We can improve the real-world impact of our writing by working with editors.
As writers, sometimes we wonder if we really need the help of an editor. We ask ourselves, “Does my work really need to be passed off to someone else?” and “Isn’t my writing okay as it is?” It can be hard to truly know. But research presents a compelling case for the positive impact of editing on writing.
THE RESEARCH
In “Writing Matters,” researchers Jan Feld from the Victoria University of Wellington and Corinna Lines and Libby Ross (2024) from Write Limited compared 30 well-written and poorly written economic papers, asking economists and writing experts to evaluate the papers. The economists judged the academic style, while the writing experts judged the writing quality. They evaluated two versions of each paper: the original and the revised.
The original papers had been solicited from PhD students in economics programs in New Zealand. To create the revised versions, two editors spent six hours on average editing them. The editors worked with the authors to ensure that their meaning had been retained. According to the study, “one of the editors focused on improving the structure of the paper, for example rearranging the structure of the introduction. After that, the second editor polished the writing at the sentence and word level” (Feld, Lines, and Ross 2024, 380).
With the original and revised papers ready, the researchers then sent them to the economists and writing experts for judging. The economists judged the paper on quality and on the likelihood of acceptance to a conference or a top journal. The writing experts, whose results will be focused on first, considered five essential components:
- Overall quality
- Ease of finding key messages
- Absence of spelling and grammar mistakes
- Ease of reading
- Concision
A statistically significant difference was found across all five components between the original and the edited papers. The edited papers were judged by the writing experts to be much easier to read, more concise, and the key message was more easily identifiable. The editors’ work improved the readability of the papers significantly.
The economists also judged the quality of the edited papers to be higher. Perhaps more importantly, the economists also reported a statistically significant improvement in the likelihood of the edited papers to be accepted for a conference and to be accepted by a top economics journal. For PhD students whose future careers hinge on their writing being accepted to conferences and journals, these results are especially important.
“One of the editors focused on improving the structure of the paper, for example rearranging the structure of the introduction. After that, the second editor polished the writing at the sentence and word level.”
Feld, Lines, and Ross 2024
THE IMPLICATIONS
Editing can transform a paper into a better one. If the language isn’t concise and the key message isn’t clear, readers will have a harder time understanding and valuing the content. But if that content is understood and valued, a study by a budding academic could be accepted for publication by an academic journal, or a manuscript by a budding author could be accepted by a publishing house. In either case, the impact of editing can have real-world consequences.
So, can editing be impactful?
Absolutely, YES! The research is there to prove it.
Read the full article here:
Feld, Jan, Corinna Lines, and Libby Ross. 2024. “Writing Matters.” Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 217 (January): 378–97. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2023.11.016.
—Maddie Hoopes, Editorial Research
FEATURE IMAGE BY LEAH NEWHOUSE
Find more research
Take a look at Deirdre McCloskey’s (2019) book to learn more about how to write effectively in an economical fashion: Economical Writing: Thirty-Five Rules for Clear and Persuasive Prose. 3rd ed. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
