How To Proofread An Academic Paper Properly

Proofreading is the process of looking through a piece of writing for grammatical errors and correcting them so that it looks professional and is easier to understand. This is a process every writer must become familiar with. If your understanding of the process is limited, these are some tips that may help you.

Let it fade from your mind a bit

Often when proofreading our own work we become blind to some of the most outrageous of errors. We can even be embarrassed when after submission they are finally brought to our attention. One way to counteract this is to let some time pass between writing and proofreading. This allows the perfect version that exists in your mind to fade so that you can truly see what's in front of you.

Let someone else do it

When you do not have the time to walk away from your work then return to it you can use someone else to do your proofreading. This is actually the best case scenario.

Read it backwards

By removing the context from the words you may increase the likelihood of your spotting simple spelling errors. This is useful in every instance except for homophones. Unless the homophone is completely out of place in your writing you may read it without noticing it is an error when the paper is read out of order.

Read aloud

When you read aloud you give yourself a backup system for gauging the accuracy of the work in front of you. Your eyes see the words and your lips say them while your ears hear them. Occasionally you may see the right word but say and hear the wrong word only to notice when you glance down that the wrong word is actually on the page in front of you.

Use a dictionary

The English language is rife with words that look so much like other more common words that they appear at first glance to be errors. For this reason it is useful to refer to a dictionary regularly when you are proofreading someone else's work. This will allow you to retain the meaning that those strange words convey. You can even learn a thing or two in the process.

The proofreading process is both necessary and simple to learn so with practice you will hone the skill.

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