ACADEMIC WRITING SUPPORT

For over twenty years, I have provided academic writing assistance to students, postdocs, and professors. As a native English speaker and multilingual translator, I specialize in enabling talented academics to express complex ideas clearly.

I offer proofreading, editing and writing support for all academic texts, including grants and conference applications. I have experience in fields such as: engineering, sociology, psychology, education, law, history, economics, physiology, medicine, philosophy, literature, and linguistics.

I am a PhD Candidate and instructor in the English Department at the University of Illinois, Chicago in their Program for Writers.

My Master’s degree is in Linguistics; you are welcome to read my Master’s thesis here. Note that I was studying at a French-language university so the landing page for the link and some preamble in the thesis are written in French; the thesis itself is written in English.

RATES FOR ACADEMIC TEXTS

What is language-level editing?

Language-level editing includes anything that touches directly on the text itself, sentence by sentence, including copy editing, line editing, and proofreading.

Here I will make notes or suggestions in the text using comments or a track changes function (as found in MS Word or Google Docs). I will comment if the tone is consistent, if certain passages are hard to understand, and if there are errors or irregularities in terms of grammar or punctuation. These notes are conditioned by the objectives of the writing. If you like, I can also offer suggested rewrites of some of your sentences; this is only done if I am charging by the hour and best if we are working together on Zoom or in person.

For standard language-level editing of academic texts, I charge 4.5 cents American a word for the first read. (Multiply your word count by US$0.045.) This assumes that your text is written at or about the level of an English native speaker; it also assumes a non-urgent turnaround, i.e., something on the order of two or three weeks from the time I receive the text and I return it to you. If you need a quicker turnaround, I have to charge extra. Likewise, if your text is not written at or near the level of an English native speaker, it is often best that I charge by the hour, at least until we have established a working relationship. For this and certain other projects, it might be best to work together (in person or via Zoom, etc.); this will ensure that I do not misunderstand your intentions with the text. My basic rate is US$50 per hour; this may be lower if you hire me for more work and may be higher if you need the work to be done urgently, i.e., if you want me to prioritize working with you over other work I must do.

For asynchronous developmental editing, I charge 2.5 cents a word. (Multiply your word count by $0.025.)

What do you charge for revisions?

For all lengths of text, if you want me to take a second look after you have made relatively minor corrections, I charge one cent a word. (Multiply your word count by US$0.01.) The original rate applies for new sections or if you add substantially to it in a further version. If you ask for me to look at further revisions (i.e., 3rd or 4th), I charge 0.5 cents American a word for each reread. (Multiply your word count by US$0.005.) The lower rate applies if you have added sentences here and there but the higher rate applies where you have added whole paragraphs or have substantially changed what I've looked at before.