tips in editing your research paper

Tips for Editing Your Research Paper (Checklist Included)

| Candace Osmond

Candace Osmond

Candace Osmond studied Advanced Writing & Editing Essentials at MHC. She’s been an International and USA TODAY Bestselling Author for over a decade. And she’s worked as an Editor for several mid-sized publications. Candace has a keen eye for content editing and a high degree of expertise in Fiction.

Writing a research paper requires more than correcting language errors, such as spelling and grammar mistakes. You must also ensure everything is factual and parallel to academic writing standards. I wish I’d known that when I was in university; it would have saved me a lot of headaches.

So, when editing your paper, what should you focus on? Over time, I learned a few things, and I will share them with you! Follow these tips to ensure your research paper is prepared for research publication. I also provided a checklist of everything to consider during the process.

What is the Importance of Editing in Research?

Take it from me, no matter what you’re writing, professional editing is always necessary for your documents. You might not notice the spelling errors and lack of substance in your literature review right after the writing process. That means you should read it several times to edit it.

Editing your research draft is essential to maintain the credibility of your work. You need to ensure that the academic paper follows an academic tone . As someone who generally writes fiction, I struggled with this. But, over time, I learned how to switch between the two.

Such a tone does not require the writer to relate to the readers. Instead, academic editing aims to convey the acquired knowledge in a particular field.

What are the Steps in Editing and Proofreading a Research Paper?

To produce a research paper that is impactful to the academic discipline, you must edit and proofread it at multiple levels.

• Determine your editing purposes. Identifying your objectives will help you pick the appropriate approach and tools for the editing process.
• Revise paper. Examine the main point of your research paper and your evidence. Check if the body supports your thesis and if everything is properly cited.
• Make the edits. In this step, you should conduct the grammar and spelling check. Look for contextual errors and tonal inconsistencies too.
• Look for plagiarism. Use software programs like Scribbr or Turnitin to perform a plagiarism check.
• Follow the established style guide . Check if the research article follows the preferred style guide, whether APA, AP, MLA, or Chicago.
• Proofread. The proofreading phase looks for errors previously missed before publishing.

Top Tips for Editing Your Research Paper

Once you know the basic steps to editing a research paper, here are my tips to make your life easier. These work for me and not only helped me produce quality papers, but even cut down the time it took to produce them.

Choose Your Preferred Method of Editing

Your editing efforts should be structured and organized so you can develop a stable process of editing.

You already know that you edit from the bigger picture to minor details like grammatical errors and punctuation errors. But you have to decide your specific strategies. Will you be hiring a proofreading service? Which resources and tools will you use?

An ideal editor knows how to perform revisions and edits on different programs. For instance, Grammarly might help you with run-on sentences, while Hemingway can help with conciseness. I’d suggest you use both in tandem.

Find an Environment Where You Can Focus

Any professional editor will tell you the importance of a serene workplace for a good editing experience of book manuscripts and research papers. It will keep your mind focused on all aspects of writing, including spelling and grammar checks.

A clean desk and proper lighting will also help you notice more significant writing mistakes. Remember to take a break in between aspects of writing.

For me, it was the public library. I had a loud roommate, and we lived in an old Victorian home that was poorly converted into apartments, so I always heard the neighbors making noise. It was near impossible to concentrate. So, after classes were done for the day, I’d head to the library for a couple of hours to get the bulk of my research and editing done.

Focus on One Editing Issue at a Time

Many university students find the editing processes an arduous task because they try another editing approach while not yet finished with one. The reason we need to follow several steps to editing is to avoid confusion.

Once I learned this tip, it was smooth sailing. Yes, it sounds like more work, but it’s really not. When scanning a document for several types of issues, you’re more likely to miss things. So, scan for one issue at a time, and you’ll actually do a better job in less time. Trust me.

Focusing on one at a time will help you spot the huge and minor errors on the entire document. It also allows you to spot both English-language errors and contextual errors in the research paper.

Make Sure All of Your Work is Accurate

Accuracy is a crucial factor in editing any English manuscript. Aside from checking the elements of grammar, the journal editor should also check the facts the author is writing. Sometimes, they might perform additional editing to correct errors previously missed.

The biggest difference between proofreading and editing is that proofreading looks for mistakes that previous copy editors didn’t spot. They look at all aspects of writing to make the perfect paper before publication.

A proofreader might need a checklist of key questions to look for, from spelling to punctuation errors.

Don’t Always Rely on a Grammar Checker

An online grammar checker won’t be able to replace qualified editors and their complex tasks throughout the editing process. Yes, it’s a great tool to help the process, but don’t rely on it wholly.

Some artificial intelligence apps can detect improper tone based on the target audience you set. Others can even help with your sentence structure and writing styles. But they can’t help you with producing a smooth flow of ideas.

Tools like Grammarly, ProWritingAid, and Ginger won’t help you with the manual revision process. Only your human judgment can decide how excellent your points are. You need to check whether the abstract of your academic document is complete with the necessary info.

Don’t Make These Super Common Mistakes in Research Paper Editing

Here are some research paper editing mistakes to avoid. You’d be surprised how many people do these.

Changing the Research Questions or Problem

Your editing objectives for your research paper should not include changing one research question or problem. Otherwise, you will be in huge ethical trouble for manipulating the findings.

Expert editors agree that the methods of editing a research paper only include following an academic writing style guide and making the paragraph structure logical. You may change a few words on the findings to produce quality writing. But never change the numbers.

It’s not enough that you know common language errors and editing stages. Proper editing requires knowledge of the ethical guidelines when research editing.

Using Ineffective Keywords

Qualitative research paper editing entails using appropriate keywords in the paper draft. It’s a common issue in subject-area editing since many writers and editors overuse or underuse keywords.

Content editing is one of the stages of editing that looks at the style of writing, institutional needs, and more to lift it to a publishable standard. Pick only four to six words that frequently recur throughout the paper.

Not Fixing the Format

Your task is not just to perform editing for revision. It’s not enough for the editor to re-write sentences, conduct a spelling check, or fix style errors. The copy editor, proofreader, and format editors should have enough editing practice to fix formatting issues.

These stages of writing include aligning the paragraphs appropriately and formatting the citations according to the style guide. Font style, page numbers, and paragraph breaks will help you create an impactful research manuscript.

Enhance Your Editing Efficiency

Editing is a systematic endeavor. Whether you’re a college, university, or graduate student, I hope this article gives you tips for editing your research paper.

Remember to edit your paper more than once. Start from the bigger picture issues until the minor details like misspellings and grammar slip-ups. Use the editing checklist above to revise, edit, and proofread your academic document.

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Research Paper Writing Guides

How To Edit A Research Paper

Last updated on: May 13, 2024

How to Edit Research Papers With Precision: A Detailed Guide

By: Betty P.

11 min read

Reviewed By:

Published on: Mar 6, 2024

After you’re done with writing your research paper comes the time for another tedious and time-consuming task, the editing process!

Research paper editing is a mentally challenging task that requires a high level of concentration from the author. 

It goes beyond simply rearranging all elements of the paper in an organized manner. You have to check for grammar, clarity, and logical coherency, and analyze the content of the research document. 

Most research students often skip the editing process, and even some researchers save editing for the last. These common mistakes will always hinder the progress of your research paper.

In this blog, we’ll share practical insights on how to edit your research paper with perfection. Continue reading to understand how you should edit your research paper effectively.  

On this Page

What is Research Paper Editing?

Research paper editing is the process of reviewing and improving a research paper to make it clear, well-organized, and error-free. It involves checking and correcting grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. 

Other than that, the editing process makes sure that the paper follows a logical structure and is written clearly and concisely. Editors also look for consistency in writing style and formatting.

Unlike revising, which primarily focuses on restructuring and refining the content and overall argument, editing hones in on the finer details of language, style, and formatting.

