What type of documents do you edit?
We edit all kinds of academic documents from all subject fields including journal papers, research grant proposals and theses and dissertations for masters and PhD students. In addition, we also edit university promotional and administrative documents such as annual reports, programme brochures, newsletters and website copy.
How do your editors help improve my paper? Which areas do they check?
Our editors use their expertise to help improve your paper in these major areas:
1. Usage & grammar
We ensure your writing complies with the general usage and grammar conventions of your field.
2. Spelling & punctuation
We check your paper for correct spelling and appropriate punctuation to clarify your meaning.
3. Standardisation of terms
We check for consistent use of key subject-specific terminologies throughout your paper.
4. Writing style
We help you improve the way you combine usage, sentence elements and sentence groups in your paper.
5. Fluency
We enhance the way you link associated data, findings and ideas.
6. Structure
We also refine the overall organisation of paragraphs and sections, when necessary.
When should I get in touch to get a quote for editing my document?
As we quote on word count AND the level of editing required, we can only provide a fixed quote when we can review the final document. However, you are welcome to get in touch anytime during drafting and we can review your writing and, taking final expected word count into account, provide a rough estimate.
If you would like an estimate based simply on the time it would take for us to edit an average document of the same length you can use our online cost estimator.
My document is very specialised in its subject area. Are your editors qualified to edit it?
We match our editors with papers from their field of expertise to ensure that the most qualified editor with appropriate specialised subject knowledge will work on your paper.
Our editorial team includes experienced academic editors from a wide range of academic disciplines. They are educated mainly to the postgraduate level at top-ranking research universities, many with their own successful publication histories.
Check out our editor profiles.
How long will it take to edit my document?
The actual return period depends on a number of factors, such as word count and the original writing quality of the document.
Our fixed quotes include a number of return options and you can choose according to your urgency and budget.
Do you offer an express service?
Yes, we even offer a same-day service depending on the time of submission and the editing hours required.
If you have an urgent requirement, it’s best to speak to our client support team when you submit your document.
How does Premium Editing differ from Standard Editing? Which should I choose?
Premium Editing includes an additional round of editing your responses to editor comments and incorporating your feedback on any parts of the edited document to ensure your meaning is clearly reflected.
Standard Editing is by far our most requested service, but if you’d like to engage more with the editing team, commenting on their work and having them implement further changes according to your feedback, then Premium Editing may benefit you.
Can you work on PDF or LaTex documents?
Yes, we can definitely work on LaTex (.tex) and PDF documents. However, editing is much more efficient if we can use a Word file as we can use the highly-efficient Track Changes feature.
For LaTex (.tex) files:
Our preference is to open LaTex files in Word and edit using the Track Changes function. We will ensure not to touch any of the LaTex code, meaning that you can copy the final edited document back into your LaTex editor. However, we are of course able to edit PDFs according to client requirements.
For PDF files:
The PDF editing tool is slow to use, so we can only print the document and hand write the edits, making it more difficult for you to incorporate the changes. Hence, we strongly recommend you send us either a Word or LaTex file to work on if at all possible.
Do you help reduce the word count of my document?
Our regular editing fee does not include word count reduction, though small reductions maybe possible through the eradication of redundancies and more efficient language use. Larger word count reductions can be assessed and quoted for on a case-by-case basis.
Please contact our client support team at cs@asiaedit.com for assistance.
Do you edit text in tables, charts or diagrams?
Our editors work on any English content (but not numbers) in tables, charts and diagrams in your paper, unless you specify that we should ignore it.
If you do not want us to work on the text in tables, charts or diagrams, please communicate with our client support team before editing commences.
Can you format my paper in line with common style guidelines or the guideline of my target journal?
We are happy to conform to any of our clients’ formatting requirements. As it requires extra time from our editors, an equivalent surcharge is applied.
Final confirmation will be given upon review of your document, but usually a 20% surcharge is applied for adhering to APA or the Chicago Manual of Style, with 30% extra applied for specific journal guides. Ideally clients should provide links to journal-specific style guides to ensure there is no miscommunication.
Do you help rephrase plagiarised content?
No, ethics preclude us from helping to rephrase plagiarised content.
