# Proofreading papers for fun and profit? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 15, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proofreading-papers-for-fun-and-profit/290231 "2005-02-15T18:54:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proofreading-papers-for-fun-and-profit/290231/1 "2005-02-15T18:54:12Z")
I’m a freshman college student who 1. spells very well, 2. understands the rules of grammar, and 3. has a bit of free time now that they’re scaling back _Arrested Development_ (_sob_). The plan: Proofread other students’ papers for fun, practice, and enough funds to support my regional theater addiction. The problem: How do I advertise? I’d like to put up fliers, but for some reason I feel like that’s a sketchy move. Our professors all encourage that we have other students read our papers, so I don’t feel as though it’s an ethical problem – supply, demand, and apparently spelling is a hot commodity here :rolleyes: – maybe it’s just a holdover from the stringent (and often nonsensical) “plagiarism” statutes of my old high school. (No one but you and a dictionary can proofread your papers, you can ask for help in a vague sense but not a specific one, etc.) I guess I’m just looking for some feedback: have any of you now-copy editors done it before? What’s a reasonable price? (I was thinking $1.50/page – too low?) Is there an actual ethical quandary here that I’m not seeing? Any thoughts at all would be very much appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proofreading-papers-for-fun-and-profit/290231/2 "2005-02-15T22:49:02Z")
Your university probably has a writing center, and they might be willing to hire you. Being an official employee of the school will definitely make things a bit easier. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proofreading-papers-for-fun-and-profit/290231/3 "2005-02-15T22:51:12Z")
Forgot to mention: proofreading papers for a class you’re in, especially one that grades on a curve, present a major conflict of interest. ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proofreading-papers-for-fun-and-profit/290231/4 "2005-02-15T22:56:08Z")
I used to do that. Actually, the best advertising I had was word of mouth. I did put up flyers, but I would offer my services to people I knew and they would tell people they knew and so on and so on. It’s a great way to earn extra cash. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proofreading-papers-for-fun-and-profit/290231/5 "2005-02-16T05:30:14Z")
At our uni, there were comapanies I believe, that did this, I believe their address was [www.betteredit.com](http://www.betteredit.com), they’d just stick up posters around uni. Their ads were aimed at international students. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proofreading-papers-for-fun-and-profit/290231/6 "2005-02-16T05:31:31Z")
Oh yeh and it looks like they’re hiring. ---
**Author:** ![bitwise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@bitwise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bitwise)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proofreading-papers-for-fun-and-profit/290231/7 "2005-02-16T05:45:56Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Forgot to mention: proofreading papers for a class you’re in, especially one that grades on a curve, present a major conflict of interest. When you say “curve”, do you mean that the grades are fitted to a normal distribution? If not, I don’t see how it is necessarily a conflict of interest. I once had a class where the professor had the students grade the homework. Each assignment would be split between two graders; you did not grade your own paper. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proofreading-papers-for-fun-and-profit/290231/8 "2005-02-16T06:07:05Z")
I agree that you should look into working at the writing center. You might make more money in the “private sector,” (I know I would!) but on the other hand, you never have to worry about not getting paid, you would meet strangers in a neutral place on campus (I’m paranoid), you can use your boss for a reference later in life (better than doing it freelance and not having any references), and when people go crazy on you–and they will (stress combined with a strong sense of entitlement makes people do freaky things)–you can say, “Dude, I don’t get paid to put up with this shit. Go talk to my boss.” Problem solved. Also, I would be wary of possible accusations of plagerism (again, I’m paranoid). I feel safe because I’m at a small institution where most professors know me and know I’m honest, but more than that, I have strict procedures that I have to follow that protect me, and the student, from accusations–which can be a very, very serious problem these days even if you aren’t guilty.