Our Services

Publishing tools

Tuesday, 24 July 2012 11:06

Data Access

More and more journals are requiring authors to provide other researchers access to the data on which their research is based. A not-for-profit organization called 'DataCite' was created to:

• establish easier access to research data on the internet
• increase acceptance of research data as legitimate, citable contributions to the scholarly record
• support data archiving that will permit results to be verified and re-purposed for future study
• support researchers by helping them to find, identify and cite research datasets with confidence
• support data centers by providing persistent identifiers for datasets, workflows and standards for data publication
• support journal publishers by enabling research articles to be linked to the underlying data

Visit datacite.org for more information. 

Journal Abbreviations

Some journals require that you use standard abbreviations for journal names in the reference lists at the end of papers. You can find the standard abbreviations for journal names through one of these websites*:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals

http://images.webofknowledge.com/WOK46/help/WOS/A_abrvjt.html

*The Charlesworth Group is not responsible for the content of other websites. 

Writing numbers

Last Updated on Monday, 23 July 2012 14:29 Monday, 23 July 2012 14:11

There is no 'correct' way to write numbers. Different journals follow different style guides, and different style guides have wildly different rules. You need to check the style of the journal you're submitting to and follow the style rules for numbers that they use. For example, one common style recommends that writers use words for numbers less than 10 and the numeral for anything bigger. 

Example:

• Today, researchers use five basic methods for treating skin cancer.
• Doctors have tried a total of 15 basic protocols in this area.

But another widely followed style manual recommends using the words for all whole numbers 100 and lower, and also for big round numbers such as one thousand and twenty thousand. 

Example:

• Today, our doctors treated nine patients for poisoning.
• Yesterday our doctors treated eleven patients for poisoning.
• Last year, our doctors treated fourty-seven patients for poisoning.
• Last year in the US, our doctors treated five thousand patients for poisoning.

These style differences also apply to the use of decimal points and commas. For example:

• One journal may want you to write 0.32 not .32.
• Another journal may prefer 2461 over 2,461.

What is important for you to remember is that there are as many style guides as there are rules. You MUST check the instructions for authors for the journal you are submitting to and follow the rules they have. If you use our language editing service and have a particular journal in mine, we can help you to apply the 'rules' for writing numbers correctly within that journal's style.

Indefinite Articles

Last Updated on Monday, 09 July 2012 12:58 Monday, 09 July 2012 12:49

"A" and "an" are indefinite articles and knowing when to use them in English can be tricky. Using indefinite articles correctly is linked to whether or not the noun in the sentence is or is not countable. A countable noun refers to a distinct object with clear forms (e.g. a door, a window, a car). An uncountable noun is one that does not have a distinct referent that has a concrete form (water, wheat, information). 

Countable nouns can be singular or plural but when you use a singular noun, you generally use an article with it. 

For example:

• I need a new scale
• He wants an aluminum autoclave.
• They need an editor.

Generally, "a" comes before words that start with a consonant sound, while "an" comes before words that begin with vowel sounds. Exceptions include words that begin with a silent "h", as in "an hour". 

TIP

If you're unsure whether a noun is or is not countable, use the plural form of the word, as this will not need an article.

• I need new scales. 
• He wants aluminum autoclaves.
• They need editors. 

Meet the team

Last Updated on Tuesday, 23 April 2013 08:21 Written by Administrator Monday, 25 June 2012 10:39

With over 80 years of experience in the publishing industry, we take pride in ensuring we have the best possible team of staff to provide expertise and support to all our customers. 

Here are some of our team members from our global offices:

Caitlin Meadows MA (Oxon)

Caitlin is our Publishing Services Director and oversees The Charlesworth Group's UK office and our Language Editing services globally. She has over 15 years' experience in publishing and has held positions in editorial and publishing roles, most particularly in medical publishing. She has broad experience working with publishers, societies and institutions, with a particular interest in working with non-native English speakers to achieve the best opportunities from services available to them at all stages of the peer review and publishing workflow.

Mary Anne Baynes

Mary Anne Baynes is our Director of Sales and Marketing. She is a successful sales and marketing executive with more than 17 years experience in publishing and web-based services and she has extensive experience working with authors and publishers specifically on language editing. She works with The Charlesworth Group, USA to help create and implement global sales and marketing initiatives for their suite of publishing services including XML typesetting and conversion, eBook conversion, language polishing and copyediting, and rights and licensing solutions. Mary Anne also helps to develop business processes and procedures that result in expanded global market presence and increased revenue.

Xiaoying Chu MA

Xiaoying Chu is our Publishing Services Director in China. Xiaoying has been a director with Charlesworth China for seven years, coming to the company after carrying out her Publishing degree at Oxford Brookes, and after an extensive career as an editor and Chinese publisher. Xiaoying works closely with international and Chinese publishers/societies, translators and printers, to develop the publishing services market and relationships within China. She provides training to Chinese editors in various areas through courses and conferences organized by the China Editology Society for Science Periodicals（CESSP), Chinese University Journals Society(CJUS) amongst others. Xiaoying has a Bachelor's degree in Chinese language and literature from ShangDong University and an MA in Publishing from Oxford Brookes University (UK).
 

Demi Li MSc

Demi is a Medical Editor at Charlesworth China. She obtained a Master's Degree in Immunology and Bachelor's Degree in Clinical Medicine from China's Three Gorges University. She has 4 years' experience as a medical editor. Demi worked at the Chinese Journal of New Drugs and Clinical Remedies for two years, and joined Charlesworth China in August 2010. She supports authors using our Language Editing service, answering any questions and offering advice. 

Deborah Yang M.S.Ed

Deborah Yang is our Business Development Manager. She holds a Master's Degree in Education from the University of Pennsylvania and has many years' of experience in education, training, and corporate project management. After working as a project manager in multi-national companies in China for 7 years, Deborah spent another 5 years working in the US. She has established sound relationships with academic researchers and a number of western STM publishers. Over the past 12 years, she has been giving training to people from different countries as well as various higher education institutions in China. Deborah is also an expert in teaching English to non-native English speakers.

Catherine Li

Catherine works with The Charlesworth Group's language polishing service, as well as overseeing the PMC XML conversion for Chinese publishers. After joining The Charlesworth Group's China division in October 2000, Catherine has worked in a number of different departments and now has extensive experience in xml, typesetting, proof reading and management. Catherine has 12 years of experience in the publishing industry, and a Batchelor's degree in Environmental Protection from China Agriculture University.

Meet our Editors
All of our editors are native speakers of English and have university degrees in the subject area they are editing. We test and assess all editors to ensure they have the skills and knowledge to expertly edit, proofread and thoroughly check work at all levels within their subject area. Each manuscript, article or thesis submitted to us is assigned to an editor specifically selected for their expertise in the subject area. The editor will check the text and make suggestions on how to improve grammar, spelling, syntax, coherence, clarity and readability. Click here to see our editors' profiles.