Directions Governing the English Proofreading Service at the Foreign Language Center,

National Cheng Kung University

• Before you apply for English proofreading service, please check the following points to make sure that your paper has already met the standard. Otherwise, your paper will get rejected by the proofreaders.

1. The author(s) should make sure that their field-specific terminology is correctly spelled and capitalized correctly, where applicable.
2. The author(s) should check their guidelines to make sure that their paper conforms to the guidelines of their journal of choice or research in their field of study, including formatting, capitalization of sections and subsections, etc.
3. Papers should not be run through Google translate and then sent to an editor. The author(s) should make an effort to improve the translation and to naturalize the English to the best of their ability.
4. The paper should include complete sentences only.
5. The paper should be run through "spell check" prior to submitting to an editor.
6. They should use a font that is standard for research in their field and a font size that is standard for research.
7. Papers should be submitted double-spaced in the form of a Word document. 
8. If you want your paper to remain British English, please inform us in the application form or in the email.

I. Purpose

To propel the internationalization of the University's publications and to elevate the University's academic level, the Foreign Language Center (abbreviated below to "FLC") has formed the English proofreading service section, composed by professional proofreaders (abbreviated below to "proofreaders"), to assist the University's faculty and students (abbreviated below to "applicants") in proofreading their English writing.

II. Eligibility

This service applies to all faculty members and students of the University.

III. Definition on Proofreading

Proofreading is not reviewing or translating. It aims at correcting spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, word choice, syntax, cohesion, and other aspects in writing. In addition to the text, references and captions can be edited if the proofreaders consent. The proofreading scope excludes rewriting, simplifying repetitive sentences, or rearranging paragraphs, or other large scale changes in texts. Considering the professionalism and distinctiveness of individual research fields, the proofreaders will not revise the contents or question correctness of information and data. The FLC and proofreaders are not responsible for whether the thesis/dissertation advisors or the publication editors accept the manuscripts.

IV. Guidelines for manuscript submission

1. The application form is available to download at the FLC website. A scanned file of the completed application form with the corresponding or first author's signature, along with the manuscript, shall be sent to the FLC (flcproofread@gmail.com) directly. The manuscripts will be passed to the proofreaders only when the application form is completed. A new application shall be submitted by a new email thread in case of confusion. Successful application emails will be sent to both the proofreaders and the applicants. The applicants is advised to make a conformation call to the FLC to avoid mail lost during the process.
2. If the application is sent after 17: 00 on a workday or anytime on a holiday (or typhoon day), the next workday shall be marked as the application date. To ensure a smooth administration process, the proofreaders, and the FLC, the FLC shall be included in the email correspondences between the applicants and the proofreaders. Failing to do so may result in conflicts that cannot be assisted by the FLC.
3. The applicants can choose their preferred proofreader based on the profiles published on the FLC website. In the case of no preference being indicated in the application, the FLC will distribute the manuscripts based on the proofreaders’ availability.
4. Long manuscripts can be submitted chapter by the chapter to maintain consistency. The applicants are not allowed to change the version of the manuscripts after the application is approved. After submission, the applicants cannot change the version except for special conditions.

V. Manuscript format

The manuscript shall be double-spaced, and typed in single column throughout. Applications will be accepted when the formats meet the requirement. If the file size, including figures and pictures, exceeds 15 MB, the corrected manuscripts may not be successfully returned to the applicants via email. It is suggested to send the text and the figures/pictures/appendices, in separate files, and provide pdf version of the complete paper as the proofreaders’ reference.

VI. Working days for proofreading

The working days for proofreading exclude weekends and holidays. It takes a minimum of 7 business days to complete the text of 10000 words or below, and a minimum of 14 business days for texts beyond 10000 words, counting from the date when the negotiation among all parties is completed. Documents to be completed in a shorter time are considered rush service. Due to a large amount of manuscripts received in the FLC, the applicants are advised to sufficient time for proofreading and office handling. If a price quote is necessary, the working day shall start from the date when the applicants consent to the price quote. 

VII. Rejection

Manuscripts that cannot be comprehended by the proofreaders (i.e., translated by software), or contain plagiarized texts from unknown sources, will be rejected. However, the applicants are required to pay for the revised sections.

VIII. Charges

1. The charge is calculated by the time spent. Short documents (approximately 1-2 pages) which are completed within 15 minutes are billed 250 NTD based on a 15-minute billing unit. If the proofreading time exceeds 30 minutes, the minimum billing unit is 30 minutes. Manuscripts that requires 30 minutes for proofreading are billed 500 NTD. Manuscripts that requires 30-45 minutes for proofreading are billed 1 hour. A 20% service fee is added to the total charge. 
2. If the applicants have restricted budget, a request for "Price Quote”shall be specified in the application form and the email. Any request for a maximum amount of proofreading fee is not allowed. To avoid disputes, the applicant shall inquire about only one proofreader's price quote at a time. After receiving a decline letter from the author about the price quote, the FLC will forward the price quote request to look for another proofreader.    

IX. Delivery way and payment channel

When the proofreading is completed, the FLC will inform the applicant of the charge via email/text message/phone. The corrected version of the manuscripts will be returned after the payment is made. The payment can only be made online. Online payments should be made to the Bank of Taiwan or any ATM following the instruction on the website. Specific questions regarding the revision comments should be sent to the proofreaders, with a copy to the FLC; otherwise, the proofreading process is considered complete and the applicant shall raise no objections.

X. Official receipt

1. The receipt payee shall be clearly provided and cannot be changed after the payment is made. The applicants who do not submit manuscripts via the FLC will not receive the University's official receipts. Only NCKU faculty, staff, and students (alumni excluded) are entitled to apply for the FLC proofreading service. If the applicants help their family dependents apply, the receipt payees are restricted to NCKU, NCKU Research & Development Foundation, NCKU Hospital, and CHENG-HSING Medical Foundation.
2. The issuing date of the official receipts cannot be earlier than the completion day or later than the payment is made. The official receipts will be issued around the 20^th day when the payment is completed before the 15^thday of the month. The official receipts will be issued approximately on the 5th day in the following month when the payment is completed between the 16^th to the last day of the month. The above mentioned issuing dates will be postponed when they fall on holidays. Applicants who pay online or plan to get reimbursement from other institutions are advised to pay earlier, so the receipts can be issued on time as the transaction also requires time.
3. The applicants are required to pick up the receipts from the FLC in person, with the proof of payment. No mailing service for the official receipt is offered.

XI. The Directions are adopted and implemented by the College Faculty Meeting, as shall amendments when they are made.

【download】Application form for English Proofreading Service  (odt)   (pdf)