The continuum of editing
Every draft is unique and I will need to assess your draft and your needs before proposing a quote. I use the Editorial Freelancers Association’s definition of copyediting.
Even though editing exists on a continuum, it can be helpful to think about editing in terms of levels: light editing, medium editing, and heavy editing. Below is a screenshot explaining the difference between the three levels take, with permission, from the brilliant book Medical Editing by Professor Barbara Gastel.
General copyediting
I am happy to support you by copyediting your written text! All three levels of copyediting are available for non-thesis works. When I copyedit your draft, I will first assess the level of editing it needs and agree with you on the scope of the project. I will, for example:
- check for spelling, punctuation and grammar errors.
- ask you about any obvious factual inaccuracies.
- flag potential legal issues.
- check for overall coherence and I will suggest changes to improve readability.
Copyediting for students
You, the student, and I, the copyeditor, both need to follow certain guidelines.
You must obtain your supervisor’s written permission before you book my services. A Bachelor, Master or PhD thesis is your work and yours only. I can then only perform a light edit on theses. I will check for spelling, punctuation and grammar errors; however, I will not rewrite, reword or reorganise any portion of the text. Instead, I will flag by writing comments in Word any potential issues related to conciseness, content and organisation.
Editorial services for manuscript writers
Copyediting
When I copyedit your draft, I will first assess the level of editing it needs and agree with you on the scope of the project. I will, for example:
- check for spelling, punctuation and grammar errors.
- make sure tables, figures and illustrations are numbered correctly.
- check the content of tables, figures and illustrations against the text and their captions.
- ask you about any obvious factual inaccuracies.
- flag potential legal issues.
- check for overall coherence.
- suggest changes to improve readability.
I will also:
- make sure your draft consistently follows the journal’s author guidelines.
- ensure consistency throughout (e.g., capitalisation, date format, scientific nomenclature, numbers, units), for everything that the journal’s author guidelines may not cover.
Reference formatting
I can check the formatting of your references and make sure that the bibliography is formatted as required by the journal’s guidelines. I charge a flat fee of CHF 2.5 per reference.
Cover letter support
When submitting your manuscript to the journal, you also need to send a cover letter. In this cover letter, addressed to the journal editor, you outline why your manuscript’s research fits the journal’s scope. I will make sure the letter includes all the important information so the journal editor can make an informed decision regarding the fit of your manuscript in the journal’s scope. This is an add-on service to the copyediting service.
Rebuttal letter support
After your draft has been peer-reviewed for publication in the journal, you will most likely receive a list of questions, concerns and suggestions from the reviewers. The rebuttal letter is your chance to address your reviewers’ concerns. This is an add-on service to the copyediting service.
I will make sure that:
- you have addressed every reviewers’ comment
- you have explained any disagreements
- the letter follows the journal’s instructions on writing a rebuttal letter
- the letter is easy to follow.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me through my contact page or via email.