Answers to the questions our authors, editors, and institutions ask most — covering services, packages, pricing, timelines, revisions, confidentiality, and everything in between.
American Publication Consultants (APC) is a global research publishing services company. We help researchers, students, universities, hospitals, and institutions prepare their work for peer-reviewed publication.
Our services span English language editing, journal selection, pre-submission peer review, formatting and artwork, journal submission, rejected-paper editing, plagiarism checking, grant writing, and statistical analysis.
We work with a wide range of clients:
Whether you are preparing your first manuscript or your hundredth, we can support you.
APC covers nearly every field of academic and applied research, including:
If you are unsure whether we have the right expert for your paper, just ask — we will tell you honestly.
Ordering is simple:
If you'd rather talk first, contact us on WhatsApp or our contact page and we will guide you through the right option.
No. APC is an independent editorial and publication support company. We are not owned by, owned, or officially affiliated with any journal, publisher, or indexing body.
Any journal names or publisher logos you see on our website are used purely for identification purposes under fair use. Using our services does not create any preference or inside track with a journal — every manuscript is still judged on its own merits.
Our office is in Brooklyn, New York, United States, and our editing, peer review, and production teams are distributed globally. Support is available 24/7, so you can reach us at any hour from any time zone.
You can find our full contact details in the footer of every page.
Yes. Quotes are always free. Send us your manuscript, word count, and target journal, and we will tell you exactly what the service will cost and how long it will take — with no obligation to proceed.
English editing focuses on the language of your manuscript — grammar, clarity, style, flow, and academic tone.
Publication support covers everything else needed to actually get your paper into a journal: choosing the right journal, formatting to journal guidelines, conducting a peer review, submitting on your behalf, and handling revisions after rejection.
Most authors use both, and our Full Support Pack bundles them together.
Use this quick guide:
Not sure? Send us your manuscript and we will recommend the right level honestly.
Top Impact Scientific Editing is our highest-level editing service. It is led by senior editors who have published in, reviewed for, or edited top-tier journals.
Beyond language, they assess scientific logic, argument structure, title and abstract impact, figure and table storytelling, and overall positioning for a high-impact readership.
Substantive Editing goes beyond grammar. Our editors restructure sentences and paragraphs, sharpen the argument, tighten the narrative flow, and improve clarity throughout — while keeping your voice and your science intact.
It is the right choice when reviewers have said "unclear", "awkward", or "poorly structured" — or when you simply want the strongest possible version of your manuscript.
Copy Editing is a deeper pass focused on grammar, punctuation, spelling, consistency, terminology, and house style.
Proofreading is a final light check — catching typos, missing words, and obvious errors in an already well-written draft.
If your paper has already been professionally edited, choose proofreading. If not, copy editing is usually the safer choice.
Thesis Editing is designed for dissertations and theses. It includes language editing, consistency checking across chapters, reference-style correction, heading and numbering cleanup, and formatting to your university's guidelines.
Editors experienced with thesis structure will also flag issues with logical flow, chapter transitions, and clarity of your contribution — without rewriting your research.
Never. Preserving your scientific meaning is our most important rule. Editors improve the language, not the science — they do not add data, change results, or reinterpret findings.
If something is genuinely ambiguous, the editor will flag it in a comment for you to clarify rather than guessing what you meant.
Yes. We regularly edit LaTeX manuscripts and can work directly in your .tex source, preserving your document class, macros, and formatting. Just upload the full source (including any custom style files) alongside your manuscript.
Yes. Standard editing covers tables, figure captions, and reference lists. Editors check for consistency in terminology, table and figure labeling, and reference style.
For full journal-ready formatting of tables and figures, add our Formatting & Artwork Editing service.
We accept Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx), LaTeX (.tex plus source files), and PDF for review or reference. Figures are best supplied as PNG, TIFF, EPS, SVG, or high-resolution JPG.
If you only have a scanned or photographed document, contact us — we may be able to help, though there may be a small conversion fee.
