Welcome to the final episode of Season Eight of The PhD Life Raft Podcast! In this interview I am talking with Lucy Nevitt, a freelance professional proofreader who specialises in working with academic texts and doctoral theses in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences fields. Lucy did her PhD in Drama at Royal Holloway, then spent a decade working as a full-time academic at UWE Bristol. For several years she ran editorial administration and submissions support for Research in Drama Education: the Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance. Having re-trained as a proofreader, she set up her current business, Proofs Detective, in 2022.

We start by clarifying what proofreading actually is and how it differs from more general editing.
Lucy outlines what a proofreader will be able to help you with and how to ensure that your thesis remains all your own work.
As part of the interview Lucy offers valuable advice on how to approach working with a proofreader as well as top tips for proofreading your own work.

Lucy references two English Usage Guides: Fowler's ('Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage', ed. Jeremy Butterfield, Oxford University Press, 2015)

Swan (Michael Swan, 'Practical English Usage', fully revised 4th edition, Oxford University Press, 2016).

You can contact Lucy here:

Email: lucy@proofsdetective.com

Website: https://proofsdetective.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/proofsdetective/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/proofsdetective

If you would like a useful weekly email to support you on your PhD journey you can sign up for ‘Notes from the Life Raft’ here: https://mailchi.mp/f2dce91955c6/notes-from-the-life-raft

Proofreading and the PhD with Lucy Nevitt