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Editing Test
Brief
● In this test, you will find extracts from research manuscripts.The test has been
designed to gauge editorial sensibilities, language and grammar, mechanics and style,
subject-matter expertise, referencing skills, logic and comprehension, and attention to
detail.
● The passages contain errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling, and most of the
sentences are not written in native English. You need to edit the passage by correcting
these errors.
● Note that we do not share detailed test results/feedback in order to keep the test
reusable.

Instructions
● Edit ​any two ​passages that are most relevant to your educational qualifications and
background. Please note that if you are attempting the ​biomedical passage, you will need to
attempt ​both the sub passages along with either the Neuroscience or Plants and Animal
science passage.
● Use Track Changes to edit the content (press ​Ctrl + Shift + E​ or select ​Track
Changes​ from the ​Review​ tab). Make inline changes and do not strike off complete
sentences and rewrite them separately.
● Use comments to communicate with the author. Comments can be inserted by
selecting the relevant text and pressing ​Alt + I + M​ or ​New Comment​ from the ​Review
tab.
● Use either American or British English, but not both.
● You may use a dictionary and/or thesaurus.
● Make a note of the time taken to complete editing each passage.
● Rename​ ​the file by adding your full name before the filename (e.g., “John
Doe_Editing Test”).

Here are a few tips

1. Attention to detail:​ The edited passages should be free of all typographical errors.
Authors tend to take a very serious note of these.
2. Language and grammar:​ Your edit should ensure that the passages are in flawless
native English—adhering to the norms of good sentence structure, accurate word
choice, and correct grammar and punctuation. Avoid informal words and expressions.
3. Content and meaning:​ When editing, be careful not to change the author’s content
or the original meaning of a sentence or phrase. If you wish to make such a change
because you think it is essential, bring this to the author’s attention through a
comment.
4. Comments for the author:​ Communication with the author is important. Write
comments to the author when you are not sure what a particular phrase means, when
you are making a rather heavy edit, when you are unsure if your edit matches the
original intent of the sentence, etc.
5. Consistency:​ Ensure consistency in edits and format: use abbreviations (if any)
consistently, ensure that casing of terms and headings is consistent, etc.
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Below is a sample edit to help you understand the kinds of edits you are expected to make.

Motion complexity depends on how a human shows demonstrations of a task, not

depending a task itself. All successful demonstrations will be different even for a
single task such as the pouring task depending on how much a human is skillful for
S the demonstration motions and/or how much a human is cautious to show what
motions are relatively significant for the success of a task. In this work, we propose
a two measures to gauge motion significance and motion complexity not from a task
m itself but from a set of human demonstrations.

p Before introducing our proposed method, let us consider motion granularity of a

l manipulation task. Manipulation tasks usually consist of a mixture of coarse-grained
and fine-grained motions. Coarse-grained motion varies over a large space while
e executing a manipulation task, when compared with fine-grained ones. It also allows a
large spatial variations of its motion and marginal reproduction while repeating
E multiple trials. In that case, human demonstrations tend to be executed to show small
d temporal variations (here, temporal variations are relatively small because of being
executed at high speed in multiple trials). On the other hand, fine-grained motion
i varies over a small space, when compared with coarse-grained ones. It requires a
t relatively small spatial variation of its motion and precise reproduction while
repeating multiple trials. Human demonstrations of fine-grained motion tend to be
executed to show large temporal variations (here, temporal variations are relatively
large because of being executed at low speed in multiple trials).
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Test Passages

Biomedical

Part 1
Whether the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) is related to the decrease in total
antioxidant capacity (TAC) has not been completely clarified yet. We have assessed TAC of
blood serum in a group of 163 males with CHD aged between 34.8–77.0 years and in 163
age-matched peer individuals without CHD. Two spectrophotometries were applied to assess
TAC; ferric reducing ability of serum (TAC-FRAS) and 2.2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyle
(TAC-DPPH) tests. In CHD group, multivariate analysis reveal that uric acid (UA),
triglycerides, and systolic blood pressure contributed independently to the TAC-FRAS
variance. TAC-DPPH was favorably predicted by UA concentration, but negatively so by
current smoking and glucose levels. In males without CHD, UA was the only independent

determinant of both TAC-FRAS and TAC-DPPH. Presence of CHD was not independent
predictor of TAC—observed between-group differences (higher TAC in CHD patients)
disappeared after adjustment for other confounders. We conclude that UA is the main
determinant of TAC of blood serum in males. TAC is also not directly influenced by age or
CHD but is related to several indices of overweight/obesity and lab measures of metabolic
syndrome, especially in CHD patients.

Part 2
Metformin is one of the most widely prescribed antidiabetics for the type 2 diabetes. The
critical role of metformin against tumorigenesis has recently been implicated, although
several studies also reported the lack of anticancer property of the antidiabetics. Given the
controversies regarding the potential role of metformin against tumour progression, the effect
of metformin against breast, cervical and ovarian tumour cell lines was examined followed by
in vivo a​ ssessment of metformin on tumour growth using xenograft breast cancer models.
Significant inhibitory impact of metformin was found on MCF-7, HeLa, and SKOV-3 cells,
suggesting an antiproliferative property of metformin against breast, cervical and ovarian
tumour cells, respectively, with the breast tumour cells, MCF-7, being the most
responsiveness. ​in vivo ​assessment was carried out subsequently, where mice with breast
tumours were treated with metformin (20 mg/kg bo. wt.) or sterile PBS solution for 15
consecutive days. No inhibition of breast tumour progression was detected in these rats.
However, tumour necrosis was significantly increased in the metformin-treated group,
accompanied by decreased capillary formation within the tumours. Thus, despite the lack of
short-term benefit of metformin against tumour progression, a preventive role of metformin
against breast cancer was implicated in this study, which is at partially attributable to the
attenuation of tumour angiogenesis.

