Cart 0
Cart 0

Manuscript Editing for Urban Institute Research Reports

Order Manuscript Editing The Urban Institute is a nonprofit research organization whose research publications cover housing and communities, health policy, tax and income supports, justice and safety, and work, education, and labor. Off the Grid edits for researchers writing in that field. That includes policy reports and briefs prepared for an institute, a foundation, or a government agency, and books on urban and social policy written for a press.

Policy research has two readers at once. One is a specialist who will check the methods; the other is a policymaker, advocate, or journalist who needs the findings in plain terms and will read the summary first. Our editors work on the prose that serves both, keeping the numbers exact, the tables consistent with the text, and the policy implications stated where a nonspecialist will find them.

Human Manuscript Editor

Natural Intelligence for Policy Research

Natural Intelligence is our name for editorial judgment: an editor who reads your report the way a policy reader at a research institute will and verifies every change before it comes back to you. We check that every figure in the text matches its table and that each finding is stated as carefully as your analysis supports.

Our Promise

We will ensure that the final draft you receive is completely ready to submit to your institute, funder, or publisher. We work with you until it is ready or refund your payment in full. That commitment has held since 2002.

Our editors do not have access to your manuscript until an order is placed. Your draft is secure until you decide to proceed.

Manuscript Editing Services for Policy Reports and Social Policy Books

We offer three levels of manuscript editing depending on what your manuscript needs. Each is described below so you can choose the service that fits where your draft is right now.

Manuscript Copy Editing

Grammar and usage, awkward phrasing, repetition, and passive voice corrected, then clarity, concision, sentence structure, transitions, and tone, with your style manual applied throughout and a final proofread. For authors whose argument and structure are settled.

Manuscript Line Editing

Clarity, emphasis, and paragraph structure: topic sentences, transitions, and sentences reordered within a paragraph, with every fact and claim kept as you wrote it. Includes copy editing and a final proofread.

Manuscript Proofreading

Spelling, punctuation, typos, capitalization, grammar, and usage corrected with minimal wording changes, for manuscripts that have been edited and need a last check before submission to your institute, funder, or publisher.

Social Policy Research Writing

The Urban Institute's research publications page lists its current work by topic. Off the Grid works in APA style for social science reports, or Chicago where your field calls for it, and applies your institute's or publisher's guidelines when you send them. Our editors mark passages where an analytical result needs to be carried through to its policy implication for a practitioner or advocate reader. If you have questions about which service is right for your manuscript, contact us directly. We respond to every inquiry the same day during business hours.

For academic presses, see our page on manuscript editing for academic presses. We also offer book and manuscript editing, developmental editing, and dissertation to book editing.

Manuscript Instant Invoice

Ready to prepare your policy report or book manuscript? Use our secure portal to generate an immediate, word-count-based quote and secure your delivery deadline.

Our editors do not have access to your manuscript until an order is placed.

Manuscript Instant Invoice

Direct Support

Reach our editorial team directly to discuss your manuscript, your report or book timeline, or which service is right for your project. Initial consultations of up to 15 minutes are complimentary.