An Inquiry into the Editing Styles and Linguistic Pitfalls of Language Editors in Undergraduate Research of Letran Manila

Research papers are works of literature and literature would not exist without language use. This study dwelled into the extent to which language is correctly and appropriately used by college student researchers through the lens of Letran’s official set of language editors. Ultimately, it intends to forward a formulation of a uniform set of policy guidelines in language editing, that of which both the editors and the researchers would benefit from. Through the conduct of semi-structured interviews, the stories and experiences of the language editors who are working on college research papers are portrayed through the lens of narrative and thematic analyses. Questions about their editing procedures and the linguistic strengths and weaknesses of the papers they work on are asked and digested. Although most of the informants perform language editing in a decentralized manner, particularly in their first time, they eventually learn how to do the job in a harmonized way through the guidance of Letran’s research office and the senior editors. Some common language errors they encounter are on verb tenses, subject-verb agreement, punctuations, coherence, conciseness, and other pitfalls that can be considered isolated but relevant. Meanwhile, the editors find the research papers commendable in terms of format and tone. These findings establish linguistic aspects that should be avoided and should be given further attention both by the researchers and the language editors. Letran’s research office may also benefit from the narratives of the editors with language editing appointments, specifically in establishing a unified set of policy guidelines.

Language editing, proofreading, grammar, mechanics, research manuscript

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