Available Services

I help scientists deliver their message to the world of science by translating and editing their scientific manuscripts. Find the specification of my services and some samples of my work by clicking on the respective links.

During the translation of your manuscript, I will not simply transfer words from one language to the other. Rather, both language and meaning will be translated with special care regarding specific terminology, accurate wording and concise phrasing. Additionaly, the translation will be composed according to the style and format that are typical for scientific writing.

To perfect your manuscript in a customized manner according to your individual needs, I offer different types of editing services. Please specify the scope of your assignment in the request-form according to the following categories:

Your manuscript is looked over for slips and mistakes in grammar and spelling and for consistency in terminology and abbreviations, text format and general structure. Further, phrasing is improved by simplifying or reorganizing long complex sentences.

The original text remains essentially the same.

Your manuscript is not only submitted to proofreading (see above), but receives a general make-over. This is indicated in cases where the author has difficulties with organizing the information, properly expressing the intended message etc., and will ensure uncomplicated reading and easy understanding.

Note that editing is charged on an hourly basis rather than by wordcount or assignment category (see Pricing and terms). However, the latter does reflect on the time that is needed to complete the appointed task.

Virtually any paper from the broad area of biology and life sciences can be submitted for tranlsation or editing.

After viewing the file, I will be able to inform you whether your manuscript can be porcessed or not.

Keep in mind that the person working on your manuscript must understand it to be able to process it properly (see Why hire an expeirenced scientist?). Hence:

Check this list to find out whether your source language is supported for translation - irrespectively of the country of origin:

If you need a translation into a language other than English, or if you are seeking an editing service in another language, please consider that different countries with the same language have very specific peculiarities that go so far as to have diverging vocabulary, grammar and spelling. Even small details, such as writing acknowledgments (American English) in a paper directed at a British audience (where the correct spelling is acknowledgements), can make an otherwise very good paper seem careless. To comply with my high quality standards, the final product must sound as though it had been written by a native speaker.

Thus, my work can achieve a native or near-native level with the following target languages:

Due to the highly specialized nature of scientific research, a non-scientific translator or editor might not be able to understand your manuscript. Rather than properly putting words into context, she might guess-tranlsate specific terms and change the intended meaning.

Thus, you are at risk of receiving a rather literal if not even wrong translation (the same applies to editing).

Similarly, and also applicable to an editing assignment, the professional who is not familiar with scientific writing might change the phrasing in a way that would make sense for a newspaper article or a book chapter, but not for a scientific paper. As a result, your research paper will certainly stand out in the scientific community - however, not in a positive way.

Needless to say, things can get much worse than mere improper phrasing. Here is an example of a linguistically correct but technically incorrect translation that could render your paper nonsensical at best (note that the example below is a very well known procedure in cell biology):

The bottom line is that sometimes a highly respectable and meticulously elaborated scientific project loses much of its weight after being published with poor writing, language and basic text structure.

Hopefully, my reasoning has answered the initial question.