Proofreading and revision

Three different services, often confused

Revision is a bilingual comparison of a translation with its source by a second translator, looking for mistranslation, omission, terminology and consistency. It is the step that a recognised translation-quality standard, ISO 17100, treats as mandatory for every translation, and it is built into every translation we deliver; we do not hold ISO certification and do not claim it, but the two-linguist process is how we work. Proofreading is monolingual: a Turkish or English text is read for grammar, spelling, punctuation, register and readability without reference to another language. Review is a check of a translation someone else made, with a written opinion on whether it is fit for its purpose. Tell us which you need, or describe the problem and we will tell you.

When people ask for revision or proofreading

• A translation produced by a bilingual colleague, a relative or a machine that must go to a court, university or authority.
• A Turkish company’s English website, tender or annual report written in-house by non-native speakers.
• An English text written by a Turkish student, researcher or professional: dissertation, article, CV, cover letter, grant application.
• A Turkish text written in the UK by a second-generation speaker for a Turkish audience: a speech, a letter to an authority, a legal statement.
• A translation supplied by a counterparty in a dispute, where you need to know whether it is accurate.
• Legacy translation memories and glossaries before a new project.

How we work

Revision is done in tracked changes with a comment for every substantive change, so you can see what was wrong and why. Proofreading is delivered as a clean copy plus a tracked version. Reviews come as a short report: overall fitness, categories of error found with examples, and a recommendation (use as is, revise, or retranslate). For academic proofreading we correct language and formatting but do not rewrite arguments or add content; that line matters for university integrity rules and we keep to it.

Can we certify a translation you bring us?

Only if we have revised it in full against the original and are satisfied with it. Our certification statement says the translation is a true and accurate translation of the original, and we do not sign that on the strength of a skim. In practice, a translation made by a competent bilingual person is often revised and certified for less than a new translation would cost; a machine translation of a legal document usually is not, and we will quote a retranslation instead.

What it costs

Quoted per project after we have seen the text. Revision of a competent translation is typically around half our translation rate for the language direction (translation is from £10.00 per page Turkish to English and £6.50 per page English to Turkish); proofreading of a monolingual text is priced per page or per hour depending on how much rewriting is needed; reviews are priced per hour with a fixed cap agreed in advance. If a text turns out to need retranslation, we stop and tell you before the cost exceeds the quote. No UK VAT is charged.

Turnaround

Short documents 1–2 working days; a 10,000-word thesis chapter about 4 working days; a website or report by agreed schedule. Express is available at 60% above the quoted rate.

What we do not do

We do not proofread or revise into a language the reviser does not speak natively, we do not add academic content to student work, and we do not certify translations we have not compared line by line with the original. For text that has never been translated at all, start with Turkish to English or English to Turkish translation.