Pre-Submission Peer Review is a mock peer review of your manuscript before you send it to a journal. A subject-matter expert reads your paper the way a journal reviewer would and produces a structured report covering:
You receive scored feedback and a concrete revision plan.
Pre-Submission Peer Review is a full reviewer-style report with section-by-section analysis, scoring, and a detailed revision plan.
Peer Review Lite is a faster, lighter option that highlights the top issues affecting your paper without the full structured report. It's a good fit if you want a quick reality check before submitting.
Journal Selection is a matching service. Based on your manuscript's scope, novelty, methodology, and target audience, our team recommends a shortlist of journals that are genuinely appropriate — with the rationale for each choice, typical impact factors, acceptance difficulty, and estimated turnaround.
It saves weeks of guesswork and helps you avoid predatory journals.
This service makes your manuscript match a specific journal's style guide exactly — title page, headings, references, table and figure legends, and formatting.
Our production team also redesigns figures, charts, and tables to publication quality, so they look professional in print and online.
We handle the whole submission process on your behalf:
You stay the author of record — we simply do the paperwork.
Rejected Paper Editing is a specialised service for manuscripts that were rejected or returned with major revisions. Our editors analyse the reviewer comments, identify the core objections, and help you restructure and rewrite the manuscript to address them.
You get a clear action plan plus the actual revised manuscript, ready for resubmission — to the same journal or a different one.
Our researchers search the literature for you and provide a curated set of relevant, high-quality references — complete with correctly formatted citations in the style your journal requires.
It's ideal for strengthening your introduction, discussion, or grant background without hours of manual searching.
Many journals accept a short pre-submission email asking whether your manuscript is in scope. We draft and send that inquiry on your behalf, then track the response.
It's a low-cost way to avoid submitting to a journal that will desk-reject your paper.
Yes. A tailored cover letter is included in our Journal Submission service, and can be added to any other service on request.
Every cover letter is written specifically for your paper and your target journal — never a template.
Yes. Responding to reviewers is one of the most common reasons authors come to us. We help you draft a clear, respectful, point-by-point response that addresses each comment and shows exactly what changed in the manuscript.
Yes. Our Grant Writing service helps you develop competitive grant proposals with clear aims, methodology, and budget justification.
Our Statistical Analysis service connects you with a statistician who reviews your data, verifies your statistical approach, and can run or re-run analyses if needed.
The Full Support Pack is our most comprehensive package. It combines journal selection, editing, formatting and artwork, pre-submission peer review, submission handling, and 365-day free revisions — covering your manuscript from journal choice all the way through submission.
It is the right choice if you want one team to own your publication journey end to end.
The Easy-Go Pack is a lighter, faster package focused on getting your manuscript submission-ready. It includes editing, formatting, and submission support, plus 365-day free revisions.
It's a good fit when you've already chosen your journal and just need help getting the submission done right.
The main difference is depth and coverage:
If you're not sure which journal is right or want reviewer feedback before submitting, Full Support is the stronger option. See the full comparison on our Compare Pack page.
It means that for up to one full year after delivery, you can come back to us with new versions of your manuscript and have them edited again at no additional cost. This covers revisions requested by reviewers, changes made before submission, and resubmissions to a different journal.
It applies to the same manuscript and the same scope of work as your original order.
Yes. If you started with an individual service and later decide you want the full package, contact us and we will credit what you have already paid toward the pack price.
No. No ethical service can guarantee journal acceptance — that decision belongs entirely to the journal's editor and peer reviewers.
What our packs guarantee is that your manuscript is professionally prepared, well-matched to a journal, and supported through revisions for a full year. That dramatically increases your chances, but it is not a promise of acceptance.
APC uses iThenticate, the industry-standard similarity detection tool used by most major academic publishers. Your report shows every matched source with a similarity percentage and a breakdown of where the matches occur.
The iThenticate report itself is the same tool journals use, so many authors find it useful for pre-submission checking. However, each journal applies its own similarity criteria, and some journals will still run their own check on submission.
Our report helps you find and fix problems before the journal does.
