proofreading stage of the writing process

The Writing Process: Revising, Editing, and Proofreading

Polishing your manuscript isn't just about typos. It's a three-step process (revise, editing, proofreading) to take your writing from good to great.

Updated on June 5, 2024

Have you ever come across a piece of writing that should have been enjoyable or informative, but instead, its disorganized nature or numerous typos left you feeling disappointed and distracted? This is the consequence of poor editing and underscores the importance of refining your manuscript. 

Now that you've drafted all the sections of your manuscript, it's time to add some polish to make it really shine. Achieving this level of excellence is not a one-and-done effort, but rather a multi-step process that requires revising, editing, and proofreading.  

You may be asking “Why is it so  important to approach these steps separately?” Let’s start by looking at some of their general characteristics: 

Revising - In this step, you should refine the content's structure, clarity, and overall coherence to ensure that each section effectively contributes to the manuscript's narrative. 

Editing - This is a deeper dive into the writing to enhance readability, consistency, and style and transform ideas into eloquent prose. 

Proofreading - At this stage, you should scrutinize every word and punctuation mark to ensure flawless execution and preparation for publication. 

By embracing this comprehensive approach, you'll enhance both the overall quality and value of your manuscript. These simple steps not only improve accessibility but also increase the likelihood of reaching a broader audience and getting published. 

Now that we understand some of the implications of polishing a manuscript, let’s explore how to make that happen. 

Before sharing your manuscript with anyone, such as your professor, a journal, or a publisher, it's crucial to revise it thoroughly. This step isn't just about fixing typos. It's about making sure your ideas are clear and well-organized.  

Think of it as giving your work a final polish before it goes out into the world. Taking the time to revise your manuscript shows that you care about your writing and want to make sure it's the best it can be. 

 Here are some tips: 

Practical Tips

• Review your writing for clarity and conciseness.
• Check for consistency in formatting, style, and tone throughout your document.
• Pay attention to transitions between paragraphs and sections.
• Proofread meticulously for grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors.
• Take breaks during the revising process.
• Use convoluted language or excessive jargon.
• Overlook inconsistencies that disrupt the flow of your manuscript.
• Neglect transitions, as they guide the reader smoothly through your ideas and arguments.
• Rely solely on spell checkers, which may miss context-specific errors or homophones.
• Revise for extended periods without breaks, as fatigue can lead to overlooking errors or becoming less receptive to feedback.
• Clarity and conciseness are crucial for effective communication, so ensure every word contributes meaningfully to your message. 
• Consistent formatting, style, and tone lead to a cohesive reading experience and enhance professionalism. 
• Transitions help readers navigate your writing smoothly, improving comprehension and engagement. 
• Careful proofreading is essential for polishing your work and maintaining credibility. 
• Breaks are necessary to prevent burnout and maintain mental sharpness throughout the revising process.

Actionable Tips

• Set your piece aside for several hours or days before revising.
• Print out your paper and use red pen, highlighters, and sticky notes for analysis.
• Read your document out loud to yourself and a colleague for feedback.
• Ask others, especially from your target audience, to read and suggest improvements.
• Utilize Track Changes or similar features to keep track of revisions and suggestions.
• Rush through the revision process.
• Rely solely on digital editing tools.
• Assume you catch all errors by just reading silently.
• Limit feedback to only a few individuals.
• Disregard suggested changes without consideration.
• Take the time to step away and come back with a fresh perspective. 
• Sometimes, physical annotations can highlight areas for improvement that may be missed on screen. 
• Vocalizing your writing can help identify awkward phrasing or grammatical mistakes. 
• Seek diverse perspectives to ensure your writing resonates with a broader audience. 
• Even if you don't agree initially, consider any feedback and decide whether it enhances your piece. 

While revision is an essential pre-submission step for your manuscript, it is often an iterative process. Reviewers frequently offer feedback that requires additional revisions.  

After addressing these comments, the manuscript undergoes another review round. This ensures all issues are resolved and any new questions or concerns are adequately addressed. 

Once revisions are complete, it's time to shift gears to the editing stage. Editing focuses on the finer details of your manuscript to enhance clarity, coherence, and style.  

Paying close attention to sentence structure, word choice, paragraph transitions, and overall readability is key. Seek opportunities to streamline your writing, eliminate repetition, and maintain a consistent tone and voice. 

Keep these points in mind: 

• Review and refine the language for clarity.
• Pay attention to sentence structure and coherence.
• Check for consistency in writing style and tone.
• Streamline prose by eliminating unnecessary repetition.
• Take your time editing, reading through it several times while taking breaks in between.
• Sacrifice clarity or simplicity for complexity.
• Rely solely on spell checkers and AI to edit your manuscript.
• Use jargon, unnecessary acronyms, or cliches.
• Simply rephrase the same information to achieve length.
• Rush through the editing process or wait until the last minute.
• Ensure that your writing is clear and easy for your intended audience to understand. Clarify any ambiguous or convoluted sentences, and simplify complex concepts without sacrificing accuracy. 
• Keep readers engaged by varying your sentence length and structure. Ensure smooth transitions between sentences and paragraphs to keep ideas flowing logically. 
• Provide a cohesive reading experience by avoiding abrupt shifts in tone or style that may confuse or distract the reader. 
• Remove redundant phrases or words that do not contribute to your writing. Aim for conciseness without sacrificing essential information or nuance. 
• Give yourself plenty of time for the editing process. Read the manuscript silently, aloud, and to others in both digital and printed formats to catch as many errors as possible. 

