Terms and Conditions

V1.0_2026/06/19

1. Introduction

  1. The terms and conditions apply to the Client (you) and to me, Nay Catina Dia-Schneebeli, trading as Dia-Schneebeli Editorial Services.
  2. I offer copyediting services for scientists preparing their manuscript for publishing. I also offer the following add-ons services: support with the cover letter and the rebuttal letter, as well as formatting references.
  3. You are not obligated to give me work. I am not obligated to accept work.
  4. I do all the work myself; I do not subcontract any work.
  5. I am registered as a sole proprietorship under Swiss law, I am responsible for my own tax arrangements and I am not VAT-registered.
  6. I do not edit any work that was fully or partially created with generative AI. By booking my services you confirm that you did not use genAI to generate and/or assist your writing, editing, image creation, or create or modify any other component of your work.
  7. By signing the contract form that I will send after an initial discussion regarding your project, you indicate that you’ve read, understood and agreed to the terms outline here.

2. Project

  1. I work with Microsoft Word (with Track Changes on).
  2. You and I will agree, by email, on a fee for the project, based on my quote and evaluation of the manuscript to be edited, the time frame needed to complete the editing, as well as other factors such as word count, the number of tables and figures, and the intended audience.
  3. You and I will agree, by email, on the date by which you will send me the material to be edited.
  4. You and I will agree, by email, on the date by which I will send you back the edited material, as advised by me.
  5. Please note that if, upon receiving the project (or at an earlier stage), it becomes clear that the workload needed significantly exceeds my expectations based on our initial discussions or the provided sample, I may renegotiate the fee and/or the deadline or potentially decline to edit the work.
  6. I need to give my explicit permission before you associate me (e.g. in the acknowledgment section of your manuscript) with the project.

3. Quote and Fee

  1. I will provide you with a personalised quote after I have evaluated a representative sample of your draft and after discussing with you by email about what types of services you would like to book.
    • To give you a personalised quote, I will need to know more about your project, such as the word count (excluding references/the bibliography), the name of the target journal and the link to its webpage, the submission schedule, what you would like support with and a representative sample of your manuscript. While preparing the quote, I also take into account the type of research, the intended audience and the number of tables and figures.
    • I will format references for a flatfee of 2.5 CHF each.
  2. I send the quote back to you, you study it and let me know how you wish to proceed within 3 days. Please let me know if this falls in a planned holiday or a public holiday and I will do my best to accomodate it.
  3. I send you the Booking and Contract Form for you to fill (some fields will already be pre-filled by me), sign and send back to me by email.
    • Once you and I have agreed to the full fee, it is non-negotiable unless the word count of the draft is higher than initially discussed or if you book additional services (main editorial services or add-ons). A revised quote and time frame will then be negotiated, in writing.
  4. As soon as I receive the Booking and Contract Form back, I will send you the booking invoice to be paid within 4 days from the time you received the booking invoice.
    • For more details about payment options, please check the ‘Contract, booking and deposit information‘ section below. Your booking is secured in my schedule after I receive the booking deposit.
    • Please note that by sending the deposit, you agree to book my services, which means that pausing and cancelling policies will apply should you pause or cancel the project.
  5. Unless agreed otherwise, I will send you the final invoice directly after I have completed the work.
  6. I accept payments in Swiss Francs, American Dollars and Euros.
  7. I accept direct bank transfers and payments through Wise and Stripe. Please note that you are responsible for covering extra charges incurred.
  8. If you would like to pay in another currency and/or use another payment method, please let me know and we will try to find a method that works for both of us.
  9. Unless otherwise agreed, only one pass is included in the quote and the fee.