There is no universal number — every journal sets its own threshold, and what matters more than the overall percentage is where the matches occur. Matches in the methods section, standard phrases, or reference titles are usually fine; matches in the results, discussion, or abstract are usually not.
Our report flags the specific sources so you can judge each one.
Yes. Our plagiarism reduction service rewrites problematic passages — paraphrasing, restructuring, and re-citing — so your original meaning is preserved while the similarity score drops to a safe level.
We always recommend proper citation over hiding a match, and we never help you conceal genuine plagiarism.
Yes. Our AI Content Detector analyses your manuscript for signals associated with AI-generated text and returns a report with a human/AI breakdown by section.
It is a useful pre-submission check, since many journals now screen submissions for AI-generated content.
Policies vary by journal, but the general rule across the industry is: AI tools may assist with language and formatting, but they must be disclosed, and they cannot be listed as an author or used to fabricate data or references.
Our editors work within your journal's stated AI policy — if you tell us the rule, we will follow it.
No. APC does not write papers for authors, does not sell authorship, and does not support paper mills in any form. These practices are research misconduct and we will never participate in them.
Everything we do supports your research — we improve the language, structure, presentation, and submission process, but the science, data, and authorship are always yours.
We can advise on standard authorship conventions (ICMJE and COPE guidance) and review your author list and contribution statement for consistency, but we do not arbitrate disputes between authors. Those should be resolved with your institution.
Our editors are active researchers, postdocs, and senior academics from top institutions worldwide. Every editor holds an advanced degree (Master's or PhD) in their field and has a verifiable publication record.
You can browse representative profiles on our Editor Profiles page.
Our editors are fluent English speakers with advanced degrees in their fields — many are native speakers. Every editor is selected for both subject-matter expertise and proven English language editing ability, and passes a rigorous editing test before joining APC.
We match based on your manuscript's field, sub-field, methodology, and journal target. A clinical trial paper is matched to a clinician, a materials science paper to a materials scientist, and so on.
If the first editor is not the perfect fit, we will reassign your work at no extra cost.
Yes. If you have worked with an APC editor before, you can request them again at no extra cost, subject to availability.
Our VIP Editor service gives you priority access to our most senior, most experienced editors — typically for papers targeting top-tier journals.
Yes. Our Editing Samples page shows real before-and-after edits across disciplines, so you can see the exact quality and style of our work before committing.
Sample reports for publication support services are available on our Service Samples page.
Tell us what's wrong. We will re-edit the manuscript at no cost and, if needed, assign a different editor. If we genuinely cannot meet your expectations, we will refund your payment in line with our After-Sales Service policy.
Pricing depends on the service, word count, turnaround, and level of editing. Editing is typically priced per 1,000 words; publication support services are priced per project.
Full price tables are on our Editing Pricing and Publication Support Pricing pages, and we are always happy to send a personalised quote.
Most services are charged by word count, so you always know the total before you commit. Some specialised services — like grant writing or statistical analysis — are quoted per project after we review the scope.
We accept major credit and debit cards, bank transfers, and PayPal. For institutional clients, we can also accept purchase orders and issue official invoices.
Yes. We offer discounts for students, early-career researchers, and bulk orders from universities and institutions. Contact us with your details and we will send you the applicable pricing.
Our Rewards Club also gives repeat customers reduced pricing on future orders.
Yes. We routinely work with universities, hospitals, and research institutions. We can issue formal invoices with your institution's required details, accept purchase orders, and provide all documentation needed for reimbursement.
Refunds are handled under our After-Sales Service policy. If a deliverable does not meet the agreed scope, we will first offer to correct the work at no cost. If that doesn't resolve the issue, we will issue a refund as appropriate.
Because work begins as soon as you order, refunds are typically proportional to the work already completed.
The Rewards Club gives returning clients reduced pricing, priority booking, and occasional bonus services. The Deposits programme lets you pre-fund an account, so your team can place orders quickly without going through payment each time.
Turnaround depends on the service and manuscript length. Standard editing is typically delivered within a few business days; peer review and formatting take longer. Express and rush options are available on request.
