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Editing
The goal of editing English is to produce a document that is written clearly and precisely in an elegant style and that contains no errors. The English should be as simple as possible and easy to understand. In order to achieve this goal, we undertake to do the following:
- Correct grammar
- Correct spelling
- Correct punctuation
- Ensure that the correct vocabulary is used
- Ensure that an appropriate level of formality is used
- Improve style
- Alert you to ambiguity in your text and tell you what the different possible ways of interpreting your text are, so that you can choose the formulation that conveys your intended meaning
- Point out unwanted implications of the text that you have written and suggest ways of rewriting
- Point out text the meaning of which is unclear and, where possible, inform you of what you need to do to remove the unclarity
Every paper is edited twice, each time by a different editor. We have found that this procedure yields the best results, because the work of even the most experienced and highly qualified editors benefits from a second look by a different person. (Please note that each paper is edited twice in the first round of editing; it is separate from our checking service, which applies to the work that authors ask us to do once they have revised their paper in response to our corrections, comments, and suggestions, and have returned their revised version to us for a final check.) Different papers will need varying amounts of work to bring the English to a publishable standard. To reflect the kind of work that is required to produce a document that is free from error, clearly and unambiguously written, and easy to read, we specify three levels of editing, which are charged at different rates.
Standard editing
In this case, the paper is edited twice and the overall time spent by the two editors is no more than that which would be taken if the overall rate of editing were 1000 words per hour. The invoice will specify a fee for "standard editing" at 4.77 per 100 words. Standard editing will suffice in approximately 30% of cases.
Intensive editing
In this case, the paper is edited twice, but quite a bit of work is needed. The overall time spent by the two editors is greater than that which would be taken if the overall rate of editing were 1000 words per hour and less than that which would be taken if the overall rate of editing were 2000 words per hour. The invoice will specify separate fees for "standard editing" and "intensive editing". Intensive editing is required in approximately 60-65% of cases.
Super-intensive editing
In this case, your paper will need a great deal of work to bring the English to a publishable standard. Our editors will take as much time as is required in order to give you the quality of service that you require. The invoice will specify separate fees for "standard editing", "intensive editing", and "surcharge for heavy/difficult editing". Super-intensive editing is required in about 5-10% of cases.
At all three levels of editing, our goal is to bring the English in your paper to a publishable standard. The difference lies in the amount of editing that is required to meet your needs. For every paper that you submit, we will provide you with the level of editing that it warrants.
We offer editing for both native and non-native speakers. We can use either International or North American spelling conventions, according to your preference.
Checking
This service is provided after an author has revised a paper in response to the corrections, comments, and suggestions that we made while editing. Please note that it is always wise to return your paper to us for checking. We have found that authors often introduce errors when they are revising their manuscripts, with the result that sometimes, reviewers recommend that authors seek the assistance of a professional editing company! The need for checking becomes critical when the paper contains unclarity that we cannot resolve without further input from the author. Checking will incur a fee that is in accordance with the amount of effort involved, charged at £47.70 per hour, with a minimum fee of GBP25. Usually, the fee will increase in relation to the amount of unclarity that the original text contained.
What we do not provide1. We do not edit any work that is to be submitted in full or partial fulfilment of the requirements for any degree. This is because in almost all cases, correcting the English in student work requires the elimination of unclarity , which is in contravention of university regulations, which state that theses should be clearly written and be the product of all the student's own work.
2. We do not reduce word counts, except when that occurs during the normal course of editing as we attempt to express your content correctly, stylishly, and succinctly. If the word count is still too high following our normal attempts to express your content correctly, stylishly, and succinctly, the problem must be that there is too much content. If your paper contains too many words, even after we have edited and done our best to express your content succinctly, you must reduce the content in order to reduce the word count. We cannot decide what content to omit, because we did not do the research.
N.B. Having your paper edited by us does not guarantee acceptance for publication. There are all sorts of reasons, unrelated to English, as to why your paper may not be accepted for publication. Here are just a few examples:
- the content may not be sufficiently important
- important information may be missing
- your hypotheses or research questions may not have been stated sufficiently precisely, which will render all your results and discussion irrelevant
- your analysis of the data may be faulty or insufficient
- your results may not support your conclusions
- you might have failed to specify chains of causation among your factors clearly
- you might have confused logical and causal connections
- the overall structure of your argument may not be suitable
- changes in the direction of your argument may not have been signposted sufficiently clearly
- important theses may not be sufficiently clearly marked in the text
- you might not have explicated central concepts sufficiently clearly or precisely
- units may be missing or specified imprecisely
Our editing staff
Cambridge Language Consultants is committed to providing a quality service. We employ only highly qualified and experienced native English-speaking editors. All of our editors have the following:
- a Ph.D. in a mainstream academic discipline
- experience of writing specific kinds of document to a professional level
- a proven track record of editing academic documents
- experience of proofreading and editing documents with a wide range of content
How to submit your document for editing
Please submit your paper to us using our online form, in MS Word or .tex format. If you send us a .tex file, please also send a .pdf compilation. If you experience a problem with using the form, please send all the information and your documents by e-mail to chris@camlang.com, and try to submit your information using the online form later.
Please submit your entire document, including figures and figure
legends, even if you do not wish us to edit all sections. If you wish
us to omit certain sections, please inform us upon submission and highlight
those sections. If we do not receive the entire document, we will not
edit your paper.
How long does it take?
The time taken to edit and deliver a document will be a matter for discussion between the client and Cambridge Language Consultants. Long documents will, obviously, require more time than short ones. In addition, documents that are difficult to edit will take longer than documents that are not so difficult. In general, we will return a document of up to 8000 words within 10-14 days. We are aware that it does not take that amount of time to actually do the editing. However, the fact that our editors are themselves practising and publishing academics, which is an advantage for our clients, also has a disadvantage; the editors have their own schedules and it sometimes takes time to schedule editing.
Procedure
- Cambridge Language Consultants' Manager will send your manuscript to an editor who possesses the required expertise.
- The editor will make changes that include corrections, suggestions, and comments, then send a revised copy to Cambridge Language Consultants. Then, if necessary, the manuscript will be sent to a second editor for second editing.
- Cambridge Language Consultants will calculate the fee and send a copy of the revised version of the document back to you by e-mail, together with an invoice and instructions for payment.
- When you receive the revised version of your paper, you should go through it carefully to address all changes, suggestions, and comments. When you have finished your revision, you should return the paper to us for checking. This is *very important*. We have found that a large percentage of authors introduce error when revising their text, with the result that sometimes, reviewers recommend that authors seek the assistance of a professional editing company! This checking will incur a fee that is appropriate to the amount of work involved, charged at GBP47.70 per hour, with a minimum charge of GBP25.