8 tips for proofreading a research paper
While researching, outlining, and writing a research paper are extremely important steps, there is one step that no writer should skip: proofreading. When teachers receive the final copies of their students’ research papers, it is usually very easy to tell who proofread and who did not. One of the first signs is when students spell their own name incorrectly or they forgot to use capital letters. These simple steps will help your proofread with easy.
- Use a one-foot voice. When you read your research paper outloud in a steady and mindful voice, you will recognize the errors through sound.
- Start at the end. In order to bring fresh eyes to the research paper that you have seen for several weeks, try reading it from the back to the front. This unexpected way of reading forces students to think differently, so they notice more errors.
- Listen to the essay. Upload your essay to a translating app and listen. You will hear the errors and you might notice the app struggling to find the right word. This is a fun way to get involved in editing and proofreading your own essay.
- Look for specifics. Since most research papers require perfect bibliography pages and in-text documentation, look very closely at what you have written. Compare your formatting and documentation skills with a style manual or the samples online.
- Find a friend. If you have a friend who is “good” at English, you should be able to enlist that friend to find grammar errors. Ask you friend to read the piece out loud, so you can both hear mistakes along the way.
- Rewrite the whole thing at least once. When you take time to rewrite, you will catch mistakes. You will certainly know the knowledge and discoveries in your research paper, especially if you choose to handwrite the research paper in one rewrite. In the final rewrite, you can put the more on the homepage of the website.
- See your professor (or another one). If you have a professor that you can constantly turn to regardless of your major and your way of life, then you should consider yourself fortunate. If you receive any extra time at the end of a class, then you should sign up so you can get help form an expert.
- Use a grammar checker. The free grammar checking websites are fun. All you need to do is copy and paste your article into the checker and wait and see what happens. If seems like nearly everyone is on a budget and cannot afford apps that should be free.