TESTIMONIALS

Higher Degree Research Students

Everything looks so lovely — you have transformed my thesis into a thing of beauty! Seriously, I am just blown away by your expertise and attention to detail. This comment probably does not mean too much coming from a rookie, but I know [supervisor] is very pleased with your work, and she has a very high, no really, very high standards! My heartfelt thanks for everything, Pam. Time to chill the glasses!

Marina Keenan
Doctoral Candidate (Speech Pathology), University of Melbourne, Australia

Pam efficiently and expertly copyedited my PhD thesis prior to submission. She provided professional and respectful suggestions that improved my writing style and structure. I learnt a lot from Pam as her corrections/suggestions were clearly explained and justified. Pam is kind, accommodating, and has brilliant communication skills. I will definitely be recommending Pam’s services to peers and colleagues.

Jessica Zanuttini
Doctoral Candidate (Education and Social Work), University of Sydney, Australia

I am so grateful for what Pam did in copyediting, proofreading and cross-checking for my book chapter, journal article and PhD thesis. She did a wonderful job. The manuscripts looked polished, professional and readable. I have learnt much from her advice in APA style, formatting and language use. Pam is very diligent, responsible, thoughtful, professional and punctual.

Nhung Nguyễn
Doctoral Candidate (Language Teacher Education), Western Sydney University, Australia

More HDR student testimonials 

I cannot express my thanks for everything you have done. You have been patient with my while I learnt a few tricks. I really enjoyed the process. I learnt much about the use of Word in document management. More importantly, your editing and formatting skills and advice are second to none, and I would not have any problem with highly recommending you. Thank you for your services. The champers is on ice!

Tony Keeble Doctoral Candidate (Outdoor Education), Outdoor School, Victoria, Australia

You are amazing. I enjoyed your precision, generosity, and patience. Magnificent work. Thanks for an outstanding job. I will spread the word. Respect and gratitude.

Joey Hitten Doctoral Candidate (Theatre & Performance), Monash University, Australia

I am writing to express my gratitude to your patience in giving suggestions in detail and to let you know that your job is appreciated. I can absolutely understand the pressure of doing such a job because I was an English teacher before I started this research and I used to mark my students’ compositions for Chinese College English Test. Each time after marking their work, I felt I could not breathe for several days. So many tiny mistakes and inappropriate usages! Your work reminds me about those days and reminds me to reflect myself and to be a better teacher, with more patience and understanding. You are an amazing person.

Yu Han Doctoral Candidate (Chinese Teacher-Researcher Education), Western Sydney University, Australia

Pam was the star in my gloomy PhD sky. If I could ever give her any criticism, it would be to consider changing her title to 'The Detail Angel'.

Penelope Kalogeropoulos Doctoral Candidate (Mathematics Education), Monash University

Pam did a wonderful job editing my Master’s Research Proposal. I am really grateful for her exceptional professionalism and attention to detail. It was an absolute joy with Pam from start to finish. Pam’s extensive knowledge helped enormously with the nuances of the APA styling conventions and inconsistencies in writing. The final document has a lovely professional feel to it. I wholeheartedly recommend Pam’s editing service and look forward to working with her again in the future.

Jenny Pesina MEd (Research) Candidate, Centre for Research on Learning and Innovation, University of Sydney, Australia

Pam is the most detailed and thoughtful editor I have ever worked with. Her service is incredibly focused and timely, and her comments meaningful, gentle and filled with valuable resources. Her copyediting skills are exceptional and her talent for catching inconsistencies astonishing. Her approach was respectful, collaborative and knowledgeable. I have learned a tremendous amount of information and appreciate her service beyond words.

Lenka V. Studnicka Doctoral Candidate (Sustainability Education), Prescott College, United States

You have chosen one of the best if you choose Pam as your editor: professionally exceptional, APA wizard, and supportive are three ways to describe Pam who copyedited and formatted my PhD dissertation, yet those descriptors fall short in communicating what I experienced. There were tricky verb tense issues … that Pam handled masterfully. She remained upbeat and communicated quickly … She met her deadlines and remained flexible … which in that time of high stress was greatly appreciated. Her attention to detail, including digging into obscure APA guidelines, made this last push to produce a refined presentation not only bearable, but enjoyable; I felt like I had a highly adept and pleasant (even fun) partner in making the work the best it could be. Highest and unqualified recommendation for her editing services, services I will continue to use.

