Since our service is completely digital, most of the work we receive for proofreading and copy editing is in Microsoft Word or OpenOffice format. Both these wordprocessors have the Track Changes and Comments features.
Using Track Changes, we keep record of the original work received and all the changes, deletions and additions that we suggest. 'Suggest' is a key word here. When our service is finished, the client receives the document back with all changes recorded, but these are not final. The client will then decide whether to accept or reject any of these changes.
If you are not familiar with the use of Track Changes, we provide a set of guidelines on how to use them in Microsoft Word 2010.
Similarly, we may occasionally insert a comment referring to a particular issue in the document. This is a note very much like the yellow post-it notes you stick to a printed or hand-written document. It may draw the client's attention to a particular inconsistency in writing style, or perhaps a suggestion to rewrite a sentence to make it more clear. Again, it is at the client's discretion to take note of these comments or completely ignore them.
Our PDF guide is for Microsoft Word 2010 only. If there is enough interest an OpenOffice version may be considered in the future. Top
No.
Standard service guarantees completion of service within 10 work days (excluding Saturdays and Sundays and any local or international public holiday). Express service guarantees the same quality of service but at half the time.
Clients will usually have their own deadlines to meet (especially in the case of academic work that needs to be submitted to a faculty or institution).
We therefore strongly urge our clients to allow for at least five work days between service deadline (when we return the processed work to our clients) and the submission deadline (when the clients are required to submit their work to the institution or publisher). This will give them enough time to go through our suggested changes in the document or to contact us and clarify any issues with the service.
For example, if you must submit your dissertation to the faculty by 15 May, make sure that you order the proofreading service in time to have it done at least by 10 May.
We reserve the right to refuse any work which we deem is too close to the client's submission deadline. This is to ensure that neither the quality of our service nor the client's professional output are compromised in any way. Top
There are many electronic formats for word processing. For our proofreading and copy editing services we currently work on Windows 7. Most of the tasks involved in the proofreading service are independent of page design and layout, i.e. they mostly concern the content, the text, rather than the way it appears on the page. In this case the format of the document itself is irrelevant. This is why plain text formats like TXT and RTF are also accepted in this case.
Copy editing, however, also involves the way the text is presented on the page. In this case it is important to preserve the layout of the page as much as possible during the copy editing process. For this reason we cater for those formats supported by the most popular wordprocessors, including DOC (for Microsoft Word 2003), DOCX (for Microsoft Word 2007/2010/2013) and ODT (for OpenOffice and LibreOffice).
Formats supported by other software like Microsoft Publisher or Quark Express must first be converted into TXT or RTF before submission. In this case these documents will be only limited to a proofreading service.
Note that document conversion is the client's responsibility, and is not provided by this service.
The full list of supported formats is as follows.
Text documents:
For copy editing of presentations:
Depending on customer demand, other formats may be considered for future support.
If you have any questions about a particular format not listed above, send us a query. Top
No. For an additional fee we can cross-reference an index entries with the text to verify consistency and eliminate errors, but we do not create the index itself.
Proofreading and copy editing an index is optional. You can opt to have the rest of the work processed without the index. Top
Definitely.
In the case of academic works, standard referencing styles like APA, MLA or Harvard are followed, according to the client's request. If your specific faculty or department has an additional house style, this will be considered as well. In this case the client will be asked to provide the house style for us to consult and follow.
Articles and books will certainly have to follow the house style provided by the publisher. Again, in this case, the client will be asked to provide an electronic copy of the house style or a URL link to the publisher's website for us to consult.
This house style will be thoroughly analysed and adhered to. Top
The pay for standard proofreading services is usually calculated either by the hour or number of words. In proofreading circles one page is estimated to be 250 words (irrespective of font or page size, line spacing, etc.). This enables the customer to make a rough estimate of the cost before the job is actually ordered.
For a Standard proofreading service on an academic dissertation, you pay €6.38 per 1000 words. That's including VAT at a 10-workday turnaround. Copy editing for the same example would cost €9.59 including VAT.
For an Express proofreading service (5-workday turnaround) the cost is €9.59 including VAT (same as Standard Copy editing).
Struggling students certainly can't afford to pay as much as an established writer or a company, so there's a special 20% discount on every academic work processed.
Download the brochure for the latest services and price rates available. Top
We process from first degree dissertations to PhD theses. Works about any subject are accepted. In the past our services have ranged from nursing to pedagogy, from IT to accounting.
Of course this involves different terminologies and vocabulary that is often subject-specific. While we focus on spelling, grammar, tone and register, we also make sure that the proper terminology is preserved. We constantly keep in touch with our clients and discuss anything which is unclear.
At the end of the day our Track Changes and Comments system allows the client to make the final decision on any suggestions provided. Top
No.
When we copy edit a document we may point out some discrepancies in meaning, and suggest to the author any changes to make the language clearer and more readable, including re-wording occasional sentences. But this is very minimal.
The task requested above involves re-writing (summarizing) the document and re-interpreting your ideas, your arguments. This is not the job of a copy editor.
Before sending your work to us make sure that the document is more or less the finished product. Top
Yes.
You can send the job in instalments, and we'll start work as soon as the first instalment is received. However this may affect the turnaround, which of course will be caculated on the final instalment received by us. Cost price will be calculated on the total number of words regardless of the number of instalments. Top