We connect Black and Indigenous scholars and researchers with pro bono academic editing services to support their intellectual and creative careers

Find BIPOC academic editors for hire 

If and when you have sufficient funding to pay for editorial services, we recommend you hire a Black and/or Indigenous editor. This page lists several membership directories for BIPOC editors as well as, with their permission, several Black and/or Indigenous editors who specialize in academic and scholarly editing.

 

Request pro bono editing for your journal manuscript or grant proposal

To request pro bono editing services, (1) scroll down this page to find editors currently available, or (2) contact us with your request, and we will connect you with an editor. 

 

Find free online training in advanced use of Microsoft Word

Having discovered how to use Word and its many useful add-ins well, editor Hilary Cadman is passionate about helping others to use Word and other tools to work faster and smarter. Read about her classes below, and contact Hilary directly to request your free course. 

Black and/or Indigenous editors who specialize in academic editing

Note: The editors on this list work independently and are not necessarily affiliated with the Academic Editing Circle. Please contact them directly to discuss your project.

 

Alicia Chantal

  • Fresh Look Editing
  • More than 15 years’ experience in professional communication with a background in public relations. Non-fiction copyediting and proofreading specialist for business communication, human interest, health care, education, and academia (humanities and social sciences), with additional experience editing pre-submission articles on nursing research and public health.

Dana Johnson

  • dj.edits
  • A licensed science educator and former scientist, Dana has over ten years of experience copyediting doctoral dissertations, nonfiction manuscripts, articles, and educational materials. Dana brings to all projects a DEI&J lens as well as specialized knowledge in the life, physical, and social sciences.

Would you like to be listed here?

  • Your website here
  • Brief information about your editorial skills and content areas here. Please email us to be added to this list!

Do you know someone who might want to be included in this list?

  • Please contact us with their name and contact information, and we will email to ask if they’d like to be included. Thank you!

Editors currently offering pro bono editing with the Academic Editing Circle

 

——— Available for pro bono editing January–March 2024

You may contact any of these editors directly or through the Academic Editing Circle contact page.

Please note that many of our volunteers can only take on pro bono projects the size of a journal article, a book chapter, or one to two chapters of a dissertation. If you have a full book or dissertation project in mind, please talk to your editor to decide together what they can offer that will be most useful to you.

 

Ayesha Chari (January 2024 only)

  • Ayesha Chari, Independent Editor
  • Editing experience of ~20 years, with a decade in traditional in-house publishing. Expertise in journal articles, multi-author books, conference proceedings and monographs across subject areas, including interdisciplinary studies, international development, anthropology, ethnography, gender, cultural and performance studies, economics, and South East Asian studies. Extensive experience of working with multilingual authors and understanding of multicultural backgrounds. I help scholars share ideas clearly and publish with confidence.

Kyra Freestar

  • Bridge Creek Editing
  • More than fifteen years’ experience editing journal articles and funding proposals in interdisciplinary health and social sciences, including global health, public health, and nursing research. Background in cultural anthropology, gender studies, and health care research. Editing mentor and organizer.

Rudy Leon

  • Evoke
  • Over five years’ experience editing monographs, multi-authored books, articles, and grant reports in both interdisciplinary and disciplinary social sciences and humanities. Subject matter expertise includes gender and sexuality studies, area studies, social justice activism, ethnic and Indigenous studies, critical race studies, cookbooks and foodways, anthropology, communication studies, political science and international relations, history, and LIS.

Micha Rahder (March 2023 only)

  • MLR Writing & Editing
  • PhD in anthropology with over five years of professional editing and writing coaching experience with academics. Specializing in science & technology studies, interdisciplinary social sciences and humanities, and environmental studies.

Tess Rankin

  • https://tessrankin.com/
  • Over seven years experience editing scholarly texts in the humanities, including journal articles, book chapters, and grant application materials. PhD in Spanish & Portuguese Languages & Literatures, expertise in cultural studies and gender studies, and extensive work with authors writing in English as a second language.

Cory Stade

  • Dr Coco’s Academic Proofreading Service
  • With a PhD in archaeology and BA in linguistics, I specialise in editing theses, manuscripts and grant applications in the social sciences and humanities. I’m Canadian but have lived in the UK for many years. I began editing professionally in 2020 and am an Intermediate Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading.

Magda Wojcik (Febuary–March 2024 only)

  • MW Editing
  • I am an editor and indexer with a PhD in literary history, an Intermediate Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading and a student member of the Society of Indexers. I work with humanities and social sciences, and my specialisms include women’s studies, Asian studies, literature and history.

 

——— Available for pro bono editing April–June 2023

(Please contact us to request editing projects for April 2024 or later, and we will be happy to work with you!)

 

Past and future editors participating in the Academic Editing Circle

These editors have completed at least one pro bono editing project through the Academic Editing Circle. They are currently focusing on paid work, but intend to participate again in the future.

We are happy to welcome volunteer editors at any time!

 

 

Free online courses on advanced tools for writing and editing in MS Word

For Black and/or Indigenous scholars (professors, students, researchers, etc.) anywhere in the world:

Free online courses on advanced tools for writing and editing in MS Word, with editor Hilary Cadman

Hilary has been where you are, frustrated with MS Word and the writing and editing process. Having discovered how to use Word and its many useful add-ins well, Hilary is passionate about helping others to use Word and other tools to work faster and smarter.

Contact Hilary directly to request your free course.

      Additional resources

      #AcademicsForBlackLives: a public list of non-Black academics who have pledged to provide various types of support for Black womxn academics during this time of need and beyond. Services available include editing and proofreading as well as support with other academic responsibilities.

      Free author resources from PREPSS: “Pre-Publication Support Service (PREPSS) provides manuscript development and writing support to health researchers from around the globe to address authorship disparities.” Some services are restricted to researchers affiliated with participating institutions, but their suite of free author resources—on writing and publishing, cover letters, peer review, scientific posters and more—is available to all.

      Free author resources from the PLOS Writing Center: This page offers free guides on article writing. “Learn how to prepare each of the key components of a research article from start to finish.”