I Am Proofreading the Paper Once Again

What this handout is near

This handout provides some tips and strategies for revising your writing. To give you a gamble to practice proofreading, we accept left seven errors (three spelling errors, two punctuation errors, and two grammatical errors) in the text of this handout. See if you can spot them!

Is editing the same affair as proofreading?

Not exactly. Although many people use the terms interchangeably, editing and proofreading are 2 different stages of the revision process. Both demand shut and careful reading, but they focus on unlike aspects of the writing and use different techniques.

Some tips that use to both editing and proofreading

• Get some distance from the text! It's hard to edit or proofread a paper that you've just finished writing—it's nevertheless to familiar, and yous tend to skip over a lot of errors. Put the paper aside for a few hours, days, or weeks. Go for a run. Take a trip to the beach. Clear your head of what you've written and then you tin can have a fresh await at the paper and come across what is really on the folio. Better yet, give the newspaper to a friend—you can't go much more distance than that. Someone who is reading the paper for the first time, comes to it with completely fresh eyes.
• Decide which medium lets you proofread most carefully. Some people like to work correct at the estimator, while others like to sit dorsum with a printed copy that they can mark upwardly as they read.
• Try changing the look of your document. Altering the size, spacing, color, or style of the text may fob your brain into thinking it'southward seeing an unfamiliar certificate, and that can help y'all get a different perspective on what you lot've written.
• Find a quiet place to work. Don't endeavour to practise your proofreading in front of the TV or while y'all're chugging away on the treadmill. Discover a identify where you can concentrate and avoid distractions.
• If possible, do your editing and proofreading in several short blocks of time. Your concentration may start to wane if y'all attempt to proofread the unabridged text at i time.
• If you're brusk on time, you may wish to prioritize. Brand sure that you complete the most important editing and proofreading tasks.

Editing

Editing is what you begin doing as soon equally you stop your first draft. Y'all reread your typhoon to see, for example, whether the newspaper is well-organized, the transitions between paragraphs are smooth, and your prove really backs upwards your argument. You can edit on several levels:

Content

Accept you done everything the assignment requires? Are the claims y'all make accurate? If information technology is required to do so, does your newspaper make an argument? Is the argument complete? Are all of your claims consistent? Accept you supported each point with adequate bear witness? Is all of the information in your paper relevant to the assignment and/or your overall writing goal? (For additional tips, come across our handouts on understanding assignments and developing an argument.)

Overall structure

Does your paper have an appropriate introduction and conclusion? Is your thesis clearly stated in your introduction? Is it articulate how each paragraph in the body of your paper is related to your thesis? Are the paragraphs bundled in a logical sequence? Accept you made clear transitions betwixt paragraphs? One fashion to check the structure of your paper is to make a reverse outline of the paper afterward you have written the first draft. (See our handouts on introductions, conclusions, thesis statements, and transitions.)

Structure within paragraphs

Does each paragraph have a clear topic judgement? Does each paragraph stick to one main idea? Are there whatsoever inapplicable or missing sentences in any of your paragraphs? (See our handout on paragraph development.)

Clarity

Accept y'all defined any important terms that might be unclear to your reader? Is the meaning of each judgement clear? (One way to answer this question is to read your paper one sentence at a fourth dimension, starting at the end and working backwards so that you will not unconsciously make full in content from previous sentences.) Is information technology clear what each pronoun (he, she, information technology, they, which, who, this, etc.) refers to? Have you called the proper words to express your ideas? Avoid using words you observe in the thesaurus that aren't office of your normal vocabulary; you may misuse them.

Mode

Have you used an appropriate tone (formal, informal, persuasive, etc.)? Is your use of gendered language (masculine and feminine pronouns like "he" or "she," words like "fireman" that contain "homo," and words that some people incorrectly assume apply to merely ane gender—for instance, some people assume "nurse" must refer to a woman) appropriate? Have you lot varied the length and construction of your sentences? Do you lot tends to use the passive vocalisation too ofttimes? Does your writing contain a lot of unnecessary phrases like "there is," "at that place are," "due to the fact that," etc.? Do you lot repeat a strong give-and-take (for example, a bright main verb) unnecessarily? (For tips, come across our handouts on mode and gender-inclusive language.)

Citations

Accept y'all appropriately cited quotes, paraphrases, and ideas y'all got from sources? Are your citations in the correct format? (See the UNC Libraries citation tutorial for more information.)

Every bit you edit at all of these levels, you will usually make significant revisions to the content and diction of your paper. Go on an eye out for patterns of error; knowing what kinds of bug yous tend to have volition be helpful, peculiarly if you are editing a large certificate like a thesis or dissertation. Once you have identified a design, you tin can develop techniques for spotting and correcting hereafter instances of that blueprint. For instance, if you notice that you lot oft talk over several distinct topics in each paragraph, you can become through your newspaper and underline the fundamental words in each paragraph, then break the paragraphs upward so that each one focuses on just one primary idea.

Proofreading

Proofreading is the final stage of the editing process, focusing on surface errors such as misspellings and mistakes in grammar and punctuation. You lot should proofread only later you have finished all of your other editing revisions.

Why proofread? It's the content that really matters, right?