Can you provide an editing certificate? How can I get one for my paper?
Yes, we can provide you with an editing certificate upon request and it is completely free-of-charge. It can be used to prove to your journal editor that your document has been edited by a professional English language editing service.
Simply select Editing Certificate when you confirm your interactive quote with us. Remember to insert the required information such as article name, author name etc which will be printed on the certificate.
Do I need an Editor Report?
The Editor Report outlines the key grammatical and stylistic weaknesses with your writing. If you would like to improve your writing it is certainly useful feedback if you have the budget available.
The Editor Report is available as an add-value service with a flat fee of HK$400 (or equivalent amount in your currency). You can opt for this when you confirm your interactive quote.
Do you charge for second or further rounds of re-editing?
If you have made changes to your paper after our editing, we can help identify the revisions through the compare feature in Word and provide a quote to re-edit the changed parts only.
Please contact our client support team at cs@asiaedit.com for assistance and enquiry.
I just received feedback for my paper which was previously edited by your company. Can you edit my paper again?
If the paper is rejected on English language grounds alone and you did not revise our paper after our editing before submitting, we are happy to provide a re-edit free of charge.
However, in the vast majority of cases content also needs revising. In such cases you may need to rewrite some parts of your paper and we can then provide a separate quote to re-edit your revisions only.
Please contact our client support team at cs@asiaedit.com for further assistance.
Are you able to edit my responses to reviewer comments?
Yes, you can just send us your responses to reviewer comments and we will provide you with a quote.
If my paper is rejected by a journal will you re-edit for free?
We guarantee that if a manuscript remains unaltered after our editing but it is rejected by a journal on English language grounds alone, we will provide a re-edit free of charge.
However, if your paper is rejected for more than just English language issues, you may consider modifying your paper based on the reviewer comments and then sending it back to us for a new quote to work on the revised parts only.
Please contact our client support team at cs@asiaedit.com for further assistance.
Can I get an editing fee estimate before I submit my document?
Yes, of course. You can simply use our online cost estimator and enter the word count of your document to get your editing fee estimate. You can also see different fee estimates corresponding to different return options.
However, please note that these fee estimates are for reference only. We will provide a fixed quote based on a thorough assessment of your document’s word count, quality of writing and level of editing required.
My document is ready. How do I get a fixed quote?
Simply submit your document using our online document submission form, or email to cs@asiaedit.com.
Please include any special requests or instructions in the box provided in the form or in your email to us.
After submitting a document how quickly will I receive a quote?
We will conduct a quick assessment of your document’s word count and quality of writing to determine the editing time required, and we will send back an interactive quote within 2 hours during weekday office hours and within 5 hours outside of normal office hours.
To ensure no delay in your return schedule, we issue quotes and process work during weekends and public holidays, except for 25 December, 1 January and the first day of Chinese New Year.
Can I request only particular sections or paragraphs in my document be edited rather than the whole file?
Yes, of course. Please clearly specify or ideally highlight the parts in your document which you would like us to work on, and inform our client support team when you request a quote.
How do I communicate any special instructions for editing my document?
When you submit your document you can include any special requests or instructions in the box provided in the online document submission form or in your email.
Our client support team will contact you at the earliest convenience to clarify details if necessary.
Do you have a minimum order value for your editing service?
We do not have a specific minimum order value for editing service, but our minimum billable time is 30 minutes.
For example, if we assess that editing your document will take 15 minutes in total, we will still invoice for 30 minutes.
Why is the quote I have received this time different from an earlier quote for another document with a similar word count?
We assess each individual document’s word count and quality of writing to determine the level of editing required. Different documents, although with same word count, can still vary in quality of writing resulting in different quotes. We believe this is a fairer solution, rather than relying on an arbitrary word count, to reflect the value of our editing service.
Do you include references, appendices, tables and figures in the fixed quote?
Under normal circumstances, we include English copy, but not numbers or symbols, in references, appendices, tables and figures when preparing the quote. However, if you do not want this content included you can simply inform our client support team when sending through your document.
I have received your interactive quote but now need to revise my document. What should I do?
