Important Tips to Consider when Proofreading your Academic Work

1. Never proofread unless you are entirely complete with the actual writing of your work. If you make great modifications during proofreading your academic work, even if modifying a few sentences, you are still in the process of thinking about your actual research, and not about the English element.

2. Ensure you there are no distractions or constant interruptions during the proofreading. Turn off your smart phone and Facebook webpage, turn off your television and music. Directly print your work if you must move away from your laptop.

3. Do not focus on the content or ideas. work one sentence at a time; do not read quickly. Try to keep in mind spelling, grammar, and also punctuation. Read backwards, or actually read the text out loud. Focus only on the text.

4. Every round of reading, focus on a different language feature (punctuation, spelling, grammar, etc.). Do spelling and punctuation on the first round, do grammar on the second round and format on the third pass. Create a routine and repeat.

5. Record notes of important errors. In case of an important error, take a note of it right away and come back to it later so that you do not lose focus and rhythm of the work at hand.

6. If you change any of the sentences, be sure to recheck the entire paragraph for mistakes that might be the result of this change.

7. Once complete with the proofreading, be sure to check the figures, tables, and their corresponding numbers, which can change after the proofreading. Also, recheck the page numbers and table of contents.

8. Do not lose focus. If you find that you have completed a certain paragraph too quickly, read it over out loud.

9. Check to see if you have any mistakes that you may make more frequently, such as mixing up to, too and two. When in the writing process, everything needs to be written quickly sometimes. This is what the proofreading is for. Check carefully particular mistakes you may tend to make often.

10. Check the overall format, including the margins, page layout, numbering, fonts, styles and etc. Every university or academic institution has a particular style that a student must follow. Check with your university or supervisor and format your document accordingly.

11. Have another pair of eyes check your work. Another look by a different person may catch errors you may not have been able to.

Finally, if you require professional proofreading services, you have come to the right place 🙂 PM Proofreading Services in Malaysia provides students in local Malaysian universities with high quality proofreading services at affordable prices. Do contact us, and we would be happy to help.