Ross Woods, 2022, With thanks to Jαne Αbαο
The answers are various. For example, 78% of respondents in a survey of US Doctor of Ministry programs encouraged or required students to use outside editors. 1. Some research supervisors do not accept dissertation drafts unless they have been read by a third party. On the other hand, some European universities explicitly forbid all professional editing, and see it as ground for expulsion.
In some fields, such as the humanities, the writing process is integral to the research. “The rhetorical construction and presentation of the argument is at least as important as the actual approach” but still suggests the use of editors is only “borderline”unacceptable. 2. However, it would be more consistent to conclude that students must be able to edit their own dissertations, and that students who cannot do so may not pass.
In some dissertations in the hard sciences, the writing process is less integral to the research; researchers use writing to report their research, which is focussed on numerical data and experiments. The use of editors in these cases is quite defensible, even recommended, especially language editing for English as a Second Language (ESL) students.
The institutional policy on the use of editors should be a departmental decision. In the humanities, the department is entitled to require that students edit their own dissertations, and the use of editors is grounds for expulsion. However, in the hard sciences, the department might allow students to engage editors within ASEP standards.
In the days when typing was a specialized occupation, it was quite permissible to give the typist a set of polished notes in longhand and a copy of the style manual. It was then the typist's job to do layout according to the style manual. However, the student was fully responsible for the standard of presentation of the document. This implies that the supervisor could give detailed advice on layout.
Is there any special allowance for new programs where students do not yet have a model to follow?
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1. “ADME 2022 Final Project Survey Results” (v. 3.30.2022). This was an unpublished survey of US professional doctoral programs, in all cases Doctor of Ministry programs accredited by ATS. ADME is The Association for Doctor of Ministry Education (https://dmineducation.org/).
2. Αbαο, 2022.