Filling Your Proofreading Workspace with Tools for Success
Your proofreading workspace should, of course, be designed in a way that enables you to work efficiently during those hours you have to dedicate to proofreading. Working on-screen as most modern freelance proofreaders do means that you will not need a lot of desk space, but you will need a relatively fast and completely reliable computer with a screen of a decent size. A computer that is operating slowly or that has little random access memory (generally known as RAM) may have troubles keeping up with complex layouts and tracked changes in word processing programs, while a small screen will make it very difficult to see details in the documents you work on, painful to read and write marginal comments that are necessarily smaller than the main text and impossible to work in a split-screen mode for comparative checking. You can save both your eyes from strain and your time by using a large screen of a high quality, or by using two screens if possible, whether they are attached to one computer or two.
Your computer will need to have all the programs and features required for your work. You will almost certainly need a relatively new version of Microsoft Word since many academic and scientific authors work in that program, and you will also need to install any other software (such as the LaTeX document preparation system) that you may use for editing the articles you proofread. Your computer should have a reliable connection to the internet for receiving and returning documents, whether you do that via drop boxes, file transfer protocol (usually called FTP), email attachments or any other electronic means. You will also find the internet extremely helpful for looking up words and concepts as you work, particularly when you are dealing with a topic that is not your specialty. Not only will the internet provide you with access to other papers and abstracts in a wide variety of fields and disciplines, but many dictionaries are now available online, a good number of them with open (free) access, and these can be extremely helpful supplements to whatever printed dictionaries you may own, especially when trying to track down spelling variants and unusual word uses. Since you will very likely be visiting a great many web sites of various kinds to check information, up-to-date antivirus software is essential.
If you set up your workspace effectively with an appropriate computer and internet access, the dictionaries, style guides and other resources you will need close by, a comfortable chair set at the right height and angle, and perhaps even a little decoration that inspires you, you may find that it becomes not just a place in which to get your work done as efficiently as possible, but a retreat of sorts that allows you to escape from other demands upon your time, clear your mind of mundane worries and focus with pleasure upon the challenges of the work you enjoy.
We are recruiting Proofreaders, Editors and Copyproofreaders
We are currently seeking experienced proofreaders who are available to proofread professional documents written by non-native English-speaking academic staff from all over the world.
This is a good opportunity for people who wish to supplement their income while working from home in their free time, for instance parents who have spare time available when looking after their children or retired professors/lecturers/scientists who still wish to be connected to their field of expertise while earning additional income.
Only a native English speaker educated to a master’s or PhD level should apply for this position and it is necessary to be familiar with academic and scientific reference styles, such as Harvard referencing, APA style, Chicago referencing, Vancouver style, AMA style, MLA style and many others.
Why Our Editing and Proofreading Services?
At Proof-Reading-Service.com we offer the highest quality journal article editing, phd thesis editing and proofreading services via our large and extremely dedicated team of academic and scientific professionals. All of our proofreaders are native speakers of English who have earned their own postgraduate degrees, and their areas of specialisation cover such a wide range of disciplines that we are able to help our international clientele with research editing to improve and perfect all kinds of academic manuscripts for successful publication. Many of the carefully trained members of our expert editing and proofreading team work predominantly on articles intended for publication in scholarly journals, applying painstaking journal editing standards to ensure that the references and formatting used in each paper are in conformity with the journal’s instructions for authors and to correct any grammar, spelling, punctuation or simple typing errors. In this way, we enable our clients to report their research in the clear and accurate ways required to impress acquisitions proofreaders and achieve publication.
Our scientific proofreading services for the authors of a wide variety of scientific journal papers are especially popular, but we also offer manuscript proofreading services and have the experience and expertise to proofread and edit manuscripts in all scholarly disciplines, as well as beyond them. We have team members who specialise in medical proofreading services, and some of our experts dedicate their time exclusively to PhD proofreading and master’s proofreading, offering research students the opportunity to improve their use of formatting and language through the most exacting PhD thesis editing and dissertation proofreading practices. Whether you are preparing a conference paper for presentation, polishing a progress report to share with colleagues, or facing the daunting task of editing and perfecting any kind of scholarly document for publication, a qualified member of our professional team can provide invaluable assistance and give you greater confidence in your written work.
If you are in the process of preparing an article for an academic or scientific journal, or planning one for the near future, you may well be interested in a new book, Guide to Journal Publication, which is available on our Tips and Advice on Publishing Research in Journals website.
