medical proofreading services Archives

How to Get the Best Out of Your Medical Proofreading and Editing Service?

It’s necessary to review your work before submitting to the journal. Now, you can either request your department head or a colleague to review your manuscript or take help of the professional medical editing and proofreading services. For many researchers, such professional medical proofreading services are economical because it enhances the quality of the research document.

But, before you submit your document to the professional editing and proofreading services, look at these suggestions on how to get the best out of their service:

Send your best document:

Professional editors are busy people. They have to pay attention to other’s documents as well and can devote only a part of their time to yours. So, it is good if you fix everything you can in the document before giving it to the editor. For example, missing/extra spaces, heading style, and consistency of the references’ list. This will help the editor stay focused and address the issues you can’t.

Tell your issues in advance:

If you have any issue with the terminology used in the document or the structure of the sentences, inform your editors in advance. This way the editor won’t waste his time looking for the problems but offer you the solution straight away.

Ask questions:

Majority of the medical editing services offer a facility to address the author’s questions regarding the edited document. Use this facility to seek answers to your queries and to learn from the editor. This will help you prepare your future manuscripts.

Provide the necessary information:

Give your editor all the information he needs for an effective edit. For example, the format of the document as per the journal guidelines, the name of your target journal, the recommended word count, and your contribution to the manuscript.

Provide your feedback:

If the editor misunderstood a technical term or has not adhered to certain conventions of your field, write to him about this. The editors welcome the suggestions from the authors. Also, if you do not agree with the changes he made, communicate such concerns to him. This will help him clarify why he made the change and you may agree with his logical explanation.

However, don’t criticise the editor even if you don’t agree with his viewpoint. If you appreciate his work, tell the editor about it. Consequently, he will take extra care to give a consistently good service to you in the future.

Remember, preparing a manuscript is a continuous process. It may not be possible to prepare publication-ready document after just one round of editing. Therefore, view your relationship with the editor as long-term and collaborative rather than a onetime transaction. Cooperate with your editor through multiple rounds of edits to get the best results. Finally, you can also take the help of your editor to answer the comments or the questions of the peer reviewers after submission.

Scientific Communication

How to Get Quality Proofreading Services Within Your Budget?

Every research paper you write should be proofread before it reaches its target audience. With the many proofreading services available, there is no reason not to seek their professional help and submit a flawlessly finished document. However, the price varies, and so does the quality.

So, here we guide you on how to find a reputable medical proofreading company without burning a hole in your pocket. Consider the following factors to take the right decision:

1) The type of document you have

Some proofreaders charge the same fee irrespective of the kind of document you submit. Others break their services into categories. They offer specialized proofreading services for different document types including case reports, journal articles, short communications, and newsletters.

2) Cost of the proofreading service if you need it quickly

The price of the proofreading service also varies depending on how quickly you want your document back. Some companies offer a turnaround period of 24 hours while some do not have a definite time period. They deliver your document whenever it is done. Obviously, a fast turnaround time will raise the price. So, always submit your document well before your deadline, so you need not hurry and spend more on the medical proofreading services.

3) Cost of the proofreading service if you pay by the hour

With a proofreader who charges by the hour, you can’t estimate the total cost of the service until the job has been finished. As a result, you don’t get a chance to choose the best value.

4) Cost of the proofreading service if you pay by the word

With a proofreader who charges by the number of words or the pages, it’s easier to know the cost of the service beforehand. Thus, you can choose the one who fits in your budget.

5) Refund policy

Some medical proofreading companies will not refund your money if you are dissatisfied with their work while others have a refund policy. Check with the company you choose about their refund policy before hiring their services.

6) An option of a free quote

Since some proofreaders charge by the hour and some by the word, comparing their prices becomes difficult. It requires you to request a quote from the different companies, compare, and get a definitive price. However, the process gets simpler if you get a “free quote” option on the service page of your chosen company. You can utilize this option before placing your order.

Last, pricing is just one factor while choosing the right medical proofreading service for your research document. The above factors can help you choose the right service economically. However, the quality of the proofreading service, expertise and experience of the proofreaders, the privacy of your data, and the customer support are other factors you must consider before handing your hard work in the hands of others.

Never compromise on the quality of your finished document at the cost of a few cents.

Scientific Communication

Why should I Proofread my Research Paper?

Many authors, especially those who are good at writing often ask, “What is wrong with my scientific writing?” In other words, they intend to ask “Why should I proofread my paper?”

That means they are still not convinced over the significance of proofreading their medical paper. For them, medical proofreading is for the novice authors who make many mistakes while writing their research papers.

This is obvious to them because they are good writers and see no flaws in their writing. However, whether novice or experienced, authors often write sentences with missing articles (a, an, the) or use long sentences in their document. Though these are not mistakes by themselves but may cause the journal editor to misunderstand your document, get frustrated, and reject it.

Also, the word counts are very important to the publication process. So, if you proofread your paper, you can eliminate many “speed bumps” of the English language, simplify your document and present your best.

Here is the four-step process to proofread your paper effectively:

1) First step

Spell check – it is a quick and thorough read on your paper to detect and correct any spelling mistakes, any missing article, delete extra spaces or add where there are no space between words, correct punctuation mistakes, etc.

2) Second step

Check whether you have followed the desired word limit recommended by your target journal. Reduce the word count wherever possible. Replace long phrases with a single word. Split the long sentences into shorter sentences. For example, “On the other hand…” can be replaced with a single word, “however”.
Ensure you have defined all the abbreviations and acronyms used in the paper. Remove all the unnecessary abbreviations.
Verify all the figures and tables, their titles, and references
Check for the words used whether they can be replaced by a better synonym. For example, you can replace the word “amount” by “number” to convey the meaning of the text in a better way.
Check the tense of each sentence in the document whether it’s consistent

3) Third step

Read the document word-by-word and check the flow of the information whether it’s in a logical order.

4) Fourth step

Verify that all the references are present and all the presented facts are accurate. Remove any false data you may have written by mistake.

Therefore, mistakes while writing can slip through even you are good at writing. Devote as much time to proofread your medical paper as you devoted to write it. Your aim should be to reduce all those things in the paper which might cause the reviewer to misunderstand or ignore your document. Don’t let your relevant and important research study get lost on account of these amendable “speed bumps.”

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