Inform our client support team at cs@asiaedit.com and re-submit your revised document for us to adjust the interactive quote.
As we handle a great deal of quotes and orders every day, it is helpful if you mention the quote reference number in your communication with us so that we can quickly identify the corresponding quote.
I have confirmed the interactive quote. Do I need to pay before you will commence editing?
Regular clients and any full-time faculty who provide us with complete and verifiable contact details are eligible to pay for our editing service on completion. We commence editing as soon as the interactive quote is confirmed.
For other clients and students we require payment before commencing work. You will receive a PDF invoice with payment instructions via email immediately upon confirmation of your interactive quote. Please arrange payment as soon as possible as the service period selected commences only when we have received confirmation of payment.
In your return date calculations, do you only count weekdays (Monday to Friday)?
We count every day of the week, including weekends and public holidays, in our calculation of return date.
But please note that an additional day will be added to the return date calculation if we receive your quote confirmation after 6.00 p.m. (HK time, UTC +8 hours).
For example:
If you confirm your quote before 6.00 p.m. (HK time, UTC +8 hours) on Friday:
On the other hand, if you confirm your quote after 6.00 p.m. (HK time, UTC +8 hours) on Friday:
Is the day I confirm the quote counted inclusively in your return date calculations?
Yes, unless you confirm your quote after 6.00 p.m. (HK time, UTC +8 hours), when an additional day will be added in your return date calculation.
Do you commence editing jobs on weekends and public holidays?
Yes. To ensure no delay in your return schedule, we issue quotes and commence jobs during weekends and public holidays, except 25 December, 1 January and the first day of Chinese New Year.
Can you guarantee the confidentiality of my document?
We guarantee the absolute confidentiality of your document to protect your intellectual property, copyright and privacy.
We can supply a confidentiality agreement if requested, and we are also happy to sign your own documentation to provide peace of mind. Please communicate with our client support team at cs@asiaedit.com.
How do you ensure quality?
Your document is edited and checked by two editors. It is first reviewed by a subject specialist to ensure compliance with the stylistic, result-reporting and referencing conventions of your field, followed by a language specialist who focuses more on general language and stylistic issues to enhance the overall readability.
Will my document be edited by a native English editor?
Yes, our editors are all native English speakers, educated mainly to the postgraduate level at top-ranking research universities. We value the importance of our editors’ professional development. That is why we regularly offer training opportunities to our editors to ensure their professional knowledge and skills are fully up-to-date.
Read more about the background, qualifications and experience of our editorial team.
Do your editors have the subject-specific knowledge to edit my document?
Our editorial team is composed of members from various academic disciplines and subjects. Most of them are educated to the postgraduate level at top-ranking research universities and many have their own successful publication histories.
Furthermore, we match editors with papers from their field of expertise to ensure that all documents are edited by someone possessing the required subject-specific knowledge and experience.
Read more about the background, qualifications and experience of our editorial team.
Do you guarantee that after editing by your company my paper will not be rejected due to language issues alone?
Yes, we guarantee that if a manuscript remains unaltered after our editing and is rejected by a journal on English language grounds alone, we will provide a re-edit free of charge, based on the journal’s feedback on language usage issues.
Do you have any references for the successful publications of papers edited by your company?
Yes, many! You can visit our Publication Successes page to get an idea of just some of the success stories in which we are proud to have played a small part.
What payment methods do you accept?
We currently accept cash payment, cheques, bank transfers, online payment by credit card, PayPal and Alipay. We can also deal with many university finance offices directly if you are able to pass on our invoice.
Can I use Alipay?
Yes, we welcome Alipay. If you would like to pay by Alipay, please scan the QR code below, then enter the amount in HKD as it is printed on our invoice and confirm payment. Alipay will automatically convert the amount into RMB and your transaction will be conducted in RMB.
Can I simply pass the invoice on to my university’s finance department to settle payment?
Yes, indeed many of our faculty clients process invoices in this way. As soon as you confirm your interactive quote, we will commence the editing and issue a PDF invoice which is accepted by many universities’ finance departments. You simply need to pass on the invoice to your finance team to arrange payment.
If you have any special instructions for item descriptions detailed on our invoice, please contact our client support team at cs@asiaedit.com for assistance.
