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Preferred Editing Service

Didn’t qualify for free publication? We’ll take it from here.

Cureus was founded on the belief that barriers to the publication and dissemination of peer-reviewed medical articles must be reduced. That’s why Cureus is an Open Access journal currently publishing the majority of articles completely free of charge. In a perfect world all articles would be published for free, but the fact is that many submissions arrive in less-than-ideal condition requiring substantial time, communication and editing on our part. That’s where our Preferred Editing service comes in.



How does it work?

We evaluate the language and formatting of your article submission and route your article down the appropriate path. Remember you only get one chance at free publication, so make sure your first submission is in great shape!





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Free publication

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If we find no or few errors, your article will qualify for free publication and proceed directly to our second editorial review before entering peer review. If errors are found prior to peer review, the article will be deferred and you will be asked to revise. Articles designated as free are still only allowed 1-2 deferrals so be sure to address all editor comments, otherwise you may be required to purchase Preferred Editing!



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Preferred Editing

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If too many errors are found upon submission or after deferral, your article will require our Preferred Editing service. We’ll take care of all formatting and language edits. If our editors have any questions about the scientific content of your article, you may be asked to clarify or revise. Only three actions required: submit article, revise article after peer review, hit the publish button.



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Professional 3rd party

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Articles submissions that need extensive revision to fix numerous grammar, syntax, sentence structure and readability issues will be required to undergo professional editing help from a third party service. Cureus recommends Peak Medical Editing, but any non-DIY service will be accepted provided the quality is satisfactory. Professional 3rd party editing does not guarantee publication and DIY services such as Grammarly are not accepted.

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How much does it cost?

Our Preferred Editing pricing structure has been revamped to provide custom pricing based on article and reference length as well as formatting and language quality. The reason behind the change is simple: the more work we expect an article to take for an editor, the more the author will be charged. The opposite is also true - Preferred Editing for shorter articles with fewer references and only a few errors will be priced lower than ever before.


Do you want to see an estimate of how much you’ll have to pay for your article? Use our price calculator below and remember that articles with very few or no errors will always be given an opportunity to publish for free.



Common questions

Does purchasing the Preferred Editing service guarantee that my article will be published?

While purchasing our editing service does not guarantee publication, we will provide a complete refund if your article is not published as a result of content or formatting issues. Refunds will not be provided in cases of plagiarism or fraud.


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

You only get one chance at free publication so 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, you should have no problem publishing for free.


What’s the difference between few or no errors, several errors, lots of errors and tons of errors?

We know these aren’t the most technical of phrases, but they exist to bucket articles in one of four categories: few or no errors, several errors, lots of errors, and tons of errors. ‘Few or no errors’ qualifies your article for free publication, but the remaining categories will require our Preferred Editing service. We expect that articles with ‘several errors’ will require a fair amount of attention from our editors while articles with ‘lots of errors’ will take even more time to fix. Articles with ‘tons of errors’ are in truly bad shape and require our highest editing fee.


Why can’t I fix the errors myself?

Cureus aspires to publish the vast majority of articles for free. In exchange, we expect authors to do the heavy lifting and submit largely error-free articles. Other journals may be more permissive, but they require authors to surrender copyright or pay $1000s of dollars. When articles have too many errors we charge authors to cover the additional cost of back-and-forth communication and editing.


What happened to your Select Editing service?

Our Select Editing service has been discontinued as the overwhelming majority of authors chose to purchase our Preferred Editing service instead. Given the more comprehensive support provided by Preferred Editing, we feel it is in the best interest of the journal and its authors to focus on offering the best possible editing service.


Can I purchase editing services when I first submit without waiting for a deferral?

We want all authors to try their best to earn free publication therefore editing services are only available after a deferral.