"Brevity is the sister of talent"

Anton Checkov

Scientific editing instead of polishing

A poorly written paper may become worse after so-called "polishing"; unclear phrases may become erroneous.

Solution: Key Scientific Editing

We recognize typical mistakes and provide a unique editing service based on 2-tier editing: Scientific and Grammar editing. We mostly focus on key elements: Title, Abstract, Introduction and Discussion

Editing Service for revised papers prior to final re-submission to Oncotarget and Oncoscience.

Email your paper: English@oncotarget.com

Price and Payment:

Price: $ 680.

This fee is billed upon completion of the editing service.

**There is a substantial discount available for papers that require minor editing or editing only of the abstract and title. The lowest price for this service: $240

Who may submit:

Currently, the Key Editing Service is exclusively for revised papers that has been peer-reviewed in Oncotarget and found potentially acceptable.

E-mail revised (based on peer-review) manuscript in Word format (include manuscript number in subject line) to English@oncotarget.com

How to submit:

  1. Revise your manuscript (MS) according to reviewers' comments. Edit the manuscript as much as possible.
  2. Make sure document is in Word format.
  3. Receive Edited MS back in 1-6 days.
  4. Check edited MS.
  5. Submit edited MS online to Oncotarget using the MS number in the subject line. Please indicate and highlight in the rebuttal letter (in bold) and in the submission comments that the MS was edited by English Edit OT.

Currently, the Key Editing Service is exclusively for revised papers that have been peer-reviewed in Oncotarget and found potentially acceptable.

E-mail revised (based on peer-review) manuscript in Word format (include manuscript number in subject line) to English@oncotarget.com

Edit Yourself:

Shorten whenever possible. Remember the paper by Watson and Crick is one page long.

The most efficient way to correct grammar is to delete a sentence altogether. Delete unneeded phrases such as "emerging evidence indicates". Try to shorten Introduction and Discussion. Delete unneeded information, irrelevant discussion. Write for scientists not for lay readers.

For example, sentences like "cancer is an important disease killing millions of people worldwide", and "therefore, studying its mechanisms in order to develop new anti-cancer treatments is worth doing" should be deleted from the Abstract.

  1. Essential definitions should be included in the Abstract.
  2. Vague and equivocal words should be substituted with precise words. "Regulate" should be substituted with either "inhibit" or "stimulate", with either "decrease" or "increase".
  3. Unclear, complex sentences should be divided into simple, short sentences.
  4. Parasitic and redundant words should be eliminated.
  5. Conclusions should be specific, not general. "Our data are important for better understanding of carcinogenesis and provide a rationale for future development of cancer treatment" is not specific.
  6. In Abstract, delete sentences such as: "However, the mechanism is still unclear', "is not well understood", "yet the roles and mechanisms ... remain largely unknown".
  7. Delete general phrases such as "play pivotal roles in cellular function", "our data are important for better understanding", "in conclusion, as exemplified by our studies for the mechanism, we provide important rationales for the new design ..."
  8. Do not use phrases "emerging evidence suggests", "play pivotal role". Delete all of them.

Avoid vague words:

regulate, control, modulate, affect, manipulate, interact, act, play role, interfere, affect, target, closely related, mediate and -mediated.

Use concrete words:

increase, decrease, stimulate/activate, inhibit/suppress, bind, promote, accelerate, delay, decelerate, disrupt, correlate.

Avoid redundant words:

For example, "expression levels" should be "levels", "results in decrease" should be "decreases".

Avoid the word "significantly" in Abstract:

For example, "it significantly increases" should be "increases". Note: "increases" is statistically significant by definition. There is no "insignificantly increases" (no change).

Do not start sentences with "Mechanistically", "Our mechanistic studies reveal...", "Collectively" and "Meanwhile". Delete these words.

Do not abbreviate single words, avoid abbreviations if possible. Define each abbreviation.

Do not copy the bad writing of others. If you use other papers as an example of Style, choose papers from the most prominent scientists.

The paper is not a grant application. The work is done. Initial aims may become irrelevant. Do not include Aim or purpose in the Abstract.

A common mistake is an unjustified cause-effect relationship. For example, "drug A induces apoptosis via p53 induction" should often be: "drug A induces p53 and apoptosis" or "drug A induces p53 followed by apoptosis".

Title:

- The title should be clear and simple:

Bad title:

"The roles of protein X in gastric cancer cell behavior due to its effect on target gene B expression and regulation of gene C both in vitro and in vivo".

Good title:

"Protein X suppresses metastasis by inducing B and C"

The title is not an Abstract. Do not include all mechanistic details, unless your paper is about a new mechanism for very well known phenomena.

For example this title:

"Elevated expression of X, a novel tumor suppressor, plays a role as a negative regulator of gastric cancer cell growth in vivo and in vitro by inhibiting activation of mTOR via Akt by IGF-2 in part via the p53 pathway, involving Mdm2"

Should be: "X suppresses gastric cancer"