

There are companies that can provide professional editing and peer-review services for your manuscripts. Revisions from the peer reviewers are then sent back to the author for comments. A peer reviewer is an expert in the field who reviews the document, by adding comments. However, if you submit the manuscript to a journal, chances are it will be sent to one or more peer reviewers for their thoughts. The first kind is the revision you do yourself. Revisions fall into different categories. Realizing this difference enables you to know what to focus on in the document and to assure that it includes everything you intended to say. First you revise (work on it yourself until you’ve made it as good as you personally can), and then you edit (bring in a professional to make it better than you can). You must realize this difference to know what to do and in what order.

When you hire someone to bring a professional perspective to the text and make sure it’s clear and accessible for someone else, that is editing. How do you distinguish between revising and editing? Revising is often called “self-editing.” When you sit down to reread your first draft, you will note down what you want to change.

What is the Difference between Revising and Editing? Revise means “to see again.” Revising might mean few changes, or it could mean making “large, sweeping changes, reorganizing part or all of the text, significantly adjusting tone and voice, or adding and removing chunks of text, as well as fixing grammatical errors.” Revising might be done by the author, the journal editor, or peer reviewers, who are experts in the applicable subject. The goal of revising a manuscript is to change it for the better. To answer this question, you must understand what a manuscript revision is and how the revision adds to its final value.