Beyond polishing language and ensuring clarity, the editing phase offers a unique opportunity for reflection and refinement. It's not just about polishing the surface, it's about going deeper to reveal the heart of your message.  

Take this time to analyze not only the words on the page but also the underlying ideas they convey. Challenge yourself to explore new perspectives, refine your arguments, and improve the overall impact of your manuscript.

Proofreading 

After revising and editing your manuscript, the final step is proofreading, a crucial quality assurance checkpoint in the writing process. During this careful examination, you should review your manuscript for typographical, spelling, punctuation, and other minor errors overlooked during editing.  

Carefully reviewing your text line by line is essential to catch any remaining errors and eliminate inconsistencies before submission or publication. Though often undervalued, proofreading ultimately affects the quality and reach of your manuscript. 

Let’s consider these fundamentals: 

Practical Tips 

• Carefully review your work for spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.
• Ensure proper punctuation usage, including commas, periods, apostrophes, and quotation marks.
• Watch out for typographical and word choice errors.
• Verify factual accuracy, including dates, statistics, names, and other details.
• Check for formatting inconsistencies, such as font styles, headings, and spacing.
• Rely only on spell checkers, as they may miss certain errors or auto-correct incorrectly.
• Proofread while distracted or multitasking but rather prioritize focus during this step.
• Neglect taking breaks between writing and proofreading.
• Expect AI or other tools to know when something is not factual.
• Forget to double-check your professor’s or journal’s requirements.
• Remember that spell checkers are not foolproof, as they often miss homophones or replace words with similarly sounding ones. Also, pay close attention to mistakes with subject-verb agreement and pronoun usage that can affect professionalism and clarity. 
• Inaccurate punctuation can change the meaning of a sentence or make it difficult to understand. Take your time and eliminate distractions that may cause you to overlook punctuation errors. 
• Mistakes like missed or duplicated words, incorrect spacing, or improper capitalization are sneaky and may go unnoticed. Using the wrong word or phrase can change the intended meaning of your writing or make it unclear. 
• Incorrect information can undermine the credibility of your work. Proofreading backward, starting from the end of your document, can help you focus on individual elements and catch factual errors more effectively. 
• Consistent formatting enhances the professionalism and readability of your manuscript. Most journals clearly outline formatting requirements in their 'Instructions for the Authors' or 'Submission Guidelines’ sections. 

Actionable Tips 

• Take a break between writing and proofreading.
• Read your work aloud to identify awkward phrasing, missing words, or other errors.
• Use proofreading tools like spell checkers, grammar checkers, and style guides as aids.
• Try reading your work backwards to focus on individual elements rather than the overall flow.
• Seek feedback from trusted colleagues or professionals to gain a fresh perspective.
• Rush through the proofreading process but set aside dedicated time for thorough review.
• Proofread while distracted or multitasking.
• Rely exclusively on automated tools; manually review your work to catch nuanced errors.
• Start proofreading from the beginning, as this can lead to overlooking errors in later sections.
• Hesitate to ask for help; a second set of eyes can catch errors you may have missed.
• Stepping away from your work for a while allows you to return to it with renewed perspective. This makes it easier to spot errors that may have been overlooked when you were immersed in writing. 
• Reading aloud engages a different part of your brain and can help uncover errors that may not be obvious when reading silently. It also allows you to assess the flow and rhythm of your writing. 
• While automated editing tools are helpful, they are not infallible. Use them as a supplement to manual proofreading, as they may miss nuanced errors or inaccuracies that require human judgment. 
• Reading backward disrupts the natural flow of the text, allowing you to concentrate on individual sentences. This method can help you catch errors that might otherwise go unnoticed. 
• Another set of eyes can offer valuable insights and catch errors that you may have missed. Choose individuals who are familiar with your writing style and can provide constructive feedback. 

Use these tips to create a proofreading checklist that will streamline this phase and guarantee thoroughness. By sharing it with colleagues and other proofreaders, you not only retain some control over the process but also ensure consistency. 

Tailoring the checklist to your specific needs and writing style increases efficiency and improves the overall quality of your manuscript. From grammar and spelling to formatting and consistency, a personalized checklist helps you stay organized and methodical. 

To get additional insights and assistance from industry professionals, visit aje.com . Here are some examples of the useful resources found in their Author Resource Center : 

• How to Edit Productively - Provides actionable insights on productive editing. It outlines strategies for keeping an open mindset, allocating dedicated time, and gaining perspective by stepping back from your work, all aimed at accelerating the revision process. 
• AJE Tips for Publication Success - A guide for all sections of a manuscript. The “Editing Tips” section offers specific examples of common errors and their solutions. 
• A Three-Phase Workflow for Efficient Manuscript Editing - Advice from an editor describing a useful strategy for reading through a colleague's manuscript and offering suggestions. Helps authors ask editors the right questions. 
• How to Choose the Best AI Editing Tool for Academic Writing - Explores the different types of AI writing tools and makes suggestions for when and how to use them. Takes the confusion out of choosing the right tool for the job.  
• 5 Benefits of Pre Submission Review - Offers valuable insights into reviewer responses to clarify ambiguous areas and enhance research communication practices. Saves time for authors, prevents setbacks, and improves their chances of publication or funding. 
• What is Punctuation in English? [an intro for academics] - Outlines the significance of punctuation in English. It highlights common punctuation marks such as the period, comma, question mark, and exclamation point, with examples illustrating correct and incorrect usage. 

