Academic Copy Editing
We work with graduate students, post-docs, faculty, and administrators to help improve their academic writing skills and increase their chances of success, regardless of where they are in the writing process. We understand the pressure academics face to publish and obtain scholarships and support. Our Academic Copy Editing (ACE) service provides copy-editing services for theses, dissertations, books, articles for publication, grant applications, reports, and career documents at competitive rates.
Our experienced ACE staff can help make your final-stage documents submission-ready by correcting sentence structure, grammar, spelling, and punctuation. We aim to be transparent and instructive while being efficient, providing you with the tools you need to improve your academic writing.
Instructions
Cost
There is a subsidized fee of $2.50 per double-spaced page for current U of A students and post-docs. For other clients, our fees start at $5.50 per double-spaced page. Text should be in 12-point font with a one-inch margin. Please note we may charge a minimum fee to edit shorter documents.
Note: We do not edit documents that will be submitted to be graded for a class.
Submit Your Request
To use our service, submit your request using the link below. You will be prompted to upload your file within the request form. Please submit a clean copy of the document without mark-up or feedback. Ensure that the name of your file follows this format: LAST NAME_EDITING REQUEST.
Project Cost + Time Estimates
Within two business days, we will respond to your request with project cost and time estimates. If your document is an article for publication, some of the items may not apply.
Editing + Feedback
An editor will provide you with a revised document with suggested changes tracked and comments provided in the margin. We will also provide you with feedback on areas to help you improve your writing skills.
If you have any additional questions or concerns, please read through "Conditions and Parameters" and contact us at editing@ualberta.ca with any further questions. Any requests for copy editing or estimates must be submitted through the Google form.
University of Alberta Students, Staff, and Faculty
- Once you have determined that your document fits the criteria for our service, please submit your request using the link below, uploading the file when prompted within the request form. Your file should be a double-spaced WORD document and follow the naming format LAST NAME_EDITING REQUEST. Include your supervisor's name and email address.'
- One of our writing advisors will look over your document, the type and number of errors, and make a determination of suitability - whether the writing is at a level that does not require major rewriting but would benefit from some revision and correction.
- If the document does fit the criteria, we will send you fee and time estimates. If the document does not fit our editing service, we will recommend other options to help you move forward with your writing.
- Once you have agreed to the fee and confirmed that you would like us to proceed, we will send your supervisor a brief note informing them of our intent to work with you.
- We will make revisions and corrections, transparently tracking them in the document for your acceptance or rejection. We will also make comments indicating confusion, ambiguity, or a teaching point. If we have concerns with the writing level or encounter more significant problems than expected, we will contact you and suggest options.
- You will be sent the document to look over and accept or reject the changes and consider our suggestions as you see fit.
- If your document is over 25 pages, our writing advisor will meet with you, if desired, for a 45-minute post-evaluation:
- to explain and answer questions
- to clarify comments if necessary
- to recommend further support/study
- While our expertise is in writing, editing, and preparing academic papers, we are not experts in your particular discipline. We will not address issues of content other than as to how they relate to clear communication.
- We focus on grammatical and punctuation errors, logical and conceptual inconsistencies, and unclear communication.
- We will help develop your work, but we are not making your document publication-ready. We are also not rewriting your document. In all likelihood, you will have to do more polishing work on your document when we return it to you. If you are submitting a document for publication, we are certainly willing to be more intrusive and make more significant changes as per your request.
- We will help you improve your document, but always remember it is your work and you are responsible for it.
- Please be aware that we are not ensuring that your document adheres to the Code of Student Behaviour or GPS formatting. While we are familiar with handling citations in academic writing, we do not specialize in any one citation style. In both cases, that is your job. However, we are willing to discuss issues of citation and source use as they arise or specifically at your request.
Employees, Students
Academic Support