Before learning how to edit your research paper, you should know that there are different types of research paper editing. 

What are the Different Types of Research Paper Editing?

There are different editing processes for research papers. All of them have the same focus, to take the research document toward perfection. You have to use a combination of these editing types to make sure your paper is as close to perfection as it can be. 

Content Editing

• Purpose: Analyze the organization and presentation of the research paper
• Focus: Ensures the paper makes sense, has a good flow, and develops and communicates arguments clearly
• Questions to Address: Does the paper have logical consistency, and are there any major gaps in reasoning?

Copy Editing

• Purpose: Focuses on corrections related to spelling, punctuation, grammar, word choice, and overall writing quality
• Focus: Enhances the overall quality of writing while editing research papers

Line Editing

• Purpose: A 'line-to-line' check focusing on word choice and writing impact, similar to copy editing
• Actions: Involves making changes to strengthen the paper, addressing issues like imitative phrasing and run-on sentences
• Focus: Emphasizes clarity and simplification to ensure the meaning is clear and not overly complex

Mechanical Editing

• Purpose: The final editing step after addressing structure, content, coherence, style, flow, grammar, and word choice
• Focus: Ensures strict compliance with the style guide specified by the chosen journal for publication

Once your paper goes through each strategy and steps in the process of editing one by one, it becomes ready for submission to a journal or presentation. 

Strategies for Editing Your Research Paper

Here are the vital strategies that your research paper editing process should go through. Follow these, and you'll have a well-polished paper ready for submission.

Double-Check the Outline

“ How to edit a research paper outline?”

Before getting into the nitty-gritty of editing your research paper, take a moment to double-check your outline. The outline serves as the roadmap for your paper. It guides both the readers and yourself through the logical progression of ideas. 

Here are some key considerations:

Confirm Structural Coherence

The structure of your paper should align with the outlined plan. Each section should naturally lead to the next, creating a natural progression of ideas.

Check Transitions

Review transitions between paragraphs and sections. Smooth transitions enhance the readability of your paper. This makes it easier for readers to follow your thoughts.

Outline Accuracy

Verify that your outline accurately represents the content of your paper. Each point in your outline should encapsulate the essence of the corresponding section in your research paper.

You should never skip checking the outline in editing research papers. An accurate outline lays the foundation of polished and well-presented academic work.

Edit in Stages

Editing research papers becomes very tedious if you try to edit different aspects of the paper without a plan. 

For example, while reviewing your paper for mistakes, you discover a logical error in the outline. You jump straight to correcting it and after that, you notice a factual error. You start working on correcting that as well. This is the wrong approach! 

• This approach takes too much time, and you might lose track of what you’re actually doing
• It is always a great practice to break down the editing process into phases
• You should devise a plan that breaks down what issues to fix first

As a result, editing research papers will be much easier, and you’ll have a focused approach throughout.

It's a personal preference whether you want to tackle grammar or punctuation first, or focus on the overall logical structure of your research paper. 

Make Your Paper Logically Sound

With a solid outline in place, shift your focus to verifying the overall logic of your research paper. It's important for a reader to understand something logically. 

Here's how you can enhance the logical coherency of your paper:

• Organize Your Paper Effectively

Start by looking at how your paper is organized. Make sure your research paper introduction , literature review , methodology , discussion , and results follow a clear and logical order. Each part should fit together smoothly.

• Establish Logical Connections Between Ideas

Think about how your ideas connect. Check that each point logically leads to the next. Your paper should read like a coherent story, with one idea naturally flowing into the next.

• Maintain a Consistent Tone

Throughout the writing process, maintain the same tone in your paper. Avoid sudden changes in tone that might confuse your readers. Make sure your tone matches the formal nature of academic writing.

One thing to note here is that each sentence in your paper should somehow support the thesis statement . There should be no contradictions in your writing. 

Edit Out any Grammatical or Punctuation Issues

To make your writing clear and professional: 

• Focus on fixing grammar and punctuation issues. Check each sentence for problems like wrong verb use or confusing structure
• Pay attention to using commas, periods, and other punctuation marks correctly, and keep the style consistent
• Make sure each sentence is easy to understand and says what you mean
• Use spell check to catch any misspelled words, especially in technical terms

Tools like Microsoft Word can significantly improve your grammar by offering built-in features such as grammar check, style recommendations, and thesaurus as well. 

Verify Adherence to Guidelines 

One of the vital steps in editing research papers is to make sure that your paper aligns with the required research paper format and guidelines. Check the instruction manual provided to you by the concerned publication or the journal. 

Verify Source Accuracy

Verifying that your research paper sources are accurate. Make sure that your in-text and bibliographical citations are correct, and that they follow the required formatting guidelines 

(e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago).

• All references should follow a consistent formatting style throughout your paper
• Double-check that your in-text citations accurately correspond to the sources you've referenced
• Confirm that all necessary details are included in each reference, such as authors' names, publication titles, and publication dates
• Cross-verify against your sources to guarantee accuracy and completeness

Seek Feedback

Don't hesitate to ask others for their thoughts on your work. Seeking feedback is like having a fresh pair of eyes on your paper. It helps you catch things you might have missed and gives you different perspectives. 

Share your paper with peers, colleagues, or mentors and ask for their opinions. Are your ideas clear? Does your argument make sense? Feedback helps you improve your paper before submitting it, making sure it meets the expectations of your audience. 

Do a Final Analysis of Your Research Paper

The final step is to analyze your paper for one final time. In this step, you should look out for the following key points: 

Think about changing sentences that have extra describing words.

• Use Active Voice and Step-by-Step

Make sure everything has been described by using an active voice. 

• Keep It Short

Rephrase any sentences that seem too long. Break them to enhance the clarity of your text.

Now that we have addressed every strategy to edit a research paper, following a checklist always comes in handy. An editing checklist makes sure that you never miss out on even the smallest of details. 

Here is a great video that brilliantly explains and simplifies how to edit research papers effectively:

Research Paper Editing Checklist

For precise editing, a research paper checklist will always help you out. Below is a comprehensive checklist to follow:

Check out our blog on research paper examples if you want to get help from perfectly edited research documents.

How to Edit a Research Paper - Examples

Look at the following examples of how to edit a research paper for a better understanding.

How to Edit a Research Paper

How to Edit a Research Paper Introduction

How to Edit a Research Paper in APA Style

How to Edit a Scientific Paper

How to Edit a Research Proposal

How to Edit an Academic Paper

To conclude, the journey of editing, from content to mechanical details, transforms your research paper into a polished and cohesive masterpiece. Each step addresses distinct aspects and guarantees clarity, precision, and compliance with publishing standards. 

By following this guide, you can be sure that your edited research paper possesses the quality to meet the highest academic standards. We hope that now, you feel confident about editing your research paper.

However, letting professionals handle your research papers is also a great idea!

You may not have the time to edit your research document, or you might be having a difficult time trying to make your paper error-free. This is where SharkPapers.com will lend you a helping hand.

We have professional academic writers who provide research paper editing services for cheap! Our skilled experts exactly follow the required guidelines, and they’ll edit your research documents to be flawless.  

Give our paper writing service online a visit, tell us what sort of edits you require, and leave the rest to us!

Betty is an experienced writer and researcher who will work tirelessly to provide you with the best writing services possible. A voracious reader, Betty loves learning new things, which allows her to serve clients from a variety of academic disciplines. She has a taste for helping her students, so her work always results in positive feedback.

