What my clients say…
Having worked with Rachel previously it was an easy choice for me to go back to her as a proofreader, this time for my PhD thesis. Just like earlier, working with her has been an absolute pleasure. I had very little time to hand in my PhD thesis, but Rachel managed to work on my tight schedule, sending all her feedback timely. She also added comments and explanations to her proofreading-edits and sent a very useful personalised style-guide, which made it easy for me to follow the rationale behind her work and, I believe, has improved my writing as well. I would always go back to Rachel for proofreading any type of work, and would highly recommend her to anyone who needs an excellent proofreader!
Monika Hirmer, PhD candidate, SOAS University of London
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Rachel has been a great proofreader and she has been very helpful. She was always available and willing to help, checking all small details of my paper and making sure she understood what I wanted to say in my paper. I learnt a lot from this experience and think that after her help, my writing techniques improved a lot! If I need a proofreader again, I will definitely contact her.
Guillermo Cabanillas-Jiménez, PhD research student, University of Kent
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I’ve been very impressed with Rachel’s work; not only is she fast, efficient and accurate, but she is also clearly aware of the subtleties of the subject matter.
I recently employed her, along with three other proofreaders, to work on a multi-author academic volume of African studies. Rachel’s work was significantly more accurate and responsive to the authors’ intentions than was the others’ work. She was also able to ensure good use of English while preserving the author’s style – a valuable skill which goes beyond regular proofreading, and is especially useful in international academic work. She liaised with me well and generally made the whole project go much more smoothly than it would have without her input.
I highly recommend her work.
Jessica Aitken, Inkwell Proofreading and Editing
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I have worked with Rachel for some time, including sometimes subcontracting academic proofreading work to her. She pays attention to detail, is thorough, has a good grasp of English grammar and is qualified to teach English as a Foreign Language, so she is also very good at proofreading documents written by non-native speakers of English. I work to a high standard and Rachel’s reliability, professional approach and the quality of her work make her a pleasure to work with and easy to communicate with. I have no doubts in recommending her to anyone looking for an academic proofreader.
Dawn Leggott, Dawn Leggott Consulting Ltd
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I was so lucky to have met Rachel upon approaching my deadline for my PhD thesis submission. My experience with Rachel was beyond my expectation, where she worked professionally, personally and was very encouraging. Rachel understood my situation very well along with my culture, and she paid attention to how she communicated with someone whose culture and background were different. Furthermore, she kept complimenting me on the points I made, so it motivated me even more. I will definitely get back to her for my future academic work.
Idham Badruzaman, PhD research student, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
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Working with Rachel has been a wonderful experience! Rachel’s proofreading service has been of the utmost quality, always delivered well in time, meticulously executed and accompanied by the rationale informing specific stylistic choices. What really makes Rachel stand out is her deep engagement with the work at hand, which she thoroughly studies so that its aim is best reflected in the final product. As founding editors of a radically innovative publishing platform, we needed someone who not only executed the tasks at hand, but who also could understand our mandate and the readership we wish to reach out to. Rachel has excelled in both areas, well exceeding our expectations. No need to say, we highly recommend Rachel Duncan’s proofreading service!
Monika Hirmer, founding editor of Decolonial Subversions and PhD candidate at SOAS University of London
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I was so happy when Rachel completed the proofread of my Skyrunning guide. Her efficiency and skill helped to bring all the route descriptions together in a way which will allow the readers to fully engage with the guide and its ethos. Having Rachel’s service also gave me the confidence to take the guide through to publishing and therefore place my guide in the hands of Skyrunners.
John Proctor, independent author of Mapping the Mind: The Art of Skyrunning UK
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I assigned work from a client to Rachel and was impressed with her proactive attitude, willingness to be very flexible about timing and her quick understanding of the parameters of the job. I look forward to future involvement with Rachel as she is also extremely pleasant and nothing is too much trouble.
Magazine Editor, West Yorkshire
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I truly enjoyed working with you on my paper on Easter Diakonia in the South. You unearthed grammatical issues that I did not have time to think about when writing my paper and also raised queries that made me express myself better. Your notes were also very well explained, making it easier for me to decide on what to replace this or that with, and to follow your thoughts on why this or that does not fit here or there. It was truly a blessing to have had such a person as you go through my paper after my peers, for even they had not noted what you noted. You made me rethink the vitality of proofreaders before publications. I truly recommend writers and academics to use your expertise for them to fully grasp why I am over-excited talking about your help.
Fr Evangelos Thiani, senior lecturer, Bishop Gathuna Theological Institute, Kiambu, Kenya
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Working with Rachel has been a great pleasure and privilege. Upon joining Decolonial Subversions, offering her editing and proofreading services voluntarily, Rachel took the time to understand the decolonial mission of the platform and to adapt her proofreading approach accordingly. At Decolonial Subversions we are deeply concerned about preserving the original voice of the authors, while supporting them with excellent proofreading services to improve the accuracy of their writings in English, which is usually not the first language of our contributors. Rachel has shown exceptional humility and patience in her proofreading approach, explaining clearly and in detail to the contributors the rationale behind her suggested improvements and avoiding assuming the intention or the meaning behind their writings.
Authors who have worked with Rachel have previously thanked us for Rachel’s detailed, clear and constructive suggestions and have found working with her very educational and conducive to their self-improvement. We are fortunate to be working with such a dedicated professional and we hope that Rachel’s work receives the recognition it deserves!
Dr Romina Istratii, SOAS University of London. Founding editor of Decolonial Subversions
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I can definitely recommend Rachel as a great proofreader. She works fast and provides clear instructions and explanations. I was amazed by how quickly she responded to my questions. I enjoyed working with her. I would say precision and speed are her best qualities as a proofreader.
Dr Aleksandrs Dmitrenko, PhD
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I was very impressed by your proofreading. I could tell that you had put a lot of time and effort into it which I have not always felt with previous texts I’ve had proofread. I really liked the way you gave a Style Sheet and it will help me with future texts. I did appreciate the explanations you gave which is something I’ve not seen before.
Dr Alison Kolosova, postdoctoral research fellow, University of Tartu, Estonia
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For further recommendations see my profile on Find a Proofreader