About Capstone Editing
We are Australia’s only academic editing company owned and directed by an academic. Our service is built on ensuring the highest-possible quality of editing and providing an exceptional standard of client support.
We are Australia’s only academic editing company owned and directed by an academic. Our service is built on ensuring the highest-possible quality of editing and providing an exceptional standard of client support.
Capstone Editing is a specialist academic editing company, servicing the needs of academics, students and universities. Underpinning every aspect of our business is our commitment to providing the finest-quality academic editing possible.
Our editors, who are also experienced academics, are specifically trained as academic editors, rather than as generalist editors. Combined, our editors have edited more academic documents than any other editing company in Australia.
We have edited countless postgraduate theses, journal articles, conference papers, grant applications, book chapters and manuscripts during careers that for some of our editors have spanned over 30 years.
In January 2019, Capstone Editing became the first editing company in Australia and New Zealand to partner with an after-pay service. This move has allowed us to ensure our professional editing services are more accessible and affordable for our clients, in particular postgraduate students. We look forward to working with Payright and Humm to continue help our clients achieve their educational and career goals.
We are proud to be members of the following industry and professional organisations, which all have strict requirements and high standards for professional membership.
Our office is located in Canberra, Australia’s educational capital, but our talented editing team of exclusively Australian and New Zealand academic editors live all over Australia and the world. This allows us to be working to fulfil the needs of our clients at any time of the day or night.
We are Australia’s only academic editing company owned and operated by an academic. Dr Lisa Lines, our Director and Head Editor, has 18 years’ experience as an academic editor and 15 years’ experience as an academic in Australian universities. To Capstone Editing, she also brings her over seven years’ experience as the owner and director of her previous academic editing service, which was the largest and highest quality service in Australia at the time.
Using her deep knowledge of academic editing and the needs of our clients, Dr Lines ensures that Capstone Editing only employs the most talented and dedicated academic editors, and personally trains them to ensure they meet Capstone Editing’s exacting standards. She also oversees all aspects of the business, from client support to quality assurance.
Read the full profile for Dr Lines here.
Dr Nelson Mok is an academic editor and researcher with experience in the fields of applied linguistics, education and philosophy. During his BA, he developed a curiosity for research methodology, which became an interest in the philosophy, process and structures of research writing during his postgraduate degrees.
His PhD thesis connected the cultural-historical concept of perezhivanie (roughly translated as ‘lived experience’) with autoethnography and reflexivity to argue for a dialectical understanding of the processes of research: the development of theory, the research project and the researcher.
Dr Mok understands the demands and frustrations of academic writing and enjoys the challenge of helping students and academics craft elegant, efficient and effective expressions of complex ideas and arguments so that they are conveyed in their best light to their intended audience. All his editing work is exacting and of the highest possible standard. Dr Mok always takes extra time to provide thoughtful and beneficial advice and explanations to his clients.
Deborah Kane is a technical and academic editor with a background in the social sciences, humanities and the arts. Her research areas have included politics, culture, media and education. Ms Kane has worked as a freelance technical and academic editor for the past eight years, with clients including research scientists, educational publishers and universities.
Ms Kane has an exceptional talent for presenting technical language and concepts in a clear and informative manner. As a writer and editor at Lateral Magazine, Ms Kane worked with academics using plain English principles to create a wide range of science-based content that was accessible to a diverse readership. As an English language teacher, Ms Kane used her extensive language and communication skills to structure course content effectively, as well as to give pertinent feedback to improve her students’ writing. This experience in particular is what makes Ms Kane one of Capstone Editing’s top ESL editors. She is devoted to assisting postgraduate students and academics to communicate their research in clear and concise academic English. Ms Kane thoroughly enjoys working with writers and students to improve their technical writing skills and ensure that their ideas are expressed clearly and confidently.
At Capstone Editing, Ms Kane works under the direction of Dr Lines to ensure that our reputation as the highest-quality academic editing service is maintained. This involves implementing our rigorous quality assurance management system and working with our editors to ensure that they are consistently following the policies and procedures developed by Dr Lines.
Melissa Durden’s extensive administration and client support skills have been gained over the past fifteen years across various sectors including the Australian Federal Government and real estate and during her service in the Royal Australian Airforce.
As the Project Officer for Aboriginal Hostel Limited in Canberra, Ms Durden was involved in evaluating and delivering the Indigenous Youth Mobility Program. This role required cultural awareness to ensure participants felt supported throughout their course, which contributed significantly to their success. Ms Durden’s nurturing and helpful nature allowed her to make strong connections with the students; she felt immense pride seeing students achieve their goals there, and now she feels the same satisfaction at Capstone Editing.
Read the full profile for Melissa Durden here.
Rebecca Walraven has over a decade of experience in client support, having served in leadership roles in several prominent registered training organisations, as well as expertise in recognition of prior learning co-ordination and staff training. Ms Walraven is committed to continued professional development to ensure she provides exceptional service to Capstone Editing’s clients.
With a Bachelor of Visual Arts and having been a Student Support Officer for Open Colleges, Sydney, you could say Ms Walraven’s role as Capstone Editing’s Communications Officer & Client Support Executive is made for her! Having provided customer service through multiple online platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, Ms Walraven’s tech-savvy abilities keep our clients up to date on all our editing services and scholarship programs.
Read the full profile for Rebecca Walraven here.
Amanda Webster has managed, coordinated and coached several teams in a variety of settings. She is experienced in managing workflows and is passionate about helping others learn. In particular, her ability to break down complex ideas and convey them plainly yet comprehensively serves her well as our Assistant Course Coordinator.
As a former intermediate artistic roller skating coach (and Senior International competitor herself), Ms Webster has years of experience training and mentoring students at an elite level. This role also required that Ms Webster complete the Australian Institute of Sport’s Community Coaching General Principles course and maintain Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority certificates each year.
Read the full profile for Amanda Webster here.
Rebecca Walraven has over a decade of experience in client support, having served in leadership roles in several prominent registered training organisations, as well as expertise in recognition of prior learning co-ordination and staff training. Ms Walraven is committed to continued professional development to ensure she provides exceptional service to Capstone Editing’s clients.
With a Bachelor of Visual Arts and having been a Student Support Officer for Open Colleges, Sydney, you could say Ms Walraven’s role as Capstone Editing’s Communications Officer & Client Support Executive is made for her! Having provided customer service through multiple online platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, Ms Walraven’s tech-savvy abilities keep our clients up to date on all our editing services and scholarship programs. Her well-honed skills also mean she provides excellent and timely support to our online course participants students.
Ms Walraven’s previous role as Administrator and Training Co-ordinator required her to implement and evaluate workplace policies and procedures, manage effective workplace relationships and apply research and analytical skills. This broad range of administration responsibilities required attention to detail, flexibility and efficient time management.
Having completed a Master of Education, Ms Walraven has a deep understanding of the pressures that tertiary education can have on an individual; this valuable insight makes her extremely approachable to her clients. She understands it is essential to have clarity and effective communication to ensure our clients’ needs are met.
In her thesis, entitled ‘The Role of Computer Games in Learning—An analysis of gaming and the promotion of intrinsic motivation to enhance cognitive skill development’, Ms Walraven explored how natural environments nurture the cognitive development of adult learning. This in-depth understanding further drives her passion for creating positive learning experiences.