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ALLY OAKES Oak Proofreading
Professional Member| Location | DORSET, UK |
| Telephone | +44 (01) 305 250433 |
| .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) | |
| Website | oakproofreading.com |
| linkedin.com/in/ally-oakes |
You write, you study, you lecture, your home is far away. You've worked hard with your words.
ALLY OAKES: ACADEMIC PROOFREADING FOR YOU. YOUR OWN WORDS, JUST BETTER.
I'm an academic proofreader reaching out especially to multilingual authors/students/academics. You'll be glad to know that I often provide short explanations of relevant punctuation/grammar advice within your document, useful for your future writing.
Skills/subjects
- Academic proofreading in Word and on PDF
- If these are your subjects, you've come to the right person: Social Sciences, Humanities and Business/Management
- Also commercial/business proofreading
Clients
It's great working with academics and students across the world, from undergraduate to post-doctoral level (2016–23)
Publishers
Academic publications
Communications agencies
- Stratton Craig, London and Bristol
- A Thousand Monkeys, Bournemouth
- Mother Tongue (including transcreation) London, LA & Singapore
- Write Arm, Brighton
Books
Cambridge University Press 2020–22
- Fighting Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking
- Searching for a New Kenya
- The Theatre of Sa'dallah Wannous
- Sustainable Development: Asia-Pacific Perspectives
- Money in the Dutch Republic
- Sacred Mountains of the World
- The Language of Mental Illness
- African American Literature in Transition 1980–1990
- The Songs of Clara Schumann
Khatt Books 2017–23
- Dia Al-Azzawi, Taking a Stand: Activism through Graphic Design
- Abdelkader Arnaout: Designing as Visual Poetry
- Typographic Matchmaking in the Maghrib
- Saloua Raouda Choucair: Modern Arab Design, An Exploration of Abstraction Across Materials and Functions
- Kameel Hawa: The Art of Shaping Arabic Letters
- Emile Menhem: Invigorating Arab Journalism Through Design
Gingko Press
Poet and Businessman: Abd al-Aziz al-Babtain and the Formation of Modern Kuwait The University of Chicago Press 2022
Ubiquity Press
- The Face-to-Face Principle. Science, Trust, Democracy and the Internet and
- Divine Descent and the Four World-Ages in the Mahābhārata Cardiff University Press 2022
- Spectrum Auctions. Designing markets to benefit the public, industry and the economy LSE 2022
Lihe Huang
Toward Multimodal Pragmatics: A Study of Illocutionary Force in Chinese Situated Discourse Routledge 2022
Experience
- Academic: proofreading PhD theses/dissertations, journal articles and papers, and essays in Social Sciences (psychology, sociology, linguistics, education, economics), Humanities (history, philosophy, classics, fashion, art, literature) and Business/Management (including travel and tourism)
- Commercial: proofreading marketing and communication materials (university course descriptions, company reports, websites, product descriptions, blogs, press releases, interview transcripts)
- Other: proofreading personal statements, job applications, CVs
Training
- A Copy Editor's Guide to Working With Typesetters (PTC 2021)
- Advanced PerfectIt (Cadman Training Services 2020)
- Mastering Styles and Templates (Sharon Parq Associates 2019)
- References (CIEP 2019)
- Editing with Word (CIEP 2017)
- Basic Proofreading: Digital Skills (PTC 2017)
- Proofreading Progress CIEP) 2016
- Basic Proofreading (PTC) 2016
Background
You can be happy that all my previous work feeds into the proofreading I do for you:
- A couple of decades as an English teacher mean that I can apply all that knowledge about language to your document.
- Recreating and managing school libraries – I love reading, always have done!
- My French, German and (some) Polish mean that I understand the challenges of communicating in a language that's not my first.
Testimonials
Ally was willing to take on a complex thesis project with a very short deadline. She completed it early and to impeccable standards. I cannot recommend her work highly enough – her attention to detail is extraordinary.
John Kannenberg, PhD
I can highly recommend working with Ally – very easy and clear communication, quick delivery and fantastic work – really appreciate the way she commented on some common mistakes and explained how best to correct them, as these help me to improve as an author as well.
Sabrina Seeler, PhD
Great job done on proofreading our paper for a UK journal. I particularly appreciated Ally's further explanations on the reasons for her corrections. Very clear and prompt communication as well.
Ksenia Silchenko, postdoctoral researcher
Ally’s performance is exemplary: she is professional in handling our special requests for each particular text. In addition to her attentive scrutiny of the texts, and her corrections to the minutest inconsistencies, she manages to leave the tone of voice and personality of the original author intact. When asked to shorten or simplify certain turn of phrases, her suggestions are spot on and readily accepted by ourselves and the book’s author(s). Her skills as editor, her punctuality and overall professionalism make us feel fortunate to be working with her.
Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès, Khatt Books
As a written communications agency responsible for managing the content for many high-profile clients, it’s vital that we have an excellent and reliable proofreader as part of our freelance team. Ally fits the bill completely and has always provided an impressive and professional service. I recently commissioned Ally on a complex quality-checking job that involved reviewing and marking 450 product descriptions. Ally’s level of feedback was extremely detailed and was praised by the client. I have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending Ally for proofreading tasks.
Gemma Brown, Stratton Craig Communications
Ally is an outstanding editor and proofreader. She is honest, very professional, highly communicative, and it's a pleasure to work with her. I recommend her without reservation.
Husik Ghulyan, PhD