Humanitas Editing and Proofreading Ltd

1. Privacy Policy.

   We take the privacy of clients’ and authors’ documents and personal data extremely seriously. In accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we will never pass on the personal data of clients or authors to third parties, and we will store clients’ and authors’ data and documents in accordance with the aforementioned legislation. All our editors have signed non-disclosure agreements, and if requested we will send the client a copy of their editor’s signed non-disclosure agreement.

   All client and author data will be stored securely on a password-protected device that uses anti-virus and anti-malware software. If an author decides not to engage our services we will delete their data and files from our system, and destroy any hard copies, as soon as that decision has been communicated to us. Clients’ documents will be stored electronically for a minimum period of six months from the date of service completion.

   We will retain the client’s personal data, including the client’s name, address and service agreement, for a total of six years for tax purposes. As a business, we are required by law to retain this information for this period of time.

2. Service agreement.

   Once we have agreed the terms of service to a client, the client will be asked to approve a service agreement in writing. This agreement will include: client details, details of the service, the service definition, the timeframe or timeframes for completion, the service fee and the invoicing terms.

3. Document formats.

   We accept documents in the following format.: MS Word. We edit MS Word documents using the MS Track Changes feature. This allows the client to accept or reject any changes made to the document. Queries and comments are made using the comment tool. We are happy to provide guidance to any client who is unfamiliar with Track Changes.

   It may be possible to edit other document formats (eg PDF). An estimate can be provided.

4. Timeframes.

   We will use all reasonable endeavours to meet agreed deadlines. In the unlikely event that circumstances beyond our control result in an agreed deadline being missed, we will refund the client all money paid in respect of the instalment of their work which was not completed and returned in time, unless it was impossible to complete the instalment in time because the client had failed to send us a document, or part of a document, by an agreed date, or had failed to make an agreed payment. If we miss a deadline because of a client’s failure to meet a deadline or make an agreed payment, we reserve the right to alter the deadline for service completion, or to concel the service agreement.

5. Invoicing and Payment Terms.

   Clients using our proofreading and editing services pay us by the word, and may pay in instalments, as further set out here and in the service agreement particulars. No refund will be paid if a client terminates a service agreement, unless it can be shown, with fair justification, that the proofreading/copyediting failed to meet the terms of the agreement.

6. Legal responsibilities.

   It is the responsibility of the client and/or author to ensure that the content of work they submit to us is accurate and does not contain legally problematic text, such as libellous statements or information, incitement to religious or racial hatred, plagiarism or the reproduction of copyright material without the necessary permissions. We do not offer to edit (or ‘paraphrase’) plagiarised text, and if we find evidence of academically unacceptable plagiarism in a text submitted to us we will raise the issue with the client. We therefore ask all clients to ensure that they have not borrowed the work of other authors without using correct attribution. We reserve the right to terminate an agreement on the grounds that a text has been heavily plagiarised. The ultimate responsibility for identifying and resolving such issues lies with the client and/or author.

7. Limited warranty and limited academic liability.

   We aim to reduce the number of errors present in a client’s document. We will take reasonable measures to ensure the quality of our work, but it is unlikely that we will be able to remove all the errors present in a document, and if the client is a student this level of improvement may well be against their university’s rules. By ordering our services, the client accepts sole responsibility for the use of the proofread or copyedited document (eg for the purposes of publication of for obtaining a grade or result at a university). We cannot be held legally responsible for any adverse outcomes, howsoever arising, including as a result of the negligence or alleged negligence of our editors.

8. Sample edits.

   We ask prospective clients to send us their document so that we can do a sample edit. This enables the client to assess our services and enables us to give the client an exact quote. The sample will be 1,000 words and will normally be taken from the start of the document. First-time clients will not be charged for the sample edit, which will be returned in three files, to demonstrate the three levels of our copyediting and proofreading service.

9. Second editing round.

   If a client has already paid us for giving a document a standard proofread, we will deduct the cost of that service if the same document is submitted for Proofreading Plus or Academic Proofreading Plus. Similarly, if the document is submitted for our Premium Editing service or our Academic Premium Editing service we will deduct whatever the client has already paid us for it to be proofread. If a client requests further copyediting or proofreading of a document after they have rewritten some sections of it themselves, we will charge only for copyediting or proofreading substantially rewritten sections, at a 50% discount, provided the rewritten sections are highlighted for our attention. If a paper is rejected by an academic journal after we have edited it because of grammatical errors which we failed to correct, we will re-edit the paper at no charge. However, if the client submitted the paper after making changes which we were not asked to proofread, we cannot be responsible for those changes. Nor can we be responsible for errors which we corrected but which remained in the submitted document.

10. Refund policy.

    A full or partial refund may be offered, at our discretion, in certain circumstances, if a client is not satisfied with our service and can cite valid reasons for their dissatisfaction. We reserve the right to take action to address any such concerns before offering a refund. Any decisions as to the nature and extent of remedial actions or refunds remains at our sole discretion.

11. Modification.

    We reserve the right to change these Terms and Conditions and other information that the Humanitas website contains, without notice. These changes will not affect service agreements which we have already entered into.

12. By entering into an agreement with Humanitas, the client indemnifies and holds Humanitas and all its employees and agents harmless from and against all liabilities, legal fees, damages, costs and other expenses in relation to any claims or actions brought against Humanitas arising out of any breach by the client of these Terms and Conditions or any other liabilities arising out of the use of our services.