My ‘home turf’ is very broad, covering the vast majority of research types within biology, medicine, earth sciences, ecology, and environmental sciences. I’m also generally comfortable with chemistry and with some topics within applied physics, engineering, and social sciences.

My breadth of experience is especially useful for documents that are aimed at a general scientific audience, such as articles being submitted to an interdisciplinary journal and grant applications for which the review panel is broad. However, I can also help with more specialized work.

I generally cannot cover heavily mathematical or theoretical work or computer science, but feel free to ask, particularly for documents that are not highly technical.

I don’t take submissions in the arts, the humanities, business, or law. I also don’t work on documents that extend beyond conventional scientific principles, that further fossil fuel exploitation, or that are funded by the tobacco industry.

At time of writing, I work on all submissions personally. In some cases I may work as part of a team – I will let you know in advance if this applies to your work. I have been hiring, testing, and managing editors for over a decade and I am very selective about the few other editors I work with.

See the About page linked above for some more details about me.

I have edited many hundreds of journal articles of all types, from case studies, to big data analyses, to protocols, to opinionated qualitative reviews.

In each case, I interrogate the scientific argumentation in detail, including the findings.

I have edited scores of grant applications to funders worldwide, including NIH, ERC, and numerous other national/regional funding bodies. I was also on the four-member panel of the Nature Masterclasses course Persuasive Grant Writing.

I am specialized in the scientific parts of applications and how they can be used to best effect.

I do not typically work on administrative sections, such as those including budget details and resumés, but feel free to request this if needed.

My med comms experience is mostly in editing a large number of clinical research studies and training researchers, in both commercial and academic settings. I am well versed with clinical reporting guidelines. Please let me know if you have any specific requirements in mind.

I work on draft journal articles of all types, grant applications, book chapters, research process documents such as protocols, and scientific outreach documents.

I can often work on similar formats to those above, so please ask.

However, I do not edit documents that are used for someone’s external assessment, such as theses and CVs. (I can provide face-to-face consultations on CVs, however.)

Yes, with one current exception: content editing.

I want to explore the use of LaTeX for content editing, however. Please inquire and I will look into this more thoroughly!

My preference is content editing (working on ideas, structure, narrative, etc.) not language editing (spelling, grammar, etc.), and I do not offer language editing as a standalone service.

However, I am able to language edit to a high standard, so if you would like me to quote for language editing alongside content editing, please ask.

I do not use AI outputs in performing the services, which means that I’m not going to share your documents or ideas with any AI provider. You won’t see any unfiltered AI output in anything you receive from me, nor on this website.

However, I do routinely use AI! I have professional experience of prompt engineering. I mostly use AI creatively, for ideation of business ideas and copy (which I then write myself). I can also help you use AI – particularly GPT and Copilot – in your writing, while keeping in mind the need to be scientifically accurate and ethical, and to conform to applicable regulations.

Maybe! I don’t generally offer manuscript and grant writing to individuals, but I do to organizations. I also offer scientific writing for general audiences. I am a skilled writer and would be happy to consider custom writing assignments. Please contact me and let's talk.

I am not a master of your research topic, and nor do I try to be – I am neither author nor peer reviewer. For example, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on whether or not new experiments are needed.

However, I am an experienced technical editor, and I can work on highly complex material in many fields. I will read your entire submission, I will attempt to understand all of your ideas, and I routinely make substantive suggestions about even the most technical content.

My external perspective is similar to that of a discerning and critical scientific reader who is on the edge of your target audience.

Pricing is determined on a quote basis. Once I receive your inquiry, I will review your documents and requests and estimate how long it will take me, applying an hourly rate (a slightly higher one for commercial clients than for academic clients).

My services are generally less than 1000 USD. The pricing for content editing can be higher for documents that are long or that otherwise require a lot of work. The price of training is also higher for multiple hours.

If the quote is too high, let me know. It’s usually possible for me to adapt the service to focus more specifically on the things you need help with. Conversely, if you require a particularly intensive service, please explain this when you contact me.

Please let me know of any time constraints when you first contact me.

All work is subject to availability, but at present, I can typically fit in individual manuscript services within two weeks from order confirmation, sometimes much sooner. I will provide an estimated timeline with the quote and again at order confirmation. If there is any subsequent change in the timeline, I will communicate this to you as soon as possible.

No, sorry – that’s up to you! But I will do my best to help.

Yes, in certain circumstances I offer tailored services that are aligned to my expertise, including consultancy. Please contact me with your request.