Ann Sutton Doctoral Candidate (Sustainability Education), Prescott College, United States

Your feedback was incredibly helpful. I could have worked on this for another 4 years and not thought about language and formatting to the extent you have been able to convey. I wish [supervisor] had recommended you earlier, but I am glad I have had the opportunity to work with you. Thank you again for all your help. Your knowledge, support and expertise is fantastic.

Andrew McAlindon Doctoral Candidate (Mathematics Education), University of Melbourne, Australia

Pam provided a truly fantastic service with helping me get my PhD thesis to a point where I was really proud and ready to submit it. In the last couple of months, it's unbelievably stressful but to know that you have such caring, professional and detailed support in Pam makes it all so much easier. I've even learned how to use the semicolon after all these years! Honestly, I couldn't recommend her work highly enough. Thank you!

Clare Dallat Doctoral Candidate (Outdoor Education), Western Sydney University, Australia

Very efficient, responds to requests and questions very promptly, did an excellent job editing and formatting my PhD thesis.

Yael Bar-Zeel Doctoral Candidate (Health & Wellbeing), University of Newcastle, Australia

Pam did a marvellous job with my thesis. Her meticulous copyediting and cross-checking skills caught numerous inconsistencies that would have otherwise been missed and her knowledge of APA is second to none. The formatting and style guide that Pam applied lifted the whole document and gave it that professional feel. Given that the final submission of a research thesis can be very stressful, Pam’s calm and sensitive style, which helped me to work to the required submission deadlines, was most appreciated. I would not hesitate to call upon her talents again in the future. And will.

Melanie Nash Doctoral Candidate (ICT in Education), University of Melbourne, Australia

Pam did a wonderful job copyediting and formatting my PhD thesis. Her professional manner along with brilliant communication skills leads me to recommending her to others. She was efficient in responding to queries and she kept to all deadlines. Having said that, when I needed deadlines altered, she did her best to accommodate me, which I appreciated. Thanks Pam, I will certainly be using your services in the future.

Bernadette Long Doctoral Candidate (Mathematics Education), Monash University, Australia

I am so grateful for Pam. She not only brought exceptional expertise to the job I asked of her [copyediting a thesis], but she is genuinely kind, a brilliant communicator, and it is obvious that she genuinely loves what she does. She makes the gruelling, ‘pointy end’ of writing a delightful denouement. So many times I have thought about the qualities Pam brings to her work. I would use her again in a heartbeat!

Sarah Rutherford Doctoral Candidate (Education), Monash University, Australia

Pam provided excellent copyediting and proofreading services for my thesis. She was professional, efficient, insightful and personable. Her capacity to pick inconsistencies, ask probing questions and clarify ideas was second to none. Pam provided a service over and above my expectations. Not only did she meet deadlines, she actually delivered ahead of time! Pam made just a monotonous task an enjoyable one for me. I highly recommend her services for any academic endeavour.

Peter Botross Doctoral Candidate (Curriculum & Pedagogy), Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, Australia

Choosing a professional editor for the editing of a PhD thesis is a sensitive job. Initially, I had engaged another PhD editor, but I was not happy with the editing. Hence, a good sum of money went down the drain. Pam quickly rescued me from this frustration, leading to appreciation from me and my supervisor.

Shafqat Rahman Doctoral Candidate (Assessment in Education), Assessment Research Centre, University of Melbourne, Australia

Handing over the plethora of thesis chapters to Pam for final style formatting was one of the best decisions I made during the final stages of my PhD. This allowed me to focus on the content matter without the stress induced by ensuring the document presented professionally and beautifully. I was so happy with Pam’s work. The final document prepared was perfect and reflects her incredible attention to detail and pride in her own work. The whole process was enhanced by Pam’s prompt and clear communication and her understanding when unexpected things came up. I will highly recommend Pam to my fellow PhD candidates for any editing they require of their theses.

Kate Hughes Doctoral Candidate (Earth Sciences), The University of Queensland, Australia

Pam is the best. I wish I had found her earlier. She is very, very thorough. She did an amazing job with my thesis and was well worth every penny I spent. I cannot recommend her enough. Thank you ever so much for doing a great job, Pam. All the best.

Oshadie Korale Doctoral Candidate (Health & Well-Being), University of Central Lancashire, UK

Enormous thank you for the care taken and attention to detail throughout. An enormous effort and greatly appreciated. The manuscript looks so professional and reads very well. I have learnt so much from you! Thank you for the positive feedback, and the great care and attention to detail you have taken throughout. The thesis is looking polished and professional.

