Chapter Edits

This writing-focused service is for students whose progress is impeded specifically because of their writing. For example, a student’s work should have been rejected by a member of the committee at least once before a Chapter Edit request is submitted. Students who have a good grasp of their topic and content but struggle with scholarly voice; organization of ideas; paraphrasing, summarizing, and synthesizing of the literature; or grammar and mechanics are good candidates for this service.

Chapter Edits are not for students who are making regular progress with their study, who are seeking a general review or APA-centered edit, or for students who need help with content, alignment, or methodological issues. Requests for an overall APA check, assisting in a student transitioning from APA 6 to APA 7, or help with the template will be returned as students should be using other Writing Center and Form & Style resources for these concerns. Although a Chapter Edit occurs before Form & Style, it is not a pre-Form & Style review. Chapter Edit Services are not designed to shorten the time it takes for a Form & Style review or replace regular writing feedback from committee members.

To apply for this service, please complete and submit the request form below. Chapter Edits are assigned to an editor every Monday, and edits are returned to the student and committee by close of business Friday of that week. Editors will spend 1 hour editing the chapter or section identified. Editors will engage in a targeted edit that is focused specifically on the area that the chair has identified as the reason for previous, writing-related committee rejections or concerns. Editors may note other areas for improvement, but the focus of the edit will be on the writing concern that is impeding the student from moving forward in the approval process.

Please direct any questions to chapteredit@waldenu.edu.

Note: Because Chapter Edits are a need-based service, our Editing Team will only assign one edit per student, per week, so that we can adequately serve the number of students for whom this service is requested.  Please do not submit multiple chapters for one student at the same time. Please wait until the following week to request another Chapter Edit for the student.

If your students need support beyond the Writing Center’s chapter edits, you can refer them to the Academic Skills Center’s Doctoral Writing Workshops. These workshops benefit students who have a working draft of their proposal and who need help polishing the document through revising and editing.