Science Editing Experts

A community where science reseachers and students can discuss issues related to writing a PhD thesis and journal manuscripts.

Hosted by Andrea Devlin of Science Editing Experts.

Andrea Devlin
Owner and Chief Editor, Science Editing Experts

---I’ve been fascinated by science since I was a little girl
When I was a child, I tried to develop photograph negatives using table salt and writing paper. Unsurprisingly, this never worked… I grew up in rural Northern Ireland and used to identify the insects in my garden. My family still joke about the fact that I was the only person to ever touch the encyclopedias; I continually read the sections about plants, space and the human body. My love for science led me to study Applied Biochemical Sciences at Ulster University.

---I liked working the laboratory, but I love to talk and write about science
As part of my undergraduate degree, I completed a “sandwich” year working at AstraZeneca, a pharmaceutical company. My supervisor constantly provided friendly, critical feedback on my writing and my presentation skills, and taught me the importance of effective scientific writing.

Later, I completed a PhD in cancer research /molecular biology at Ulster University. While I enjoyed doing Western blots and real-time PCR, my favorite activity was writing about my research and delivering presentations to lab members, collaborators and other scientists at conferences. When I became a post-doc, helping undergraduates and PhD students develop their writing and presentation skills was the task that gave me most satisfaction.

--Now, I help other researchers ‘talk’ about their science
As I enjoy helping other people improve their scientific writing skills, I started Science Editing Experts to help scientists all over the world publish their research in English. I edit scientific journal manuscripts and theses to ensure they contain the highest quality of written English and, if necessary, improve the flow, order and layout of the text. I relish the challenge of understanding the complex topics described in every new journal manuscript or thesis, and then communicating these concepts clearly.

Scientific editing is an essential service for a wide range of scientists from around the world. Writing about scientific research writing is a difficult skill to learn, especially if English isn’t your first language. Moreover, journal reviewers can be distracted by documents with grammatical errors, spelling mistakes or unclear text, making them less likely to provide a positive review or accept your work for publication.

Now that I’ve left the lab for good, I work from my home in Moy, a village in Northern Ireland. Working at home allows me to focus in depth on each manuscript. In the future, I hope to expand the Science Editing Experts team with other editors who are equally crazy about science and who share my enthusiasm for scientific writing.

When I’m not busy editing, I love to spend time with my family, especially talking our dog for walks around the beautiful beaches and forests of Northern Ireland.

---I can help you improve your scientific writing
As well as providing editing services, I created the Science Editing Experts blog to share my experience and help researchers develop better scientific writing skills.

I’m always searching for new ways to help researchers write about their research and improve their communication skills. If you have any questions, comments or ideas for blog posts, then please send me an email at andrea (at) scienceeditingexperts.com or message on Facebook. I’ll do my best to reply as quickly as possible.

I look forward to talking about science with you!

Andrea Devlin
Owner and Chief Editor, Science Editing Experts