FAQ: Working with us
Everything you need to know about working with us
The questions and answers in the FAQ section will give you a better understanding of what you can expect when you choose to work with us.
Process and admin
How do you determine whether you need us to edit or proofread your text?
It’s important to understand the difference between proofreading and editing – otherwise you may not get the result you expect. Answering some basic questions should help.
If you answer “yes” to most of these questions, proofreading is most likely the more suitable option for you:
If you answer “yes” to most of these questions, editing is most likely the more suitable option for you:
If you’re still not sure, please get in touch with us to discuss your needs.
It’s important to understand the difference between proofreading and editing – otherwise you may not get the result you expect. Answering some basic questions should help.
If you answer “yes” to most of these questions, proofreading is most likely the more suitable option for you:
If you answer “yes” to most of these questions, editing is most likely the more suitable option for you:
If you’re still not sure, please get in touch with us to discuss your needs.
We can edit, proofread and translate work done in Microsoft Word or in LaTeX via Overleaf – you simply upload your work in Overleaf and send us the link.
- Microsoft Word: Our editors use the track changes function to edit your text. This makes it easy for you to reject any changes where we may have misunderstood and changed a perfectly correct word/phrase/sentence. (Our editors are not infallible.) We use the comment function for notes and questions.
- Overleaf: Overleaf edits can also be done with tracking and comments, provided that you have signed up for the version that allows this.
Once you have accepted our quote, we will agree a project timeline with you and schedule the work accordingly. In cases where you need to supply us with text (e.g. for editing or source content for writing), the timeline will include a specific date by which you need to send us what we need. If we don’t receive the relevant material from you, we will need to adjust our planning and may not be able to deliver the work by the initially agreed dates.
Rates and payment
The applicable 2024 rates for standard services are:
| Proofreading and editing | €39/hour – on average we edit three pages per hour (assuming an average of 400 words per page), depending on the quality of the writing |
| Translation | €0.15 per word |
| Content creation and information architecture | €39/hour or fixed project rate agreed with the client |
| AI-assisted services | Content creation or translations done with the help of AI content tools will be quoted on a case-by-case basis |
We will send you an invoice after the work has been completed. In order for us to invoice you, we need the following:
- The order number, if your institution or company requires one.
- The name, physical address and email address of the person to whom the invoice should be addressed.
Your invoice will contain all the details you need to make payment.
- We only accept payment via bank transfers – no credit card or PayPal payments.
- Payments from within the EU are without banking transaction costs if you choose the SHA method.
- When paying from outside the EU, please use the OUR option or the one that includes all transaction costs.
About us
The name “Refine” represents the essence and core value-add of our services: unravelling, clarifying, improving and optimising your text and ideas to create high-quality content that is suitable for your target audience, easy to read, fulfils its purpose and is error-free.
Our tagline, “Your final stop”, represents this commitment, i.e. that you can have confidence and peace of mind that the final draft you receive from us is ready for distribution, publication, posting or other objectives.
Our logo represents our goals of ensuring engaging and refined content via several visual elements:
- A clean and simple look that implies accessibility and clarity, which we believe are key to effective communication.
- A quotation mark on top of the “I” to indicate communication – between you and us and you and your audience.
- A full stop that signifies Refine is your final stop in the process of creating clear, error-free content.
- The colour pallet that changes from dark to light symbolises the processes of clarification, optimisation and simplification.