MDPI Author Services

The editing service you require will depend on your own ability with regard to English and academic writing, as well as your time constraints.

The most comprehensive edit is the specialist edit, which includes grammar and style, and checks the overall structure and clarity of your writing.

If you are confident about your writing style and the structure of your document, but require grammar and complex expressions to be checked, choose the regular edit service. If you need to meet a short deadline, this is the quickest option.

To save time when preparing your manuscript for one of MDPI’s journals, you can choose the layout editing option. This can be carried out independently or alongside one of the other services we offer.

If you wish to have your manuscript checked for evidence of plagiarism, you can select the plagiarism check box.

Both Microsoft Word and LaTeX papers are accepted for editing. For LaTeX files, in order for editing to proceed, the following criteria must be met:

• A zip folder containing all of the files necessary to compile the .tex file into a PDF, including any figures, .bib and .sty files, must be submitted (we are not able to edit a singular .tex file with no zip).
• The .tex in your zip file needs to compile on a program such as TeXstudio (even if the .tex compiles on Overleaf, this does not mean that it will compile with other LaTeX editing software).
• Your paper must be able to compile using the pdfTeX extension.
• The entire paper needs to be contained within one singular .tex file within the zip folder. Papers that are split into several smaller .tex files cannot be edited.
• The .tex must be able to compile without errors.

1. Complete any revisions and accept any tracked changes within your document. The uploaded file should be the final and most up-to-date version. The editing process may begin immediately after you make your submission, so we cannot guarantee acceptance of a later version if you upload the incorrect file.

2. Check the word count of your paper (see below).

3. Go to the "Get a Quote and Submit" section at the top of this page, and enter the required information in order to obtain a quote. A "Submit" button will appear, which you can click on in order to enter your details and upload your file.

We only count the words that need to be edited, so when you check the word count of your paper, make sure you temporarily remove sections such as the bibliography, author names, affiliations, and long tables that do not contain text that requires editing. Text in figures and tables will be counted by Microsoft Word.

For LaTeX papers, MDPI provides a word count tool as part of our submission system (this requires a login).

If you require an iThenticate check for your paper, we strongly recommend including the bibliography with the submitted paper, i.e., reinserting it after you have checked the word count. This will help us to determine whether the references you have cited are appropriate.

There is no fixed limit, but for papers longer than 10,000 words, please contact us before submitting your paper. Please note that we only edit research articles, not books or theses.

You can obtain a quote by using the “Get a Quote” function near the top of this page. The cost of language editing depends on the number of words in your manuscript. Layout editing and the plagiarism check are offered at a fixed price, independent of the length of your paper.

An invoice will be sent to you shortly after you submit your paper. Payment can be made in Swiss Francs (CHF), Euros (EUR), US Dollars (USD) or British Pounds Sterling (GBP) by either credit card, bank transfer, or PayPal.

Credit card is the most immediate and convenient method: we receive payment confirmation immediately and can start editing your paper as soon as we receive it. PayPal is also immediate, but a 5% transfer fee applies. If you pay by bank transfer, we will not start editing your paper until we have confirmed the payment, which can take several days.

If there will be a long delay in payment (e.g., due to institutional bureaucracy), please get in touch with evidence that the payment is being processed, as we may be able to return the edited manuscript earlier.

You can log in to the submission system (SuSy) to check the progress of your manuscript.

We will reformat your manuscript for submission to any MDPI journal, including checking that the structure follows the MDPI house style. We will also reformat references and look for missing information in the references section and main text. Please note that the layout service does not include the conversion of the Harvard referencing style (author, date) to the Vancouver referencing style, i.e., [1,2]. This service does not include any language editing but can be selected alongside the regular or specialist edit services if required.

This option takes 24 hours to complete.

This level of editing is acceptable for submission to and publication in most journals. We will edit the language in your manuscript, ensuring that it is grammatically correct, that the spelling and punctuation are accurate, and that any awkward and ambiguous sentences are removed or reworded. Your voice and choice of words will be kept where possible. Correct use of discipline-specific terms is not guaranteed, and we do not rewrite prose.

The regular edit takes two business days to complete.

The specialist edit is our most comprehensive service. It includes all the features of the regular edit service. In addition, you will receive editing and feedback relevant to the overall structure and clarity of expression in your document, along with a check of other elements of scientific writing by an editor with knowledge of your subject area. Note that the specialist edit is not currently available in all subject areas, so please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions about this service.

The specialist edit takes four business days to complete.

If you select the plagiarism check, your manuscript will be checked using the industry standard iThenticate software. You will receive an annotated report, including advice regarding any areas of the manuscript that should be changed. A guide to plagiarism and iThenticate reports is available here.

The plagiarism check takes 24 hours to complete and will only be started after payment has been confirmed. If there are issues that need to be addressed, you will be able to revise and resubmit your paper before English or layout editing.

There are several reasons why we may not be able to edit your paper:

• The file is corrupted or the text is not easily editable (e.g., most of the text is contained in text boxes or pictures, or the file contains a virus).
• The file is not an academic research paper. While we can edit responses to reviewers and cover letters alongside a paper, we cannot edit theses, dissertations, essays, or books.
• Your manuscript is not written in English, or has been translated using automatic software such as Google Translate.
• Payment is not received in a reasonable amount of time. If you know in advance that payment may take some time, for example, due to bureaucracy at your institution, please contact us to let us know. It may be possible to return your edited paper to you early if you provide evidence that payment has been made.

For any inquiries, please contact our English editing help desk via email.