Can I pay in RMB? Do you issue Chinese Fapiao?
When you pay online via PayPal or Alipay, the transaction platform will automatically convert the HKD amount as printed on our invoice into the equivalent amount in RMB using the current exchange rate and you will be charged in RMB. You will also be notified how much your transaction is in RMB. It is considered as a cross-border settlement.
We do not issue Chinese Fapiao, but rather an English version invoice, which can also often be used for claiming reimbursement from your university or company.
For further details, please contact our client support team at cs@asiaedit.com.
I paid with my personal credit card. Can you issue a receipt for me to claim reimbursement from my university/company?
Yes, you will receive a PDF invoice via email immediately after confirming your interactive quote and an e-receipt will be sent to you after your payment is successfully received. You can use it to claim reimbursement from your university or company.
For your information, our invoices and receipts are in English and they are accepted by many universities as payment proof. If you have any special instructions for item descriptions detailed on our invoices or receipts, please contact our client support team at cs@asiaedit.com for assistance.
Can I pay after I received the edited document?
Regular clients and any full-time faculty who provide us with complete and verifiable contact details are eligible to pay for our editing service on completion. We commence editing as soon as the interactive quote is confirmed.
For other clients and students we require payment before commencing work. You will receive a PDF invoice with payment instructions via email immediately upon confirmation of your interactive quote. Please arrange payment as soon as possible as the service period selected commences only when we have received confirmation of payment.
Can I get a hard-copy invoice?
In most cases, our invoice in PDF format suffices, but we are happy to post a hard copy invoice to you if it is really required. Please make a request to our client support team at cs@asiaedit.com and provide us with your full postal address. We will post the hard copy the next business day.
What should I do if I lose your invoice or receipt?
We are happy to re-issue any invoices or receipts. Please simply contact our client support team at cs@asiaedit.com and remember to provide your order number or the email you used when placing the order to expedite our response and action.
I have some research budget to use, but my paper is not ready for editing yet. Can I deposit funds in advance?
Yes! Indeed, we have a number clients that deposit funds with us for future academic editing services.
If you would like to do so, please write to our client support team at cs@asiaedit.com and inform us how much you would like to deposit. We will then issue an invoice with transaction details for you. You will be issued a receipt once you have completed the transaction.
When you have any documents to edit just submit the document to get the fixed quote as usual. After the editing is completed, we will deduct the corresponding invoiceable amount from your deposited sum, and also inform you of your updated deposit balance.
Do you offer any discounts?
Yes, we currently offer various discounts for both new and existing clients. Please note that some discounts cannot be used in conjunction with each other and any other offers or special promotions.
New client discount:
To help more researchers access our high-quality editing service, we are pleased to offer US$40* off new clients’ first orders.
*This special promotion will expire on 31 May 2020, after that the offer will be adjusted to US$20.
Referral discount:
We place great value on your recognition of our service quality. Hence, we are very pleased to offer existing clients that recommend our service a 10% discount off their next order.
And of course, your colleagues, friends or students are entitled to our US$40* new client discount if they are using our service for the first time.
*This special promotion will expire on 31 May 2020, after that the offer will be adjusted to US$25.
Loyalty coupon:
Upon invoice payment you will be issued a loyalty coupon (worth 5% of the paid invoice), valid for 3 months against future invoices.
Word volume discount:
For documents with:
30,001 - 60,000 words – 5% off
60,001 – 100,000 words – 10% off
100,001 or more words – 15% off
Post-grad thesis & dissertation discounts:
Part-time students* submitting their theses or dissertations for editing are entitled to the discounts listed below, depending on word count:
10,001 – 30,000 words – 5% off
30,001 – 60,000 words – 10% off
60,001 – 100,000 words – 15% off
100,001 or more words – 20% off
Full-time students* submitting their theses or dissertations for editing are entitled to the discounts listed below, depending on word count:
10,001 – 30,000 words – 10% off
30,001 – 60,000 words – 15% off
60,001 or more words – 20% off
*We may require student identity proof to verify eligibility.
How do I apply my loyalty coupon?
