The focus of all psychological research and knowledge is human behaviour, and whenever human beings are studied through research and experimentation and discussed in scholarly writing, great care must be taken to ensure that the language used expresses sensitivity, communicates with a wide variety of readers and avoids ambiguities and biases of all kinds.
Psychological studies are certainly among the kinds of scientific writing that draw a wide range of readers, from a specialised audience of fellow researchers and practitioners to a general one of patients and their families. It is therefore essential to use a plain, lucid and concise style that is absolutely correct, remembering that errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar not only look sloppy and unprofessional, but also introduce the possibility of confusing and misleading your readers. Specialised terminology should be used sparingly and only when absolutely necessary, and jargon should be avoided if at all possible. When discipline-specific language is needed, it should be carefully defined when first introduced and then used consistently throughout a document, and the same is the case with any nonstandard abbreviations. Ideas, methods, procedures, instruments, theories and results should be explained as clearly and precisely as possible, and it can be helpful to use well-designed tables, charts, graphs and illustrations to communicate complicated data, processes or other information in effective visual forms.
Expressions of bias can be even more detrimental in psychological writing than confusing language is, yet in most cases what sounds like bias is unintentional and simply the result of choosing vocabulary without thoroughly considering its potential implications for readers. The use of gender-specific pronouns such as ‘he’ and ‘she,’ for instance, or the terms ‘man’ and ‘woman’ in ways that do not reflect the actual context and participants of the research under discussion can smack of sexism or gender bias. Using language that is clear, accurate and painstakingly precise when describing your research will almost always resolve the problem, but it is sometimes difficult to determine whether the words you are using achieve the effect you desire, and even the tiniest traces of gender, ethnic or age bias can undermine otherwise excellent research. It is therefore wise to recruit a colleague, mentor or friend to read and comment on your writing before you submit it to a publisher, and the services of a professional academic or scientific proofreader who is familiar with scholarly writing and your subject area can prove invaluable for catching instances of bias and helping you reword your text more appropriately.
Working to avoid phrasing and vocabulary that may convey undesirable biases is not only a matter of achieving precision and accuracy, but also an aspect of being sensitive to the readers you anticipate for a piece of writing. Sensitivity is particularly essential in scholarly or professional writing about human beings, especially when it is possible that patients and clients as well as psychologists and researchers may read the text. Referring to the participants of a study as ‘subjects’ or using terms that define them solely according to their illness or condition may sound objective and scientific to some, but it can come across as insensitive and neglect the human element of a study. For this reason, it is always best to keep that human element central when writing up your research and especially when you are initially describing the participants and conditions of your study.
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At proofreading services we pride ourselves on the exceptionally dedicated team of academic and scientific professionals who provide our English editing and proofreading services. Our editors and proofreaders are highly educated native speakers of English who have undergone rigorous training in expert editing practices, and their fields of study and specialisation range so widely that we are able to help our clients improve and polish research manuscripts of all kinds for successful publication. Many members of our research paper editing and proofreading team focus on journal editing, manuscript editing, scientific manuscript editing, academic proofreading, academic editing, dissertation proofreading services, professional proofreading, thesis editing services and scientific proofreading, assisting authors with articles that will be submitted to scientific and academic journals by ensuring that the formatting and references in their manuscripts conform to the relevant guidelines with precision and by correcting grammar, punctuation, spelling and typing errors to enable the clear and accurate communication of original research that acquisitions editors expect in publishable papers.
Our scientific editing, medical editing, bioscience editing, life science editing, environmental science editing, pharmaceutical science editing, physical science editing, agricultural science editing, LaTeX paper editing, social science editing, political science editing, engineering paper editing, psychology editing, research paper editing, manuscript editing, humanities editing, journal article editing, biomedical science editing, planetary science editing, plant science editing, material science editing, veterinary science editing, behavioural science editing and neurosurgery editing services for authors of scientific papers and reports are especially popular, but we also excel at book editing and have the experience and expertise to proofread and edit books and papers of all kinds across every scholarly discipline. Some of our carefully trained editors and proofreaders work exclusively on PhD thesis editing, master’s dissertation proofreading, bachelor’s dissertation proofreading, thesis editing, dissertation editing, thesis proofreading and dissertation proofreading, applying their education and instructional skills in providing thesis editing and dissertation proofreading services that help advanced students to improve the formatting and language of their theses and dissertations and thereby increase their chances of degree success. Whether you are preparing a conference or class presentation, putting the final touches to a professional report for colleagues or tackling the challenging task of editing any kind of academic or scientific document for publication, a qualified member of our outstanding proofreading and editing team will be delighted to provide proofreading and editing services and boost your confidence in your written work.
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