Effective writing is essential for academic and career success—it also deepens our understanding of many complex problems in the world.

My name is Amanda Pearson and I am a freelance academic editor based in Boston, MA with fifteen years of experience helping scholars publish their research in the social sciences (political science, anthropology, sociology), history, and international relations.

I earned a Master of Science in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics and Master of Public Health from George Washington University.

I believe academic editing is a craft. Helping scholars write the best possible prose for their targeted audiences is a skillset I have developed through both formal editorial training and as part of my career in publishing.

For ten years I was the publications manager at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. I was also a marketing manager at a textbook publisher (Jones and Bartlett Publishers), and I have been a  research assistant at a think tank in Washington, DC (Center for Strategic and International Studies) and Harvard Kennedy School.

Along the way I’ve had amazing mentors who were excellent writers, editors, and publicists. They have shown me that everyone benefits from expert editing, including the most proficient and prolific writers.

Much of my editorial work involves assisting scholars whose first languages are not English so their writing meets the publication standards of top-tier journals and academic presses. My clients have submitted their social science scholarship to and published with these academic presses and journals:

University Presses and Academic Presses
Cambridge University Press
Harvard University Press
Johns Hopkins University Press
Oxford University Press
Princeton University Press
Routledge
Rowman & Littlefield
University of California Press

Journals
African Affairs
American Political Science Review
American Sociological Review
British Journal of Political Science
British Journal of Sociology
Comparative Political Studies
Hispanic American Historical Review
Journal of Conflict Resolution
Journal of Peace Research
Journal of Development Economics
Journal of Political Economy
Law & Society Review
Nature–Human Behavior
Perspectives on Politics
Politics and Society
Social Forces
World Politics

I hope we get to work together this year.

Amanda Pearson | MPH, MSc