Even a perfunctory survey of the pricing schemes of technical editing companies reveals a broad array of approaches, most of which are not very useful to the client.  Some companies charge by the hour.  Others offer different levels of editing for different fees, or they charge different rates depending upon the client's desired turnaround time.  I prefer to keep it simple and straightforward.

I charge by the word count of editable text.  That includes the Title, Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion, Conclusions, Table and Figure Legends, and minor sections, such as Acknowledgements.  I do not count Author Information, References, or content of Tables.  Supplementary Material and other documents are handled in the same fashion.  The editing fee basically covers all editing of the manuscript until it is published, although I reserve the right to limit it in exceptional cases. (I have encountered only 2-3 such cases in the past 4 years.) My objective is to assist my clients through the entire publication process.

Documents other than manuscripts may also be reviewed up to three times based on total editable word count.  For responses to reviewers, only author responses are counted.  Since I live in Japan, fees are in Japanese yen (¥).

Editing Fee = Manuscript Total Words - (Author Information + References + Table Content) * ¥11

Generally I like to review a manuscript 2-3 times before it is submitted, returning it to the authors between revisions.  The "heavy lifting" gets done on the first pass, but subsequent revisions result in a more polished document.  I usually have questions and comments to which authors need to respond, so as to ensure accuracy.  I apprise my clients of the anticipated turnaround time upon receipt of their manuscripts, and I strive to return everything within 3 working days.  Of course, turnaround is dictated largely by workload; however during the last 3 months my turnaround has averaged about 18 hours.

Manuscript Submission

Billing

I prefer to work on completed manuscripts. Manuscripts must be approved by all co-authors prior to submission.  Ideally, corresponding authors should cc all coauthors on when submitting a manuscript for editing. This prevents miscommunications and more serious problems. Submitted manuscripts should include names and contact information of all co-authors, even if those will be redacted for submission.

Authors are responsible for formatting their manuscripts in accordance with the standards of their target journals.  Many journals now facilitate such formatting by providing templates. Manuscripts should be sent to me by Email in Word or Pages format and low-resolution versions of figures and tables should be included.  Manuscripts created in LaTeX can be loaded into Overleaf. 

For a formal price quotation or for editing, please submit manuscripts by Email, or in the case of LaTeX files, send an invitation to the Overleaf project.

Clients will be invoiced when the manuscript is ready for submission.  However, invoiced documents may be returned to me for additional editing after invoicing without additional fees.