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Sharper Pens, Clearer Minds: Editing Revising Tips for Perfecting Your Paper

Table of contents

• 1 The Initial Review
• 2.1 Take a Break
• 2.2 Read Aloud
• 2.3 Use Editing Tools
• 2.4 Focus on One Aspect at a Time
• 2.5 Check Grammar and Punctuation
• 2.6 Improve Clarity and Conciseness
• 2.7 Eliminate Redundancy and Cliches
• 2.8 Verify Sources and Citations
• 2.9 Address Transitions
• 2.10 Consult a Style Guide
• 2.11 Read Backwards
• 2.12 Consider Professional Editing
• 3 Ready to Start Editing?

Essay writing is among the most common assignments students of different majors receive. Embarking on the journey of writing a research paper or essay is the first step in crafting a compelling work. The true magic lies in editing, where your initial draft transforms into a polished masterpiece. Editing essays is not merely a task to correct grammatical errors. It is a nuanced process that involves refining ideas, improving clarity, and enhancing the quality of your writing.

From this article, you will learn:

• what to pay attention to while writing and editing an essay;
• essential rules for editing academic writing;
• how to bring your text to perfection.

So keep reading!

The Initial Review

The initial review of your essay’s plan is a foundational process akin to taking a step back to appreciate your work. It helps to focus on big-picture elements that lay the groundwork for a well-crafted piece. The emphasis is not on the meticulous correction of commas or typos. The main task of editing in the writing process is to check the structural integrity, organizational coherence, and logical flow of your writing.

Consider the initial review as the unveiling of the blueprint of your work. It’s time to examine the architecture, ensuring that each section aligns with the next and that ideas unfold logically. Ask yourself: Does the introduction effectively set the stage for what follows? Is the body of your work structured logically, guiding the reader through a clear and understandable narrative? Are transitions smooth, facilitating a seamless flow of ideas?

During the initial review, these questions helped to create a more efficient and targeted editing articles process. It allows you to identify and rectify any structural weaknesses or organizational lapses. Besides, it helps to prevent the need for extensive revisions in later stages. The initial review in the essay outline serves as a strategic investment of your time, ensuring that your writing meets the expectations of grammatical correctness and captivates your audience with a well-crafted and organized narrative.

12 Tips on Editing Your Paper

Start editing once you have assessed your work and found no critical or logical errors. This process may be lengthy, but it will only improve your text. So, how to edit a paper? Are there any editing techniques in writing? Below are some tips that will help you revise and edit efficiently.

Take a Break

The first thing you need to do before editing is to pause and take a break. You can go for a walk, cook a meal, or chat with friends. You can do anything that distracts you from your paper’s text. After you have rested, you will be able to notice all the shortcomings and errors with a fresh look and edit an essay efficiently. If necessary, take breaks several times, and take a break every time you see that you have stopped noticing errors in the text.

The next important thing to do while working on your paper is to read aloud. You can’t always notice minor flaws when you silently read your paper. When you speak the essay’s text, you can immediately see logical errors and how you can improve the written sentences. If the text looks complicated and confusing, simplify what you have written and replace it with synonyms. After you edit your own writing, read the text aloud again. Also, use overwriting.

Use Editing Tools

Editing tools serve as invaluable companions. They offer insights and corrections beyond manual review capabilities.

Consider these grammar and spell-check software:

• Grammarly ;
• ProWritingAid .

It can catch overlooked errors, ensuring a polished and error-free manuscript. Style guides provide writers with rules for style consistency and coherence. Additionally, tools like Hemingway Editor analyze writing for readability and suggest improvements.

Professional essay editing tools don’t mean relinquishing creative control. It empowers writers to refine their work more comprehensively.

Focus on One Aspect at a Time

This tip will help you cut down on all your shortcomings quickly. It focuses on individual tasks and assists you to complete the task more efficiently. Self-editing is a process that takes place in several stages. Imagine you decided to eliminate punctuation errors first, so read the text, focusing only on this. The second time you decide that it’s time to remove the passive voice, focus only on this and make edits. You need to be careful if you fall into the use of passive voice . This way, step by step, you will improve your paper and make it more simple and interesting. Moreover, you will not miss anything important with this method.

Check Grammar and Punctuation

Now, let’s review the points you should check in your text. Of course, the most important thing is grammar and punctuation. They show not just your mastery of the subject but your education in general. Thus, you need to do a spelling check. No one will want to read a text full of errors and typos. Do not be lazy to spend more time editing your writing and eliminate all the errors.

Improve Clarity and Conciseness

A well-constructed essay not only conveys ideas but does so with meticulous precision and transparency.

The process involves:

• eliminating ambiguity;
• eradicating redundancies;
• embracing a language.

Each word must contribute purposefully, facilitating effortless comprehension and engendering reader engagement. Through assiduous proofreading, one must meticulously pare down superfluous elements, sculpting sentences to embody clarity. Simplicity should be embraced without compromising substance, ensuring a seamless narrative flow. In this pursuit, each word becomes a brushstroke on the canvas of your essay ─ contributing to a lucid, compelling picture. Mastery of the delicate equilibrium between clarity and conciseness empowers your writing, transforming it into a potent medium that resonates with impact and captures your audience with precision and insight. It is one of the most important self-editing tips.

Eliminate Redundancy and Cliches

In pursuing articulate and impactful writing, eliminating redundancy and cliches is paramount. Redundant expressions, often unintentional echoes of the same idea, can dilute the clarity and precision of your message. Common cliches , once vivid, lose their potency through overuse and can detract from the originality of your work. Consider this an opportunity to infuse freshness into your writing, making every word count.

For instance, phrases like “future plans” or “free gift” carry inherent duplicity; the terms imply the concept. Instead, precision can be achieved by employing concise alternatives such as “plans” or “gift.”

By conscientiously identifying and excising these linguistic redundancies and cliches, your essay not only attains a heightened level of sophistication but also ensures that each expression contributes uniquely to the richness of your narrative. Embrace the challenge of crafting economical and distinctive language, and watch your ideas shine through with newfound clarity and impact.

Verify Sources and Citations

In the meticulous process of essay refinement, verifying sources and citations is a crucial step toward academic integrity. Accurate and adequately attributed sources lend credibility to your work, substantiating claims and bolstering arguments. Rigorously cross-checking citations ensures the reliability of your information, guarding against unintentional errors and upholding the standards of scholarly writing. A vigilant approach to source verification fortifies your essay’s credibility and reinforces your commitment to intellectual honesty and the pursuit of accurate knowledge.

Address Transitions

Navigating the terrain of effectively writing your essay involves more than just conveying ideas ─ it demands fluidity in transitioning between them. Addressing transitions ensures a seamless flow, guiding readers through the narrative effortlessly. Transitional word phrases, or employing thematic connections, are thoughtfully crafted transitions bridges the gaps between ideas, enhancing coherence. Elevate your essay by considering transitions not as mere connectors but as architectural threads binding your thoughts into a cohesive, compelling whole.

Consult a Style Guide

A style guide is an indispensable companion in the pursuit of impeccable writing. Consulting a guide ensures formatting, citations, and language conventions uniformity. This meticulous approach adds professional polish to your essay. Also, it conveys a commitment to standards. A style guide is your compass, from punctuation nuances to citation intricacies, for navigating the terrain of writing academic papers .

Read Backwards

Professional editors use this unique technique, and it indeed improves your writing. For a concentrated spelling and grammar review, flip the script. Read your essay backward, starting from the last sentence and progressing upward. It helps a concentrated spelling and grammar review flip the script. This technique unveils overlooked errors by disrupting the conventional flow. Elevate your editing prowess by adopting this reverse perspective.

Consider Professional Editing

The last in our list of tips for editing writing is professional help from a writing service . Use the editing help to make your work easier if you doubt your editing progress or the document’s significance. A skilled editor polishes grammar and style. By outsourcing improvement, you ensure your document reaches its goal. Embrace the assurance of professional scrutiny, allowing your work to be experienced.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. A professional editor will know what to look for and how to get your essay into shape.

Ready to Start Editing?

