It is important that academic documents you submit for assessment reflect your own work. To make sure that my proofreading does not compromise this you need to read my terms and conditions below.
By submitting a piece of writing to me for proofreading you are confirming that you have read, complied with and agree to keep to these terms and conditions. If you have any queries about them please give me a call or email me – you may wish to discuss them with your tutor as well.
Information/terms and conditions for proofreading students’ work
My proofreading service includes:
- Checking and correcting misspelling and incorrect punctuation using track changes in Word documents so that you can accept or reject every individual amendment, or using highlighting and sticky notes in PDFs, which you’ll then have to manually transfer to the file.
- Ensuring that the work follows the conventions of grammar and syntax used in written English (including in any footnotes, endnotes or appendices). This can include rewording parts of a sentence or a whole sentence in order to clarify your English, using US or UK spellings, as appropriate.
- Making notes (using comments balloons/bubbles) for you where the meaning of the text is unclear or confusing. The notes will outline the problem so that you can then amend the text. The reason I don’t rewrite these sections is that I could accidentally change the content/meaning as I may not be an expert in the field you’re writing about, and it could also raise potential collusion or plagiarism issues.
- Identifying the incorrect use of words and suggesting alternatives or the need for you to investigate alternatives. However, this does not mean that I make changes to make the work more academically correct.
- Making work more ‘academic’ or ‘professional’ in style (but not in terms of content).
- Ensuring consistency in terms of spelling (e.g. hyphenation or spelling choice when two options are correct e.g. focusing/focussing), punctuation, capitalisation and other aspects of style, for example using double or single quote marks and using e.g., etc. and i.e. consistently. I will also ensure consistency of formatting and that chapter, table and figure numbering is sequential and correct but I will not create these elements from scratch.
- Suggesting ways of shortening very long sentences or dividing very long paragraphs but not cutting the overall word/page count of the work.
- Noting errors in the punctuation and/or format of in-text quotes but not correcting them, as quotes need to exactly match the original, unless they are translations made by you (which you should state in the work), in which case I will make the amendments using track changes.
- Checking references for spelling errors in the entries, but not that they adhere to a particular referencing style or cross-checking the details with any external sources, or researching them to add missing information.
Where I have provided comments for you to rewrite certain sections, my initial quote includes my checking your corrections to these sections. However, I will only check those specific sections, so you must make the amendments/corrections using track changes or by highlighting the text so that I can easily locate the updated text. This service is provided only once, so it is advisable for you to work through the entire file and then send it to me in one go, along with any queries you may have.
It is your responsibility to:
- Clarify if you want –ise or –ize spellings and what reference system you’re using prior to me starting the work.
- Check that your university/college/other academic institution allows you to use the services of a professional proofreader. Some universities prohibit the use of a professional proofreading service by students or have very strict rules relating to the work a proofreader can do, and a breach of any such rule could result in very serious consequences for you. If your university has set guidelines, please send them to me prior to starting the work so that I can ensure I don’t contravene the rules and inadvertently get you into trouble with your academic institution.
- Ensure that, where applicable, you comply with all rules and requirements relating to using a professional proofreader (e.g. declaring your use of a proofreader on your submitted work).
- Send the work to me by the agreed time and date. If you submit the work later than expected, I have the right to change the time and/or date that I will return the work to you by.
- Pay my fee (in sterling) into my bank account within seven days of the invoice date if:
- You use an academic institution email address to submit your work to me, or
- I am able to contact your tutor/supervisor.
Note: If you use a private email address, and do not give me contact details for your tutor, payment will be due before I can start the work.
Further notes
- The mark that you are awarded by your university/college is not within my control and I cannot be held legally responsible for a lower than expected mark in relation to any material proofread by me.
- I will not knowingly proofread your document in any way that contravenes your academic institution’s rules concerning plagiarism and cheating nor do I include comments or suggestions on the academic content of your work. This means that, for example, I will not rewrite your text, add text from anyone else’s work into your document, paraphrase anyone else’s work or researched sources, or make any other changes that would constitute plagiarism.
- If you supply a sample of your work for me to base my quotation on, but then the overall text is of a much poorer standard than the sample text, I may either adjust the quote accordingly or decline the work.
- I will not pass the work to a third party or discuss your studies with anyone else. However, I will keep the work on file and if your university/academic institution requests a copy from me, I will send them the exact same file I returned to you. For this reason, I need to know the name and email address of your tutor/supervisor so I know that any such requests are legitimate.
Important – by submitting work to me for proofreading you are confirming that you have read and accepted the above terms and conditions.
Last revised: 1 February 2017
A downloadable copy of these Terms and Conditions is also available.