Every piece of work should be copy edited at some point, prior to being proofread. Our copy editing service includes all the aspects of our proofreading service supplemented by further editing of language, style, and structure:
- Full proofreading
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- Spelling: Spell checkers don’t catch everything! We ensure there are no spelling mistakes. We also apply British or American English, as requested, throughout.
- Punctuation: Issues here can completely alter the meaning of the text, so getting this right is very important to making your text clear and accurate and allowing it to flow properly.
- Grammar: As with spelling, it takes very few grammar errors to undermine the quality of your writing. We make sure there are none, so that your writing is accurate and easy to read.
- Consistency in text and styles: A lack of consistency can make your work appear confused or poorly compiled. We check that your text is consistent in terms of acronyms, abbreviations, conventions, italics, styles, fonts and layout.
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- Sentence construction: Your sentences are the fundamental building blocks of your argument. We make sure they are clear and concise and say exactly what you want them to.
- Word and phrase choice: Using the correct language is vital for ensuring clarity of meaning and for giving your text the right tone for your purpose. We offer more suitable alternative phrasing to help you achieve this.
- Resolving ambiguity: To guarantee that your full meaning comes across (and there are no unfortunate connotations you didn’t notice), we flag ambiguous phrases and suggest ways to clarify them.
- Structure and logic: We ensure that the content is logically structured and consistent and flows smoothly.
- Relevance and clarity: We make sure there is no repetitive or redundant material that could detract from the quality of your writing or the clarity of your argument.
- Terminology: We confirm that your use of terminology is consistent and follows the required standards and conventions.
- Referencing: We check that references are accurate and properly laid out in the text, and that tables and figures are suitably labelled and cross-referenced.
- Bibliography: We correct all spelling mistakes in the bibliography.*
*Copy editing does not include correcting the formatting style of the bibliography (i.e. APA etc.) or checking the accuracy of the information in each entry, such as the publication year. We provide this as an additional separate service.