As you can see, the editing process is not as scary as it seems to be at first glance. Follow the editing tips from this article, and you will get an essay of high quality without errors, typos, and cliches.

Remember that an influential paper contains:

• verified data;
• a balance of active and passive voices;
• examples, etc.

Your task is to ensure that the essay reveals the topic and that everything is clear and easy to read. Remember to show sources and proper citations to ensure the paper is original and omits plagiarism.

These simple editing tips for writers will simplify the work on any paper and take your writing to the next level!

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Editing and Proofreading

What this handout is about.

This handout provides some tips and strategies for revising your writing. To give you a chance to practice proofreading, we have left seven errors (three spelling errors, two punctuation errors, and two grammatical errors) in the text of this handout. See if you can spot them!

Is editing the same thing as proofreading?

Not exactly. Although many people use the terms interchangeably, editing and proofreading are two different stages of the revision process. Both demand close and careful reading, but they focus on different aspects of the writing and employ different techniques.

Some tips that apply to both editing and proofreading

• Get some distance from the text! It’s hard to edit or proofread a paper that you’ve just finished writing—it’s still to familiar, and you tend to skip over a lot of errors. Put the paper aside for a few hours, days, or weeks. Go for a run. Take a trip to the beach. Clear your head of what you’ve written so you can take a fresh look at the paper and see what is really on the page. Better yet, give the paper to a friend—you can’t get much more distance than that. Someone who is reading the paper for the first time, comes to it with completely fresh eyes.
• Decide which medium lets you proofread most carefully. Some people like to work right at the computer, while others like to sit back with a printed copy that they can mark up as they read.
• Try changing the look of your document. Altering the size, spacing, color, or style of the text may trick your brain into thinking it’s seeing an unfamiliar document, and that can help you get a different perspective on what you’ve written.
• Find a quiet place to work. Don’t try to do your proofreading in front of the TV or while you’re chugging away on the treadmill. Find a place where you can concentrate and avoid distractions.
• If possible, do your editing and proofreading in several short blocks of time. Your concentration may start to wane if you try to proofread the entire text at one time.
• If you’re short on time, you may wish to prioritize. Make sure that you complete the most important editing and proofreading tasks.

Editing is what you begin doing as soon as you finish your first draft. You reread your draft to see, for example, whether the paper is well-organized, the transitions between paragraphs are smooth, and your evidence really backs up your argument. You can edit on several levels:

Have you done everything the assignment requires? Are the claims you make accurate? If it is required to do so, does your paper make an argument? Is the argument complete? Are all of your claims consistent? Have you supported each point with adequate evidence? Is all of the information in your paper relevant to the assignment and/or your overall writing goal? (For additional tips, see our handouts on understanding assignments and developing an argument .)

Overall structure

Does your paper have an appropriate introduction and conclusion? Is your thesis clearly stated in your introduction? Is it clear how each paragraph in the body of your paper is related to your thesis? Are the paragraphs arranged in a logical sequence? Have you made clear transitions between paragraphs? One way to check the structure of your paper is to make a reverse outline of the paper after you have written the first draft. (See our handouts on introductions , conclusions , thesis statements , and transitions .)

Structure within paragraphs

Does each paragraph have a clear topic sentence? Does each paragraph stick to one main idea? Are there any extraneous or missing sentences in any of your paragraphs? (See our handout on paragraph development .)

Have you defined any important terms that might be unclear to your reader? Is the meaning of each sentence clear? (One way to answer this question is to read your paper one sentence at a time, starting at the end and working backwards so that you will not unconsciously fill in content from previous sentences.) Is it clear what each pronoun (he, she, it, they, which, who, this, etc.) refers to? Have you chosen the proper words to express your ideas? Avoid using words you find in the thesaurus that aren’t part of your normal vocabulary; you may misuse them.

Have you used an appropriate tone (formal, informal, persuasive, etc.)? Is your use of gendered language (masculine and feminine pronouns like “he” or “she,” words like “fireman” that contain “man,” and words that some people incorrectly assume apply to only one gender—for example, some people assume “nurse” must refer to a woman) appropriate? Have you varied the length and structure of your sentences? Do you tends to use the passive voice too often? Does your writing contain a lot of unnecessary phrases like “there is,” “there are,” “due to the fact that,” etc.? Do you repeat a strong word (for example, a vivid main verb) unnecessarily? (For tips, see our handouts on style and gender-inclusive language .)

Have you appropriately cited quotes, paraphrases, and ideas you got from sources? Are your citations in the correct format? (See the UNC Libraries citation tutorial for more information.)

As you edit at all of these levels, you will usually make significant revisions to the content and wording of your paper. Keep an eye out for patterns of error; knowing what kinds of problems you tend to have will be helpful, especially if you are editing a large document like a thesis or dissertation. Once you have identified a pattern, you can develop techniques for spotting and correcting future instances of that pattern. For example, if you notice that you often discuss several distinct topics in each paragraph, you can go through your paper and underline the key words in each paragraph, then break the paragraphs up so that each one focuses on just one main idea.

Proofreading

Proofreading is the final stage of the editing process, focusing on surface errors such as misspellings and mistakes in grammar and punctuation. You should proofread only after you have finished all of your other editing revisions.

Why proofread? It’s the content that really matters, right?

Content is important. But like it or not, the way a paper looks affects the way others judge it. When you’ve worked hard to develop and present your ideas, you don’t want careless errors distracting your reader from what you have to say. It’s worth paying attention to the details that help you to make a good impression.

Most people devote only a few minutes to proofreading, hoping to catch any glaring errors that jump out from the page. But a quick and cursory reading, especially after you’ve been working long and hard on a paper, usually misses a lot. It’s better to work with a definite plan that helps you to search systematically for specific kinds of errors.

Sure, this takes a little extra time, but it pays off in the end. If you know that you have an effective way to catch errors when the paper is almost finished, you can worry less about editing while you are writing your first drafts. This makes the entire writing proccess more efficient.

Try to keep the editing and proofreading processes separate. When you are editing an early draft, you don’t want to be bothered with thinking about punctuation, grammar, and spelling. If your worrying about the spelling of a word or the placement of a comma, you’re not focusing on the more important task of developing and connecting ideas.

The proofreading process

You probably already use some of the strategies discussed below. Experiment with different tactics until you find a system that works well for you. The important thing is to make the process systematic and focused so that you catch as many errors as possible in the least amount of time.

• Don’t rely entirely on spelling checkers. These can be useful tools but they are far from foolproof. Spell checkers have a limited dictionary, so some words that show up as misspelled may really just not be in their memory. In addition, spell checkers will not catch misspellings that form another valid word. For example, if you type “your” instead of “you’re,” “to” instead of “too,” or “there” instead of “their,” the spell checker won’t catch the error.
• Grammar checkers can be even more problematic. These programs work with a limited number of rules, so they can’t identify every error and often make mistakes. They also fail to give thorough explanations to help you understand why a sentence should be revised. You may want to use a grammar checker to help you identify potential run-on sentences or too-frequent use of the passive voice, but you need to be able to evaluate the feedback it provides.
• Proofread for only one kind of error at a time. If you try to identify and revise too many things at once, you risk losing focus, and your proofreading will be less effective. It’s easier to catch grammar errors if you aren’t checking punctuation and spelling at the same time. In addition, some of the techniques that work well for spotting one kind of mistake won’t catch others.
• Read slow, and read every word. Try reading out loud , which forces you to say each word and also lets you hear how the words sound together. When you read silently or too quickly, you may skip over errors or make unconscious corrections.
• Separate the text into individual sentences. This is another technique to help you to read every sentence carefully. Simply press the return key after every period so that every line begins a new sentence. Then read each sentence separately, looking for grammar, punctuation, or spelling errors. If you’re working with a printed copy, try using an opaque object like a ruler or a piece of paper to isolate the line you’re working on.
• Circle every punctuation mark. This forces you to look at each one. As you circle, ask yourself if the punctuation is correct.
• Read the paper backwards. This technique is helpful for checking spelling. Start with the last word on the last page and work your way back to the beginning, reading each word separately. Because content, punctuation, and grammar won’t make any sense, your focus will be entirely on the spelling of each word. You can also read backwards sentence by sentence to check grammar; this will help you avoid becoming distracted by content issues.
• Proofreading is a learning process. You’re not just looking for errors that you recognize; you’re also learning to recognize and correct new errors. This is where handbooks and dictionaries come in. Keep the ones you find helpful close at hand as you proofread.
• Ignorance may be bliss, but it won’t make you a better proofreader. You’ll often find things that don’t seem quite right to you, but you may not be quite sure what’s wrong either. A word looks like it might be misspelled, but the spell checker didn’t catch it. You think you need a comma between two words, but you’re not sure why. Should you use “that” instead of “which”? If you’re not sure about something, look it up.
• The proofreading process becomes more efficient as you develop and practice a systematic strategy. You’ll learn to identify the specific areas of your own writing that need careful attention, and knowing that you have a sound method for finding errors will help you to focus more on developing your ideas while you are drafting the paper.

