*NEW* PG's Tips blog: writing tips and advice

I welcome any project--small or large. Primarily, I deal with the editing of manuscripts intended for publication as communications and full papers in scientific journals, but I have also edited a number of other texts. To make my service valuable to you, I make every effort to return edited manuscripts to their authors within 14 days of receiving them.

Here's my ten-step plan for dealing with your manuscript:

1. Send your manuscript to me as an email attachment or by mail. Let me know which journal you will submit the manuscript to, and tell me how urgently you require the return of the edited manuscript (I have different rates depending on your deadline).

2. I will let you know by email within 24 hours that I have received the document. I will give you an estimate of how long it will take for me to edit it, as well as confirm the cost.

3. I will start editing the manuscript as soon as we are agreed on the timeline and cost. I will edit the text of the manuscript by making changes to the electronic copy (using MS Word, with the aid of the "Track Changes" function) or by hand ("red pen") with a paper copy. I will make suggestions for improvements to the figures, too, if I see anything untoward. In fact, I'll make suggestions to improve the entire document just as if I were refereeing it.

4. I will send you the edited manuscript--usually by email--by the deadline that we have agreed upon.

5. You amend the manuscript if necessary. I don't claim to be an expert on everything, so I might have changed things incorrectly, so it is important that you read through the document carefully.

6. Send the corrected version of the manuscript back to me, so that I may see how well it reads. Any extra editing that I do to this or any further draft version of the document will be for free. We can continue this process until we agree that the manuscript is in perfect shape.

7. Submit the manuscript to the journal whenever you are satisfied with the job that I have done. I will help you to write the cover letter if you like.

8. I will send to you an invoice detailing my editing costs, usually a month or so after I have returned the manuscript to you. I would be grateful if you could arrange for full payment to be made to me within two weeks of receiving this invoice.

9. Once you hear from the journal regarding the reviewers' comments, please contact me if they suggest any major changes to the text. If the changes are minor, by all means make them yourself, but I will help you, for free, to make any major changes to the text. If the reviewers suggest that the manuscript is publishable, but that you must conduct some further experiments, I will be happy to edit a revised manuscript, again for free. If the reviewers reject your manuscript only because the English is poor, then I will refund your money to you. If you decide to resubmit the manuscript elsewhere, I'll help you, again for free, as long as you haven't completely rewritten it.

10. When the galley proofs of your article arrive, please send them to me. I will check to see if the text and figures are presented logically and clearly. I will make a detailed list of changes that I believe the journal's editor should consider. This proofreading is a free service.

So, there you have it! You pay me a single fee and I will edit as many drafts of your manuscript as it takes to get it published.