SEC/250530 - EDITING SERVICES

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is planning to establish framework contracts for professional editing services, totaling an estimated value of €135,000 over a maximum duration of 48 months. This opportunity is divided into two distinct lots. Lot 1, valued at €80,000, focuses on editing services for the Eurosurveillance journal, which covers topics related to epidemiology and disease surveillance in Europe. The services required include editing scientific manuscripts post-peer review, preparing graphics, and liaising with authors throughout the editing process. Lot 2, valued at €55,000, involves general editing services for various ECDC publications, including annual reports and disease factsheets. Both lots require candidates to have native-level English proficiency and expertise in scientific editing and public health terminology.

This opportunity is open to professional service providers, including freelance editors and editorial consultancies, though the inclusion of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) might be limited due to the nature of the contract requirements. Geographic eligibility likely includes EU member states and possibly EEA countries, although specific details will be clarified in the tender documents.

The application process is electronic, with an expression of interest period starting on October 15, 2025, and a deadline for submissions by October 31, 2025. The negotiated procedure for selected applicants is anticipated to launch on November 10, 2025. This procurement is conducted as a framework agreement without the reopening of competition, allowing for multiple task assignments over the contract period.

The nature of support involves monetary compensation for services rendered, distinct from grant opportunities. No co-funding requirement is mentioned, and there is no information available about success rates in this procurement procedure. Interested applicants will need to prepare to submit their proposals electronically and must adhere to the specifications detailed in the eventual tender documents.

This is a publication announcing the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control's (ECDC) intention to publish a future negotiated low or middle value procedure. It is not a call for tenders. The procedure identifier is ECDC/2025/MVP/0020-EXA. The estimated total value is 135000 EUR. The lead contracting authority is the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. The main classification (CPV) code is 79821100.

The planned call for tenders is divided into two lots:

Lot 1: Editing services for Eurosurveillance. Eurosurveillance is a European peer-reviewed scientific journal devoted to the epidemiology, surveillance, prevention and control of communicable diseases, with a focus on such topics that are of relevance to Europe. It is a weekly online journal, published every Thursday, and features short rapid communications and regular research articles, surveillance and outbreak articles, reviews and perspectives. The entire content is open access, free of charge for both readers and authors (www.eurosurveillance.org). All articles in Eurosurveillance undergo rigorous peer review by independent reviewers to guarantee unbiased selection based on scientific quality. Eurosurveillance editors provide a high level of editorial support and see it as a service to their readers and authors to ensure that each published article is as correct and readable as possible within the constraints of time. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the publisher of Eurosurveillance, would like to establish a framework contract for editorial support for content, copy editing and proofreading of regular articles after peer review that are accepted for editing by the editorial team. Services should be provided according to the Eurosurveillance standards and style guide.

Lot 1 will cover editing services for the scientific journal Eurosurveillance, published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the purpose of assignments will be:
To edit scientific content and proofread, using track-changes, pre-styled (using in-house software) regular articles in Microsoft word format, after peer review and revisions, for which revisions have been checked by an editor of Eurosurveillance and that have been ‘accepted and queued for editing’ by the editorial team.
To prepare graphics in Microsoft word, excel, pdf or ppt format following the Eurosurveillance style for layout by the ECDC graphic designer.
To liaise with the authors during the editing process (usually two to three editing rounds), to agree on editorial changes and to obtain adequate answers to queries. This should be done via email with the Eurosurveillance mailbox in cc.
To collaborate closely with the editorial team and to clear pre-final manuscripts with the Editor-in-chief and ensure that her possible additional comments for authors are addressed before handing back a final version to the editorial team who will send the final version of the manuscript to authors’ approval before publication.
To deliver final articles including figures and tables and formatted references (where not formatted by the inhouse software) for publication within agreed timeframes, usually 3 weeks from the assignment.

The requested deliverables will be final articles including figures, tables, boxes and formatted references, signed off by the Editor-in-chief that can be sent by the editorial team to authors for approval before publication. The nature of the contract is services. The maximum contract duration is 48 months. The estimated value is 80000 EUR. It is a framework agreement, without reopening of competition. The main classification (CPV) code is 79821100. The additional classification (CPV) code is 79550000.

Lot 2: General editing services. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is a public health agency of the European Union (EU) that collects, analyses and shares data on more than 50 infectious disease topics such as COVID-19, influenza, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, measles, tuberculosis, antimicrobial resistance and vaccination. ECDC publishes outputs relevant to preparedness, prevention and control of communicable diseases. ECDC would like to establish a framework contract for editorial support for copy editing and proofreading text and documents in the sphere of public health, surveillance, epidemiology, etc. Services should be provided according to ECDC standards and style guide.

