A service not a cheat 1

Some academics apparently regard the use of professional proofreading services by students as "spoon-feeding gone mad" or "cheating"

or "passing off others' work as your own", ("Fluency can be all yours... for a small fee", April 7).

They are particularly outraged by overseas students using the services of proofreaders.

But professional proofreading services have been used legitimately by academics and students for a long time. Academic journals and book publishers employ professional proofreaders to correct the writings of academics. Back in 1995, my then department paid for a professional to proofread my DPhil thesis, even though I am a native-English speaker.

Why should academics' publications benefit from the services of professional proofreaders but the work of students should not?

Paul Seedhouse
Newcastle upon Tyne University