Describing your ideas or results on paper in an appropriate manner is not an easy task, especially for non-native English speakers. In research, it often translates in publishing or not publishing a scientific discovery, while in business it may mean finding or losing a new client. My English Editing Service, with its three levels of document editing (Proofreading, Copyediting, Substantive editing), does just that: it helps you improve your writing by making it more concise, professional and effective in its purpose, without changing your ideas or the message behind them.
Proofreading
Copyediting
Substantive editing
Proofreading is considered as the lightest form of editing and last stage before a work is published. If we were to compare editing to the preparation of a cake proofreading would be the finishing touch like icing on the top or the cake’s decorations.
Copyediting is the most essential form of editing, equivalent to polishing the text. Every document should be copyedited to be published. Copyediting would be the essential ingredients of the cake, their relative proportion and order in which they are blended in.
Substantive editing is the most comprehensive form of editing. It involves evaluating a document in terms of overall structure and coherence of content. Substantive editing would be the structure of the cake, its layers and filling.
Proofreading thus involves:
- Correcting for punctuation (proper use of commas, semicolons, fullstops etc.) and grammar (subject and verb agreement);
- Correcting spelling mistakes (commonly misspelled words, usage mistakes, typos);
- Checking formatting (standardized format for dates and phonenumbers etc., conformance to style guidelines, conformance to the client’s choice of British or American English);
- Checking consistency (consistent capitalization and spelling throughout).
Copyediting thus involves:
- Correcting for punctuation (proper use of commas, semicolons, fullstops etc.) and grammar (subject and verb agreement);
- Correcting spelling mistakes (commonly misspelled words, usage mistakes, typos);
- Checking formatting (standardized format for dates and phonenumbers etc., conformance to style guidelines, conformance to the client’s choice of British or American English);
- Checking consistency (consistent capitalization and spelling throughout);
- Improving poor word choice;
- Checking for sentence structure errors (i.e. problems in parallelism, tense, and conjugations);
- Rearranging or rewriting sentences to remove passive voice, ambiguous references, awkward transitions, and wordiness.
Substantive editing thus includes:
- Correcting for punctuation (proper use of commas, semicolons, fullstops etc.) and grammar (subject and verb agreement);
- Correcting spelling mistakes (commonly misspelled words, usage mistakes, typos);
- Checking formatting (standardized format for dates and phonenumbers etc., conformance to style guidelines, conformance to the client’s choice of British or American English);
- Checking consistency (consistent capitalization and spelling throughout);
- Improving poor word choice;
- Checking for sentence structure errors (i.e. problems in parallelism, tense, and conjugations);
- Rearranging or rewriting sentences to remove passive voice, ambiguous references, awkward transitions, and wordiness;
- Improving structure and completeness;
- Improving flow of ideas and clarity.
This level is recommended for:
- Clients who feel confident in their writing but prefer a final check for minor editorial insights;
- Research papers requiring minor revision for grammar and spelling to be accepted for publication.
This level is recommended for:
- Clients who wish to fine-tune their document to achieve native English expression;
- Research papers requiring a comprehensive language editing revision to be accepted for publication.
This level is recommended for:
- Clients who wish their document to undergo a complete structural reorganization that may enhance flow and readability or, more in general, may improve the document’s overall comprehension.