Final Thoughts 

Polishing and refining your manuscript through revising, editing, and proofreading offers the opportunity to transform your informational document into a compelling narrative. It's not just about conveying data but also sharing the story of your research journey.  

Embrace each step as a chance for growth and transformation, revealing the true quality of your work through meticulous attention to every word and punctuation mark. Consider the impact polished writing can have on your audience, credibility, and overall success as a researcher and writer.  

Armed with the insights and strategies shared here, reflect on how you can elevate your own writing. Let these principles guide you as you strive to captivate readers, convey your message effectively, and achieve your writing goals.  

Together, let’s embark on this quest of creative exploration and discovery to shape your manuscript into a masterpiece that inspires and captivates readers around the world. 

Charla Viera, MS

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Editing and Proofreading

What this handout is about.

This handout provides some tips and strategies for revising your writing. To give you a chance to practice proofreading, we have 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 thing as proofreading?

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

Some tips that apply 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 still to familiar, and you 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 so you can take a fresh look at the paper and see what is really on the page. Better yet, give the paper to a friend—you can’t get 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 right at the computer, while others like to sit back with a printed copy that they can mark up as they read.
• Try changing the look of your document. Altering the size, spacing, color, or style of the text may trick your brain into thinking it’s seeing an unfamiliar document, and that can help you get a different perspective on what you’ve written.
• Find a quiet place to work. Don’t try to do your proofreading in front of the TV or while you’re chugging away on the treadmill. Find a place 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 you try to proofread the entire text at one time.
• If you’re short on time, you may wish to prioritize. Make sure that you complete the most important editing and proofreading tasks.

Editing is what you begin doing as soon as you finish your first draft. You reread your draft to see, for example, whether the paper is well-organized, the transitions between paragraphs are smooth, and your evidence really backs up your argument. You can edit on several levels:

Have you done everything the assignment requires? Are the claims you make accurate? If it is required to do so, does your paper make an argument? Is the argument complete? Are all of your claims consistent? Have you supported each point with adequate evidence? Is all of the information in your paper relevant to the assignment and/or your overall writing goal? (For additional tips, see 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 clear how each paragraph in the body of your paper is related to your thesis? Are the paragraphs arranged in a logical sequence? Have you made clear transitions between paragraphs? One way to check the structure of your paper is to make a reverse outline of the paper after 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 sentence? Does each paragraph stick to one main idea? Are there any extraneous or missing sentences in any of your paragraphs? (See our handout on paragraph development .)

Have you defined any important terms that might be unclear to your reader? Is the meaning of each sentence clear? (One way to answer this question is to read your paper one sentence at a time, starting at the end and working backwards so that you will not unconsciously fill in content from previous sentences.) Is it clear what each pronoun (he, she, it, they, which, who, this, etc.) refers to? Have you chosen the proper words to express your ideas? Avoid using words you find in the thesaurus that aren’t part of your normal vocabulary; you may misuse them.

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 “man,” and words that some people incorrectly assume apply to only one gender—for example, some people assume “nurse” must refer to a woman) appropriate? Have you varied the length and structure of your sentences? Do you tends to use the passive voice too often? Does your writing contain a lot of unnecessary phrases like “there is,” “there are,” “due to the fact that,” etc.? Do you repeat a strong word (for example, a vivid main verb) unnecessarily? (For tips, see our handouts on style and gender-inclusive language .)

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

As you edit at all of these levels, you will usually make significant revisions to the content and wording of your paper. Keep an eye out for patterns of error; knowing what kinds of problems you tend to have will be helpful, especially if you are editing a large document like a thesis or dissertation. Once you have identified a pattern, you can develop techniques for spotting and correcting future instances of that pattern. For example, if you notice that you often discuss several distinct topics in each paragraph, you can go through your paper and underline the key words in each paragraph, then break the paragraphs up so that each one focuses on just one main 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 should proofread only after you have finished all of your other editing revisions.

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

Content is important. But like it 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 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 good impression.

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

Sure, this takes a little extra time, but it pays off in the end. If you know that you have an effective way to catch errors when the paper is almost finished, you can worry less about editing while you are writing your first drafts. This makes the entire writing proccess more efficient.

Try to keep the editing and proofreading processes separate. When you are editing an early draft, you don’t want to be bothered with thinking about punctuation, grammar, and spelling. If your worrying about the spelling of a word or the placement of a comma, you’re not focusing on the more important task of developing and connecting ideas.