Your exact delivery date is confirmed in your quote before you pay.
Yes. Express and rush delivery are available on most services, including 24-hour turnaround for some editing jobs. Rush availability depends on editor capacity and manuscript length — contact us and we will confirm.
Tell us the deadline at the time you order, and we will plan the work backward from it. If the deadline is not achievable, we will say so before you pay — we never promise a date we can't hit.
Yes. For long documents — theses, books, large reports — we can deliver in sections so you can start reviewing the early chapters while we finish the rest. Just request this when you order.
Our editors work across many time zones, and our support team is available 24/7. Delivery times are always stated in your local time zone, so there's no ambiguity about when your files will arrive.
We will re-edit the manuscript at no cost. If the journal has returned specific language comments, send them to us along with the file and we will address each point directly.
This is part of our standard quality guarantee — if the edit did not meet our own standard, we fix it.
Standard editing includes one round of language revision at no extra charge. Package clients (Full Support Pack and Easy-Go Pack) receive 365 days of free revisions — as many rounds as your journal process requires within that year.
If your paper is rejected after our support, contact us — we will review the reviewer comments with you and advise on next steps. Under our packages, re-editing after rejection is included free of charge within the 365-day revision window.
For non-package clients, our Rejected Paper Editing service is designed for exactly this situation.
Yes. Our Rejected Paper Editing service is a specialised, structured approach to revising a rejected manuscript — analysing reviewer feedback, restructuring the paper to address the objections, and preparing it for resubmission.
Yes. We stand behind our work. If you are not satisfied with a deliverable, we will re-edit it, reassign it to a different expert, or refund your payment in line with our After-Sales Service policy.
No. No ethical publishing service can guarantee acceptance — the decision always rests with the journal's editor and peer reviewers. Any service that promises acceptance is either misrepresenting itself or targeting predatory journals.
What we guarantee is editorial quality, correct formatting, sensible journal targeting, and continued support through revision.
Yes. Avoiding predatory journals is a core part of our Journal Selection service. We cross-check candidate journals against recognized indexing databases, publisher legitimacy signals, and editorial board transparency, and we flag any journal we consider a risk.
Yes, with your authorization. Under our Journal Submission service, we prepare the submission, enter your details into the portal, upload the files, and confirm the submission. You remain the author of record and receive all journal communications.
Our work helps by removing the most common causes of desk rejection — language problems, formatting mismatches, unclear significance, and wrong journal choice — and by helping you respond effectively to reviewers. In practice, this often means fewer rounds of revision and less time lost to resubmissions.
We cannot influence a journal's internal processing speed, but we can make sure your paper never comes back for reasons we could have prevented.
Yes. All manuscripts and files are handled under strict confidentiality. Every APC editor and reviewer works under a non-disclosure agreement. We never share, resell, publish, or reuse your work without your explicit written permission.
Yes. If your institution or funding body requires a signed NDA, send us your document and we will return it signed. This is common for industry research and pre-patent work.
We retain delivered files only as long as necessary to support revisions and quality checks, after which they are securely deleted. If you would like your files removed sooner, contact us and we will delete them on request.
Only the specific editor or reviewer assigned to your work, the quality assurance reviewer who checks it, and the project manager coordinating your order. Access is role-limited and logged.
Yes. Our website uses encryption for data in transit, secure payment processing through established providers, and standard controls to prevent unauthorized access. Full details are in our Privacy Policy.
You will receive status updates by email as your order moves through the workflow (received → assigned → in progress → delivered). You can also contact our support team at any time for a live update.
APC support is available 24/7. Whether you are in Asia, Europe, Africa, or the Americas, there is always someone available to answer your questions.
Yes, if work has not yet started, you can cancel and receive a full refund. If work is already in progress, we will refund the portion not yet completed. Contact us as soon as possible if you need to cancel.
Yes. Our Rewards Club gives returning clients reduced pricing and priority booking. Referrals are also rewarded — contact us for details on the current referral offer.
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