A one hundred percent error-free guarantee is hype based on hope.

Hype is not my thing.

For that reason, ‘100% error free’ was never going to be one of my slogans.

Because, as soon as one error slips through, where does that leave me?

I can’t guarantee 100%. Nobody can.

However, while I’m quietly confident that most of my work does come close to the 100% mark, I’m not going to tell you that. I have always liked the idea of under-promising and over-delivering.

What type of errors?

Anyway, what type of errors are we talking about? Spelling, grammar, punctuation? Citation–reference errors? Problems with conciseness, consistency, clarity? Academic tone? Non-compliance with journal or institutional style?

The answer is ‘Yes’. All of the above.

A professional proofreader doesn’t just run a spell check, wait a day, then return your document.

Proofreading is more than just spelling, punctuation, and grammar           (Image: iStock)

Checks of spelling, grammar, and punctuation are the foundation of any proofreading work, carried out in conjunction with the conventions of UK and US English, to name the two most prominent versions that have an international reach. You may not realise (UK) that your spelling of certain words belongs to another version of English, but it’s your proofreader’s job to recognize (US) such things.

Citation–reference rules are something completely different. There are so many different styles for citing sources that it is impractical to know them all. However, tell me the style required by your institution or the journal to which you’re submitting – and point me to their guidelines – and I’ll be able to check your work against their requirements. (Otherwise, I’ll simply aim for internal consistency.)

Academic tone is a whole new ballgame. When I check for academic tone, I look for idioms (like ‘whole new ballgame’), slang, contractions, and word choices that might be acceptable in a different sort of document but not an academic one. I will suggest an alternative, either by substituting it in the text or by commenting in the margin.

Consistency: this is less a matter of right or wrong and more a matter of pointing out, for example, that you have written a compound adjective two (or even three) different ways, all of which could be considered correct. Where I identify inconsistencies, I will generally change all occurrences to match the majority and will bring it to your attention.

Clarity: if I can understand your intended meaning but identify problems with the way you’ve written it (with respect to grammar, sentence structure, or simply the ability of the reader to understand clearly), I will suggest a clearer alternative. If I cannot understand your intended meaning but can see that there are problems in the way you’ve written it, all I can do is bring the problem to your attention.

Conciseness: I don’t know if it’s due to the need to satisfy word counts or some other reason, but I regularly find myself editing documents with far too many wordy sentences. If I can see a clearer way to say the same thing with fewer words, I will suggest the more concise alternative. It is rare for me to suggest that you may wish to add words to a sentence unless more words are necessary to better convey your intended meaning.

Intended meaning

When I point out errors or suggest alternatives to improve clarity, my biggest fear is that I may be inadvertently changing the meaning of your sentence. Where there is potential ambiguity, I will ask you to confirm that my suggestions match with your original meaning.

My work is not the final step

When you receive your document back from me, please don’t think the job is done and simply accept all changes.

Please review each one of my changes and accept it or reject it on its own merits. Read all of my comments in the margin because they provide explanations and some of them will require your action.

Without your review of my work, there is no chance that your document will be 100% error free.

Review each change before accepting (or rejecting) it. (Image: iStock)

Promises

While I don’t provide a guarantee that your document will come back ‘100% error free’, here are some promises I’m happy to make:

1. One hundred percent is my absolute aim. I will care for your document and strive for perfection from start to finish.
2. Your document will come back to you considerably closer to 100% error free than when you sent it to me.