These activities differ in functional terms but share a common goal, namely helping authors produce quality papers for publication.
Language professionals may be self-employed (freelance or small entrepreneurs) or employed at universities, research institutes and companies that generate scientific-technical documentation.
[2] They may also work indirectly through a translation or editing agency (although the presence of an intermediary may hinder the development of a direct, professional relationship with the author-client).
"[3] Another term sometimes used is language service provider,[5] while the related, but broader literacy broker includes "editors, reviewers, academic peers, and English-speaking friends and colleagues, who mediate text production in a number of ways".
Educational opportunities and materials, including conferences, training workshops and publications, are offered by the numerous membership associations open to linguists, editors, translators and writers.