You will be issued a loyalty coupon with a unique discount code when we return your edited document. The coupon is valid for 3 months. If you would like to use the coupon in your next order, simply mention that unique discount code in the further details box in the online document submission form or in your email to our client support team. We will then apply the discount to your next order.
I recommended your editing service to my colleagues. How do I redeem my referral discount?
You should ask the person you recommend to inform us that they are referred by you (ideally with your name, university and email mentioned) when they get in touch with us.
Once they complete their first order with us, you will be entitled to a 10% referral discount against your next invoice. We will register the discount in your account with us and alert you about its availability via email. When you send through your next order to us, we will apply the discount automatically to your new quote.
I have been referred by a friend who used your service before. Am I entitled to any discount?
We are pleased to offer a US$40* off your first order with us, provided that this is the first time you have used our service.
*This special offer will expire on 31 May 2020, after that the offer will be adjusted to US$25.
What are your business hours?
Our normal business hours are from 9.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. (HK time, UTC+8), Monday to Friday.
Although our real-time communication channels are not operational beyond these hours, you can communicate with us via email as we understand the urgency of submission deadlines and we will strive to respond to any enquiries and quote requests at our earliest convenience, even on weekends and public holidays.
Do you respond to quote requests and service enquiries on weekends and public holidays?
Yes. To ensure no delay in your return schedule, we issue quotes and process editing jobs on weekends and public holidays, except 25 December, 1 January and the first day of Chinese New Year.
We recommend our clients communicate with us via email beyond our normal business hours (Monday to Friday, 9.00 a.m. – 6.00 p.m. HK time, UTC+8) so that your messages will not be missed and we can get back to you. Although we handle quote requests and respond to queries as soon as possible, you may experience a slightly longer response time on weekends and public holidays.
Do you have Chinese-speaking client support staff to assist me?
Yes, our administrative and client support staff speak both Cantonese and Mandarin (Putonghua). They are ready to assist you in all sort of matters concerning your quote and order.
My job is urgent. Do you have any real-time communication channels on which I can contract you?
Within our normal business hours (Monday to Friday, 9.00 a.m. – 6.00 p.m. HK time, UTC+8), you can use any of our real-time communication channels to seek assistance from our client support team.
1.LiveChat on our website
Simply click on the LiveChat button on our website to open a window and start chatting with our trilingual client support staff.
2.WeChat public account
Scan the QR code below to join our WeChat public account.
Then click to initiate a conversation with our Chinese-speaking client support staff.
3.Phone support
You are also welcome to call us at +852 2590 6588 for assistance.
Clients in China can call our toll-free number, 4001 200 620.
How do I keep abreast of your company’s news, free resources and exclusive discount offers?
We share news, free academic writing resources and special offers in a number of digital channels.
E-newsletter:
You can sign up to our mailing list to receive our e-newsletter, Digital Impact, on a bi-monthly basis. We respect your privacy and will never share your email address with anyone else.
WeChat public account:
We regularly share news, free resources and special offers on our WeChat public account. You can also use the online customer service function to inquire about your quotes and orders.
Scan this QR code to join our WeChat public account.
Social media:
You can also follow us on any of the social media platforms listed below to keep yourself abreast of latest news and updates, free resources and exclusive offers.
Why is the cost per word for Chinese to English translation much higher than for English to Chinese?
All translations from Chinese to English include an additional round of professional English editing by one of our highly-skilled and experienced native English-speaking editors to ensure the highest quality.
Apart from Chinese and English, do you offer translation services in any other languages?
Our expertise lies in translations from Chinese to English and English to Chinese. We can work on both traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese.
How long will it take to translate my document?
In general we are able to return documents of up to 2,000 words or characters within 4 days. For documents over 2,000 words or characters, we will specify a return schedule on a case-by-case basis when we send you a quote.
Do you have a minimum order value for your translation service?
Yes, our minimum order value for any translation service is HK$300 (or equivalent amount in other currencies).
What should I do if I think some parts of the translation are not perfectly accurate?
You may inform our client support team with which parts of the translation you are not satisfied and clarify the original meaning of those parts, if necessary. We will then check with the translator and see if we can work together to make improvements.