Think you’ve got it?

Then give it a try, if you haven’t already! This handout contains seven errors our proofreader should have caught: three spelling errors, two punctuation errors, and two grammatical errors. Try to find them, and then check a version of this page with the errors marked in red to see if you’re a proofreading star.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Especially for non-native speakers of English:

Ascher, Allen. 2006. Think About Editing: An ESL Guide for the Harbrace Handbooks . Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Lane, Janet, and Ellen Lange. 2012. Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing , 3rd ed. Boston: Heinle.

For everyone:

Einsohn, Amy. 2011. The Copyeditor’s Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications , 3rd ed. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Lanham, Richard A. 2006. Revising Prose , 5th ed. New York: Pearson Longman.

Tarshis, Barry. 1998. How to Be Your Own Best Editor: The Toolkit for Everyone Who Writes . New York: Three Rivers Press.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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EDITING: TIPS FOR REVISING AND POLISHING YOUR RESEARCH PAPER

Editing is an integral part of the writing process that improves the quality of drafts by making the content clear, precise, accurate, and impactful. The editors will assess your manuscript and research paper on the basis of language quality, clarity, and information presentation.

The editing process includes correcting grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors along with improving the overall writing style and structure so that the target audience can comprehend the content.

The question is how will you edit your research paper? Here are four strategies to help authors edit their drafts from a technical perspective.

1. Purpose of editing

2. maintain logic and coherence, 3. edit in phases, 4. content analysis.

Identify the purpose of editing and revising the document. Is to organize the sections? Do you want to make the content more engaging and convincing? Or is it to fix English language errors? Identifying the areas that need improvement will help adopt a more precise approach.

Editing tips for beginners:

• 1. Identify the major areas of concern in the draft and work on it first
• 2. Create an editing checklist to ensure you have followed the journal guidelines
• 3. Have a second look at the sentence while adding or deleting any word

There is a  possibility that your ideas may no longer be clear and well-defined as you continue to write. It is important that all the ideas are interlinked with each other and make sense. There should be a continuity and smooth flow of ideas within the paragraphs.

Tips for maintaining logic and coherence:

• 1. Read the paragraphs aloud, which will help you identify the problem areas
• 2. Use transition words and phrases carefully to establish a link between sentences and paragraphs
• 3. Focus on explaining one idea at a time

Work on one section at a time instead of editing the entire paper in one go. Create a schedule and edit the sections based on their length and word count. This will help you focus on the core elements and content of your manuscript.

Tips for editing in phases:

• 1. Pick one section at a time while editing the document and look for common language errors
• 2. Ensure each section conveys the original meaning intended
• 3. Remove unnecessary information and redundant words

Once you are done with the final draft, analyze the content and ensure that it matches with the formatting and styling guidelines of the journal. Review the content for redundancy, wordiness, and accuracy.

Tips for analyzing content:

• 1. Re-write sentences with modifiers
• 2. Use active voice to describe the methodology and adopt a step-by-step process
• 3. Keep the sentences short and to the point

Checklist to help you edit your next research paper:

• 1. Correct the run-on sentences
• 2. Check sentences for subject–verb agreement
• 3. Use a spell check for identifying spelling mistakes
• 4. Check abbreviations and punctuation marks
• 5. Avail professional editing and proofreading services

Source: https://www.authorassists.com/blog/editing-tips-for-revising-and-polishing-your-research-paper/

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How to Revise and Edit a Research Paper

• Your introduction engages the reader and clearly presents a thesis that responds to your assignment.
• The body of your paper supports the thesis with laser-like focus.
• Your conclusion convinces your readers of the importance of what you wrote.

Revision often requires changing the structure of your work to achieve a more logical presentation, one that is more descriptive, or one that ensures you have met the parameters of your assignment. More than anything else, it requires that you check all the facts and quotations you used and ensure that you have cited them properly and have not plagiarized a writer.

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The first step in the revising and editing process is to start reading your draft from the beginning and make sure that each part—the introduction, body, and conclusion—does the job it’s supposed to do. For each part of your draft, ask yourself the questions on the following checklist. If your answer to any question is “no,” make the revisions necessary to change your answer to “yes.”

Check Your Introduction:

• Does your introduction capture your readers’ attention?
• Does your introduction contain a thesis statement that clearly states the main idea of your paper?

Check the Body of Your Paper:

• Does every paragraph in the body of your paper support your thesis statement?
• Does every paragraph state a main idea in a topic sentence?
• Does every sentence in each paragraph support the main idea of the paragraph?
• Have you taken out any information that is irrelevant, or beside the point?
• Do your paragraphs provide enough support for the main idea of your paper as it appears in your thesis statement?
• In every paragraph, do you provide enough support for the main idea expressed in its topic sentence?
• Do your paragraphs flow in a logical order?
• Do the sentences in each paragraph flow in a logical order?
• Have you used transitions?

Check Your Conclusion:

• Does your conclusion sum up the main points in your paper?
• Does your conclusion help readers answer the question, “So what?”

Your paper is really shaping up now. But a truly excellent research paper has to do even more than get a yes answer to every question in the preceding checklists. It needs to be well written. In other words, it has to sound good and be free of errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Spell Check

If you’re writing your paper on a computer, of course you can use the spell-checker function. That part of your word processing program picks up most spelling errors. But it doesn’t catch all of them. For example, if you’ve typed the word though incorrectly by leaving out the letter h at the beginning, the word comes out as tough. Your spell checker does not catch that as a mistake because tough is a word. So whether you work on a computer or not, be sure to read through your paper—word for word—to correct any spelling errors. If you aren’t sure how to spell a word, look it up.

Check Grammar and Punctuation

A good knowledge of the rules of language helps you make sure your paper is free of grammar and punctuation errors. You can use the following lists to help you avoid common errors. However, if you have specific questions about the rules of grammar, usage, and mechanics, your language arts textbook explains all of the rules and offers further examples.

Avoid Repetition

If you find that in your paper you have used the same word over and over, replace the repeated word with another one that has a similar meaning. Too much repetition makes writing sound boring. Another kind of repetition to avoid is using the same type of sentence too many times in a row. This can make writing sound boring, too. Varying your sentences makes your writing livelier and more interesting to readers.

Proofread Your Research Paper

After revising and editing your draft, put it away for a day or two—if you have time, of course. Then look at it again. Mistakes that you might have missed pop out at you after you and your paper have had a little vacation from each other. At this point, do your final fixes, making sure everything is as good as you can make it. If you’ve written your paper on a computer, print it out for proofreading. Often, writers see mistakes on paper that they miss on a computer screen. After you proofread, you can type in your corrections.