The proofreading process

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

• Don’t rely entirely on spelling checkers. These can be useful tools but they are far from foolproof. Spell checkers have a limited dictionary, so some words that show up as misspelled may really just not be in their memory. In addition, spell checkers will not catch misspellings that form another valid word. For example, if you type “your” instead of “you’re,” “to” instead of “too,” or “there” instead of “their,” the spell checker won’t catch the error.
• Grammar checkers can be even more problematic. These programs work with a limited number of rules, so they can’t identify every error and often make mistakes. They also fail to give thorough explanations to help you understand why a sentence should be revised. You may want to use a grammar checker to help you identify potential run-on sentences or too-frequent use of the passive voice, but you need to be able to evaluate the feedback it provides.
• Proofread for only one kind of error at a time. If you try to identify and revise too many things at once, you risk losing focus, and your proofreading will be less effective. It’s easier to catch grammar errors if you aren’t checking punctuation and spelling at the same time. In addition, some of the techniques that work well for spotting one kind of mistake won’t catch others.
• Read slow, and read every word. Try reading out loud , which forces you to say each word and also lets you hear how the words sound together. When you read silently or too quickly, you may skip over errors or make unconscious corrections.
• Separate the text into individual sentences. This is another technique to help you to read every sentence carefully. Simply press the return key after every period so that every line begins a new sentence. Then read each sentence separately, looking for grammar, punctuation, or spelling errors. If you’re working with a printed copy, try using an opaque object like a ruler or a piece of paper to isolate the line you’re working on.
• Circle every punctuation mark. This forces you to look at each one. As you circle, ask yourself if the punctuation is correct.
• Read the paper backwards. This technique is helpful for checking spelling. Start with the last word on the last page and work your way back to the beginning, reading each word separately. Because content, punctuation, and grammar won’t make any sense, your focus will be entirely on the spelling of each word. You can also read backwards sentence by sentence to check grammar; this will help you avoid becoming distracted by content issues.
• Proofreading is a learning process. You’re not just looking for errors that you recognize; you’re also learning to recognize and correct new errors. This is where handbooks and dictionaries come in. Keep the ones you find helpful close at hand as you proofread.
• Ignorance may be bliss, but it won’t make you a better proofreader. You’ll often find things that don’t seem quite right to you, but you may not be quite sure what’s wrong either. A word looks like it might be misspelled, but the spell checker didn’t catch it. You think you need a comma between two words, but you’re not sure why. Should you use “that” instead of “which”? If you’re not sure about something, look it up.
• The proofreading process becomes more efficient as you develop and practice a systematic strategy. You’ll learn to identify the specific areas of your own writing that need careful attention, and knowing that you have a sound method for finding errors will help you to focus more on developing your ideas while you are drafting the paper.

Think you’ve got it?

Then give it a try, if you haven’t already! This handout contains seven errors our proofreader should have caught: three spelling errors, two punctuation errors, and two grammatical errors. Try to find them, and then check a version of this page with the errors marked in red to see if you’re a proofreading star.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation 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 non-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 Clearly: 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: University of California Press.

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

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

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Engineering Communication Program

Revising, Editing and Proofreading

Many students don’t differentiate between Revising, Editing, and Proofreading. What’s the difference?

Revision involves analyzing the global level and paragraph level organization of the document, and making changes to your draft on a global, paragraph, and sentence level to ensure that:

• The document addresses its purpose
• The document supports any claims its makes (main claims and secondary claims)
• The structure of the document is logical and supports the purpose and main claims

Editing involves looking at each sentence carefully, and making sure that it’s well designed and serves its purpose.

Proofreading involves checking for grammatical and punctuation errors, spelling mistakes, etc. Proofing is the final stage of the writing process.

A. Revision

During revision, take the following steps:

1. Confirming Purpose and Main Claim: The first step in the revision process is to confirm that the draft actually serves the purpose outlined in the introduction. In case the paper hasn’t done so, you need to either revise your purpose, or revise the paper so that it addresses the purpose. While this may seem straightforward, it is very possible for goals to change during the writing process.

If your paper is persuasive, then your paper will likely also have a main claim. For example, if your purpose is to recommend a solution to a given problem, then your main claim will be to follow recommendations A, B, and C. Even if your goal is simply to evaluate several options, you will be making claims about each of those options (i.e. one is best, or that there are certain advantages/disadvantages to each option). During the revision process, ensure that your main claim is clearly stated in the paper (usually at the end) and that the paper supports that main claim adequately. Each section of the paper should be doing something to support this claim.

2. Identifying and Checking Support for Major Claims: The main claim of the paper will be supported by sub-claims; these will need to be adequately supported as well. Ensure that you’ve provided sufficient supporting data (your own or from others) and explained how that information supports your claims. For example, if your paper recommends a solution (its main claim), one supporting claim would be that Solution X has certain benefits. In order for that supporting claim to be warranted, you would have to provide sources or data from your own work that confirm those benefits.

3. Check Against Your Outline: Begin the revision process by comparing your first draft to your outline, and asking the following questions:

• Does your draft match your outline?
• If not, why not? Is your revision to the outline warranted, or would your original structure be better?
• Where are the gaps in information in your draft; where might you have to add more information? What information is unnecessary, or tangential?

After this stage, you may choose to move sections around, add or subtract information. Essentially, you’re re-evaluating your original outline from a different perspective (after you’ve written the draft).

4. Identify and Evaluate Transitional Strategies: Transitions are the points at which we move between ideas in writing. They play a particularly important role in between sections and paragraphs, but operate within paragraphs as well. At each section break in your outline, you should be able to identify a transition strategy. Some transitional strategies include:

• Logical: the last idea of the previous section/paragraph is the first idea of the next
• Phrasal: using explicit wording to create a shift in writing/develop a relationship between the ideas in the previous and next sections/paragraphs
• Structural: Using similar sentence structure to create a relationship between
• Verbal: Using key words to establish a relationship between sections/paragraphs

Checking for transitions is a way to evaluate ‘flow’ or coherence of a document. A transitional strategy is effective when it helps create coherence in a document – when it helps clarify the relationships between ideas in a piece of writing.

