Pushing ABDs to the Finish Line

Help for getting over that final hurdle

Are you really prepared to end your academic career as an ABD? An estimated 40% to 50% of doctoral students in the U.S are classified as all but dissertation, which means they’ve completed all the required coursework, but their dissertation remains unfinished.
No doubt there are a variety of reasons why so many students careen to a stop before crossing the finish line. The most frequent excuse is that tackling the actual planning, organizing and writing of the dissertation is so daunting.
Intimidation in the face of this task is understandable. After all, completing a dissertation will likely be a huge step forward in the student’s chosen career. And there is a record number of international students seeking degrees in the U.S. whose English writing skills do not match their verbal or comprehension skills.

Writing Fears

​Doctoral candidates realize that a dissertation must be written on a professional level. Some may even be looking to have their papers published. Dissertation advisors and committees expect a paper that is organized, clear and free of distractions such as incorrect punctuation, comma splices, subject-verb disagreement, and run-on sentences, to say nothing of typos and spelling errors. International students often misuse American colloquialisms, idioms and jargon, or translate directly from their native language into English. These are only some of the writing obstacles students fear.

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​Help for the ABDs

Since academic writing differs greatly from creative, journalistic, technical or business writing, the student should seek out an editor who can ensure that the writing meets the dissertation committee’s required standards and focuses on style, mechanics and grammar.

Professional writers have editors for a good reason: no writer can adequately or objectively proofread his or her own work. Most advisors encourage doctoral candidates to have their dissertations proofread and edited prior to submission.

The people at 2 Red Pens have years of experience assisting with the writing and editing of dissertations and other academic writings for both native English speakers and international students in a variety of disciplines.

We would like to encourage post-graduate students to contact us for the various ways we can help with academic writing assignments.

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