Why is Editing Necessary?
- Syntax errors may occur due to the difference between the word order of English and Turkish, and such errors should be edited by a native speaker of English. Otherwise, the sentences may not be well understood, and reviewers can make the classic comment describing it as “awkward English.”
- The popularity of the active and the passive voices in academic writing varies by language (e.g., English vs. Turkish), and passive forms may differ between languages (e.g., English vs. Japanese and Indonesian). This can be a challenging issue for native speakers of languages other than English when writing an academic paper in English. An editor who is a native speaker of English can correct potential misuse of this grammatical form.
- Fluency problems during transitions between sentences and paragraphs may not be noticed by non-native speakers of English. Such problems can be eliminated by an editor who is a native speaker of English.
- The absence or different use of several grammatical tenses (e.g., the present perfect tense) in languages other than English leads to their incorrect or unnecessary use by non-native speakers of English. Editors who are native speakers of English can also eliminate issues with grammatical tenses.
- Authors who are not native speakers of English may have less knowledge of the vocabulary of academic English or not know the correct English equivalent of a term in their field, but an editor who is a native speaker of English who has been educated in English, has a good grasp of the relevant academic field and has been a professional editor for many years is likely to have a better command of academic English. For example, an editor who is a native speaker of English can replace a group of words in a paper with a single word that sounds better because it is more fluent and more precise.
- Certain expressions may sound strange when translated literally from Turkish to English. Therefore, an English native-speaking editor can find unnecessary repetitions, redundant words or phrases, discrepancies or deviations from the main theme more easily.
- Ambiguity in information and arguments can widely be observed in literal translation. Although other non-native speakers can understand what is meant by a given phrase, a native speaker of English may consider it ambiguous. This is because certain expressions may sound strange when translated literally from another language to English. An English native-speaking editor can find unclear or unusual expressions and note them, which helps authors who are not native speakers of English to improve their papers by eliminating ambiguity and traces of translation.
- Subject-verb disagreement is a widely-observed mistake. In a regular sentence in Turkish, the subject is placed at the beginning, and the verb is placed in the end. In English, however, the subject is placed at the beginning, whereas the verb should typically be placed as close to the subject as possible