Proofreading Science Manuscripts

[Brit33]

My husband and I are thinking of relocating to Japan in a year, or so. He is currently teaching ESL/EFL in Australia and loves the work and wants to move to Japan to continue in this line of business. I have 20-years experience working in scientific research and don't think I will make a very good ESL/EFL teacher. A friend suggested that I work in the proofreading business proofreading scientific manuscripts. I wonder if anyone knows if there is much call for this in Japan and, if so, how one would go about finding such a position. I'd also be interested in other, more general, proofreading jobs as well - any suggestions/comments will be gratefully received.

[watamari]

Originally Posted by Brit33

My husband and I are thinking of relocating to Japan in a year, or so. He is currently teaching ESL/EFL in Australia and loves the work and wants to move to Japan to continue in this line of business. I have 20-years experience working in scientific research and don't think I will make a very good ESL/EFL teacher. A friend suggested that I work in the proofreading business proofreading scientific manuscripts. I wonder if anyone knows if there is much call for this in Japan and, if so, how one would go about finding such a position. I'd also be interested in other, more general, proofreading jobs as well - any suggestions/comments will be gratefully received.

Hi, I used to proofread manuscripts for friends and co-workers. It was mostly unpaid, although I did proofread a thesis for which I got a free dinner every time I worked on it. There is definitely demand for scientific proofreading, because researchers are trying to get their work published in English language journals. If I were trying to do it professionally, I would start by contacting Japan based science journals that publish in English in your main field of study. If that doesn't yield anything, you could try translation companies and see if they have any suggestions. In the US, I have a Japanese friend who works as a translator (simultaneous) at medical conferences within the US. She travels a lot, but enjoys the work. A third point of entry might be to contact a major academic institution near where you live in Japan, and contact the head of department in your field of study to let him know you're available, or post flyers advertising your services. Do you know any Japanese? But maybe you ought to be looking for a research position instead. Most academics are able to speak enough English that you could probably get work in their lab.
I have one friend in Japan who used to do English medical manuscript proofreading, but her e-mail stopped working, I only have her postal address.

Mari

[Brit33]

Thanks, Mari. Those are all good suggestions. If anyone knows of any specific companies in Japan that need scientific proofreaders, that would be helpful as well.

Thanks,

Kathryn

Originally Posted by watamari

Hi, I used to proofread manuscripts for friends and co-workers. It was mostly unpaid, although I did proofread a thesis for which I got a free dinner every time I worked on it. There is definitely demand for scientific proofreading, because researchers are trying to get their work published in English language journals. If I were trying to do it professionally, I would start by contacting Japan based science journals that publish in English in your main field of study. If that doesn't yield anything, you could try translation companies and see if they have any suggestions. In the US, I have a Japanese friend who works as a translator (simultaneous) at medical conferences within the US. She travels a lot, but enjoys the work. A third point of entry might be to contact a major academic institution near where you live in Japan, and contact the head of department in your field of study to let him know you're available, or post flyers advertising your services. Do you know any Japanese? But maybe you ought to be looking for a research position instead. Most academics are able to speak enough English that you could probably get work in their lab.
I have one friend in Japan who used to do English medical manuscript proofreading, but her e-mail stopped working, I only have her postal address.

Mari

[watamari]

Originally Posted by Brit33

Thanks, Mari. Those are all good suggestions. If anyone knows of any specific companies in Japan that need scientific proofreaders, that would be helpful as well.

Thanks,

Kathryn

Dear Kathryn,
It's hard to know where to direct you unless you're more specific about the field of science you are in. I just tried looking up on Google, the Japanese terms for translation, medicine, and English, and got to this website:
ˆãŠw–|–óEˆã–ò–|–óE–òŠw–|–ó - ˆã—à Ž•‰È ˆãŠw‰pŒê ‰p•¶Z³
You could probably do the same with your expertise replacing medicine.
http://home.interlink.or.jp/~jcyber/index.htm seems to be a more generic website, same company? but covers other fields.

Interestingly, the going rate for the customer turns out to be 10 yen per English word for proofreading. Since medical articles are about 3000 words long, that would get the company 30,000 yen, but how much they would pay the proofreader, I don't know.
Mari

[Brit33]

Originally Posted by watamari

Dear Kathryn,
It's hard to know where to direct you unless you're more specific about the field of science you are in. I just tried looking up on Google, the Japanese terms for translation, medicine, and English, and got to this website:
ˆãŠw–|–ó�Eˆã–ò–|–ó�E–òŠw–|–ó - ˆã—à Ž•‰È ˆãŠw‰pŒê ‰p•¶�Z�³
You could probably do the same with your expertise replacing medicine.
–|–ó‰ïŽÐ ‰pŒê–|–óƒT�[ƒrƒX ‰p•¶�Z�³ ‹Z�p ˆãŠw ˜_•¶ Œ_–ñ�‘ “Œ‹ž“s seems to be a more generic website, same company? but covers other fields.

Interestingly, the going rate for the customer turns out to be 10 yen per English word for proofreading. Since medical articles are about 3000 words long, that would get the company 30,000 yen, but how much they would pay the proofreader, I don't know.
Mari

Thanks, Mari. I tried to go to these websites and both were in nonsensical characters. Do I need to know Japanese to look at the websites or should I download the language pack? Thanks.
Kathryn

[watamari]

Hi Kathryn,
The two webpages belong to the same company and the sites are completely in Japanese. You would need someone who can read Japanese to translate for you. I got the e-mail address for them, it's info@honyakuya.jp. Maybe it's quickest to e-mail them. I found another company yesterday, again their website is completely in Japanese.
?????????? ( ?????????? )????????????
Their e-mail address is:
honyaku@aaronlanguage.com
I don't see any job application pages for either site.
Let's hope they understand enough English to respond to your queries!
Mari

[Brit33]

Originally Posted by watamari

Hi Kathryn,
The two webpages belong to the same company and the sites are completely in Japanese. You would need someone who can read Japanese to translate for you. I got the e-mail address for them, it's info@honyakuya.jp. Maybe it's quickest to e-mail them. I found another company yesterday, again their website is completely in Japanese.
?????????? ( ?????????? )????????????
Their e-mail address is:
honyaku@aaronlanguage.com
I don't see any job application pages for either site.
Let's hope they understand enough English to respond to your queries!
Mari

Thanks, Mari. I will keep this info. on file for now. I think what I need to do first is learn some basic Japanese! I take it you have learnt the language. I need to learn the basics, I think, if I have to work with/through a Japanese company rather than with an English-speaking subsidiary. Wish me luck and thanks again for your help. Kathryn

[Chester Banks]

The best way is to go to universities and leave flyers on notice boards.

[Brit33]

Originally Posted by Chester Banks

The best way is to go to universities and leave flyers on notice boards.

Thanks Chester, that makes sense although I suppose that would just be supplemental income and not steady work ...

Kathryn