LOT 2: Editing of text and documents in the sphere of public health, surveillance, epidemiology, etc. to native-English-speaker standard, so that the content and format are suitable for immediate publication. Task involves copy-editing and proof-reading (using track changes) and formatting of graphics, figures, tables, etc. using MS Word.
Editing usually involves two rounds to agree on editorial changes and obtain answers to queries. Management of the editing process and liaison with the authors will usually be via ECDC’s Editorial team. The deliverables will be texts such as chapters from the Annual Epidemiological Report, External Qualiy Assessments, disease factsheets, portfolios of the graduating EPIET/EUPHEM fellows, or meeting reports, edited to a high standard, ready for publication on the ECDC website, using ECDC's Style Guide and any other appropriate guidelines for reference. The nature of the contract is services. The maximum contract duration is 48 months. The estimated value is 55000 EUR. It is a framework agreement, without reopening of competition. The main classification (CPV) code is 79821100. The additional classification (CPV) code is 79550000.

Milestones for both lots:
Start date for expression of interest: 2025-10-15 Europe/Brussels
Deadline for expression of interest: 31/10/2025 06:59 Europe/Stockholm
Indicative date of launch of the negotiated procedure: 2025-11-10 Europe/Stockholm

Submissions must be sent exclusively at the address for submission given below. The method of expression of interest is electronic.

This publication announces the ECDC's intent to launch a negotiated procedure for low or middle value contracts related to editing services. There are two lots: one focused on editing for the Eurosurveillance journal, involving scientific content and graphics preparation, and the other focused on general editing of public health documents. Both lots aim to establish framework contracts for up to 48 months. The expression of interest period opens in October 2025, with the negotiated procedure expected to launch in November 2025. Interested parties should express their interest electronically.

Eligible Applicant Types: The opportunity is for service contracts, so eligible applicants would likely be service providers, which could include SMEs, large enterprises, or potentially individual consultants with relevant expertise in editing and proofreading.

Funding Type: This is a procurement opportunity, specifically a planned negotiated procedure for a middle/low value contract. The financial mechanism is a service contract.

Consortium Requirement: The text does not explicitly state whether a consortium is required or if a single applicant is sufficient. However, given the nature of the services, both single applicants and consortia are potentially eligible.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is an EU agency, so it is highly likely that the geographic eligibility includes at least the EU member states. The text does not explicitly exclude other countries, so it is possible that EEA countries or other countries might be eligible, but this is not stated.

Target Sector: The target sector is related to editing services within the context of health, specifically public health, surveillance, and epidemiology. This includes scientific and general editing.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned. The relevant region is the EU, given that the ECDC is an agency of the European Union.

Project Stage: The project stage is service delivery. The opportunity is for providing editing and proofreading services for existing content.

Funding Amount: The estimated total value for both lots is 135,000 EUR. Lot 1 has an estimated value of 80,000 EUR, and Lot 2 has an estimated value of 55,000 EUR. These are the estimated values for the entire 48-month contract duration.

Application Type: The application type is an expression of interest, followed by a planned negotiated procedure.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in exchange for services rendered.

Application Stages: There are at least two stages: an expression of interest and then participation in a negotiated procedure.

Success Rates: The success rates are not mentioned in the provided text.

Co-funding Requirement: The text does not mention any co-funding requirement.

Summary:

This is a pre-announcement for a future negotiated procurement procedure by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). The ECDC intends to establish framework contracts for editing services. The opportunity is divided into two lots. Lot 1 focuses on editing services for the Eurosurveillance journal, a European peer-reviewed scientific journal covering epidemiology, surveillance, prevention, and control of communicable diseases. The services include editing scientific content, proofreading, preparing graphics, liaising with authors, and collaborating with the editorial team. Lot 2 focuses on general editing services for text and documents in the sphere of public health, surveillance, and epidemiology. This includes copy-editing, proofreading, and formatting graphics for various publications such as the Annual Epidemiological Report, disease factsheets, and meeting reports. The estimated total value of the procurement is 135,000 EUR, with 80,000 EUR allocated to Lot 1 and 55,000 EUR to Lot 2. The maximum contract duration is 48 months. The procedure will involve an expression of interest, with a start date of October 15, 2025, and a deadline of October 31, 2025, followed by a negotiated procedure, indicatively launched on November 10, 2025. Interested parties should submit their expression of interest electronically. This is not a call for tenders yet, but an announcement of the ECDC's intention to launch the procedure in the future.