Scribbr Application

Here's what you can expect:

1. Three assignments

Once you’ve passed the language quiz, you’ll receive the editor application, which includes three short assignments.

2. Application review

Our quality management team will review your work. We’ll get back to you as soon as possible, but this can take up to 7 days.

3. Hiring decision

We’ll provide feedback on your sample edits and inform you of whether you are accepted into the Scribbr Academy.

Three assignments

You’ll be asked to edit three short texts and to provide feedback to a student. We require applicants to work with track changes and comments in Word. These assignments are designed to test your knowledge of grammar, academic style, and tone. They’ll also give you insight into the work you can expect to do at Scribbr.

Before you begin, carefully review the instructions and the relevant pages on our website to learn about what editing for Scribbr entails. Be sure to also review the FAQs, which address specifics such as how to make style decisions and what we expect of our incoming editors.

Time limit: Max. 2.5 hours
Deadline: 3 days

Scribbr Proofreading & Editing

Scribbr specializes in academic editing. We primarily receive theses and dissertations, but we also edit research papers, personal statements, reflection reports, essays, and other documents.

These pages explain how Scribbr defines editing, what we focus on, and how we edit:

For the application, please focus only on Proofreading & Editing.

Editing for students

Scribbr editing is different from other kinds of editing, since we specialize in editing for students. It’s important for the final product to accurately reflect the student’s ideas and arguments.

Here are some special considerations:

Take care not to correct, change, or add to the content of any text. If you must touch upon content, then you should always leave a comment to help the student make appropriate decisions while implementing your suggestions.

Rewriting is not part of our services. It is important that the student’s voice remains dominant.

It’s best to formulate your suggestions as advice, rather than instructions. The tone of the feedback should reflect an author-editor relationship.

Microsoft Word

All our services are performed in Microsoft Office (2013 or later). We do not work with Open Office, LaTeX, PDF, or other kinds of software. All editors must be familiar with the functionalities of Word, such as Track Changes and comments.

We advise you to use the most up-to-date version of Microsoft Office, as each update is faster and more secure. More importantly, the spell check function is more advanced, and you will be able to work with advanced tools such as PerfectIt and the Scribbr Academic Assistant.

If you use an earlier version of the program (before 2013), then we cannot assess your application.

Application review

After you’ve submitted your application, our quality management team will review your work, provide feedback, and inform you of our hiring decision. If your work is satisfactory, then we will invite you to join the Scribbr Academy.

We’ll always provide you with feedback, even if we do not invite you to the next step of the application process.

The application review process can take up to 7 days.

Proceed to the Scribbr Academy

Once you’ve successfully completed the application, we will invite you to the Scribbr Academy.

Proceed to Scribbr Academy

Questions?

Ask our team

Want to contact us directly? No problem. We are always here for you.

Frequently asked questions

See all

What kind of skills and knowledge do we test in the application?: We use the application to assess editors in six key areas:

The application tests your knowledge of grammar, academic style and tone, and the conventions of both US and UK English. Successful applicants follow the related rules consistently and thoroughly.

Incoming editors must also demonstrate their ability to preserve each student’s unique writing voice. Since we work with student papers, it’s important to stay on the right side of the line between editing and rewriting.

Since the sample texts come from a variety of fields, the application also evaluates your familiarity with different types of academic writing, including technical writing.

We also assess your ability to provide students with meaningful feedback on their writing. This feedback should be clear, polite, and appropriate to the student’s writing level.

The application tests your ability to incorporate student requests into your edits and to answer students’ questions.

Finally, the application tests your ability to work with Microsoft Word, including its Track Changes function.
Do I have to prepare for the application?: As with the quiz, the application shouldn’t require any special preparation.

While you might find yourself looking up a handful of more nuanced grammar or style points as you work on the application, we expect editors to complete the application without needing to rely on too many outside resources.

To be a good fit for the position, you should already have the knowledge and skills needed to edit the sample texts.
What style guide should I use?: Scribbr is style agnostic. Student papers follow a variety of style guides, and Scribbr editors must be able to adapt their editing style accordingly.

We don’t expect applicants to know the ins and outs of Scribbr’s specific style of editing right away. As long as your sample edits are appropriate for an academic context (and consistent, of course), that will suffice.

If you do have questions about a specific grammar or style point, Scribbr’s Knowledge Base, the Purdue OWL, and the APA Style Blog are all excellent resources.
Do the application assignments reflect the kinds of orders Scribbr typically receives?: Yes. In general, the application assignments are a good representation of the average document you will edit for Scribbr and of the number of changes required to deliver a sufficient Scribbr edit.
Do I get paid for the application assignments?: No, the application assignments are without compensation.

After you receive a positive evaluation of your application, you will advance to the next step of the application process, the Scribbr Academy. The orders in the Scribbr Academy are compensated.
I failed the quiz or application, but I’d like to develop my skills. What resources do you recommend?: Our Academy coaches recommend the online editing certificate offered by Poynter ACES, which focuses on the fundamentals of editing. This course is particularly useful for new editors who want to start an editing career. It offers a language primer focusing on the fundamentals of grammar and composition, as well as courses on how to make writing clean and concise, how to edit for clarity, when vs. when not to edit, and how to explain changes as an editor.

They also recommend Amy Einsohn’s The Copyeditor’s Handbook and Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage as their go-to resources for learning and reinforcing the fundamentals of grammar and editing.

A third source is Strunk & White’s classic, The Elements of Style, which focuses on what makes strong writing, and Lynne Truss’s Eats, Shoots & Leaves, an entertaining guide to punctuation.

Scribbr’s Knowledge Base also contains useful articles on academic style.