Saturday, 24 October 2015

Tips for effective dissertation proofreading

Do not embark of dissertation proofreading until you are completely finished with the actual writing. If you make major changes while proofreading even if it may just be with sentences you’re still going to be in a creative mode and not in a science mode.
It is important to make sure you have no distractions when you are dissertation proofreading or no interruptions. Shut down email and social media, and focus on the task of proofreading to ensure you are at peak concentration and focus.


When proofreading forget the content or story. Analyse sentence by sentence, do not read the usual way. Focus on spelling, grammar and punctuation. Also work backwards, if that helps, or say the words and sentences out loud.
Make a number of passes for different types of errors. Try checking spelling and end punctuation on one pass, grammar and punctuation.
Take notes, if you notice format issues while checking spelling or if you need to look something up, make a quick note and come back to it so you don’t lose your focus.
If you do make a last minute change to some of the words be sure to check the entire sentence or even paragraph repeatedly. Many errors are the result of changes made without adjusting other similar words.
Also check facts, dates, quotes and tables and references, text boxes and anything repetitive or outside the main text separately. Focus on one element or several related aspects of your writing at a time.
Monitor yourself, as if you find yourself drifting off and thinking about something else, go back over that section again.
Get familiar with your frequent mistakes an even the most experienced writers mix up words such as, they’re, and there or too, two and to. This is what dissertation proofreading if for.
Check format lastly, every document has format, leave this to the end of the dissertation proofreading process as content may shift during handling.

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