benefit from being seen by an editor who can read it carefully all the way through with 'fresh eyes', checking that:

• the story is built up logically
• the arguments are well formulated
• the figures and tables add to the text rather than duplicate it
• correcting or improving the English used
• cutting the abstract down to the word limit, etc.

Any improvements I can make to your text mean fewer distractions for the peer reviewers and your subsequent readers so that they can concentrate on your scientific message.

See these Wikis for more info on author editing, developmental editing and language professional

Helping the editor to help you

Plan ahead!
Please let me know if a deadline is looming and when you expect to be able to send me the text, so that I can plan my work to help you meet your deadline.
I really appreciate it if you send me an email to announce upcoming work in advance – again this helps me in planning what to do (in general, I work on a first in, first out basis).

Manner of work
Send your text to me by email - preferably having notified me in advance that it's coming - and
- State whether you have a deadline looming
- State which journal you hope to submit the paper to
- Indicate the target readership (research scientists/clinicians/lay public/other)
- State whether British or American English should be used
- Use the journal’s guidelines to authors to get the reference style right
- Run a spelling check before you send the text to me
- Add the reviewers’ comments if you are sending me a revised text

I will usually return only 1 Word file to you – named 'xxx-changes', with all the changes marked using ‘track changes’ (wijzingen bijhouden). You must work through any queries I have marked (search on <?>, highlighted in yellow), any comments, and then accept all the changes made. It is up to you, as the author, to check the final spelling and layout at this stage.

If you have any questions, or think I have misunderstood your message, please don’t hesitate to get in touch and we can work out exactly what you want to say together. (But note: if I misunderstood your message, so might other readers.)

Choosing your name as an author

Get an author or researcher ID. See Poster presented at METM12, Venice, Nov. 2012. This may be freely distributed. Young researchers are strongly encouraged to register for a unique author ID.

Recommended reading

• San Francisco Edit - this group publish newsletters with tips on writing scientific papers and good style
• Righting English that's gone Dutch (2013) by Joy Burrough-Boenisch (tips for Dutch speakers writing in English), 3rd revised edition
• Editing Research - The Author Editing Approach to Providing Effective Support to Writers of Research Papers (2016) by Valerie Matarese
• The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr - for advice on writing, see this classic guide, now freely available online. "It gives ... the principal requirements of plain English style and concentrates attention on the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated."

Links

• Member of SENSE - Society of English-Native-Speaking Editors - the association for English-language professionals working in the Netherlands. Founding Member (1989), Honorary Member (Nov. 2010)
  Member of MET - Mediterranean Editors and Translators is an association of language service providers who work mainly into or with English.
  Member of EASE - European Association of Science Editors

Introducing the SENSE guidelines for the editing of student texts, see p.4 of this pdf. Guidelines and form to confirm agreements with editor now available here (NB Proofreading here also means editing, as used by the University of Essex, UK. The use of this term is explained in the Guidelines)

Help

• EASE Guides to buying translations in English, or in Dutch (much of the advice applies to buying in editing work too)
• Developing a talent for science by Prof. Ritsert Jansen, Dean of Talent Development, University of Groningen, Cambridge University Press 2011. I helped edit this useful guide for MSc and PhD students and young scientists needing to understand academic careers in science.
• Funding your career in science also by Prof. Ritsert Jansen, with my editorial help. Cambridge University Press 2013. All you need to know about grant applications!