The Rough Draft: Editing And Proofreading

At this point, you should have completed the rough draft of your research paper. Now is the time to edit and proofread the rough draft before submitting the final draft. Remember, the final draft should be free of errors. Take a look at the following information about this important stage of the writing process.

Editing

Editing, like revising, is something that you will do throughout the writing process. Most of the editorial process will take place after you have worked out your final argument and organizational structure. Editing looks at your work on a sentence-by-sentence level, considering ways to make everything you say as clear and precise as possible.

Editing for Language

With language, the overall question is whether you are using the most accurate language possible to describe your ideas. Your reader will have an easier time understanding what you want to say if you're precise.

Editing for Sentence Construction

If you want to make everything easy for your audience to read and understand, start by simplifying your sentences. If you think a sentence is too complicated, rephrase it so that it is easier to read, or break it into two sentences. Clear doesn't mean boring, by the way. Complicated is not a synonym for artistic!

Proofreading

Editing, like revising, is something that you will do throughout the writing process. Most of the editorial process will take place after you have worked out your final argument and organizational structure. Editing looks at your work on a sentence-by-sentence level, considering ways to make everything you say as clear and precise as possible.

Proofreading is the final stage of revision. It's okay to correct typos or grammatical errors if you catch them in early drafts, but you should save thorough proofreading for your final draft. Wait to begin this step when you are sure that you will not be changing anything else in your paper.

During this lesson, you will edit and proofread your research paper, before submitting the final draft. Here are some things to note as you work on editing and proofreading:

Take a look at the following videos below. The videos make take some time to load, so please be patient.

Editing and Revising Video

Proofreading

Now, let's view the video - The Punishable Perils of Plagiarism, by Melissa Huseman D'Annunzio.

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