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Working on Your Project

Submit Your Project With Confidence

You are a professional, and your work is professional...or at least it should be. Be sure to submit your projects on time, and ensure that they're of the highest quality. We enjoy working with academic language experts (the clue is in our name!) who deliver work that reflects this.

Meeting Deadlines

  • When you express interest in a project, we expect that you can meet the stated deadline. If you are interested but unable to commit to the deadline, let us know in a reply email (sometimes there is room for flexibility).
  • Once you have begun work, if you have an unforeseen delay, please let your managing editor know immediately so we can determine the next steps.

Formatting and Layout

  • We expect the target text to reflect the formatting of the source text (unless there are other formatting instructions). This type of formatting work is considered part of the original project fee and will not be further remunerated. 
  • Some projects include specific formatting instructions. In such cases, your job is to ensure that the text adheres to the formatting guidelines. This will often require you to carefully read a publisher’s or journal’s style guide and author guidelines. If you do not feel confident formatting according to the requested style guide, please do not express interest in the project. 
  • If information is missing (for example, an abstract or part of a reference entry), please add a comment informing the client that this is missing and needs to be added.

Questions and Clarifications on the Text

We value clear communication. If you have questions about your project, do not hesitate to reach out to your managing editor. 

  • Major issues or questions should be sent to your managing editor right away; minor or more particular issues should be noted in comments in the text. Major issues are defined as those that would prevent or hamper the continuation of your work until clarified.  
  • In general, questions on a particular word, phrase, or section of the text should be added as comments in the margins where they appear. (Issues for clarification should not simply be highlighted or noted in a list at the top of the document.) 
  • Leave intelligent queries, suggestions, and clarifications that can easily be addressed by the client where appropriate, i.e., comments that clearly present the problem and offer a potential solution. You may leave a general comment at the beginning of the paper with any overall comments or suggestions that apply to the text as a whole. *Please leave your comments in English unless otherwise stated.*
  • When leaving a comment in the text, take care to be respectful. Some of our preferred comments: "Please check if OK as edited/translated." “Consider changing this to X." "You may wish to clarify/move/emphasize/rephrase, etc.”
  • If there is a phrase or section in a translation that you find unclear and you decide to leave a comment, it can be helpful to paste in the sentence/phrase from the source text as well so the client can easily check against the original. 
  • Track changes should be used when editing.
  • When leaving comments in the text, please address the client/author directly and *not* the managing editor. Messages you send back and forth via the online portal can be addressed to the managing editor. 

Additional Text

  • If the client has added text, or if you determine that additional work is needed that was not included in the original project description, please ask your managing editor for instructions as to how to proceed *before* undertaking the work. 
  • Generally, additional payment will only be made for entirely new sections or paragraphs that were not part of the original word count. Extra payment is not given for individual words, phrases, or sentences (within reason) that have been changed or added as part of the revision process.
  • When editing or adding new text to a document you have worked on previously, please use track changes and comments.
  • Additional payment will not be made for work that has not been approved in writing by the managing editor.

Draft Submission

  • Please do not submit a draft until you are sure it is fully ready. We expect all submitted texts to be well-edited, proofread, spell-checked, and checked for extra spaces. We strongly recommend using Perfectit and/or Grammarly for an even more thorough check of your work.
  • Your work will be reviewed for quality by a second language expert. However, this should in no way be seen as a replacement for proofreading the work yourself. Your managing editor may decide to send the text back to you with suggestions for improvement based on their own review or that of the client.
  • Drafts should be submitted using the "Submit Draft" feature on the website. They should not be submitted by emailing the managing editor directly.  

Miscellaneous Issues 

  • Issues unrelated to the actual work on a text, such as the rate for your work, conflict of interest, issues with the client’s feedback, etc. should be sent directly to your managing editor. Under no circumstances should these issues be discussed directly with the client.

  • Issues relating to payment or finances should be sent to our accounting department: accounting@aclang.com