Seven Master Tips for Proofreading Your Papers

Proofreading is one of the lengthiest tasks for students. It is the process of revising the papers to detect minor errors like grammar, punctuation, and others that significantly impact grades. Manystudents even avoid doing it at all and hire assignment editing service or academic experts for it. If you have been doing the same, it is time to change this habit. Here are some master tips for all our proofreading aspirants to consider as beginners.

Plan your time

Students with poor time management skills face a lot of struggleswith proofreading. This is because they do not have sufficient time to proofread their papers. The mission of serving your paper won?t be successful if you do it in a rush. So either start early on your assignments or have some extra time in hand so that you can do the work with the diligence it requires. The time required varies depending on whether you are a beginner, length of paper, deadlines, and much more plan accordingly.

Do not proofread immediately.

Avoid the habitof proofreadingimmediately. Suppose you finishedwriting today, then we suggestkeeping at least some time gap before you start proofreading next. Proofreading requires a lot of patience and an open mind. If you start doing it just after completing your writing part, then chances are you can skip the essentialdetails, which become hard to detect immediately.

Make a list of things to proffer.

If you knowyourself, you will quickly understand the areas where you make the most mistakes. If you are not sure, here is a list of things you shouldproofread for in your paper. Some of them arewriting tone, transitionalsentences, grammar, punctuation, tense etc. These are some minor mistakes students usually make, which makes all the difference. Writing down the list of things you need to proofread will remind you of them without skipping any significant elements.

Highlight or underline

While going through your paper, highlight or underlinewhat you need to change. We suggest not making the changes immediately as it can be pretty confusing. At the same time, while revising, highlight the thingsthat need to be changed and once done, start making the changes with a fresh mind. When you do both things together, it can be pretty frustrating at times and can lead to even grave issues.

Proofread one thing at a time

Proofreading becomes especially hard when the assignment is quite lengthy. While analysing a lengthy paper, it is even more crucial to be aware of the mistakes. To avoid any error, it is wise to go through one section at a time. For example, keep a separate time proofreading your introduction and the main body. The main body is quiteextensive, so you can save some time in yourhand to revise it later. By breaking it into multiple parts, there is no rule that forces you to proofread it all at once, giving you more time to do the process in an organised manner.

Avoid proofreading while writing.

This ismore of a don’t tip rather than a do tip. The tip is to avoid proofreadingwhilewriting. Many students have the habit of proofreading a particular section after writing it. We advise you to follow our first tip and leave the proofreadingfor some other time. When you immediatelyproofread your papers, you automaticallyfindeverythingperfect. But in reality, it is not the case. So focus on doing onetask at a time.

Get adult help

And we all need a little bit of help here and there, so why shy away from asking for it? If you think you aren’t good enough at doing it yourself, there is no fault in getting advised by an adult for it. Sometimesit does not even have to be an adult. It can be your siblings, friends or parents. It would help if you were guided by someone who is quite advanced and fluent with proofreading. You can learna lot from such people and get your paper double-checked, leaving no room for any mistake.

Proofreading can bring a considerable change to your papers. It is also a  great skill set for having which can provide you reliable job options in future. If you’re confident in your writing skills but still not getting the marks you deserve, then it is time to check your proofreading skills once. Whether you are a beginner or not, you can become a pro with our tips mentioned above in no time.

Author bio

Riley Hudgens is a lecturer at the University of Cambridge. Currently, she is working at MyAssignmenthelp.com to help students in need.