Another way to catch mistakes and to find areas that still need improvement is to read your work aloud to yourself. Hearing the words in your paper is a particularly good way to call attention to problems such as repetition, improper use of pronouns, and mistakes in subject-verb agreement.

Another good idea is to ask someone else to read your paper and give you feedback. A pair of eyes besides your own can pick up details that you may miss. Your reader, whether a classmate or an adult, should not change your paper. He or she should only suggest additional changes and improvements, which you can make yourself.

Avoiding Plagiarism

Plagiarism, in its most basic definition, means representing other people’s work and ideas as your own. Turning in a research paper that you borrowed, or stole from another student or downloaded from the Internet constitutes plagiarism. So does copying portions of text directly from your sources or from other texts you encountered in your research. It is a serious offense that, in school, can result in a range of penalties—from failing an assignment, earning a black mark on your academic record, to even being expelled. In the workplace, it can result in the loss of your professional reputation and the respect of your colleagues. It can affect your ability to earn promotions or find another job.

Plagiarism is not always deliberate. It can happen inadvertently when students do not understand how to properly present others’ work within their own papers. Even when you go to great lengths to write a paper, plagiarism can occur if you fail to properly cite the words and ideas of others. Plagiarism can happen if:

• You borrow short phrases from your research sources but fail to cite the source.
• You paraphrase an idea from your research using your own words but you fail to cite the original author.
• You represent another students’ work, even a short passage from it, as your own.
• You turn in a paper that you previously submitted as an assignment for another class. (Yes! It is possible to plagiarize yourself.)

More often than not, plagiarism results from a writer’s failure  to properly paraphrase or summarize another’s work or to correctly cite quoted material. Therefore, it is important to understand how to avoid plagiarism and to incorporate strategies for avoiding it in your writing routine. Plagiarism is easy to avoid if you have properly documented your research and if you follow the guidelines of an editorial style book, such as those published by the Modern Language Association (MLA) or the American Psychological Association (APA), to properly cite the research sources you documented.

Choosing a Documentation Style

“Style” refers to the way you present information and write what you have to say. Style guides prescribe conventions for writing and documenting your sources. Numerous styles abound.The three main styles are:

• MLA (Modern Language Association) style: used by the vast majority of high schools, colleges, and in literature, linguistics, and the humanities programs.
• APA (American Psychological Association) style: widely used in the scientific community. Most of example research papers on this site use APA style
• Chicago Manual of Style: typically used in books, magazines, corporate publications, and other popular outlets.

Styles aim to bring consistency to the way in which information is presented.They are designed to promote intellectual integrity and protect writers against plagiarism by specifying the ways in which information should be reported,quoted, paraphrased, and summarized.

In the vast majority of cases, students producing research papers will follow MLA style, although APA style is also used in the academic community.MLA style is widely used among high schools and in undergraduate courses at the college and university level. Straightforward and easy to master, MLA style was developed more than 50 years ago and is also widely used by collegiate presses and scholarly publications.

Upper-level and graduate-level science courses, and other disciplines that present findings in case studies, whitepapers, and reports, typically follow APA style. Your selection of style, however, should always be based upon what your teacher or professor assigns.

Learning the Basics

we review some of the basics of each style and provide a sample paper to illustrate basic MLA format.Students and serious researchers are advised to refer to the style guide of the association whose style they will follow.

Volumes have been published on the rules and recommendations of both styles. The MLA publishes the widely used  MLA Handbook for Writers of Research , as well as the  MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing  which offers more detailed guidance for graduate theses, dissertations, and papers to be published in journals. The APA offers a variety of style guides, including  Mastering APA Style and the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , as well as extensive information online, including a narrated tutorial, at  www.apastyle.org .

Numerous online writing labs (OWLs) sponsored by university writing programs, such as the ones below, also provide extensive resources to help you brainstorm, outline, and write papers, as well as avoid plagiarism:

• Purdue University:  https://owl.english.purdue.edu/
• University of Wisconsin:  http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/Documentation.html
• University of North Carolina:  http://writingcenter.unc.edu/

Basic Formatting Guidelines

• Never submit a handwritten paper.
• Papers should be typewritten on plain white 8 1⁄2 x 11-inch paper.
• Use 1-inch margins on all sides.
• Double-space the paper.
• Text should be justified flush left, leaving the right-hand margin ragged.
• Create a header to run consecutively on all pages, flush right, one-half inch from the top of the page.
• Use quotation marks around the titles of articles and underline or italicize the titles of books and other long works.
• Avoid using all caps, underlining, or italics for emphasis.

Other formatting considerations are particular to the style you choose.

MLA Style Formatting Basics

• Include your name, your instructor’s name, the name of the course, and the date in the top left corner of the first page.
• Use a 12-point font that will be easy to read, such as Times New Roman or Arial.
• Use 1-inch margins for all sides of the paper—top and bottom, right and left.
• Create a header with your last name and the page number to appear in the upper right-hand corner of all other pages that follow the first page.
• Avoid separate title pages. Instead insert one blank line (no more) beneath the date and center the title.
• Never add blank lines or extra white space to the paper. Your teacher will suspect you are wasting space to fill a page requirement.
• Type the title in title case, capitalizing the initial letter of keywords.
• Center the title two lines under the header and just above the first line of text on the first page.
• Insert one blank line (no more) beneath the title and begin writing.Do not include extra white space above or below the title.
• Do not boldface or italicize the title and do not use special fonts.The title should be the same size and typeface as the rest of the paper.
• Justify your text flush left.
• Indent quoted excerpts by five spaces on the left and right-hand sides of the quoted text.
• Double space the entire essay including header information, your works cited page, and quoted excerpts.
• Be sure your works cited entries are formatted in the same style and size text as your paper.This is something you should especially watch if you used a citation generator; most produce the citation in their own fonts.
• Indent paragraphs five spaces, or 1⁄2 inch; do not add extra white space between paragraphs.
• Use one space after punctuation.

APA Style Formatting Basics

APA style was developed by social and behavioral scientists to govern the structure and presentation of scientific writing. Unlike MLA style, APA style calls for a separate title page and unique sections within the paper.The sections include:

• The title page
• An abstract summarizing the paper
• An introduction
• A description of the scientific methodology the researcher used
• A summary of the results
• A discussion of the issues

The references page is equivalent to the MLA’s works cited page. It is a list of the sources cited within the paper. As in MLA style, the referenced works should be alphabetized by author’s last name, listed separately, and formatted with hanging indents. Unlike MLA style, APA style makes liberal use of headings and uses five different levels of headings,each with unique formatting requirements. Check the APA Web site or style guide for details.When using APA style, remember to:

• Use a serif typeface, such as Times New Roman, for the text.
• Use a sans serif typeface, such as Arial, for headings.
• Create separate pages for the title page, abstract, the beginning of the text, references, and each appendix, figure, illustration, or table you use in the paper.
• Use captions with charts, tables, figures, illustrations, and other graphics.

Using Quotations/Citations

Any direct quotations or specific information you use from your sources must be attributed to your source, either by mentioning the author in the text or through an in-text citation. Quotation marks must appear around any words or phrases that appear exactly as they did in the original document. If you mention the author to introduce the quotation, you will need to follow it with a page citation to ensure that you avoid plagiarism, as shown in the example below:

Anne-Marie Minnow explained the importance of the Hadron supercollider as “an innovation that will advance scientific understanding by light-years.” (127)

If you do not include the author’s name in your text, you will need to incorporate the author’s last name in front of the page number in the citation, as shown in the example below:

The Hadron supercollider promises to be “an innovation that will advance scientific understanding by light-years.” (Minnow 127)

Note that the first example is a narrative reference in which the writer mentions the full name of the author in order to introduce, or set up, the quotation. In the second example, the citation follows the quotation to identify who the author is. In both cases, it is clear the words being quoted belong to Minnow and, in addition to using in-text citations like those shown above, you will need to cite the source on your works cited page.

