Looking for a native English proofreader in philosophy of sc

[Cinaft]

Dear colleagues,

I am looking for a native English researcher working in the field of philosophy of science/philosophy of mathematics/mathematics to proofread and polish my manuscripts prepared for submission and also (if wanted) other texts within future projects of the small press company that I manage.

I always had difficulties with the journal editors when coming to the issues of language. Manuscripts with positive reviews and close to publication have been pending for many months due to language and I have struggled polishing and re-polishing them with the help of several people. Some of these manuscripts never met the editor’s expectation, although they acknowledged their substance, which is the case of the current job (I have a manuscript that was proofread by a native linguist, reread by a native mathematician, passed both journal’s reviews and accepted for publication as regard its content, but the editor still reject the language as “non idiomatic”, “difficult to read”, with “senseless sentences”, etc.).

Thus far I have worked with a native linguist familiar with the field of philosophy and psychology. I thought philosophical texts are clear enough for a native reader to intuit what a non-native author mean in its “weird-sounding” portions, but it seems that I was wrong. Now I am sure that the expertise in the particular field of the text (philosophy of science) is necessary for the proofreader. I feel that the original style, carrying local cultural characteristics, always remain embedded in the final proofread text. I understand that these difficulties are mere the nature of language, but I still cannot accept that a text proofread third times can be rejected.

I am looking for a philosopher of science, of mathematics, or a mathematician to polish my texts in order to make them readable, eliminate the weird non-native style, intuit the logical connection between the parts of the sentence even it is not clearly visible, comply with the standard style of exposition of the literature in that particular field, and, of course, correct the obvious grammar/orthographic/spelling errors. I intentionally left this text unpolished for you to have an image of what is to be done (I only run the automatic spellchecker on it).

I welcome PhD students or early career academics to answer my call. I cannot pay much (my offer is $4 per 300-word source page or co-authorship if preferred), but I can compensate with volume and other advantages. We also have books in projects, single authored or collections of texts in the field of philosophy of science, needing native proofreading. Editor positions and also co-authorship for the proofreaders will be available once the projects started.

Thank you for your time.

[Ormond]

I welcome PhD students or early career academics to answer my call.

Doubt you'll find either here, but good luck. Forums are more for those of us with no credentials who have no where else to publish, ie. amateurs. You might be able to find an undergrad on forums.

[WorldThief]

I am an American English teacher currently living in Spain. My undergraduate degree was in anthropology with a minor in creative writing. Perhaps I am not exactly what you are looking for because I do not specialize in philosophy. However, I am well versed on many subjects and I devote myself to fiction writing and poetry. I have experience translating a wide variety of documents and am skilled at restructuring sentences and paragraphs to become more elegant and logical. If it's fluency and naturalness you're interested in and you don't come across a better candidate, contact me.

[Cinaft]

Hi, thank you for your reply. I already worked with a linguist with a similar profile and it proved that expertise in that particular field is essential. This is why I am looking for someone working or educated in philosophy/exact science. However, I would like to enlarge the team of collaborators within my press company, so if you are interested in isolated projects (proofreading/polishing translations as books or articles in your specialization), please send your resumee. Thanks again.

[Renee]

I understand that these difficulties are merely the nature of language, but I still cannot accept that a text proofread third times can be rejected.

Your problem may be as simple to solve as 1-2-3.

Fire your boss, the Editor-In-Chief. He or she is plain stupid. There is nothing you can do to improve that.

If they are fireproof, then you need to find another thankless job. This is not a solvable problem you face.

Even if it were theoretically solvable (which it is not) your financial reward system is so impoverished, that you will never get a quality person commit to the task. $4 remuneration per three hundred words is laughable. Unless of course you get a third-world Ph.D. to do this, who will grab at the opportunity at a flash. -- I understand the dollar figure quoted is in Australian dollars, not Malgasii dollars?

Try a literature undergrad Math Ph.D. with a Nobel prize in physics from Zimbabwe, Lesotho, or Kenya. Advertise in the "Upper Volta Scientific Journal" or in the Tirana Hedron Collider Research Facility's job classifieds. Send some recruiters to Yerevan, Hitvany and Kurtizan. That sort of thing.

I have advertised in the Timbuktu Research Council's web page, with the wording, "Must have three or more years of proven track experience on walking on water. Willing to travel and turn water into wine and his body into bread for nourishment on travels, in lieu of reimbursed travel expenses. Remuneration commensurate with experience." Five hundred and seventy-eight Malawii nuclear oceanographers with Ph.D.-s from MIT applied, eight thousand of whom alone were direct descendants of Albert Einstein and Marie Curie combined.

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Please pardon the sarcasm. I was just mere toying with the thought, no reflection on the sincerity of your intentions.

Please drop the word "intuit" from your active vocabulary -- nobody is into it any more.

[Cinaft]

Hi,
If this task is not attainable, how do you explain the thousands of paper published by non-natives?
I have no boss to fire. As I am talking about my manuscript, perhaps you suggest to fire myself.
I already got applications from (first-world) graduates and I am evaluating them. It seems that US also has poor people. I have been working with US-native linguists for more than 10 years for $3 per page. Besides, I also offerred co-authorship. Since the paper will be published in a good journal, it may worth something for someone who buils a portfolio, such as PhD students.
Language is a very complex issue. I like to say that all conflicts in this world (both scientific and daily-life ones) originate in language.
Thanks for your intervention.

-- Updated January 4th, 2017, 3:28 pm to add the following --

I welcome PhD students or early career academics to answer my call.

Doubt you'll find either here, but good luck. Forums are more for those of us with no credentials who have no where else to publish, ie. amateurs. You might be able to find an undergrad on forums.

Hi. That is not actually a strict requirement. I am sure graduates also post here. I am looking for someone familiar with the kind of text used here. Forum posts in philosophy of science assume arguments and logical flow. If someone is not published (yet) this does not mean s/he cannot review a paper, at least with regard to language and style.

[Causa-finalist]

Hello,

I believe that I might be able to provide what you are looking for. I am already working on a few such projects in related fields, but philosophy of science is my primary area or interest. My only hesitation would be that I am not fluent in complex mathematics (the formulaic or computational aspects, I am fairly competent in understanding and articulating complex mathematical concepts in linguistic form). I would not require payment, but would greatly appreciate co-authorship. Perhaps you could provide me with a sample text to examine and I could give you a more accurate assessment of my ability.

Cheers,

–Mel

[Cinaft]

HI Mel,
Thank you for your interest and reply. Please send me via pm or e-mail your resume. The texts for proofreading will be mainly in the field of philosophy of science. The formulaic texts are not actually my concern regarding proofreading, as the mathematical language is somehow universal and I have a good command of it.
Until your reply, I already hired someone pretending expertise in philosophy of science, gave him a manuscript and found that he misunderstood frequently my meanings (not having the ability of "reconstructing" the original meaning on the basis of his expertise). This made me more careful and also pessimist that my search does have a finality.
Regading co-authorship, I reserve myself the right of offering payment or co-authorship depending on the paper.
If you send me your resume, I wiull send you a sample.
Thanks again.

[Cinaft]

Hi Mel,
Please send me your resume via pm or email. Thanks.