Although it feels cliche to say it, editing a research paper is a lot like clay sculpting. While writing is the process of getting your clay of ideas to a point where everyone can see them, editing will be the last few steps of presenting that clay in the best possible light.
If you've written your research paper well , then editing is simply going to be refining what you established writing, without re-writing.You can learn more about the stages of writing a research paper on our website.