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Clarity in Communication

Essay Services

Publishing houses generally know what they can expect from my work. They know what I do, and what I don't do. I also work on academic essays for people who lack this background. Clients expecting more than they've asked or expecting me to work outside my role proved a challenge from early on, so I wrote this document to tell you what to expect.

My job is essentially to tidy up your work. There is no one right way to write English. What I will do is check your syntax, spelling, references and so on.

Mistakes are inevitable, which is why a published book will generally have been checked on two or three occasions, often by more than one person. It will be edited in manuscript, checked in manuscript (often by more than one person), (re)checked by the author, keyed by a printer (and often checked by the printer), checked again at galley proof stage (often by more than one person), printed, and then checked again at page proof stage (almost invariably by more than one person).

If this sounds complex and excessive, I should tell you that I have actually simplified the process. Books are written and published by humans - all of whom make mistakes.

Before you send me a paper, there are some things that you can do that will make my life easier and keep my bill down.

1) Run your text through a spelling and grammar check. Pretty well all commercial word-processing software will allow you to do this, but remember it will not always be right. It uses a set of algorithms to decide if a sentence is acceptable or not. It will at least make sure you have corrected simple typographical errors (I don't expect to be looking for simple spelling mistakes), but there are particular things to look out for:

• Passive and active voice - generally, you should be using the active voice. In academic essays in particular you can safely use the passive. There is clarity and there is dumbing down.
• 'That' or 'which' - the most popular software package on the market, the one most commonly found on university computers, has a habit of trying to change 'which' to 'that'. This is actually a point of linguistic contention. I generally leave it alone. It's not something you are likely to find yourself losing marks over.
• Commas are a point that the references on the English language agree are often abused, but even Robert Ritter in The Oxford Guide to Style says 'there is a great deal of acceptable variation in their use'. Think about them, but don't give yourself a headache.
• Long sentences - most software uses an algorithm to calculate how complex a sentence is. Part of this algorithm takes into account the length of the sentence. Academic essays can include longer sentences than you would find elsewhere, but if the sense is unclear because of the length of a sentence, consider revising it.

2) Check your references:

• I will try to ensure that everything you cite is referenced, but this can be a nuisance when I have to screen-read a document and keep scrolling. Ideally, you should put references in a separate file. You can always paste them back in to keep your page numbering straight later.
• Most essays will use the Harvard (author-date) or Vancouver (author-number) system. If you're using another system, I need to know about it. Ideally you should attach a copy of whatever document you've been given to tell you how to reference properly. University departments have a nasty habit of making slight changes to the standard systems. I have seen in-house guidelines that are internally inconsistent. If you don't know which system you should be using, ask a tutor.
• If you are using footnotes, please number them. That way, if changes to pagination have to be made, the footnote will move automatically. If you don't do this, I am liable to change it unless instructed otherwise.

3) Give me time to check it. If I tell you a job will take 4 hours, you can't send it to me at 1 p.m. and expect it back for 5 p.m. I'm only human and have to take breaks. Depending on how my brain is functioning and what else I have to worry about this can range from ten minutes for coffee to two hours in the garden. If I can't take breaks the error rate increases - probably exponentially. Please do not send me something at 5 p.m. and expect it back the following morning. I may not even pick up my email. I won't charge you for breaks - only for the time I spend working.

4) If you can, post the document as hard copy. This is much easier for me to work with and reduces my error rate close to zero. Screenreading is tougher, takes longer, is more expensive and tends to result in more mistakes.

5) Remember that my job does not involve changing your style. In fact, it is quite the opposite. My job is to make sure that what you write is clear. If I change your style, an experienced essay-marker will spot it. They may well think you have plagiarized some else's essay - an offence much more serious than a grammatical error.

The text will probably not come back to you word perfect. I will have written a query sheet including comments and questions ranging from points where I might not be able to see what you are getting at and about the accuracy of quoted material to queries about the spelling of authors' names.

Modern word-processing software often tries to be 'helpful'. In particular it will change paragraph and other indents, switch default fonts and alter line spacing. The fact that I've changed it may well not prevent your software from changing it again, even if we are both using the same version of the same software.

With the best will in the world, I will also have probably made mistakes and missed things. The pass marks for the industry-approved courses for proofreading and copy-editing at the Publishing Training Centre are 65%, although I've passed tests at a higher standard for individual publishers. You will need to give it another check over.

My Specialisms

Environment & Development
Fiction & Literature
History
Natural History
Philosophy
Politics & Current Affairs
Psychology
Public Health
Religion
Social Policy