Paraphrasing and Summarizing

Paraphrasing and summarizing are ways of discussing the work and ideas of others without quoting them directly. We summarize a discussion or reading to make it more succinct so that it can fit more neatly into our own discussion.We paraphrase a discussion in order to make it clearer or more relevant to our thesis and our audience. For all practical purposes, summary and paraphrase mean the same thing—using your own words to represent another’s ideas. It is equally as important to cite authors whose ideas you summarize or paraphrase as it is to cite those you quote.

Tips for Summarizing and Paraphrasing

• Whenever you summarize or paraphrase, write your understanding of the text you are summarizing. Avoid looking at the text as you do.This will help ensure that you do not inadvertently borrow the writer’s phrases. When you have finished, compare what you have written to the author’s words and correct any inaccuracies, again using your own words. If you used significant words or phrases from the original text, be sure to enclose them in quotation marks.
• As you incorporate your summaries and paraphrases into your paper, cite them as carefully as you cite quoted material.
• Be especially cautious when using word processing tools like Microsoft Word’s AutoSummarize. AutoSummarize shortens a page of text, highlighting key points and phrases that can be inserted into a research paper. Instructors are aware of these features, and many do not consider them legitimate. It is arguable, after all, whether this is you or the word processor doing the job. If you do use this feature, be sure that you edit the autosummary to quote the words and phrases that the word processor extracted from the original and be sure that you cite the source.
• Whenever you summarize or paraphrase, begin with a signal phrase to introduce the material. Be sure to cite the material as you would cite a quotation.

Now we came to the final part in writing.

Back to  How To Write A Research Paper .

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Short lessons on grammar, punctuation, and sentences

• Set aside your writing for a few days (or hours, if you procrastinated), in order to clear your head. This will help you approach the work with fresh eyes.
• When you return to the work, concentrate on the overall content, focus, and organization.
• Think about the big picture. What do you want the reader to know about your topic? Do the topic sentences complement the thesis?
• Ask yourself questions: Who will be reading this? What are their needs and expectations? Am I communicating my ideas effectively?

A reverse outline is a great tool writers can use to look at the organization and focus of their draft. Here are some guidelines for how to create a reverse outline .

• Don’t edit too soon. Wait until you feel confident in your paper's focus and organization.
• Look at your transitions. Try making a paragraph using only your thesis and topic sentences. Does the paragraph make sense? If not, it may be a sign that your topic sentences are not yet logically guiding your reader through the paper.
• Go over your paper sentence by sentence. Are the ideas stated clearly? Look at word choice and sentence structure. Do you find yourself using the same words/phrases over and over?
• Try reading your paper aloud—hearing it helps make sure your ideas are stated clearly, and you will likely catch other small errors in the process.
• Begin by choosing an excellent grammar resource you can return to again and again to familiarize yourself with the rules of English grammar that you're less comfortable with. Your English 101 or 201 handbook or websites like the Purdue OWL and our Grammar, Punctuation, and Sentences guide are great options.
• Check for one type of error at a time—don’t overwhelm yourself.
• Are you making the same errors over and over? Identify them.
• You are smarter than your word processor—don’t rely on it to correct mistakes.
• Check your formatting!
• An extra set of eyes always helps. Swap papers with a friend, a classmate, or…pick a couple of error types to focus on and make a Writers’ Center Appointment !

Have you been told your paper doesn't  flow ? Often, the problem is that your sentences are awkward.  You might be trying to say too much, or you might not have said enough. 

The best way to find and correct awkward or run-on sentences is to  read your paper out loud . You can only pause at punctuation, and you can only breathe at end punctuation (periods, question marks and exclamation points). If you're running out of breath, you may have some run-ons. Alternatively, if you're hyperventilating because you're breathing too often, your sentences are short and choppy. Make sure your writing sounds natural. If it doesn't sound right, it probably isn't right. Your paper should sound smooth, as if you were talking to someone.  

In the writing world, we sometimes use the term  sentence clarity,  rather than flow, to describe awkward writing.  

Click HERE for strategies to improve clarity. Click HERE for good examples to help you combine short, choppy sentences. Click HERE for a method to shorten up wordy sentences.

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Expert Tips for Editing a Scientific Paper

Preparing Your Journal Manuscript for Publication

After completing your scientific study and writing your research paper, it is time to submit your manuscript for publication in journals. But how do you know that your research is ready for publication?

According to a 2016 study of 5,633 journals indexed in the MEDLINE medical database, the rate of rejection for many top journals approaches 90%. While there are many reasons for journal rejection, two of the main issues leading to rejection of submitted manuscripts are poor writing quality and incorrect formatting. It is therefore crucial to consider receiving scientific manuscript editing services after finishing your research paper if you want journal editors to seriously consider your work for publication.

However, for many research authors, understanding how to correctly prepare a research paper is a painstaking effort that can take years. Learning to apply the most appropriate scientific writing style and formatting rules often means drafting several research manuscripts. But time spent revising language, proofreading the work, and applying correct formatting can take away from the more central work of researchers: conducting and presenting critical research.

An expert scientific paper editor can alleviate this time constraint and help researchers efficiently publish their academic papers in a reputable journal. But before sending a paper to a professional English editing and proofreading service , read these tips that all scientific research authors can apply to both prepare their work for publication and enhance their academic writing and editing skills in future work.

Proofreading and Editing Tips from Scientific Editors

Research authors likely already understand that editing a research paper is quite different than editing an email or a blog post. Issues with grammar, punctuation, formatting, terminology, style, and expression all have an impact on publication success and need to be revised accordingly. But not all scientific manuscripts follow the same rules, so reading many journal manuscripts published in your target journal will help you understand which formatting and style rules to follow.

Differences Between Editing and Proofreading?

Before we discuss revision tips, we should understand the distinction between “editing” and “proofreading”—this will be important when it comes time to choose a freelance editor or editing service.

Scientific paper editing and proofreading are two parts of the same process. For a more detailed breakdown of these two steps in the revision process and to decide which is best for you, see our article on editing versus proofreading.

In short, during the editing process editors revise the content, language, and organization of your research work. This can take the form of content editing or substantive editing (which are done during or immediately after the drafting process), or language editing, which focuses on using consistent vocabulary terms and revising terms, phrases, and sentences so they read more naturally and follow the high academic standards of a journal.

While proofreading, editors find and correct mistakes in grammar, punctuation, spelling, and formatting. Proofreading is the final step in the revision process and should be performed by an English-speaking editor with extensive knowledge of both the English language and academic writing rules and conventions.

Review the Organization of Your Manuscript

Applying the correct manuscript structure is essential to getting a study published in your target journal. This means ensuring that all your content is placed in the correct section and order.

First, check that your manuscript contains all the necessary sections in the right order. Most journals follow the standard IMRD (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion/Conclusion) format, but there are often deviations from this section order depending on the journal.

Some common organization issues in scientific papers include:

• Insufficient background information included in the Introduction section
• Methods/Materials section not ordered properly (chronological or another logical ordering)
• Results sections that do not follow the order of the Methods section
• Discussion sections that do not include study implications or study limitations
• Conclusions that simply repeat information without providing new insights

Again, the best way to ensure that your manuscript has all the right content in the correct order is to carefully read articles published in your target journal. See our article and video on the parts of a research paper to understand what information to include in each section of your research paper.