4. Contract, booking and deposit information

  1. You will confirm your booking by filling and signing the Booking and Contract Form that I will send as soon as you and I agree on the services, fee and time frame.
  2. By signing the Booking and Contract Form, you book my services for the specified project and time frame, you agree to these Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy and AI Policy and you are subject to any cancellation policy. I do not edit any work that was fully or partially created with generative AI.
  3. After you have signed the Booking and Contract Form and to secure your spot in my schedule, you need to pay a deposit within 4 days of receiving the booking invoice. I will send you the booking invoice directly after receiving your signed Booking and Contract Form.
  4. There are two payment options: a payment in 50/50 instalments or a payment in 33/33/33 instalments; the latter option is only available for longer projects.
    • For the 50/50 instalments
      • The initial deposit is 50% of the total fee, to be paid within 4 days of receiving the booking invoice.
      • The final instalment is 50% of the total fee, to be paid within 14 days of receiving the final invoice.
    • For the 33/33/33 instalments (only available for longer projects)
      • The initial deposit is 33% of the total fee, to be paid within 4 days of receiving the booking invoice.
      • The midway instalment is 33% of the total fee, to be paid within 4 days of receiving the midway invoice (e.g. midway throughout the project).
      • The final instalment is 33% of the total fee, to be paid within 10 days of receiving the final invoice.
  5. Please note that I reserve the right to charge a fee for late payments.
  6. Please note that if I need to do extra work because you changed the Track Changes feature in Word or modified the applied Word styles, I reserve the right to invoice you for the extra work I need to do.

5. Pause and cancellation policies

TERMS

  1. If the terms are seriously breached, you and I have the right to terminate the contract.
  2. If you need to pause or cancel the project due to extraordinary circumstances, please contact me as soon as possible to discuss the terms of the pause or cancellation policies. I am aware that sometimes life just happens, and I aim to be fair and supportive at all times.
  3. In the very unlikely event I need to cancel the project due to extraordinary circumstances (e.g. bereavement, grave illness, family crisis) before I start the work, I will let you know by email as soon as possible, I will refund the booking deposit and will help you find another editor to take over the editing.
  4. In the very unlikely event I need to cancel the project due to extraordinary circumstances (e.g. bereavement, grave illness, family crisis) after I start the work, I will let you know by email as soon as possible, I will refund the booking deposit minus the charge of the work done so far and will help you find another editor to take over the editing. I will send you my edits.

CANCELLATION FEES

  1. Cancellation during the project: if you cancel the contract during the project, I reserve the right to invoice 100% of the fee (minus any paid booking fee).
  2. Cancellation before starting the project: if you cancel the contract with less than two weeks’ notice, I reserve the right to invoice 100% of the fee (minus any paid booking fee). If you cancel the contract with more than two weeks’ notice, I will not refund the booking fee.

6. Confidentiality information

  1. I will treat your work as confidential.
  2. I will never share, distribute or upload your work to third parties unless you have granted me written permission to do so.
  3. I use OneDrive and Proton Drive as cloud storage. Please check my Privacy Policy about how your data is treated.
  4. Under Swiss law, I am not obligated to keep detailed bookkeeping as a sole proprietorship earning under a certain yearly income. However, I will keep on record necessary information, such as contact details, for a year after the completion of the project.
  5. You and I can discuss the signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement, should your project require it.

7. Copyright

  1. You own the work you have sent to me.
  2. The content created by me during the editing project will be owned by you once I have received the full payment.
  3. You do not hold me responsible for any claims, liabilities or expenses arising from copyright claims with respect to your work.

8. Legal

  1. My terms are subject to Swiss law.
  2. You and I agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the Swiss courts.

9. Privacy

  1. Please refer to my Privacy Policy.
  2. The following regulations are relevant:
    • New Federal Act on Data Protection (nFADP) (Switzerland)
    • General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (European Union)
    • Comparison table of the main differences between the nFADP and the GDPR (in French)

10. Disclaimer

  • Due to the nature of the editing work, I cannot promise a 100% error-free, perfect work. I do aim for excellence.
  • I am not responsible for the rejection of the edited work by any journal.
  • I am not responsible for plagiarism in your work; you are responsible for making sure that your references are cited properly.
  • I am not responsible to any changes you or anyone else makes to the edited document after I have sent it to you.
  • I am not responsible for missed deadlines if you send me the incomplete or/and late documents.
  • I cannot guarantee compatibility with every software.
  • I am not responsible for delays caused by extraordinary circumstances.