How to Submit Your Manuscript

Turn Off Track Changes

Why this matters

Track Changes (TC) embeds revision markup (insertions and deletions) in your document. Our system detects active TC and will reject your file to ensure an accurate word count and clean editing baseline.

How to turn off TC and accept all changes

1. Open your manuscript in Microsoft Word
2. Click the Review tab in the ribbon
3. Click Accept → Accept All Changes
4. Click Track Changes to toggle it off (button should not be highlighted)
5. Save the file as .docx

Mac users

The Review tab location is the same. Use ⌘+Shift+E to toggle Track Changes, or go to Edit → Track Changes → Accept All.

Highlight Sections to Exclude (Optional)

Yellow highlight = excluded from editing and billing

If certain sections of your manuscript should not be edited (e.g., the References section, supplementary materials, acknowledgements, or data tables), apply a yellow highlight to those sections before uploading.

How to apply yellow highlight in Word

1. Select the text you want to exclude
2. In the Home tab, click the Text Highlight Color arrow (the "ab" icon with colored underline)
3. Choose Yellow from the color palette
4. Highlighted text will appear with a yellow background

What happens with highlighted sections

After you upload, our system will display a breakdown: "Counted: X,XXX words · Excluded (yellow): YYY words." Excluded sections will not be counted toward your word-based fee and will not be edited by our editors.

Tip

Many researchers highlight their entire References section. This is the most common use case. You can also highlight figure captions, table notes, or appendix material.

Word review comments are automatically excluded

Comments added via Insert → Comment (shown as comment balloons in the margin) are stored separately from the main document text and are automatically excluded from both the word count and editing. You do not need to delete them before uploading.

File Format Requirements

Required format: .docx only

We accept Microsoft Word documents in .docx format (Word 2007 or later) only. Files in .doc, .odt, .rtf, .pdf, or any other format will be rejected.

Maximum file size: 50 MB

Most manuscripts are well under 50 MB. If your file exceeds this limit, consider removing embedded images or compressing image quality before submission.

Figures and images

Embedded figures and images are not counted in your word count. They will be preserved in your document during editing.

Tables

Table content is included in the word count unless highlighted yellow. If your tables contain raw data that does not require editing, you may highlight them for exclusion.

Upload Process & What to Expect

Step 1: Upload

Go to the Order page and drag & drop (or click to browse) your .docx manuscript. An optional Cover Letter upload slot is also available.

Step 2: Automatic analysis

After upload, our system automatically: (a) verifies the file is a valid .docx, (b) detects Track Changes — if found, the file is rejected and you will see an error message, (c) counts words excluding yellow-highlighted sections, and (d) displays a word count breakdown.

Step 3: Review the word count

You will see the confirmed word count and any excluded words on screen. If the numbers look correct, proceed to the next step to select your service tier and delivery speed.

Step 4: Get a quote (optional)

On the Checkout screen, you can download a PDF quote before committing to payment. The quote is non-binding and valid for 3 days.

Step 5: Secure checkout

The final price is calculated server-side from your word count and is not modifiable. Payment is processed securely through Paddle. An invoice PDF is automatically generated and made available in your Dashboard immediately after payment.