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Academic Transcription Services

by U.S. and Canadian Professional Transcribers

Accurate

As a transcriptionist-run small business, we offer a level of accuracy you won’t find anywhere else. We’re a preferred supplier for our local university, and we’ve transcribed qualitative research for clients across the U.S. and Canada.

Locally based

Our transcribers include U.S. and Canada-based professional transcribers as well as editors, teachers, and university students and graduates. Unlike most modern transcription agencies, we don’t outsource overseas.

Flat-rate pricing

We price our projects by the audio minute, so you always know up front how much you’ll pay. Our pricing structure is straightforward, with no hidden fees. Our rates are in line with other locally based professional transcription agencies.

Testimonials

Check out some of our Google reviews

We’re the highest-rated transcription agency in our local area, based on Google reviews. Here’s what our valued clients have to say about us:

I am very pleased with the transcripts I have received from Chloe at Opal Transcription. Her turnaround time is phenomenal, and I prefer how she charged per audio minute compared to other transcription services that charge per hour of the transcriptionists’ time. I highly recommend Chloe’s services to others looking for fast and accurate transcription.

University Student

I use Opal Transcription regularly and am very happy with the quality and thoroughness of the work. The transcript comes back polished and clean, with attention paid to small details like the spelling of names. I’m happy to recommend Opal to anyone looking for a reliable transcription service!

Journalist / Editor

Chloe was great to work with – she responded to all my requests quickly and professionally. My final transcripts were accurate and looked great. Thanks for a great service.

University Student

Very professional. Prompt. Accurate and high-quality transcriptions. Opal Transcription Services offers amazing service for a reasonable fee. I would highly recommend Opal Transcription Services!

University Student

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OUR SERVICES

Transcription services for students, educators, and researchers

We provide the following academic transcription services for universities, colleges, schools, educational institutions, and research centers:

Qualitative research

Qualitative research interviews are our specialty! Our team has successfully worked on large-scale research studies for university faculty and students as well as research centers across North America. We’re a preferred supplier for our local university and have had the pleasure of working on a diverse range of subject matter, from healthcare to social justice.

Focus groups

Focus group transcription can be challenging and is a task best left to a professional academic transcription service rather than outsourced to a team of inexperienced gig workers or fed into an AI transcription tool. We’ve transcribed focus groups, Indigenous sharing circles, conferences, and panels across a spectrum of topics, from environmental issues to community building.

Lectures

We provide fast and accurate lecture transcription for professors and students. Academic lectures tend to be heavy on scientific terminology and/or literary references and require careful research. Our team is up to the task! We’ve transcribed lectures on complex subjects encompassing the fields of medicine, chemistry, biology, psychology, and the arts.

Contact us

Have questions or need a quote? Use the form to reach out and we’ll be in touch with you as quickly as possible.

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FAQ

We typically quote projects by the audio minute, with no hidden fees, so you know up front how much you’ll pay. Pricing is dependent on a range of factors, such as audio clarity, speaker count, and whether or not you need um’s and uh’s transcribed. (Most of our academic clients opt for “clean verbatim” transcription – that is, with um’s and uh’s omitted.)

Our rates are in line with other transcription companies like us whose transcriptionists are actually based in the United States and Canada. (Most of the big transcription companies claim to be North America based because their executive team is headquartered in North America, but their transcription team is actually based largely overseas.) As a small business founded and run by a certified medical transcriptionist, we value our hard-working freelance staff and pay them fairly, unlike so many gig-economy “transcription sweatshops.”

Note: Qualitative research projects are often larger in scope and timeline, and we recognize that in many cases these projects are contingent on outside funding or a research grant. If your project requires it, we can provide a formal quote for you to include with your grant application.

If you (or your research coordinator or team lead) has a program-specific confidentiality agreement, we’ll review and sign it before starting work on your project.

If you don’t have a transcription confidentiality agreement prepared, we can provide one for you which has been adapted from the University of Alberta’s standard transcription agreement for qualitative research. Our freelancers have all signed this same agreement.

We recommend MP3s for audio and MP4s for video; however, we can work with most common media formats.

Whenever your audio or video files are ready, you can either send them to us via your preferred file-sharing platform or use our end-to-end-encrypted upload portal at no extra cost. We’ll send your transcripts to you via an E2EE file delivery system. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with questions regarding our process.

Best academic transcription services

When quality is what you need, we’re here for you.

Transcribing your own academic research, interviews, focus groups, and lectures is tedious and takes up precious time that could be spent interviewing your subjects, analyzing the research, and documenting your findings.

With the help of a professional transcription team, you can save countless hours of your own time and get your transcripts back sooner. This leaves you free to do your best possible work while completing your research study in time and on budget.

Not only that, but by choosing a North America-based transcription team that specializes in qualitative research transcription, you can rest confident that your transcripts will accurately capture your subjects’ experience while adhering to strict confidentiality standards.

Contact us for more information on our academic and research transcription services.

The Opal Transcription quality standard

With so many transcription services to choose from, it can be difficult to know where to start. If accuracy is what you’re after, you’ve ended up in the right place.

As a small business founded by a certified medical transcriptionist, we’re serious about quality. Our team includes university students and grads, teachers, and professional editors. All our transcribers are based in the United States and Canada.

Most transcription companies claim 99% accuracy, but few can back up the claim. Before you entrust your audio to us, we’d be happy to point you to numerous samples of our work that are publicly accessible on the web.

Universities and academic institutions we’ve transcribed for

As a fully North American-based transcription agency, we’ve transcribed for universities and research centers across the United States and Canada. Here are a few of the academic institutions we’ve had the pleasure of working with:

Columbia University
The Wright Institute
University of Calgary
University of British Columbia
Mount Royal University
Gonzaga University
And more

Typing services for students

Earn higher grades, improve your GPA, or ace the exam this semester – without taking notes! Hire a professional academic transcription service to transcribe your class lectures so you don’t miss a thing.

Dissertation and thesis transcription for students

Are you a master’s or PhD student doing research for a dissertation, thesis, or capstone project?

Qualitative research transcription is our specialty! If you haven’t begun interviewing participants yet, please feel free to contact us for techniques on recording and interviewing to help you produce the best possible recording, which translates to lower transcription fees and more accurate transcripts.

If you’ve already recorded a number of interviews for your project, contact us to learn about our pricing. Before we receive your audio, we’ll send you a signed copy of your study’s confidentiality agreement. If you don’t have a confidentiality agreement on hand, we can prepare a standard one for you.

Request a quote or learn more

To request a quote on your project, send us a message describing the following details about your project:

Amount or length of audio
Audio quality
Number of speakers
Project timeline

We look forward to partnering with you!

Request a quote today.

We’ll be in touch with you shortly.

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