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[august]

My book manuscript is due to go to the editor soon, and I have been in a writing group of other academics who have read portions of my manuscript and have made excellent suggestions.

I am thinking of having my research assistant, who is not in my field but in a creative writing field, read the manuscript and offer suggestions about literary flow.

Can I do this or is this somehow illegal or wrong?  She is a paid research assistant and won't be offering content suggestions.   I would of course acknowledge her help. 

[seniorscholar]

Anyone you want to read your manuscript can read it; it's common academic manners to include that person in the acknowledgments.

In recent years I have often asked my former grad students who are now tenure-track or tenured to read my manuscripts -- I trust them not to mess up factual information but to see what I have not explained clearly enough, and I also know they'll be tough when need be. Colleagues (especially when one is senior) are often insufficiently critical and/or not really interested, but I know people whose dissertation chapters I tore up a dozen times or so will not have any inhibitions.

Colleagues or writing groups are probably the usual recourse, though distance from the field can make problems. The long-traditional careful reader (see any acknowledgments written before, say, 1970) is "my wife, who faithfully typed several versions of the manuscript [and fixed up my grammar a whole lot, though that's not generally included].

In any case, I certainly prefer to have some eyes in addition to my own read through anything before it goes to an editor.

[larryc]

Sounds like a valuable professional experience for her.

[toothpaste]

I am  having trouble imagining what would be wrong/illegal/unethical about this.