Proofreading for postgraduate students

Having your thesis or dissertation professionally proofread ensures your work can be presented in its best possible light. Make sure the focus is on the quality of your work and not your written English!

Because your academic work is being assessed, some special conditions apply. I outline below what I will and will not do. Any rules your university has for the use of external proofreaders will override this list.

Before contacting me, check that your university allows you to use a professional proofreader. Some universities don't allow this, and others have very strict rules. Please contact me as early as possible to enquire about availability. I typically book work at least two weeks in advance, and I might not be able to help you if you give me less warning.
Alison's proofreading service comes highly recommended. It gave me the extra reassurance that the work I was submitting was the best it could be. She was able to turn around my work quickly and for a very reasonable fee too.

Birkbeck student

Initial enquiry

In your initial enquiry, please let me know
  • The nature of your work (e.g., MA dissertation in business studies)
  • Your expected word count
  • When you expect to send me your completed work
  • When you would like it to be returned
  • Your submission deadline
Make sure you allow enough time for me to proofread your work properly. Once I've returned your work, you'll need to allow yourself enough time to check and accept (or reject) changes and to deal with any comments I have made.    
Please send me a short (1–2 pages) sample of text that accurately reflects the quality of your work and an indication of how long (word count) you think your final document will be. This will help me to assess how long proofreading is likely to take.
If the final text is of a much lower standard than the sample, I may have to increase my fee and increase the time taken to deliver it or withdraw from the work altogether.
I will reply to your initial enquiry confirming whether I can proofread your work in the time available and quoting my price. I'll ask you to provide some further information and to confirm that you want to use my services. Once you've confirmed, I'll book the necessary time to proofread your work on the dates we've agreed.

What is included?

What I will do

  • Suggest corrections to spelling, grammar and punctuation in the main text, tables, figures, footnotes, endnotes and appendices (if agreed); this may include rephrasing part or all of a sentence to correct your English
  • Suggest corrections to typographical errors (typos)
  • Suggest corrections to incorrect word use (e.g., dependent/dependant, diffuse/defuse, there/they’re/their)
  • Check for inappropriate word use (e.g., informal contractions or gender-based language)
  • Ensure consistency in the application of your formatting and Word styles
  • Ensure consistency in spelling (e.g., use of -ise, or -ize endings), punctuation, use of capitals and use of hyphens
  • Ensure consistency in the formatting of your citations and your reference list
  • Update any table of contents to include changes in headings and pagination that are the result of my corrections
I will also highlight, but not correct
  • Parts of the text where the meaning isn't clear or is ambiguous
  • Whether all texts cited in the work are included in the references list (where you've provided this)
  • Repeated content that you might choose to delete
  • Obvious (to the general reader) errors in matters of fact, dates, book titles or quotations so you can check and correct them
  • Disparities between text and the content of tables or graphs so you can check your data and make corrections
All my amendments and comments will be made using tracked changes in Microsoft Word. You'll be able to accept or reject each change individually.

Payment

I'll quote a price before asking you to commit to using my services. This will either be a fixed price or a price per thousand words. This is based on the word count of the document when I receive it, rounded up to the next thousand.

If we haven't worked together before, I may ask you to pay some or all of my fee before I start work. I'll send you my invoice when I return your document. You must pay for the work in GBP by bank transfer within 14 days of the date of my invoice.

I retain the copyright in my corrections until my service has been paid for in full. That means you are not entitled to submit work including my corrections until after you have paid my invoice.

Sending me your work

You must send me your completed work by the date we've agreed.
If you're late sending me your work, I may not be able to proofread it before the date agreed. If I have a lot of work booked in and you send me your work late, I may not be able to fit it in at all. If you realise that you'll need longer to complete your work, please let me know as soon as possible so we can discuss the possibility of changing the timings.
Proofreading is the final stage in the production of any writing; the document you send me should represent the final version of your work.
Send me your work as a Word document, either by email or by using a service such as Dropbox.

Information you need to provide

  • Confirmation that your supervisor knows you're using a proofreader
  • Your supervisor’s name and email address. I won't normally need to contact them, and I'll let you know if I do so
  • The link to any guidance or rules your university expects proofreaders to follow
  • Your full name and address (this is a requirement from HMRC to check my tax liability)
  • Any university requirements or guidance on document format and layout

What I won't do

  • Check the accuracy of any content (e.g., quotations, title or publication details of any work referenced, accuracy of data)
  • Amend any images or charts that you've included
  • Check whether calculations or formulas are correct
  • Check that your argument is sound, or suggest changes to improve your argument
  • Add, remove, restructure or reorder paragraphs to improve your argument
  • Edit or paraphrase your work in any way with the intention of reducing or increasing the word count
  • Create or apply a formatting style from scratch
  • Create a table of contents or list of references
  • Check for plagiarism or paraphrase your work to avoid the appearance of plagiarism

Important notes

  • You are responsible for abiding by your university’s proofreading policy. If you don't keep to the rules, there could be very serious consequences for you.
  • I aim to help you to present your work in correct and consistent language. You are responsible for the academic content of your work. Any mark you are awarded is not within my control, and I'm not legally responsible if your mark is lower than you expected.
  • I will keep your work confidential. However, I will comply with any request from your university to send a copy of the proofread document, showing all the changes I've suggested.