Time taken to edit (in minutes): __

Part 1 Source: ​Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Total Serum Antioxidant Capacity in Healthy Men
and in Men with Coronary Heart Disease​ by A. Gawron-Skarbek, J. Chrzczanowicz, J. Kostka, et al.,
used under ​CC-BY
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Part 2 Source: ​Attenuating Tumour Angiogenesis: A Preventive Role of Metformin against Breast
Cancer​ by ​S. Gao, J. Jiang, P. Li, et al.​, used under C
​ C-BY
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Neuroscience

Introduction. Compound Muscle Action Potential (CMAP) scan is a noninvasive promissory

technique for neurodegenerative pathologies diagnosis. It allows a quick analysis of the
muscle action potentials in response to motor nerve stimulation, by electrical stimulation
applied on the surface of the motor nerve and response evaluation by surface
Electromyography (sEMG) at muscle level. Each motor unit (MU) of muscles has a different
stimulus intensity (SI) at which it is activated, meaning that MUs have different thresholds.
Varying the intensity of the stimuli applied, gradually increasing from subthreshold to
supramaximal values, will sequentially activate all MUs in the muscle. This way, it is
possible to obtain a graphical representation of the evoked action potentials amplitude in the
muscle versus the stimulation intensity. This record will show a sigmoid tendency which is
called the CMAP scan. To be used as clinical tool, stimulation parameters must be
standardized and quantified in order to enable uniform collection and comparison of data.
Several studies have been made recently to verify the potentiality of this technique,
investigating the influence of different parameters in the quality of the CMAP scan. In this
work new CMAP scan protocols were implemented to study influence of electrical pulse
waveform on peripheral nerve excitability. Methods. A total of 13 healthy subjects were
tested. Stimulation was performed with an increasing intensities range from 4 to 30 mA. The
procedure was repeated 4 times per subject with a different single pulse stimulation
waveform: monophasic square and triangular and quadratic and biphasic square. Results.
Different waveforms elicit different intensity-response amplitude curves. The square pulse
needs less current to generate the same response amplitude regarding the other waves and this
effect is gradually decreasing for the triangular, quadratic, and biphasic pulse,
respectively. Conclusion. The stimulation waveform has a direct influences on the
stimulus-response slope and consequence on the motoneurons excitability. This can be a new
prognostic parameter for neurodegenerative disorders. 

Time taken to edit (in minutes): __

Source: E​ valuation of Motor Neuron Excitability by CMAP Scanning with Electric Modulated
Current​ by ​T. Araújo, R. Candeias, N. Nunes, et al.​, used under ​CC-BY
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Plant and animal sciences

The argan forests (Argania spinosa (L.) Skeels) extend over 8700 square kilometers [​1​]. For
centuries, argan tree has shaped the socioeconomic life of the southwestern Morocco,
becoming a flagship species for the region and for the country [​2​]. This space has been
declared by UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme as biosphere reserve in
1998. The argan tree is the major tree species of Macaronesian formations in a climate
characterized by very large occult precipitation [​3​]. Argan tree is a thermophilic and
xerophytic tree species, evolving in warm temperate arid bioclimate (along the coast and in
the plains) and in warm temperate semiarid bioclimate (High Atlas and Anti-Atlas), with
annual rainfall ranging from 400 mm in the north (Safi), 250 mm in the Souss Valley, and
150 mm in the Anti-Atlas to less than 100 mm in the southern areas of desert nature [​4​].
This tree, which can live up to 250 years [​5​], provides multiple uses for the local population:
its very hard wood and the shell of the fruit are used for heating, the leaves and the pulp of its
fruit and the oil cake are a valuable fodder for the flock, its thorny branches are used as fence
for agricultural plots, edible oil and cosmetics are derived from its seed, and finally the rich
soil of the forest area is a very favorable area for intercropping.
During recent years, the argan tree faces many constraints that result in the weakening and
degradation of natural forest ecosystems. The argan forests face, in recent decades, the
changes in climate and many anthropozoogenic disturbances that result in a reduction in area
and density and inexorably lead to the weakening and deterioration of the natural forest
ecosystems. As part of the global forest resources assessment [​6​], official figures provided by
Morocco and relating to the degradation of the argan tree show a decrease of 111 km​2​ of the
total area of the argan tree between 1990 and 2005, which corresponds to a decrease of
7.4 km​2​/year. On the other hand, the argan forests are in almost total lack of natural
regeneration [​7​].

Time taken to edit (in minutes): __

​ ffects of Tree Shelters on the Survival and Growth of Argania spinosa Seedlings in
Source: E
Mediterranean Arid Environment​ by C ​ . Defaa, S. Elantry, S. L. El Alami, et al.​, used under C
​ C-BY