Chitralekha Manohar | Social science and policy research editor

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Hi! I help policy research and social science authors from around the world communicate their ideas clearly and effectively.

I run The Clean Copy, a boutique editorial services agency. We edit policy documents, journal articles, dissertations, and research reports in the social science and policy research domains. Having worked extensively with authors who speak English as a second language, my team and I are particularly skilled in editing manuscripts to make them clear, concise, and error-free. We offer a fast, highly customisable, and high-quality service. Please email me at [email protected] for a free sample (under 600 words).

The Clean Copy

The Clean Copy is a small team of editors who enjoy working with authors on their research manuscripts to make them publication-ready. Working as a team allows us to take on larger projects at shorter deadlines. We rigorously check every document to ensure that the final version meets the publisher's quality standards. We are particularly skilled in editing documents in the clean energy, economics, ecology and environment, climate change, sustainable development, international relations, gender, sociology, and anthropology domains. 

Our editorial process includes (but is not limited to) the following services:

• Reading the text carefully for grammar, punctuation, syntax, and tone
• Applying the style guide
• Checking the flow of the argument 
• Making sure of consistency in the use of abbreviations, formatting, hyphenation, and punctuation
• Suggesting options to rephrase sentences to make them more clear, crisp, and elegant
• Checking correlations between the text and tables/figures
• Formatting references
• Querying any missing information, including citations
• Running tools to catch typos and other errors

Additional services:

• Reference formatting
• Applying Word styles to format documents
• Editing to reduce the length
• Converting dissertations to monographs

We primarily edit on Word using Track Changes. We are also familiar with editing on LaTex editors (Overleaf) and Google Docs.

Kinds of manuscripts

• Development sector reports and briefs
• Academic books and monographs
• Theses and dissertations
• Journal papers

Subjects

• Policy research: sustainable development, multilateral organisation reports, policy briefs, economic policy 
• Social sciences: economics; development studies; political science; anthropology; sociology; ethnography; international relations; migration and mobility; digital economics; medical ethics; studies on Asia
• Climate and environment: ecology and environment; water management; climate finance, climate negotiations; clean energy; energy policy; climate change
• ESL/EFL: works by authors who speak English as a second language (ESL) and those who speak English as a foreign language (EFL).

Clients

• Multilateral organisations: Fòs Feminista (US); International Labour Organization (India office); UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (India); GIZ (India office), and others 
• Research organisations: EPICENTER (Brussels); Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (India); Centre on Internet and Society (India); Indian Society for Ecological Economics (India); Foundation for Ecological Security (India); Institute of Economic Affairs (UK); Centre for Asian Philanthropy and Society (Hong Kong); Centre for Social and Economic Progress (India), and others
• Students and academics: The University of Edinburgh (UK); University of Heidelberg (Germany); University of Cape Town (South Africa); Queen Mary University (UK); Exeter College (UK); University College Dublin (Ireland); Oslo National Academy of the Arts (Norway), and others

Unsolicited feedback

Often, clients send us feedback without us requesting it. Here is what they had to say:

~ “Thank you very much for the very helpful copy edit of my paper. This indeed improved the paper tremendously” - journal author (ecology and environment)

~ “Thank you so much for the edits. The comments and edits will help make the output more easily readable to people who are new to the subject. Thank you also for reformatting the headings, this was something we had missed while writing.” - think tank researcher (policy research)

~ “Thank you for sending in the edited article on such short notice. I did go through the article, and the comments are helpful in filling in gaps in my argument, especially a key bit in the introduction.” - think tank researcher (policy research)

~ “Thank you so much. We also got that suggestion from A but we didn't know how to do it. Your comments make it much easier.” - think tank researcher (policy research)

~ “Simply put, it's terrific! I was a little worried as to how the last two chapters would shape up. But now happy with your subtle editing. Thanks so much!” - author (economics)

~ “Thank you for the edits – much appreciated. It’s precise work, exactly what we’re looking for.” - think tank coordinator (economics)

~ "The grant proposal which you edited last summer has been approved." - independent researcher

~ "Thank you so much for the edits and comments. I have been addressing the edits on the policy brief, and with each section I complete it reads so much better." - think tank researcher

Testimonials

"I have found the team at Clean Copy to be responsive, timely, and very professional in our engagements over the year. They are always keen to do better, that's a great attitude to have in all collaboratives. May their tribe increase!"

Alina Sen, Council on Energy, Environment, and Water

"Chitra and her team worked with our network for over a year with excellent results.

She is a thorough and fast editor, who has the ability to go through lenghty academic texts by non-native speakers and make them much easier to read. Chitra has always ensured that our in house style is rigorously followed and that the turn around times are kept short.

If you need high quality, reliable editorial services for reasonable prices, I can highly recommend Chitra and her team!"

Adam Bartha, Director at EPICENTER, European Policy Center

"I am an anthropologist and recently I finished my dissertation project on contemporary art. Because English is not my mother language, I was looking for an editor who would offer me a professional English editing. I searched for somebody who would support me with a confident and productive but also expeditiously processing of editing to enable me improving my work on high academic standard.

Chitra Manohar met all my expectations and we shared some months of intense and supportive exchange for which I am very grateful. In this regard, it is with great pleasure to recommend Chitra Manohar as a professional editor for those who need a reliable support for their academic writing projects."

Cathrine Bublatzky, Heidelberg University

"I worked with Chitralekha Manohar for the editing and proofreading of my PhD dissertation in anthropology – in the field of migration and political ecology – for which she provided a great help and did an outstanding job. The work was very challenging because it needed to be accomplished within a tight schedule so as to meet the submission deadline. Being no native speaker, I greatly appreciated Chitralekha’s capacity to edit my English so as to meet academic standards while maintaining the meaning clear and improving the overall clarity of the text. The collaboration was very fruitful and I am very thankful for Chitralekhas rigorous work. I therefore warmly recommend her."

Matthieu Bolay, University of Neuchâtel

"I am a Chinese student who did PhD in the UK. As English is not my first language, I have to resort to someone professional to help me with my papers. Luckily, I found Chitralekha on the website of sfep. Until now, she had helped me with five of my articles and met my expectations. She offers detailed and professional editing work and provide suggestions wherever it is possible. I highly recommend her to everyone who needs proofreading and editing service."

Xin Pan, Queen Mary University of London

• Editor
• Proofreader

• Anthropology
• Art & culture
• Business & finance
• Earth sciences
• Ecology
• English as a second language
• Environment & nature
• Environmental science
• Humanities
• International relations
• Media studies
• Performing arts
• Philosophy
• Political science
• Psychology & psychiatry
• Public policy
• Reference
• Social sciences
• Sociology

• Academics
• Educational institutions
• Government agencies
• Journal publishers
• NGOs
• Non-profit organisations
• Research institutions
• Students

• Editorial training
• Project management