Rachel Pollitt Doctoral Candidate (Mathematics Education), University of Melbourne, Australia

Academic Researchers

Pam is the most effective and the nicest detail ‘devil’ you could hope to find. She finds bugs, missing references, commas that should not be where they are and spaces begging to be rescued with a meaning enhancing comma. Pam fixes actual problems and notices potential ones. She asks your opinion and gets your approval before she makes changes, but I came to see that she is always right. Pam looked at two research reports I wrote and improved the presentation logic, readability and prose in deep ways. I recommend The Detail Devil, but really Pam Firth, without any reservation. She’s great.

Prof Joseph Lo Bianco
Language and Literacy Education, University of Melbourne, Australia

Thank you so much for your wonderful work, Pam! Your work is detailed and it has been a pleasure to read it through today. The document is much improved!! It looks amazing. You have done a wonderful job on my research report and it is so much better for your help!

Dr Fran Gale
Senior Lecturer (Social Work and Community Welfare), Western Sydney University, Australia

We owe Pam Firth immeasurable gratitude. As our copy-editor, Pam’s valuable insights, attention to detail, and professionalism shone throughout the project. We are forever indebted, and readers will witness her ‘special touch’ in every chapter of this handbook [The Palgrave Macmillan international handbook of women in outdoor learning, 2018].

A/Prof Tonia Gray and Prof Denise Mitten (Eds.)
Western Sydney University, Australia, and Prescott College, United States

More academic researcher testimonials 

I thoroughly recommend the Detail Devil. Pam assisted me to finalise submission of a book manuscript of over 130,000 words [Assessing Mathematical Literacy: The PISA Experience, 2014, Springer]. She has an excellent command of English, including the finer points of grammar. She set up the styles for our Word program to simplify the formatting task and to deal with references, figures, tables and indexing. Pam is a master of academic style manuals and finds answers to complex referencing questions quickly and accurately. She is indeed good at detail and tracks it through the manuscript. Best of all, Pam is able to achieve just the right balance between making a decision and referring a decision to you. A pleasure to work with.

Emeritus Professor Kaye Stacey Mathematics Education, University of Melbourne, Australia

We need to acknowledge our copyeditor Pam Firth of The Detail Devil. We have endless appreciation for her unwavering contribution to this project, where her professionalism shone through immeasurably. No doubt our readers will witness Pam’s editorial acumen contained in this book [The globalisation of higher education: Developing internationalised education research and practice, 2018, Palgrave Macmillan].

Dr Tim Hall, A/Prof Tonia Gray, Dr Greg Downey, and Prof Michael Singh (Eds.), Centre for Educational Research, Western Sydney University, Australia

I have been thoroughly impressed by the work of the Detail Devil: professional and efficient with the promised attention to all detail. Pam has assisted me with both the proofreading and copyediting of book chapters, research grant submissions and academic journal articles. Necessary corrections for typos etc. are always clearly shown, and suggestions to improve clarity are indicated by comments that are respectful of the author and their intention. Recently, in response to the reviewers of a professional journal, Pam assisted with restyling all passive voice to active voice without changing the global meaning of the text. This task illustrated Pam’s ability to improve aspects of communication at all levels, from typos and punctuation to sense and structure.

Associate Professor Robyn Pierce Mathematics Education, University of Melbourne, Australia

Pam is the Managing Editor for the international peer-reviewed Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education, and her role includes copyediting each paper then typesetting each issue using Adobe InDesign. As Editor, I rely on Pam’s keen eye for detail and her diligence in making sure that the issues we produce are of the highest standard possible.

Associate Professor John Quay Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education (Outdoor Council of Australia)

I came across Pam’s work when she edited an article I had submitted to the Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education (for which Pam is Managing Editor). In the first draft I received from Pam I could see that her suggested amendments made my article more legible and readable … Pam’s attention to detail, whether it is in revising citations, checking that I have adhered to APA style or helping to prepare my papers for submission has been incredibly helpful. She is timely with her responses and I will continue to use her services for future publications.

Dr Will Dobud Clinical Social Worker, True North Expeditions, Australia

Pam has a pleasant personality, but when it comes to copyediting or proofreading, she actually assumes a ‘detail devil’ persona, making corrections/ suggestions or asking for clarifications with this sense of purpose and mission that adds to the efficiency of the overall service experience. Pam also displays appropriate cultural sensitivity to the ways in which language is used.

A/Prof Wee Tiong Seah Mathematics Education, University of Melbourne, Australia

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