Our qualified editors look at your language from every angle to make sure it resonates with your audience. Request a free proofreading sample or consultation on what your project needs to succeed.
Writing in a clear, crisp and consistent way is surprisingly hard. Throw complex ideas and multiple authors into the mix, and it becomes even harder. It’s all too easy to end up with convoluted language, an inconsistent tone of voice and grammatical errors – all of which dilute your message.
Our professional editing service will sharpen your copy so it has a real impact on your audience. Our native English-speaking editors look at all aspects of your text, from sentence structure and readability to word choice and tone of voice. We tackle even the most complex subject matter and make your copy work hard to achieve your goals.
Our track record speaks for itself: we’ve edited thousands of documents written by native and non-native authors alike. We relish the challenge of turning jargon-heavy copy into natural, accessible English.
On the practical side of things, we’re as focused as an in-house editing team but with the flexibility of an external supplier, so transforming your copy needn’t be a stress or a time sink. Whatever the project, we fit into your production process seamlessly to meet your needs as efficiently, creatively and thoughtfully as we can.
Editing is a hands-on review of the language in your document. An expert editor looks at your writing from every angle – from your style and tone to the coherence of your structure, ideas and narrative.
Copyeditors usually work on the raw material before a document has gone to a designer, typesetter or publisher. This means changes can be implemented before the text is laid out, avoiding time-consuming adjustments later on.
Editing is often confused with proofreading, but the two are not the same. Proofreading is about ironing out the final creases before a document is published. Copyediting is a major overhaul; proofreading a final polish. Where budget and timings allow, we work in two phases: editing first, then proofreading once the document is in its final form.
Alongside professional editing services, we offer reference-checking, which ensures that your bibliography or reference list is consistent, complete and formatted in line with your chosen referencing style. We can also provide a specialist indexing service.
If your document has already been edited and you’re simply looking for a final polish, check out our professional proofreading services. For many projects, we provide both copyediting and proofreading, with or without a design stage in between.
Our editors improve all aspects of your language, including:
| 0 to 5,000 words | 1–2 working days |
|---|---|
| 5,001 to 10,000 words | 2–3 working days |
| 10,001 to 20,000 words | 4–5 working days |
| 20,001–50,000 words | 5–10 working days |
| 50,000+ words | to be agreed |
The estimated turnaround times below will give you a sense of how long copyediting will take. If you have a specific deadline to meet let us know – we’ll always do our best to fit in with your timings.
The secret to making our clients happy? Our team. We love what we do – which is probably why we excel at it. With our in-house team of experts and a wider network of specialists, we get the very best talent on your project.
‘We have worked with the company for many years now. We have always found their service first class. Effective communication, prompt delivery of materials at agreed deadlines and excellent proofreading that has saved us hours of work.’
Tate & Clayburn are very reactive and we have been impressed by their professionalism and diligence in working on our texts. The result more than met our expectations and those of our client.
Tate & Clayburn are very reactive and we have been impressed by their professionalism and diligence in working on our texts. The result more than met our expectations and those of our client.
We’re used to absorbing complex style guides in a flash. Just send us your guidelines and we’ll make sure your document adheres to these.
The work and personal data you share with us are treated as strictly confidential. All our expert editors are fully vetted and have signed a contract and non-disclosure agreement. We never share your details or documents with third parties, and we delete data once they are no longer needed. To find out more, please see our privacy policy.
We can usually edit or proofread short documents in as little as 24 hours. Let us know your ideal turnaround time and we’ll do our absolute best to meet it.
All varieties! We most commonly work in British, American, Canadian and Australian English, but we’ll adapt to whatever preferences you have.
We work with all kinds of files. We most commonly edit and proofread in MS Word as changes can be easily tracked, but we also work in Google Docs, PDFs, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, LaTeX, InDesign and most other file types that are sent our way.
We’ve helped hundreds of academic clients in a wide range of fields to publish their research. When we’re editing academic writing, our focus is on ensuring the language is clear and accessible. That said, we work with subject matter experts if further expertise is needed. Tell us about your subject area, and we’ll find the very best editor for the job.
Once we’ve finished editing or proofreading your document, we’ll send it back in the format of your choice. If it’s a file type that supports tracked changes (such as MS Word or Google Docs), our suggestions and comments will be clearly marked up in the document. Of course, if you have any questions after we’ve sent you the final document, we’re more than happy to answer them.
We do everything we possibly can to correct all errors in a document. We hire only experienced editors and proofreaders with a keen eye for detail, and we have a strict quality assurance policy in place. We’re also certified for compliance with globally recognised quality management standard ISO 9001:2015, which means we place customer satisfaction and quality at the heart of everything we do. Despite all of this, human error is still possible and we can’t guarantee 100% accuracy. Read more about our approach to quality.
We calculate the cost of editing and proofreading based on the number of words in your document and the amount of work involved (for example, a heavy copyedit will cost more than a light proofread as more work is involved in reworking the document). Send us your document and deadline (or a sample of your text and the total word count) and we’ll get back to you with a free, speedy and precise quote. If you’re not sure whether you need our editing or proofreading service, we’ll be happy to advise.
All documents you send us are edited by humans, not machines. AI tools are impressive but they cannot rival the quality, thoughtfulness and confidentiality of work by human editors. We use handy, non-AI-driven editing tools that act as an extra safety net to pick up mistakes – but the core work is always done by a human editor.
Don’t worry in the least! For most of our academic clients, we liaise directly with the finance department to sort out the admin, so you can focus on the research side of things. If you put us in touch with the relevant team, we’ll work through the supplier registration, quoting and invoicing process with them. Just let us know how you prefer to work and we’ll fit in with you.
Generally speaking, editing, copyediting and copy-editing are different terms for the same service: they all aim to take your text to the next level. That said, we also offer more extensive editing services for when your project needs a complete rethink. To discuss all the editorial magic we can work on your document, get in touch for a free consultation.
Our human experts go through a rigorous vetting process and have vast experience.
We put customer service at the heart of everything we do and continually strive to improve.
We fit into your schedule without compromising on quality.
