We primarily offer proofreading and editing services to the scientific community. We take your draft document, and depending on the level of editing required by the document, do anything from light proofreading for spelling and grammar to major rewriting of the document with proper formatting as required by individual publishers. As a rule we do not edit for content, but our purpose is to serve the scientific community and help you get published. We may be able, upon request, to make reviewer-type comments on some manuscripts. provided the subject matter matches with the expertise of one of our staff.
We provide editing services for the following types of documents:
This category includes journal articles and reviews, generally less than 20 pages long. The abstract and body of the text are included, but we only edit the bibliography and figure legends when requested. Bibliography editing includes formatting, matching text references to citations and verifying citations via PubMed. Generally, the document should be properly formatted before submission. Formatting and extensive re-writing incur additional charges. Turnaround time for normal editing of average-length articles is approximately 2 business days. Rush jobs can usually be accommodated.
Scientific manuscripts for journal publication
We can edit meeting abstracts and presentation text. The turn-around time for abstracts and other short submissions is generally 1 to 2 business days. Rush work is available.
Abstracts
We edit technical reports, proposals and other documents to improve presentation and clarity. We will assess technical documents on a case-by-case basis. Some technical documents may be outside our expertise. We will only accept the submission if we can do a proper job with your document. Turnaround time will depend on the length and complexity of the document.
Technical reports
We offer basic language editing services on dissertations and theses. We will not substantially alter the content, structure, organization or style of the original document. That would be cheating. The writing of the graduation document is an important learning and character-building experience. We can help polish your final draft, but we can not help produce it. Turnaround time for these types of documents will depend on the length of the document, generally 5-10 business days.
Dissertations and Theses
We are experienced with grantsmanship, and can provide several levels of service on grant applications. We can review your grant for clarity, language and structural issues. We can also offer assistance with grant organization and presentation style in some cases. Grants present some unique editing challenges, so grant submissions will be evaluated and accepted on a case-by-case basis. Turnaround time will vary, but we can usually return an NIH RO1-type grant application within 3-4 business days. We can sometimes accept rush jobs, but we can not do miracles. We are subject to the same temporal limitations as everyone else.
Grant Applications
We can edit book chapters in the same way we edit journal manuscripts. Turnaround time for book chapters depends on the length of the manuscript. For books and very long chapters, we need to make arrangements in advance, so contact us early if you wish to engage us. Long projects are generally billed on an ongoing basis.
Books and book chapters
Many of our colleagues, particularly the non-native-English-speaking colleagues, have difficulty with official and business letters, resumes, applications and documents. Our editing services will help your correspondence serve you better. We can usually return most edited documents within 1-2 days.
Letters, applications, resumes and other correspondence
We can improve the clarity, useability and impact of technical manuals and instructions. We can work from an English-language draft or in some cases, from notes and other sources. Contact us for further information.
Technical manuals and instructions
Note: We only provide help with language issues for dissertations and theses. We will not substantially alter, restructure or rewrite the document. We had to write ours. It is up to you to write yours.