Cureus

Preferred Editing Service

Preferred

Editing

Service

Only the best-prepared articles qualify for free publication. For the rest, Preferred Editing is here to help.

Publishing for free in Cureus is earned, not expected. All submissions must adhere to our rigorous formatting and language requirements. Placing this responsibility on our authors allows roughly one-third of all authors to publish with zero editing fees. Articles with too many errors require the purchase of our Preferred Editing service, which covers the substantial time, communication and editing needed to prepare these articles for publication.

Publishing for free in Cureus is earned, not expected. All submissions must adhere to our rigorous formatting and language requirements. Placing this responsibility on our authors allows roughly one-third of all authors to publish with zero editing fees. Articles with too many errors require the purchase of our Preferred Editing service, which covers the substantial time, communication and editing needed to prepare these articles for publication..

What Is Cureus Preferred Editing?

To put it simply, our Preferred Editing service provides comprehensive formatting and language corrections for articles that would otherwise fall beyond the scope of our standard copy editing services.*

*Please refer to the FAQ section below for information on errors and corrections that are not included with Preferred Editing.

Preliminary Article Review

The preliminary review of your article (what we call Editor Check) occurs immediately after submission. In addition to determining if the article is scientifically credible and within the scope of the journal, we assess each article for errors in the following areas:

Author names and affiliations

Proper use of acronyms and initialisms

Spelling, grammar, syntax and punctuation errors

Text and article formatting

Media quality, formatting, labels and placement

Reference formatting and accuracy

Only well-drafted, relevant, credible submissions with few or no errors will qualify for free publication. Articles with more than a handful of errors will be required to purchase our Preferred Editing service. Review articles as well as articles that exceed our author or reference limits or contain too many formatting and language errors will also require Preferred Editing, regardless of the errors present. For more information on how pricing is determined, please see the FAQ section below.

How Much Does It Cost?

The greater the amount of editing work required, the higher the price of Preferred Editing. The average price for an article that qualifies for Preferred Editing is $340.

Preferred Editing prices are capped at $1,300 per article (and reaching this amount would require a combination of more than 10,000 words, 20 authors, and 200 references). Pricing is based on the following criteria:

Article length

Author count

Reference count

Formatting and language errors

Use our estimated price calculator to view Preferred Editing price ranges.

FAQs

Will purchasing Preferred Editing guarantee publication?

Preliminary acceptance occurs when your article enters peer review, but comprehensive editorial review (and the assurance of publication) will not occur until the article is submitted for publication after peer review.

While the purchase of Preferred Editing doesn't guarantee publication, a partial refund will be issued if the article is rejected after peer review. (A $50 processing fee will be withheld.) No refund will be provided for articles voluntarily withdrawn by the author or rejected due to fraud or plagiarism.

Which articles require Preferred Editing?

All non-channel and non-competition review articles submitted to Cureus require the purchase of our Preferred Editing service in order to proceed with peer review and publication. This is due to the considerable editorial expenses associated with processing and editing these articles, which typically contain more content and references than other articles.

In addition, articles that exceed the author or reference limits for a given article type will require the purchase of Preferred Editing regardless of how many errors are found during our preliminary review.

  • Original articles: 10 authors and 30 references
  • Case reports and technical reports: 5 authors and 20 references
  • Editorials: 5 authors and 5 references

What can I do to ensure my article is published for free?

Please read the Instructions for Authors section of our Author Guide and pay close attention to rules regarding media and reference formatting. Subheader formatting, language punctuation, complete references - these things matter! If you take the time needed to read and meet our requirements, your article will qualify for free publication.

How are the different error levels (i.e. pricing) determined?

During Editor Check, our editors assign points for each error they find. The amount of points assigned depends upon the frequency and severity of the error. Articles that receive 5 or more points are no longer eligible for free publication. Articles with level 1 errors (0-4 points) qualify for free publication, while articles in the remaining error levels (which correspond to increasing number of points, i.e. level 2 = 5-10 points) will require our Preferred Editing service.

We carefully assess each submitted article during editor check, assigning points for errors in the following categories: author name and affiliation accuracy/formatting, acronym/initialism definitions, spelling/grammar/language/syntax, text and media formatting, and reference formatting/accuracy. The total number of errors and estimated time required to fix them will determine an article’s assigned error level.

What corrections are not covered by Preferred Editing?

Our editors will correct all formatting and language errors with only the following exceptions requiring your revision:

  • Scientific content issues that can only be addressed by the authors
  • Blurry, stretched, or otherwise illegible figures
  • Tables with multiple values in the same cell
  • References that are either missing entirely or missing required information
  • Duplicated references that require major reordering of references and corresponding in-text citations

Additionally, you may be asked to clarify or revise if our editors have any questions about the scientific content of your article.

Why can’t I fix the errors myself?

Cureus publishes roughly one-third of all accepted article submissions for free. In order to qualify for free publication, we expect you to do the heavy lifting and submit articles with few or no errors. Other journals may be more permissive, but they require you to surrender copyright or pay thousands of dollars in publication fees. Submit a carefully-formatted article and we will waive our Preferred Editing fee. It’s that simple!

Do you offer fee waivers or discounts?

Cureus does not offer full fee waivers as the average price of our Preferred Editing service is well below typical journal article processing charges (APC). We do offer a 40% discount in the form of a refund after purchase to submitting authors located in the world’s lowest income countries as defined by the World Bank. We are unable to grant discount requests solely on the basis of the research topic explored (e.g. COVID-19) where there is no evidence of a financial need.

However, if you are in financial need and unable to support the cost of Preferred Editing, we would be happy to assess your eligibility for a discount. Discount requests should be sent to [email protected] after your article has been deferred for Preferred Editing. Please include your article title and reason for the discount request. Author fees and discount eligibility does not influence editorial decision making.