Consultations
Our consultations are designed for anyone preparing a text or presentation in English who would like to test their work on a mock audience during the production process. We provide constructive feedback to help you shape your work into its final form.
Whether you come with a completed draft or a blank page, we offer support at all stages of the writing process. This includes initial planning to clarify your text's purpose, overcoming writer’s block, or refining your ideas. We specialize in assisting with the writing of research articles that adhere to English-language conventions, as well as dissertations, master’s theses, research proposals, and grant applications.
Please note that we do not offer proofreading, as this involves polishing a finalized text—a task that can be effectively handled by AI tools or native speakers. Instead, our primary focus is on higher-order concerns, such as the logic, structure, and clarity of ideas. These elements are critical in research writing but are often underdeveloped or expressed ambiguously.
Our consultations provide an external perspective to help authors develop a stronger awareness of their audience and tailor their text to meet readers’ expectations.
What happens in a session
The consultation is a collaborative conversation about your text. You will explain what you intended to communicate, and together we will evaluate whether your text effectively conveys your key ideas.
We will analyze the structure of your thoughts, considering the conventions of your discipline and the requirements of the specific genre. Particular attention will be given to how you articulate your research aim, express the contribution and significance of your study, and ensure clarity in presenting your findings.
Our primary focus is on higher-order concerns, such as ideas, logic, text organization, and flow. However, we may also address grammar and style if wording or errors significantly hinder comprehension. Polishing sections of the text that are likely to be rewritten or omitted in future revisions would be premature and unproductive.
Steps in the consultation
- Setting the Context: You will provide an overview of the text, including its purpose, target audience, and specific requirements (e.g., journal guidelines, grant application criteria, etc.).
- Explaining Your Intent: Through conversation, you will explain what you intended to communicate in the text.
- Analyzing the Text Together: We will examine the text to ensure it includes the key information you’ve described and that this information is placed appropriately. For example, sometimes the writers incorrectly delay information that should be in the introduction of a scientific article until the discussion section).
- Clarifying and Addressing Gaps: We will ask for clarifications, highlight unanswered questions, and identify areas that need further development.
- Providing Recommendations: You will receive tailored recommendations for resources to support you in revising your text.
Session length: 30–90 minutes
- We provide face-to-face consultations in Ládví or online over Zoom
- The total number of consultations per semester per client will depend on the time availability of the instructors, the demand for consultations and the individual requirements of the client
- We limit sessions to a maximum of 90 min. Longer sessions tend to be less productive because the work is quite intense and both, you and your consultant can feel overwhelmed.
- Please, do not expect that we will get through your entire paper in one session. If you come with a full research article, we typically manage to discuss the abstract and introduction, leaving the rest of the paper to the subsequent session(s).
What to bring
- A copy of your text or a flash drive with your presentation slides
- Any other relevant information (e.g. the name of your target journal, guidelines to authors, etc.)
Price
Employees of CAS: 1 hour – 500 CZK
General public: 1 hour – 600 CZK
If the session requires the instructor to invest time to prepare for the session (e.g. read the text beforehand), this time will also be billed to the client.
Employees of the CAS: discounted package of 4 hours for 1 800 CZK
External clients: discounted package of 4 hours for 2 200 CZK
Individual prices for non-standard requests
e.g. dissertation, express service etc.
Request a consultation through our registration database here
Once you register, we will e-mail you to schedule the date and time.