By: Arthur Hall
Submitted: 2011-07-15 13:00:02 | Word Count: 742
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?
The short answer to this is because proofreading a paper before handing it in is a must, but you should also be aware that you will need to proofread an essay paper in the correct way. The academic arena realizes that quality work means quality students; so you, as an academic student, will need to understand that good universities are made from a number of quality students submitting great academic essays.
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1. Leave time before you proofread - you should think of leaving at least 24 hours before you pick up your essay draft to read through and review it. Giving this amount of time will allow your mind to relax and forget about the topic you have just written about and will then allow you to concentrate more. If you don't allow your mind to 'lose' the information that you have been 'feeding it', then embarking on the proofreading stage of your essay won't provide you with much benefit. This is because you will be reading what your mind wants you to read, rather than what is one the paper.
2. Eliminate all distractions - you should turn off all the things that might distract you such as TVs, and radios - the may be an important soap coming on, but you will want to think about your future and how not concentrating fully could affect your grading. Even though you think music relaxes you, you should turn it off - minimizing all distraction will allow you to concentrate more and read what you have written.
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. Using a bookmark - Having this tool will help you immensely and will help you clear up any confusion about the different parts you are checking in your paper - having the bookmark will allow you to know exactly where you are up to and where you should read next. Therefore, using a bookmark will allow you to increase your concentration and help you progress through the academic paper more easily.
6. Check your references - All the references contained in your essay should be included in the references list at the back of your work and will require further information on the full source. If you fail to include all of the different sources in your references list, then you may lose some marks because you have not presented an accurate essay. Therefore, you should make sure all of the references are checked for accuracy and completeness
7. Hire a professional editor - Some people don't have the time to look through their paper, or indeed may think that their work doesn't need reviewing, yet the fact is that a profession proofreader or editor will bring benefit to your work. You will fail to spot all of the mistakes in your paper and thus should have a professional take a look at your work. This will ensure your essay is free from errors and mistakes when you submit.
