Professional Copy-editing & Proofreading
These days publishers expect papers to be prepared to a high standard prior to submission. That includes copy-editing to journal style as well as a high standard of English language.
Why is copy-editing academic papers important?
Many publishers no longer copy-edit papers prior to publication, so to achieve a high standard of presentation of your work, you need to undertake this before submission, to increase the chances of your paper being accepted.
My 38 years of experience in scientific editing have allowed me to become familiar with the various main styles whether that’s Chicago, Vancouver, Harvard, AMA, APA, Geological Society, Royal Society for Chemistry or Oscola. Having started out in engineering journals, I am comfortable with maths, including LaTex, and I have both a BA and an MA in English which I have used to work in social sciences, life sciences, law, geology and chemistry among many other subjects.
Familiar with submission guidelines
Just tell me the journal you are submitting to, or the style you would like for your paper, and leave the rest to me.
The copy-editing process
I will:
format the paper to the journal style, including the References
cross-check the References against the text
make sure the grammar is correct, that English/ US spelling is consistent and that terms are used consistently
send you a list of queries and update the text to reflect your answers
re-edit the paper once within 3 months without charge if there are any problems
supply a certificate of editing once the work is complete
Comfortable with scientific terminology
Whatever the subject of your paper, I will be familiar with its terminology, and this makes for a more natural-sounding edit.
Do you need copy editing and proofreading, fast?
My professional copy-editing and proofreading services have a 24-hour turnaround option (excluding Sundays)
“Thank you for your careful and detailed copy-edit on my paper.”
— Author, Geology paper