top of page

I help researchers get published & funded.

Photo: Joanna Pianka

14 years of getting researchers published & funded

For over 14 years, I've worked with leading researchers to get their work published in top-tier journals and funded by leading agencies and foundations. The developmental rewriting and revising I do - deep, intensive text work to get a paper or proposal from draft to acceptance - is the foundation for my workshops and 1:1 coaching. One of my key strengths is identifying what researchers are trying to communicate, and transforming what they've written into texts that clearly communicate.

My strengths are also knowing what editors and reviewers want to see, quickly identifying and fixing what's not working in a manuscript or proposal, and emphasizing the significance and contribution of my clients' research.

The fastest way to get closer to being published & funded is booking a get-to-know-you session to find out if I can help you achieve your goals.

PROUDLY WORKING WITH RESEARCHERS AT

Freie Universität Berlin logo
Universiteit Antwerpen logo
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität logo
Vaasan yliopisto logo
Universität Innsbruck logo
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen logo
Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft logo
Universität Mannheim logo
Jyväskylän yliopisto logo

What my clients have to say

Their words, not mine

Woman's Portrait

Workshop participant

LBG Winter School 2023

"Marc's ability to dive into a topic and help distill the storyline and contribution is impressive. I'm looking forward to the next session. It would be great if every Ph.D. student could have the opportunity to discuss their manuscript with someone like Marc."
Man Smiling

Editing Client

Witten/Herdecke University

"Although we have a long history together, I am—once again—at a loss for words to describe the quality of your work. Nevertheless, let me try: The attention to detail with which you take care of a text, your ability to carefully formulate sentences, and your ability to come up with ideas on how to express what we want to convey in a more direct way is simply amazing. Thank you so much!!"
Portrait of Young Woman

Writing-coaching client

Freie-Universität Berlin

"This is it, this is the kind of paper I have looked for since I started my scientific career!...I finally made the step to free myself with my writing. This is the first paper where I feel I follow my own way of writing (not copying from others)."

Why your research might not be getting published & funded

If you're a PhD candidate or postdoc, your career prospects depend on publishing your research and obtaining funding. Like most researchers, though, you likely struggle to communicate the value of your research to the peers, editors, and reviewers who hold the keys to acceptance. Even if you're blessed with a skill set that combines research prowess with a gifted writing ability, you may not be publishing in the journals you want to or your research might not be getting the funding it deserves.

And the competition is only getting tougher.

Some top journals accept only 1% of the articles

submitted. Success rates for funding agencies are

as low as 12%. Even excellent research is rejected

or not funded, and a clearly written text with strong arguments and well-developed statements of significance and contribution could make

the difference.

Research journal.jpeg

The key to getting published & funded

Many times it's not simply a matter of fine-tuning and polishing the language. These surface fixes are often the ones that most hired editors and proofreaders find and correct. The work I do on texts includes deep revisions - rewriting and restructuring to pull out and emphasize the clearest and most-compelling argument and reformulate it to articulate a clear contribution. Most researchers don't have someone who can give their manuscript or proposal a thorough, objective evaluation and revision. Advisors, PIs, and colleagues are busy with their own work, and doing it on your own is hard for anyone, since seeing your own work through the eyes of another reader is difficult.

What's more, researchers are specialists in their field, not in rhetoric and scientific communication. You might know that something's not right with the writing, but not know how to fix it.

​

I know how to fix academic texts. And I've been doing it for more than 14 years.

Starting as a consent form editor, my job was to translate lengthy and complicated research protocols into readable and comprehensible informed consent documents. My bias and my perspective has always been toward the reader, and I spent many long hours decoding, deciphering, and rewriting complex medical language that explains, clarifies, and resolves ambiguity.

​

You don't have to go it alone. Writing is hard, and sometimes you need a partner to help craft a text that communicates what it has taken you years to research.

My clients have come back to me again and again (some for over 10 years) with their toughest and most-critical projects. My job is to get you published and funded. Let's talk today to see if I'm the right person to help you.

Book a get-to-know you session today to see if we're a good match

Services

I specialize in heavily editing academic texts at the developmental level. If you're looking for someone to proofread or lightly edit, I'm not the right choice. My loyal clients come to me again and again because they know I will help them craft journal articles and funding applications that will get accepted. If your text needs serious work, I'm here to help.

My Services

If you're struggling to get started with your writing or you're feeling overwhelmed and don't know how to move forward, individual coaching sessions can get you on the right track. My coaching work includes revising researchers' Abstracts, identifying and articulating the significance and contribution of their research, and helping them write Discussion and Conclusion sections.

Better writing today

You don't have to go it alone. Writing journal articles and research proposals is hard. I help make the process a little easier. Let's talk today to see how I can help you.

About Me

Simply put, every day I add to my 14-plus years of experience getting my clients' journal articles published and their research proposals funded. My daily developmental text editing work is the practical, real-world, concrete experience I use to train researchers in workshops and develop their articles and proposals in 1:1 writing coaching.

Marc Abernathy
bottom of page