5. Checking on a Paragraph Level: With each paragraph, you should be able to:

• Easily identify a prominent and accurate topic sentence (near the beginning)
• Identify the paragraph’s role in its section and in the document as a whole
• Identify an organizational strategy or structure that the paragraph uses to accomplish its purpose; assess whether or not that structure is an efficient one, or if there may be a better structure (See Writing Process / Rhetorical Patterns )

You can begin the process of editing after you’re satisfied with the structure, content, and coherence of your document (as a whole and in specific parts).

Editing and proofing both focus on the sentence level. Editing is different from proofreading because it involves questioning and analyzing sentences, whereas proofreading only involves checking them for error. When editing:

• Read each sentence carefully and identify its function in the paragraph; ask yourself how you might redesign the sentence to more effectively accomplish that goal
• Analyze the sentences that precede and follow the sentence you’re focusing on. Are the connections between these sentences clear, or do you need to insert transitions between them?
• Evaluate the design of each individual sentence; in doing so, employ the following principles:

1. Manage Sentence Length: Short sentences clearly communicate individual ideas, but often leave connections between them unmade. Long sentences make connections between ideas, but can obscure individual ideas. Vary sentence lengths according to needs of section.

2. Strengthen the Grammatical Core of the sentence (Subject-Verb-Object): The subject (actor), the verb (action), and the object (what the actor performs the action on) constitute the grammatical core of the sentence, but the real subject, verb and object is often buried by complex or elaborate sentence structures. Whenever possible:

• Elevate the verb, so that the real action of the verb occupies the role of verb in the sentence (especially in passive voice).
• Find the real subject (the thing actually performing the verb), and allow it to occupy this role in the sentence

Evaluation of the material was performed on the basis of strength, flexibility, and cost.

In the above sentence, the ‘real action’ is evaluation, but it appears in the form of a noun here. The real subject of the sentence – the person(s) doing the evaluating – are the researchers, but they don’t appear in the sentence at all. A revision which fixes both problems might look like the below.

We evaluated the material of the basis of strength, flexibility, and cost.

• Position the verb closer to the beginning of the sentence, because the verb is key to reader’s ability to process information

The influence of physiochemical properties of microbial floc, namely extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and hydrophobicity, on ultraviolet (UV) disinfection of sequencing batch reactor effluent was studied.

In the above example, the verb doesn’t arrive until the end of the sentence. That means that readers need to store three lines of information in memory until they get to this verb, which gives them the information needed to process the long noun phrase.

This thesis studies the influence of physiochemical properties of microbial floc, namely extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and hydrophobicity, on ultraviolet (UV) disinfection of sequencing batch reactor effluent.

3. The ASAP Principle: Avoid elaborate sentence structure, unless necessary. Good technical writing is always ‘As Short as Possible,’ while containing the necessary amount of detail. Cut away unnecessary phrasing whenever possible.

It is evident that this thesis provides a foundation from which engineers may astutely intervene for the betterment of the circuit board manufacturing process

Yikes! If it’s evident, then you don’t need to say it. And ‘astutely intervene for the betterment’ of? What about:

This thesis provides a foundation for improving the circuit board manufacturing process.

C. Proofreading

When proofreading, you may want to try the following strategies.

• Read each sentence aloud as you visually inspect the spelling and sentence structure; sometimes, reading the sentence aloud will allow you to spot mistakes that your eye can’t always see
• Allow enough time for several close readings of the text, with some break time in between to give you a fresh perspective on your document
• Ask friends to read over your work to check for errors as an additional strategy; sometimes, outside readers can spot errors that the writer can miss. However, don’t rely on this as a primary proofing strategy: your proofreader doesn’t have anything invested in your report. You do, and are the one ultimately responsible for errors
• Don’t rely on your computer’s spell check to correct all the spelling errors for you. Why?
• Because Canadian and British spelling standards are different from American ones (standard on most spell checkers)
• Because when you intend to sue ‘through,’ but forget the letter ‘r,’ your spell check will not register an error. (Can you see another small mistake in the above sentence that wouldn’t register? ‘Use,’ misspelled as ‘sue’)
• Because the spell checker cannot ensure that the correct ending (agreement) has been used. ‘We ends the paper by . . .’ doesn’t register a spelling error, but ‘ends’ should be ‘end.’
• And finally, because spell checkers often do not account for many of the specialized terms that are commonplace in engineering contexts – the spell check will identify many technical terms as errors simply because they are not in its dictionary
• Don’t rely on your grammar checker to correct all of the grammatical errors for you. Why?
• Because the rules implemented in the grammar checkers are rudimentary and simple, and don’t always allow for complex sentence structures. They may identify errors where there are none
• They often don’t catch simple and straightforward errors, such as the ‘We ends’ example above (no error was reported by Microsoft Word)
• Their suggestions will often substantially change the meaning of the sentences

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Proofreading

TIP Sheet PROOFREADING

Try to keep the editing and proofreading processes separate. If you're worrying about the spelling of a word or the placement of a comma during the revision and editing stages, you're not focusing on the more important development and connection of ideas that make a paper clear and convincing.

