About

Proof of Concept provides a proofreading and copy editing service to customers within the UK. It specialises in academic assignments and work for the public and voluntary sectors. It can also undertake work on web content and business documents of all kinds.

Proof of Concept can:
– eliminate grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors
– ensure that formatting and presentation guidelines are adhered to
– advise on improving clarity of expression and resolving possible ambiguities
– ensure that tables and figures are present, correct and properly captioned
– check footnotes and references.

The company is run by Catherine Ebenezer. She holds a doctorate in health informatics and other postgraduate qualifications in theology and information science, and has had numerous papers published in peer-reviewed journals and professional media. She is an entry-level member of the Society of Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP).

The service is designed to be flexible, cost effective and tailored to the needs of the individual, helping clients to improve the presentation of their work. The ‘track changes’ and comments features of MS Word-compatible word processing software are used to edit and annotate documents. References can be verified from a wide range of bibliographic sources.

The service costs £13.50 per hour. A free estimate can be provided, based on the first 500 words.

Proof of Concept’s customer base currently includes academics and students across a range of disciplines. In the past, Catherine has undertaken extensive editing of web content and publications for a professional association.

Prospective customers with academic assignments should check their institution’s policies regarding academic misconduct / unfair means, where applicable. Most will allow the use of proofreading services, as long as the intellectual content of the piece is not altered or enhanced. The following (from the University of Sheffield) is typical:

“It is acceptable for students to employ other people to proof read their written work if they wish, before hand in. The University does not recommend or endorse any specific commercial or individual proof readers. However, bearing in mind the regulations that such material must be the student’s own work, the input of the proof reader must be limited to:

• Bringing to the student’s attention errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar.