In the Academic Learning Support (ALS) team, we help students to develop their study skills and become effective independent learners. We don’t offer a proofreading service, but students quite often ask us for advice on the use of a commercial proofreader. We consider a commercial proofreader to be a professional text editor who will work in an ethical manner to suggest changes to spelling, punctuation and grammar but will not suggest changes to content, ideas or arguments.
Use of a commercial proofreader is a complex and potentially difficult area of academic practice, and many universities publish guidance for their students on the issue. City hasn’t previously offered written advice specifically on the use of a commercial proofreader, but the ALS team has now produced some guidance on the issue, and it is available alongside the other ALS study guides at:
https://www.city.ac.uk/current-students/academic/academic-learning-support/study-guides
The document addresses the following questions and more:
- What is proofreading?
- Am I allowed to use a commercial proofreader?
- At what stage of the writing process should I involve a proofreader?
- What is the proofreader allowed to do?
- What is the proofreader not allowed to do?
- Should I declare in the work that it has been proofread by a third party?
The guidance emphasises that the student must seek the permission of their course tutor or supervisor before using a proofreader. It also makes clear which features of a text a proofreader may, and may not, change. I hope the advice will be useful.
