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What is the one thing most students hate about being at college? Every semester, young people are facing dozens of challenges from piles of homework and intense academic load to numerous tests and exams. Yet, there is one issue that seems to be the hardest to handle. It is academic writing.
Students are being assigned hundreds of papers starting from high school and all the way to their graduation from college. Some of them are easier to write, such as essays. Others, like theses or dissertations, take much more time and effort. They all have different requirements, formats, and purposes. But, there is one common feature all your academic papers share – they need to be proofread in order to get the highest grade. And here comes the second biggest challenge facing college students – proofreading.
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What Makes Proofreading a Vital Part of Your Studies?
There is no need to discuss the importance of writing high-quality academic papers. Long story short, every essay or research paper you submit to a teacher shapes your final grade. That is, the higher you score for every assignment, the better grade you will have at the end.
But why is proofreading so important? Unfortunately, not all students recognize this, but this process is detrimental not only for your studies but also in a variety of other life situations.
It helps improve pretty much every writing effort. Be it an application essay, Ph.D. dissertation, resume, or any other document you will be dealing with at any point in your life – proofreading is the key to success.
There are several ways in which proofreading can help enhance your papers:
- Grammar, punctuation, and spelling – when you work so hard on a paper and get a low grade just because there were some errors, it is awful. But double-checking your text before the submission can help you avoid this.
- Style – it is barely possible to assess your own writing style until you see the whole piece and it is one more way how to use proofreading to your benefit.
- Omissions – the key to success in every paper or document is integrity and cogency. Reaching these qualities is impossible if you have missed something important like answering a question. And that’s one more reason why revising your work is vital.
Top 6 Proofreading Techniques Every Student Should Know
Although there are some undoubtful benefits, students often skip this step when writing their assignments. Looking back at everything discussed earlier, it becomes clear that this is a wrong approach. But, the main reason why they skip it is because it is a hard and tedious process. Or so they think.
The core goal of this article is to prove to you that effective proofreading can be easy. Check out the following techniques that each student must be aware of.
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help
Of course, it can feel rather overwhelming to realize that you need to spend another day or a few to review and edit your text after you’ve already spent hours after hours writing it. This might be the most common reason why students skip this step. But, we have an alternative solution!
In case you have no time or desire to do it yourself, or if you are not too good at revising and editing, you can always come to an online editing service, professional essay editing, and get professional help. They will stick to your deadline and give you a talor-made sample that you can use to your benefit.
Use Special Software
Another way to save your time and make the process much faster but less stressful is to use specialized software. Luckily for all of us, today, there are plenty of helpful online tools and software that can make our daily tasks easier. And there are many great proofreading tools as well.
Our next tip is to use available tools to your benefit. Such popular text editors as Grammarly or PaperRater can help you automate the process and identify most of the errors with ease. However, be sure not to rely on these tools blindly. No matter how good the software is, it still won’t replace manual checks completely.
Focus on One Type of Error at a Time
Another handy technique that will help you make the process less stressful and much more effective is to focus on one thing at a time. If you attempt to indicate and fix all sorts of mistakes simultaneously, you will likely leave many errors unnoticed. However, if you focus on one specific type of error at a time, the result will be much better.
Give Yourself Some Time After Writing
The next tip is probably the most effective one. We all know how much time and energy it takes to write a top-notch paper. It is natural if you feel exhausted and overwhelmed after you finish the work, so, you will probably not have enough energy left to revise your paper thoroughly.
This brings us to the tip itself – take a break after you are done writing. Let your text set aside for a day or two and let yourself rest. This way, when you get back to it for a check, you will be able to look at it with a fresh sight and, thus, will be much more focused and won’t miss any mistakes.
Ask Someone to Give It Another Round of a Check
This is more than just a tip. In fact, it is one of the final steps you have to take to make the process truly effective and ensure that your text is flawless. You should have someone proofread your text for you to get a second opinion.
You can ask your friend, parents, relatives, or anyone else you trust to do this for you and ask them to give comprehensive feedback afterward. This trick can help drive your attention to the errors that you didn’t notice yourself.
Do It Backwards
The last technique can sound somewhat odd. However, it is extremely effective. The thing is that when you read the whole piece successively, you can’t help but focus on the main idea of the text. In general, it is a good thing when you are checking your style. But, it can distract you from other errors such as spelling.
But, when you check your paper going from the bottom up, you will only focus on one word at a time simply because a backward sentence will not make any sense anyway. This way, you will be able to identify grammar and spelling issues easier.
