Proofreading: The Last Important Task

Your detective work is just about over and the verdict on your investigation will soon be delivered. It's now time to consider just what markers expect and just how your essay is likely to be assessed. As an academic detective you've learned to look for clues, to analyse various theories and to support what you say with credible evidence. However, before you submit your essay, it's time to proofread your work.

You've finished your essay, the pressure is off, and you're feeling a mixture of satisfaction and relief. The last thing you want to do is sit down and check your essay carefully one more time. Most students don't spend enough time proofreading their essays, but it's not enough just to rely on a computer spell-checker. Some students submit essays without proofreading them, only to find that the pages are out of order, references are incorrect, the printer was out of alignment or the reference list is missing. If you do proofread your essay, you'll usually find some mistakes that can easily be corrected and you'll be protected against unnecessary loss of marks.

The following example may sound familiar. Often when you write out the final version of your essay, you fix up some of the sentence structure and expression along the way. It is not uncommon for a word to be on the ‘tip of your tongue’, but it refuses to pop out, so you leave a space for the word, making a mental note to come back to it later. A variation on this theme is an essay full of correction fluid gaps. You find a mistake, use correction fluid and, as it dries, you make a mental note to come back to it. In both cases, it is easy to forget these mental notes and to hand in an essay with white blanks on the pages.

How to avoid proofreading pitfalls

Proofreading isn't easy, so don't rush it. Mistakes are easy to miss even when you are looking for them. Because you are familiar with the material, as you read through it your mind tends to anticipate what is to come and you begin to gloss over what you are reading. The simplest way to overcome such proofreading pitfalls is to get a friend or family member to proofread your work. If you go it alone, the only way not to miss mistakes is to read your essay line by line. Block all the lines of your essay, bar the one you are actually reading, with a ruler or piece of paper. Concentrate on each word in the line, then move to the next line while keeping the others covered. Line by line is the only sure way to do it.

A final quality check: Keep it simple

Your essay marker knows the subject well, but it is up to you to prove that you do, too. As a final quality check of the clarity of your writing, imagine you handed your essay to someone on the street. Would they be able to understand it? Have you expressed your argument clearly and explained all the concepts and theories you used? If possible, ask a friend or family member to read your essay and point out anything they don't understand. Sometimes what is in your head does n't make it on to paper. It is easy to become so involved in the writing process that you over-summarise your material because you assume the reader knows what you mean. Think again! The marker can only mark what is on paper. She or he is marking your understanding of the issues as you have written it, not what's in your head, so make sure your essay is simple to understand.