How this site works - an overview

ARTICLES & FORUMS

Articles and forums related to academic editing, translation, illustration, writing, and publishing can be found at this site (see main menu). Anyone can offer to write an article for the site (contact Peter Matthews pjm@gol.com).

The forums allow offers and requests for work to be posted as public notices by academic editors, translators, writers, publishers, and editing or translation companies.

The articles offer advice on how to use the forums, and information or opinions on various matters related to academic editing, translation, and writing.

All articles and forums at this site can be viewed without any registration or fee. This is a free, non-profit website.

To use the forums fully, please register, giving your name - real or imaginary - in the nickname box, and a valid email address. The Research Cooperative will immediately send a password (alpha-numeric code) to your email address. You can then login to your own account at any time, to post, modify or cancel an offer or request.

Without registering - as an anonymous user - you can post a on offer or request, but you will not be able to modify your notice at a later date. Also, it is more likely that readers will not respond if too little information is provided.

If you want to use a nickname for access to this site, the name must not have any gaps or commas, e.g. write PeterM, or MatiasP, not Peter Matias or Matias, P.

WHO CAN USE THIS SITE?

Volunteers and also those who seek payment, for services offered to writers.
Writers who can only afford to ask for volunteers, or writers who can offer reciprocal services (as editors, translators, or science illustrators) and writers who can afford to pay fees.
Publishing companies, and companies offering services to writers.

We strongly encourage students and experienced researchers to volunteer as academic editors, translators, or in other ways, as a contribution to their research communities. Volunteer work with unpublished drafts is a good way to learn about academic editing and writing. It is also important for establishing and maintaining a network of working relationships in your own research field, locally and internationally.

Around the world, many individuals and research communities depend on informal and voluntary support networks. This site can help people create and maintain these networks.

We also encourage professional editors and translators to use this site, and commerical editing or translation companies.

This site will work best if many people participate, and if we all make efforts to communicate clearly and honestly, and to build good working relationships. If the communication is clear, then it does not matter what skill level is being offered or required, the service can be useful for someone working at a lower or similar level. The stated abilities or requirements of users will not be checked or vetted by the Research Cooperative.

LANGUAGES

In the our forums, any language and combination of languagess can be offered or requested for editing and translation, but we can only offer Roman characters for notices posted in the forums (see article on languages at the Research Cooperative).

Worldwide, languages that are often used for conducting and publishing academic research include English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin (Chinese), Portugese, Russian and Spanish. This does not mean that other languages cannot or should not be used. Writers should identify the most suitable language(s) for publishing their own research, according to their intended audience. The Research Co-op encourages writers to explore possibilities for both local and international publishing.

Detailed guidelines for writing notices are given in an article on how to post new notices. Below I give a minimum essential overview of forums and how to use them. Please read this!

OFFERS

When making offers, editors and translators must assess their own level or status as professional, experienced, or learner. At this site, learners are just as welcome as others, but they should try to be conscious of the limits of their own experience and identify themselves as learners!

Please be as honest and realistic as you can when stating your skill level. Our categories are only approximate. You can say more about yourself in the main text of your offer. Exaggeration will only lead to disappointment for yourself and others. If you want, you can offer to provide contact details for academic and/or personal referees.

REQUESTS

Reqests can be sent by academic research writers, the publishers or editors of academic books and journals (hard-copy or electronic), and by editing or translation companies. If you are looking for an editor or translator, please explain the nature of the work required as clearly as possible.

Make a realistic assessment of how much effort is needed, and what kind of editing or translation is needed.

If editing is required, do not ask for a superficial brushing up of spelling and grammar, or for proof-reading, when you have only written a rough draft without attempting any revision yourself. Be aware that rough drafts are very difficult for translators. Edit and revise your own work yourself as much as possible, before sending it to an editor or translator.

Of course, you can ask for a superficial service if there is a good reason to. This is one way to limit the cost of an editing or translation job. Paying for a quick superficial revision or translation can be a starting point for establishing trust and negotiating a price for full editing or translation of a text.

If you want, ask for a quote or trial. Send a sample or full copy to the editor or translator, and ask them give a quote for working on it. Or send the whole manuscript, and ask your contact to look at a part of it, or superficially at all if it, before giving a quote. If you are unsure about the skills being offered, you can ask for a free or low-cost trial.

NOTES FOR ALL USERS OF THIS SITE

Do not be afraid to negotiate! Be clear about what you need and want, but be flexible and be polite. It is also good to be optimistic, but to avoid having false expectations. How is this possible? Ask friends, colleagues and others about their experiences, the people they found, the protocols they used for doing the work, and the prices they paid or received. Our VIEWPOINTS forum can also be used for discussing these and other matters related to academic writing, editing, and translation.

Replies to all offers or requests should be sent to the address provided in each notice. The Research Cooperative cannot offer personal help for making contact, negotiating prices, or resolving conflicts. For more details concerning money matters, see our article on money and payments.

Registered users who have written a notice or reply to a notice, in any of the forums, can edit or delete their own notice (and their own replies) at any time. Please delete notices that you no longer wih people to see. To do this, you must log in with your nickname and password, find your notice or reply in the forum, and click on the edit icon at the bottom of the notice.

All old notices (e.g. those that a six months old or more)will eventually be automatically deleted by the Research Cooperative, to keep most offers and requests up-to-date. Having too many ancient notices will make the site less and less useful for all of us.

All the forums, including VIEWPOINTS, use a standard BBS (bulletin board service) system. Moderators chosen by the Research Cooperative can review the discussion, participate, and suggest new directions. As with most bulletin board sites, the moderators can also delete irrelevant or inflammatory messages at any time.