For revising and editing guidelines, first see TIP Sheet: Revising and Editing. PROOFREADING

Proofreading is the final stage of the writing process when the paper is evaluated for mechanical correctness, such as grammar, punctuation, spelling, omitted words, repeated words, spacing and format, and typographical errors. You should proofread only after you have finished all of your other revisions and editing.

Proofreading is a learning process. You are not just looking for errors; you are also learning to avoid making the same mistakes in the future. Handbooks and dictionaries are important resources. Keep them close at hand as you proofread. If you are not sure about something, look it up.

The proofreading process becomes more efficient as you develop and practice a systematic strategy. Learn to identify the specific areas of your own writing that need careful attention.

Hints for Successful Proofreading

• Set your text aside for awhile (15 minutes, one day, one week) between writing and proofreading. Some distance from the text will help you see mistakes more easily.
• Work from a printout, not the computer screen. Enlarge the print or change the font to give you a new perspective.
• Use a blank sheet of paper or ruler to cover up the lines below the one you're reading. This technique keeps you from skipping ahead of possible mistakes.
• Read very slowly. Read one word at a time. If possible, read out loud so that you can hear each word. Read the entire paper several times, looking for different errors with each reading. Read into a tape recorder, and listen carefully while you play it back.
• Review comments on your old papers, and make a list of errors which were marked frequently. Prioritize your list. Read separately for each kind of error, following whatever technique works best for you to identify that kind of mistake.

Proofreading Strategies for Specific Errors

If you know by reviewing your instructor's comments that you frequently make one or more of the following grammatical errors, try the following suggested strategies to identify and correct your errors. Please note that this is only a limited list of possible mechanical errors. It will be up to you to determine other areas of special concern for you as a writer.

• Examine each word in the paper individually. Move from the end of each line back to the beginning. Pointing with a pencil helps you see each word more distinctly. If necessary, check a dictionary to see that each word is spelled correctly. It is important to remember that a computer spell check can be helpful when writing your initial drafts, but won't catch mistakes with homonyms (such as they're, their , and there ) or certain typographical errors (such as writing he for the )

Subject/Verb Agreement

• Find the main verb in each sentence. Match the verb to its subject. Make sure that the subject and verb agree in number (that is, both are singular or both are plural).

Pronoun Reference/Agreement

• Skim your paper, stopping at each pronoun. Look especially at it, this, they, their , and them . Search for the noun that the pronoun replaces. If you can't find any noun, or if it is unclear which noun is being referred to, change the pronoun to a noun. If you can find a noun, be sure it agrees in number and person with your pronoun.

Parallel Structure

• Skim your paper, stopping at key words that signal parallel structures. Look especially for and, or, not only...but also, either...or, both...and . Make sure that the items connected by these words are in the same grammatical form. For instance, "She likes golf, basketball, and soccer" rather than "She likes golf, basketball, and to play soccer." You might change "He is not only a great piano player but also plays the guitar well" to "He is not only a great piano player but also a good guitar player."

Compound Sentence Commas

• Skim for the conjunctions and, but, for, or, nor, so , and yet . See whether there is a complete sentence (containing a subject and verb) on each side of the conjunction. If so, place a comma before the conjunction.

Introductory Commas

• Skim your paper, looking only at the first two or three words of each sentence. Stop if one of these words is a subordinate conjunction (such as while, if ), a transition word (such as nevertheless, however) , a participial phrase (such as serving four years in the Navy, he ...), or a prepositional phrase (such as in contrast, about two years ago ). If you can hear a break or pause after the phrase when reading aloud, place a comma at the end of the introductory phrase or clause (before the independent clause).
• Look at each sentence to see whether it contains an independent clause (subject and verb). Pay special attention to sentences that begin with subordinate conjunctions (such as because, if , or when ) or phrases such as for example or such as . See if the fragment might be just a piece of the previous sentence that mistakenly got separated by a period. If so, attach it to the sentence. If not, add the missing subject or verb.

Run-On Sentences

• Review each sentence to see whether it contains more than one independent clause. Start with the last sentence of your paper, and work your way back to the beginning, sentence by sentence, stopping at every comma. Run-on sentences can be revised four ways. You may make the clauses into separate sentences, join the clauses with a comma followed by a coordinating conjunction ( and, but, for, or, nor, so, and yet ), join the clauses with a semicolon if the sentences are closely related, or restructure the sentence (for example, by adding a subordinate conjunction).

Plurals and Possessives (Use of apostrophes)

• Skim your paper, stopping only at those words which end in s . See whether or not an apostrophe is needed in order to indicate possession. If the words can be inverted, and Maria's book can be changed to the book of Maria, then the apostrophe is correct. If a word ends in s simply because it is plural, there should be no apostrophe.

Only now should you ask someone else to read through your paper to check for anything you might have missed. By revising, editing, and proofreading on your own first, you will ultimately improve your own ability to write well.

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The Writing Process

Writing is a process that can be divided into three stages: Pre-writing, drafting and the final revising stage which includes editing and proofreading. In the first stage you research your topic and make preparatory work before you enter the drafting stage. After you have written your text it is important that you take time to revise and correct it before submitting the final result.

