Frequently Asked Questions
Is proofreading and editing allowed?
Proofreading is an essential step in the production of good quality academic work, and all universities encourage their students to make sure their work is proofread. Specific policies vary from university to university and you should be aware of the policy at your own institution, but universities are usually happy for you to ask friends, family or companies such as Capital Proofreading to review your work and suggest changes to improve readability, provided that the content and ideas are not modified.
Please see this example of a UK university policy from the University of Essex (where our Director obtained his MA in Applied Linguistics with distinction).
How can I trust you?
Capital Proofreading (henceforth: 'we/us/our') is a legally registered limited company in the UK. You can check this at Companies House. You can check out the profile of our Director on LinkedIn.
We specialise in providing editing and proofreading services to students whose first language is not English. Our friendly editors are experienced proofreaders and editors with advanced qualifications from UK universities and often members of professional organisations such as the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading.
We are already getting excellent reviews, which you can see on our webpage
We guarantee the quality of our work: if you are not happy with our work for good reason and we cannot fix it, we will refund your fee.
Can I talk to your editors directly?
We are happy to talk to you about your needs before you make an order. We can do this by email, online chat or face-to-face on Zoom. If you would like to talk in person, we are happy to make appointments to meet you on the campus of any London university in zones 1 and 2 (this service is available to students who would like to discuss editing and proofreading longer documents – dissertations and theses).
We will return your document with our corrections and suggestions in Word’s ‘Track Changes’. If you have any queries you are welcome to take these up with the editor.
What are your hours of operation?
You are welcome to submit your document online 24/7, 365 days a year. We are available to respond to queries between 7am and 7pm GMT every day.
Can you format my document?
I am sorry but we do not currently offer this service.
Can you check my document for plagiarism?
I am sorry but we do not currently offer this service.
What document formats do you accept?
We strongly prefer documents to be delivered to us in Microsoft Word as this means that we can make changes and suggestions using Track Changes. We can also accept PDF documents. We would normally convert the PDF to Word and return to you as a Word document. However, we can also make changes using Sticky Notes in PDF if you prefer
Unfortunately we can not accept LaTeX documents as we can not work on them directly. However, if you copy and paste the document into Word, we would be happy to work on this.
Which varieties of English do you edit in?
We can edit in British, American, Australian and Canadian dialects of English. Please indicate your preference when you order.
Can you edit according to my style guide?
We are familiar with the most common style guides such as APA. Please bring to our attention the preferred style in use at your university when you order.
How can I contact you?
You can contact us by email and webchat at any time.
Will my order be confidential?
We treat any communication with us in the strictest confidence. Only our administration and the editor will see any information you have provided and your document. Your document will be handled securely from start to finish, and deleted after 1 year or earlier if you require. Please see our Privacy Policy for further details
What if I am not satisfied. Can I get a refund?
We guarantee the quality of our work: if you are not happy with our work for good reason and we cannot fix it, we will refund your fee.