Welcome to Oak Tree Editing (“we,” “our,” or “us”). By accessing or using our website, oaktreeediting.com (the “Site”), and our copy-editing and/or proofreading services (the “Services”), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service (“Terms”). If you do not agree, please do not use our Site or Services.
1. Services and Scope
- Scope of work: We provide professional copy-editing and proofreading services.
- Turnaround times: Deadlines agreed upon in writing are firm, provided that the client delivers all files, feedback, and clarifications on schedule. Any delay in client communication will automatically extend the delivery date by a corresponding number of days. Deadlines may also be renegotiated in the event of unexpected illness, emergency, or major technical failure, in which case we will notify you immediately to establish a revised completion date.
- Manuscript revisions: The agreed quote and deadline apply strictly to the initial document version submitted. If you submit a revised version after work has started, it will be treated as a new project, subject to additional fees and a rescheduled delivery date.
2. Client Submissions and Academic Integrity
- Your content: You retain full ownership and copyright of any text, manuscript, or document you submit to us for editing.
- Accuracy and legality: You are solely responsible for the accuracy, legality, and appropriateness of the content you submit.
- Academic integrity: We provide original, human-authored copy-editing and proofreading services; we never use generative AI or introduce plagiarized content into your work. It is the client’s sole responsibility to ensure that hiring an external editor complies with their institution’s academic integrity policies.
- No institutional liability: We offer language, grammar, syntax, and formatting corrections, which may include restructuring or phrasing sentences to ensure clarity and standard academic flow. We do not write, co-author, or generate new content or arguments. We are not responsible for ensuring that the client’s work is accepted or published. Furthermore, it remains the client’s sole responsibility to ensure that this level of intervention complies with their institution’s internal guidelines.
- Pricing tier warning for heavy editing: If a manuscript requires significant sentence restructuring, translation corrections, or heavy rewriting to achieve standard readability—particularly common with ESL texts—it will be classified as Heavy Editing. This tier requires more labor and will be priced at a higher rate than standard copy-editing. Similarly, if an academic manuscript requires change of referencing style (e.g., from Harvard to APA), an additional fee will be applied. We will evaluate your document and confirm the appropriate pricing tier before any work begins.
3. Fees and Payment
- Upfront deposit: A deposit of fifty percent (50%) of the total quoted fee is required before any copy-editing work begins.
- Final balance: The remaining fifty percent (50%) balance must be paid in full upon project completion and prior to the release of the final, un-watermarked edited document.
- Refunds: Due to the custom, time-intensive nature of our Services, the 50% upfront deposit is non-refundable once editing work has commenced.
4. Intellectual Property
- Our content: All website designs, logos, text, graphics, and branding (excluding third-party images/photographs used under license) are the property of Oak Tree Editing and are protected by copyright laws.
- Final deliverables: Once final payment is received in full, you own the edited version of your document.
5. Limitation of Liability
- No guarantees: While we strive for perfection, we do not guarantee that edited documents will be entirely free of errors, nor do we guarantee specific outcomes (e.g., journal publication acceptance, specific grades, or commercial success).
- Maximum liability: Our total liability for any claim arising out of our Services shall not exceed the total amount you paid us for that specific service.
- No indirect damages: We are not liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from the use of our Services.
6. Confidentiality
- Privacy: We treat all submitted documents as strictly confidential.
- Non-disclosure: We will not share, sell, or distribute your text to any third party.
7. Termination
- Right to Refuse Service: We reserve the right to refuse to provide services or cancel orders if the text contains hate speech, illegal material, or extremely offensive content. In the event that an order is cancelled due to a content violation, we will issue a full refund of your deposit.
8. Changes to Terms
- Updates: We may update these Terms from time to time. Your continued use of the Site or Services after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms.