Services

The standard service offered by Division One Academic and Language Services is to proof-read academic manuscripts. 

What's included?

We assume that the source document can be provided in a Microsoft Word-compatible format.  Then the Track Changes feature will be implemented to clearly identify any changes made or comments inserted.  You, the client, can then choose to accept or reject each change*. 

• Grammatical and spelling errors will be corrected. 
  EXAMPLE:  "as showed in Figure 7" would be corrected to, "as shown in Figure 7". 
  EXAMPLE:  "fein chemicals" would be corrected to "fine chemicals". 
  
• Unidiomatic usage will be corrected. 
  EXAMPLE:  "And too greatly the curve arose then from low initial level." might become (depending on context), "Furthermore, the curve then rose too much above its low initial level."
• Unconventional usage will be queried. 
  EXAMPLE:  "These results were miraculous."
• Where a word, phrase or sentence is ambiguous or unclear, this will be highlighted;  if possible one or more suggestions for improvement will be made, otherwise it will be queried. 
  EXAMPLE:  the text states, "We divided the data 50% for the next step";  a suggested amendment might be (depending on context), "We took 50% of the data for the next step"
  EXAMPLE:  "We cabbage the data into twice." would be queried. 
  

* NOTE:  In the unlikely event that all recommended amendments are retained by the Client, and queries have likewise been dealt with by the Client, but the manuscript is still suggested to have a problem by journal or conference editorial staff, Division One Academic and Language Services will address this immediately at no extra cost.  However, this guarantee may not apply if the Client has chosen not to retain recommended amendments, or has ignored queries and suggestions made. 

What's not included?

• Errors of scientific technique or analysis will generally not be looked for or annotated. 
  EXAMPLE:  the text states, "we used bathroom scales to measure 100-gram portions of the mixture". 
• Logical inconsistencies are not guaranteed to be found or corrected;  however, if noticed, they will be at least queried, and possibly a suggested amendment provided, for the convenience of the client. 
  EXAMPLE:  a graph depicts a downward trend, but the accompanying text refers to an "upward trend" in the figure. 

Manuscripts in which a significant percentage of the text is incomprehensible cannot be amended by the standard service, as several iterations would be required to completely address the issues.  Handling of such texts is subject to negotiation. 

Proof-reading or copy-editing

As indicated above, the standard service is described as proof-reading. However, some elements of copy-editing are also included.  This process is also sometimes referred to as language editing, especially with reference to the correction of manuscripts drafted by non-native speakers of English. 
This is discussed further on the Q & A page.

 Example: