Is it contract cheating to work with a tutor or editor?

Tutors can be helpful in some instances, however you are responsible for setting the boundaries for appropriate assistance. If at any point the tutor begins to substantially edit or complete parts or your assessment then this becomes contract cheating.

If you are considering hiring an editor or asking someone to proofread or edit your work, make sure to clearly outline your expectations for the scope of the edit. The person should only highlight or indicate where there are problems rather than changing the text for you. If you provide them with an electronic copy of your document it is preferable for them to use commenting tools rather than to change the work.

Professional editors, as part of their usual role in document production, often make changes within the document. However, as a student submitting your work for assessment, accepting the changes of an editor may be seen as contract cheating or plagiarism as you are claiming the work of someone else as your own.

The elements of a document that an editor may be able to check for you are:

• typographical and spelling errors
• errors in word usage
• errors in grammar and syntax
• errors and inconsistencies in punctuation
• consistent use of formatting, capitalisation, abbreviations, or systems of measurement (metric versus imperial)
• consistent and accurate application of academic writing conventions such as captions for tables/figures, formatting of in-text citations and referencing
• connections and transitions between paragraphs and sections.

When reviewing the editor’s comments you can implement corrections for spelling, punctuation, formatting and style but should carefully consider recommendations that could substantially alter the meaning, the flow, or the originality of your document. As much as possible consider recommended sentence or paragraph changes and put them into your own words.

If you plan to use an editor for your thesis it is recommended that you:

• discuss your desire to use an editor with your supervisor before approaching an editor
• discuss the scope of the edit with your supervisor and ensure that the editor understands and agrees to apply this when reviewing your document
• indicate within the appropriate section of your theses that an editor was used and include a description of the scope of the edit (The Royal Roads University, n.d.).
• Follow the guidelines for the editing of research theses by professional editors.

Information taken from Academic integrity – Guide for students.