How To Proofread Your Essay

By James Wright

After handing in your essay, you may have noticed some errors or mistakes in it. These may be spelling, grammar or even punctuation errors and are all a little tricky when your brain is filled with the different aspects of your academic paper. But, when you first reviewed the paper you didn't notice the different errors in your essay, why do you now?

Well, proofreading your work before handing in an essay report, dissertation or thesis is a must, as the academic arena is realizing that quality work means quality students - so to students must realise that quality universities are made from quality students submitting great essays and papers.

1. Leave time before you proofread - You will want to leave at least 24 hours between when you finished writing your draft of an essay until you pick it up again and read it over with a clear mind. Otherwise your mind will be full of what you have just written and wont read exactly what you have written, but will read what you have thought you have written.

2. Eliminate all distractions - Turn off all TVs and other distractions, you don't want CSI getting in the way of your paper - even if it is a crucial episode this week! Don't have music on wither as this will only confuse you and cause you to become distracted form what you are actually reading.

3. Double your spaces - if you double space your paper when you are at the stage of editing your paper, then you will find it easier to see the different mistakes, correct them, and know where you are; no matter whether your essay paper is on the screen in front of you or printed on paper. Keeping on the correct line and ensuring you edit the correct parts will also help you spot the most important mistakes. Therefore, you will need to concentrate when proofreading your essay paper you don't want to read one part of sentence A and the second part of sentence B, as this will cause you confusion and unnecessary editing.

4. Reading out loud - When reading over your work you will benefit from reading them out loud. By doing so, you will recognise parts of your work that simply don't make sense or could be confusing for the reader. I know it sounds a little strange, but you should give it a go, as I am confident that you will see a difference when you adopt this part of the process.

5. Use a ruler or bookmark - So that you know where you are up to and so that you can eliminate confusion on which sentence you are using, having a ruler indicating where you should read next is important. It will help you increase your concentration and work through your document a lot quicker.

6. Check your sources properly - You will need to make sure that all of your sources are there for any work you have referenced or referred to. Not having all of the authors in your bibliography, or missing the date from one source can cause your marker to become annoyed in your lack of professional approach to your paper. Make sure you check all of your references as these may become crucial if you have a lot missing or confusion in your paper - your professor may indeed mark you down for this.

7. Get your work professionally reviewed - It may be the case that you simply don't have the time or don't believe tour work needs changing. But, you should know that you will fail to spot all of the mistakes in your paper. Having a professional proofreader or editor review your essay will make sure your academic work is free from errors and that there are no mistakes when you submit it.

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