Writing is often described as a linear process, moving from the first stage to the last stage in an orderly fashion. However, the writing process often requires moving back and forth between steps and is often more complex than the linear model represents. If you are working on a larger project you may have to break down the work into smaller parts to make it manageable; therefore you can be at different stages of the writing process in different parts of your project. You may also have to make changes in sections that you thought were finished as the contents are affected by what you write in other sections. Furthermore, new questions may arise along the way that will make it necessary to return to an earlier stage of the process, for example to do further research.

Pre-writing

In the pre-writing stage you plan and prepare your writing. This is also the stage where you research your topic and look for relevant sources.

Early in the pre-writing stage you should give thought to the subject and purpose of your assignment. If you are assigned a broad subject by your instructor you will need to narrow it down and focus on a smaller subject area, preferably something that interests you. In order to write effectively you also need to know the purpose of why you are writing.  Each type of writing has a unique set of guidelines and knowing your purpose for writing will help you produce a text of high quality and relevance.  In order for you to know the purpose of your writing you will need to interpret the task. See more information below about this.

Doing thorough preparatory work is important for your writing and will save you a lot of time in the long run. It will help you keep your focus during the writing process. As your project progresses you may have to make some changes to your initial plan.

At the beginning of the writing process it is important to take time to create a timetable for writing in order to ensure that you will have a finished product when the assignment is due. When planning your time, take into account that the revising phase may take as much time as the initial writing, or perhaps even longer. This is in many ways similar to planning your studies in general.

Tips on how to organize your studies

Interpreting the task

Before you begin writing it is important to understand what is required of you . Interpreting the task is an essential part of the writing process as it will influence the quality and relevance of your writing. The guidelines for the assignment should give you information about the required length and format of your text, as well as some information about genre and structure.

Perhaps the expected genre of your text is not stated directly in the guidelines but can be deduced from the instruction words. These are words that indicate what type of text you are supposed to write. They could be words such as “analyze” or “discuss”.

Definitions of the most common instruction words

The guidelines should also include information about which referencing system to use. Furthermore, they often contain information about how the assignment will be assessed and graded. If you lack information of what is expected of you, you should consult the course teacher. 

Choosing a topic

You will have to choose a topic to write about, if one has not already been assigned. To choose a topic and get started with the writing process you can use invention techniques . Mind mapping or clustering and brainstorming are examples of invention techniques.

Tips on how to use different invention techniques  

It is likely that the topic that has been assigned or the one that you initially come up with is too broad or general to serve as the focus of the paper.

In the introduction to your paper you will need to make a claim that sets your position in an academic argument, a so-called thesis statement . Or, if the genre or discipline you are writing within calls for it, you may instead formulate one or more research questions that your text will try to answer. Both thesis statements and research questions serve to narrow down the topic and focus of the paper.

During the writing process you are likely to discover aspects that you were not aware of at the beginning, or the focus of your paper might become more refined or shift slightly. You can go back and rephrase the definition of your topic as well as the thesis statement or research questions as the writing progresses.

What is a thesis statement?

In a thesis statement you define the main idea of the paper and make a claim or state your position in an academic argument. A thesis statement is presented in the introduction and tells the reader what to expect of the rest of the paper. If it is not possible to formulate a thesis statement at the beginning of the writing process you may instead write down one or more questions that you would like to answer. Once you know what your findings are or where you stand in an academic argument, you may go back and define the thesis statement.

Example of a thesis statement:

Reading aloud to pre-school children stimulates their development of reading skills and increases their vocabulary as well as contributes to the development of general cognitive skills.

Further information about thesis statements and some examples

  What is a research question?

A good research question is debatable which means that the answer requires an academic argument. That is, research questions should not be simple yes or no questions, or questions that can be answered with a list of facts. Instead, to answer your research questions, you need to present a claim during the course of your paper, and support it with evidence. Be aware that your research questions should not be too big to be answered within the framework of the assignment. Your research question/questions should be presented to the reader in the introduction.

Example of a research question:

How does reading aloud to pre-school children affect the development of their reading abilities?

Watch this short video from Lund University about research questions and thesis statements:

Researching and reading

During the pre-writing phase you also research your topic and look for relevant sources. Often finding relevant literature is part of the final assessment of the assignment, as is the correct use of citations and references in the text.

The library search pages contain tips on how to search for literature.

You may have to return to the search or reading process as your project progresses and new aspects or problems become apparent.

When you read and take notes it is important to keep track of references. Always write down your sources when you take notes and mark out if you write down any quotations. This will make it easier to handle your references during the writing process and also help you avoid plagiarism.

More information about reading strategies and note-taking skills.

Even though the outer framework of the structure might be given, you still need to decide how and in what order you should present your material and your argument. Outlining is when you create a plan that presents your material in a logical order.

Watch a video to gain an understanding of why it is important to present your points in a logical order:

Tips for creating an outline:

• Make a list of points to gain an overview of your material. Include any evidence and counter-evidence you have for your points or statements.
• How are your points connected (does one lead to the other as a consequence/logical development?), can they be grouped together and how? Considering these questions will help you find a logical order for your points.
• Do your points answer your thesis statement or research questions and how?
• Identify your main points and use these as headings in your outline. Order the rest of your points under these headings.
• Use ordering principles that take their starting point in a reader’s understanding of the text or argument. Present necessary background information to your reader before developing an argument based on this information.

Considering your material in this manner will also give you the opportunity to evaluate whether all your points are relevant and should be included in your finished text. If something does not seem to fit in your line of argument, consider whether it belongs in the text at all.