Content is important. But like information technology or not, the way a paper looks affects the way others judge it. When you've worked hard to develop and present your ideas, you lot don't want careless errors distracting your reader from what you have to say. It's worth paying attention to the details that help you to make a skillful impression.

Most people devote merely a few minutes to proofreading, hoping to catch any glaring errors that spring out from the folio. But a quick and cursory reading, especially after you lot've been working long and difficult on a paper, usually misses a lot. It's ameliorate to work with a definite plan that helps you lot to search systematically for specific kinds of errors.

Certain, this takes a lilliputian extra fourth dimension, but it pays off in the end. If you know that you have an constructive way to catch errors when the paper is about finished, you can worry less well-nigh editing while you are writing your first drafts. This makes the entire writing proccess more efficient.

Endeavor to continue the editing and proofreading processes separate. When you are editing an early draft, you lot don't want to exist bothered with thinking about punctuation, grammer, and spelling. If your worrying about the spelling of a word or the placement of a comma, yous're non focusing on the more than important job of developing and connecting ideas.

The proofreading process

You probably already use some of the strategies discussed below. Experiment with different tactics until you lot find a system that works well for you. The important thing is to make the process systematic and focused then that you catch as many errors as possible in the to the lowest degree amount of time.

• Don't rely entirely on spelling checkers. These tin can exist useful tools just they are far from foolproof. Spell checkers take a limited dictionary, so some words that show upward as misspelled may really just not be in their memory. In addition, spell checkers volition not catch misspellings that course some other valid word. For example, if yous type "your" instead of "you're," "to" instead of "likewise," or "there" instead of "their," the spell checker won't grab the error.

• Grammar checkers can be fifty-fifty more than problematic. These programs work with a limited number of rules, so they tin can't identify every error and often make mistakes. They likewise fail to give thorough explanations to help yous empathise why a sentence should be revised. Y'all may want to use a grammar checker to help you identify potential run-on sentences or too-frequent use of the passive vox, but you lot demand to be able to evaluate the feedback information technology provides.

• Proofread for simply one kind of fault at a time. If yous try to identify and revise too many things at once, yous run a risk losing focus, and your proofreading volition be less effective. It'due south easier to catch grammer errors if you lot aren't checking punctuation and spelling at the same time. In improver, some of the techniques that piece of work well for spotting ane kind of error won't catch others.

• Read slow, and read every word. Endeavor reading out loud, which forces you to say each word and besides lets you hear how the words sound together. When you lot read silently or too quickly, you may skip over errors or make unconscious corrections.

• Separate the text into private sentences. This is some other technique to help you to read every sentence carefully. Simply press the return key after every menses then that every line begins a new sentence. So read each sentence separately, looking for grammar, punctuation, or spelling errors. If yous're working with a printed copy, endeavor using an opaque object like a ruler or a piece of paper to isolate the line you're working on.

• Circle every punctuation marking. This forces yous to look at each one. Every bit y'all circumvolve, enquire yourself if the punctuation is correct.

• Read the paper backwards. This technique is helpful for checking spelling. Kickoff with the last word on the last page and work your mode back to the kickoff, reading each word separately. Because content, punctuation, and grammar won't make any sense, your focus volition be entirely on the spelling of each word. Yous tin can also read backwards sentence by judgement to check grammer; this will help you lot avoid condign distracted by content issues.

• Proofreading is a learning procedure. You're not just looking for errors that you lot recognize; you lot're too learning to recognize and correct new errors. This is where handbooks and dictionaries come in. Proceed the ones you discover helpful close at hand equally you proofread.

• Ignorance may be bliss, but it won't make y'all a improve proofreader. Y'all'll often find things that don't seem quite right to y'all, just you lot may non exist quite sure what's wrong either. A discussion looks like it might be misspelled, simply the spell checker didn't catch it. You remember y'all demand a comma betwixt two words, but you're not sure why. Should you use "that" instead of "which"? If you're not certain about something, look it up.

• The proofreading process becomes more efficient equally yous develop and practice a systematic strategy. You'll learn to identify the specific areas of your own writing that demand conscientious attention, and knowing that you have a sound method for finding errors will help you to focus more than on developing your ideas while you are drafting the paper.

Think you've got it?

Then give it a try, if y'all haven't already! This handout contains 7 errors our proofreader should take caught: three spelling errors, two punctuation errors, and two grammatical errors. Try to find them, and so check a version of this folio with the errors marked in carmine to see if yous're a proofreading star.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive listing of resources on the handout'southward topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to discover boosted publications. Please exercise not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference listing, as it may not match the commendation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial. We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Especially for not-native speakers of English:

Ascher, Allen. 2006. Think About Editing: An ESL Guide for the Harbrace Handbooks. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Lane, Janet, and Ellen Lange. 2012. Writing Conspicuously: Grammar for Editing, 3rd ed. Boston: Heinle.

For everyone:

Einsohn, Amy. 2011. The Copyeditor's Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications, 3rd ed. Berkeley: Academy of California Press.

Lanham, Richard A. 2006. Revising Prose, 5th ed. New York: Pearson Longman.

Tarshis, Barry. 1998. How to Be Your Ain Best Editor: The Toolkit for Everyone Who Writes. New York: Three Rivers Press.

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Yous may reproduce it for not-commercial utilize if y'all use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, Academy of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Source: https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/editing-and-proofreading/

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