TERMS OF REFERENCE –EDITING AND PROOFREADING OF SIGNATURE ISSUES PUBLICATION

Background:

The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) is the continent’s premier research institution and think tank, exploring questions of population health and wellbeing. Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, with a newly opened satellite office in Dakar, Senegal, the Center seeks to drive change with evidence led by a growing cadre of research leaders from across sub-Saharan Africa.

Purpose:

Our teams orient their research agendas to global and continental development priorities bringing independent evidence to the forefront of decisions supporting improved growth and development in the region. The center’s research priorities are governed by ‘Signature Issues’ that fall within six thematic units: Aging and Development; Education and Youth Empowerment; Health and Systems for Health; Maternal and Child Wellbeing; Population Dynamics and Sexual Reproductive Health and; Urbanization and Wellbeing in Africa. Anchoring the six is our Data, Measurement and Evaluation Unit providing internal support for robust data systems and outward-looking technical assistance in program evaluation and data use.

APHRC would like to hire an editor for the review of the Signature Issues Publication.

The editor will be responsible for making the document functional for its readers. They shall examine the overall structure and help with the organization of the content. The editor should help authors fill in blanks and eliminate repetitions, and they may suggest that the chapters or paragraphs are rearranged.

Scope of work:

The contractor will provide high-quality copyediting and proofreading services to APHRC. In particular, the incumbent will perform the following tasks;

1. Copyediting of the Signature Issue Publication consisting of 9 chapters that include;
   • Introduction
   • Ageing and Development
   • Education and Youth Empowerment
   • Health and Systems for Health
   • Maternal and Child Wellbeing
   • Population Dynamics and Sexual Reproductive Health
   • Urbanization and Wellbeing in Africa
   • Data, Measurement and Evaluation
   • Closing

This assignment will incorporate substantive language editing, which aims at improving the overall coverage and presentation of the product, its content, scope, length, level and organization. The editor may also suggest improvements for the author(s) to make or may (by agreement with the author(s)) rewrite and rearrange the material. Copyediting should include all graphs and appendices.

2. Review language usage, grammar, clarity, and typos for consistency (using American English and adhering to APHRC’s house style guide, which will be shared with the report). This also includes checking the numbering of illustrations, tables and notes, and any cross-references to them, as well as the consistency of bibliographical references

3. Return edited document in track changes mode, plus a clean copy (changes accepted).

 APHRC shall provide any additional briefing information concerning this assignment if needed.

Deliverables and reporting

The incumbent will work on this specific assignment with the Communications Manager as directed by the Research and Policy Engagement and Communications Directors.

The consultant will provide a professionally edited publication within the timelines agreed jointly with the project team.

Required skills and experience

• Education: A degree in the area of communication, journalism, English, literature or related field.
• At least eight (8) years of progressively responsible relevant work experience in writing/editing of reports and publications
• Knowledge and capacity to provide high quality reports in line with APHRC writing style and reporting guidelines.
• Fluency in English is required.
• Good knowledge of development and program issues, especially within population and health

Please note that APHRC will hold full copyrights of all edited documents; any use shall require permission from APHRC.