Once you have created an outline it is time to start writing. Remember that you do not have to write a perfect first draft. Instead of focusing on producing a flawless text at this stage, try to concentrate on writing down your main ideas.  You do not need to edit or proofread yet. Instead, try to let your thinking and writing flow as freely as possible. Furthermore, you do not have to write the text from start to finish. It is okay to begin with the sections that you feel the most confident with.

You will probably have to rework your draft several times before you have a complete text. Preferably you should allow time between drafts (1 to 2 days, if you have the time) as it will give you a new perspective on your text.

Giving and receiving feedback

In many university courses giving and receiving feedback is part of the writing process. In some courses it is also part of the final assessment. But above all, giving and receiving feedback is a learning experience and the process will help you become a better reader and writer.

Tips for giving feedback:

• Read the text thoroughly and all the way through before you begin commenting.
• Write down your comments. Make notes to support you when you have to present the feedback orally. Make notes in the document that the author can use when revising.
• Consider the structure: Does the text follow the assigned structure? Are the points presented in a logical order?
• Consider the language: Does the language align to academic standards? Are there any sentences or passages you do not understand? Does the writer make a particular type of mistake throughout the paper?
• Consider the contents: Are the claims or questions that are raised in the introduction clearly stated and answered in the paper? Does the writer provide sufficient evidence? Is the argument coherent and easy to follow?
• Find something positive and begin with this. This gives the author an idea of what works well in the text.
• Explain why certain passages work and others do not. Be specific and give examples and suggestions.
• Ask questions to the writer if something in the text is unclear.
• Think and comment as a reader. You do not have to provide all the solutions.
• Use a helpful and respectful tone.

Tips for receiving feedback

• Perhaps write down questions you would like the respondent to answer and hand these over together with your paper.
• Be open to feedback on your text. This is your chance to learn how the text is received and understood by a reader – before you hand in the final version.
• Listen and take notes when you receive feedback.
• Answer questions from the respondent. Be aware that they might indicate unclarities in your text.
• You do not have to argue or defend your text if you do not agree with the comments.
• Not everything has to be changed according to the feedback that you receive but you should carefully consider the advice that you get.
• If more than one fellow student reads your paper you might get comments that point in different directions. Instead of being frustrated with this, see it as an indication that this part of the paper needs revision and that the problem might be solved in different ways.
• After the feedback session you will have to rework your text, at least to some extent.

Revising, editing and proofreading

This is the stage in the writing process where you make sure that your text is coherent and written accurately. Your final product should be a text that has been thoroughly worked through and that meets the academic standards of writing. Make sure that you allow enough time to revise, edit and proofread your assignment before submission.

Points to use when revising your text

Read through your text and revise it according to the following points (note that not all points apply to all texts):

• Structure. Does your text follow the chosen or assigned structure?
• Outline. Are your points presented in a logical order? Edit for relevance - perhaps not all text that you have produced during the writing process belongs in the final product.
• Contents. Are your argument and claims supported with evidence? Does your text support the thesis statement or answer the research questions?
• Check your introduction, particularly if you wrote it early in the process. Does it correspond with what you have written in the rest of the text?
• Language. Is the language keeping in line with academic standards? Is it explicit, objective and formal? Have you avoided subjective expressions and clichés?
• References and citations. Are all sources cited correctly and included in the list of references? Do your references follow the assigned referencing system and are you consistent in your use of references?
• Check for coherence. Think from the reader's perspective. Rewrite any passages that are unclear.
• Check for consistency. Make sure that there are no shifts in the language and style. This is particularly important when you are writing in a group - remember that you should sound like you are one voice.
• Check paragraphing, grammar, spelling and punctuation.
• Formal requirements. Does your text follow the requirements for formal aspects such as length, spacing and title page?
• Make sure you have the time to proofread! Allowing enough time to check your assignment ensures higher levels of quality and accuracy.

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Resources for Writers: The Writing Process

Writing is a process that involves at least four distinct steps: prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing. It is known as a recursive process. While you are revising, you might have to return to the prewriting step to develop and expand your ideas.

• Prewriting is anything you do before you write a draft of your document. It includes thinking, taking notes, talking to others, brainstorming, outlining, and gathering information (e.g., interviewing people, researching in the library, assessing data).
• Although prewriting is the first activity you engage in, generating ideas is an activity that occurs throughout the writing process.
• Drafting occurs when you put your ideas into sentences and paragraphs. Here you concentrate upon explaining and supporting your ideas fully. Here you also begin to connect your ideas. Regardless of how much thinking and planning you do, the process of putting your ideas in words changes them; often the very words you select evoke additional ideas or implications.
• Don’t pay attention to such things as spelling at this stage.
• This draft tends to be writer-centered: it is you telling yourself what you know and think about the topic.
• Revision is the key to effective documents. Here you think more deeply about your readers’ needs and expectations. The document becomes reader-centered. How much support will each idea need to convince your readers? Which terms should be defined for these particular readers? Is your organization effective? Do readers need to know X before they can understand Y?
• At this stage you also refine your prose, making each sentence as concise and accurate as possible. Make connections between ideas explicit and clear.
• Check for such things as grammar, mechanics, and spelling. The last thing you should do before printing your document is to spell check it.
• Don’t edit your writing until the other steps in the writing process are complete.