Review Your Paper's Vocabulary and Language

For many research authors (especially ESL authors), the most difficult about academic writing is choosing the correct academic terms and phrases. This includes choosing correct key technical terms, academic verbs, and natural English expressions. While it is not possible to write a “perfect” research paper without having considerable knowledge of English-language conventions, there are some writing resources that can help:

• 100+ Verbs for Academic Writing
• Effective Transition Terms in Academic Papers

Use a Human Paper Proofreader

There are several useful free AI essay editors available to writers. And while it is perfectly fine to use these programs to catch errors during the drafting process, human proofreading and editing is the best way to ensure a flawless manuscript.

Expert proofreaders and editors with extensive knowledge of the English language can understand the nuances in mechanics and usage that lead to many of the writing errors found in rejected manuscripts.

Scientific Editing and Proofreading Checklist

As you can probably tell by now, there are far too many potential writing issues to cover in a single article. But asking yourself the following questions BEFORE receiving editing and proofreading for your scientific paper will help ensure that your manuscript is well written and ready to send to journal editors after receiving final language editing.

• Is the manuscript title concise and relevant? The title is the first element of your manuscript that journal editors and readers will see. Crafting the perfect title for your manuscript can be difficult. Use as few words as possible to relay the topic of your research—this makes it easier for researchers to find your study in journal databases. For more information, read our comprehensive article on how to write a research paper title.
• Are the objectives of your study relevant to your intended audience? Consider the nature and goals of your research. Do they align with the readership of your target journal? Is your work intended for a very specific subset of researchers or a more general readership? While these are questions best asked before or during the drafting process, it is best to identify any potential incongruencies before submitting to your journal.
• Does your Discussion section address your research question(s)? The Discussion section is perhaps the most difficult research paper section to compose. It must address the research question(s) you asked in your Introduction section while also interpreting the Results and discussing the implications of your research. Be sure to remind your readers which gaps in scientific knowledge your study sought to fill and whether your research achieved or failed to achieve this goal.
• Are the materials and methods explained concisely and accurately? The items in the Methods/Materials section should be arranged in a logical order—either chronologically or in order of importance. Readers should be able to clearly distinguish each individual part of this section and understand how they fit together. Use headings (if allowed by your journal’s guidelines) and paragraphs to separate different methods, materials, and participants involved.
• Are the figures and tables relevant and clear? All figures, tables, charts, and graphs should clearly express data and results to readers without the use of explanatory text. However, each figure in the Results section should also be mentioned in the text.
• Are the proper voices and verb tenses used in each section? Using appropriate voice (passive or active) and verb tenses (present, simple past, and perfect) is crucial when writing a manuscript that journals will seriously consider publishing. Different situations call for different voices and tenses. Read more about how to apply passive and active voice and verb tense correctly in research papers.

Using Scientific Paper Editing Services

Because of all the potential language, formatting, organization, and punctuation issues that tend to arise in submitted manuscripts, receiving editing and proofreading is key to preparing your manuscript. Scientific paper editing thus involves both language editing for style and flow, and research paper proofreading to catch remaining grammatical and typographical errors in the text.

Wordvice’s professional editing services , including scientific paper editing services , are an excellent solution to satisfy your manuscript proofreading and editing needs. Our 500+ English editors have expertise in hundreds of academic subject areas and thousands of subdisciplines, so your work is guaranteed to be revised by an expert in your paper’s specific academic field. Our editors also provide extensive feedback, explaining their in-text revisions and providing suggestions to improve your writing.

So before submitting your work to a journal, be sure to read through this scientific paper editing checklist and then entrust your important research to a professional journal manuscript editing service like Wordvice to improve your chances of publication success.

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Tips for revising a research paper

You’ve finished writing your research paper and you’re ready to revise, but where do you start? This post offers six tips for ensuring that your revision process goes smoothly.

1. Step away from your paper

It’s always best to take a break between writing your research paper and revising it. This enables you to approach your revision with fresh eyes. You’ll catch more errors when you’ve had time to step away from the paper.

2. Read your paper aloud

Reading your paper aloud, either to yourself or to someone else, is one of the best ways to check for major stylistic and structural issues. If you stumble over a sentence (or your audience looks confused), then you likely need to restructure or rephrase a sentence or paragraph.

3. Cut your paper up

To ensure that you’ve fully argued what you set out to prove in your thesis, try cutting your paper up into paragraphs or sections. Lay out the sections on a large table and then read through your paper, pausing to check that claims are backed up by adequate evidence and analysis and that you’ve signposted the various steps of your argument.

4. Ask a friend or classmate to read your paper

Many writing classes include peer review workshops during which you read another classmate’s paper. Even if you aren’t able to take part in a more formal peer review, you can ask a friend, classmate, or family member to read over your paper. Alternately, you can ask someone to read your paper aloud to you.

5. Know the difference between revising and proofreading

Revising and proofreading are not the same. Revision refers to substantive changes in the structure and argumentation of a research paper, while proofreading means checking a paper for surface-level mistakes in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

It’s important to understand the difference between these two approaches. You will want to proofread your paper after you revise it and before you turn it in.

6. Check your citations

As part of the revision process, you should double-check your citations and bibliography. Have you remembered to cite all borrowed material ? Do your citations follow the correct style for the assignment?

If you haven’t compiled your final list of sources, you can use BibGuru's citation generator to create a bibliography, as well as in-text citations that you can copy to your document. Remember to consult your assignment guidelines, or your instructor, to find out what citation style is required for your research paper.

Frequently Asked Questions about revising a research paper

There are multiple methods that you can use to revise your research paper, including reading the paper aloud or asking a classmate to read it. No matter what method you decide on, make sure you take a break between writing and revision.

Revision is an essential step in the process of writing a research paper. It helps you correct mistakes in the overall structure and argumentation of your paper.

Revision often includes checking:

• the strength of your thesis (did you actually prove it?)
• overall organization (transitions, paragraph structure, etc.)
• evidence and analysis (do you have enough?)
• citations and bibliography

Revision refers to substantive changes in the structure and argumentation of a research paper, while proofreading means checking a paper for surface-level mistakes in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Like other parts of the research and writing process, your revision skills will improve with practice. Make an effort to always include dedicated time for revision, no matter what you’re writing.

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• 13 Essential Editing Tips to Use in Your Essay Writing

The good student strives constantly to achieve a better essay each time they write one.

It can be a challenge to find ways to keep improving, but one way of making your essays instantly better is effective editing. Editing your essay before you submit it could mean the difference between a good grade and a brilliant one, so it’s worth taking fifteen minutes or so before you send it off just checking through it to make sure that the structure and wording is as good as it can be. In this article, we give you some tips to think about when you’re editing your own writing. Keep these tips alongside you to use as a checklist and you can’t go far wrong!

1. Start by getting the structure right

If you have time, try to leave a bit of time between finishing your essay and starting the editing process. This gives you time to approach it feeling reasonably fresh; if you edit immediately after spending a long time on something, you might find that you’re so close to it that you’re unable to spot errors. When you do sit down to look through it, start by looking at its structure. Think about the overarching shape of the argument you’re developing and check that the points you’ve made help build your essay towards a logical conclusion. You may have written an essay with the points in order of when they occurred to you, but is this really the most sensible order? Does one point follow logically on from the other? Would it make the essay more interesting to include a certain point near the beginning to tease the reader, or are you revealing too much in the opening, meaning it would be better to move some points nearer the end? These are just a few of the ways in which it might be possible to improve the structure, so it helps to keep in mind your overall argument and ensure your structure puts it across as effectively as possible. With word processors now the primary means of writing essays, it couldn’t be easier to rearrange paragraphs into a more logical structure by dragging and dropping or cutting and pasting paragraphs. If you do this, don’t forget to reread the essay to ensure that the wording works with this new order, otherwise you may end up with a sentence leading into the wrong paragraph.

2. Prune long sentences and paragraphs

Whether you’ve exceeded your word count or not, long sentences and paragraphs should be edited because they can be trickier to read, and risk being boring or hard to follow. Try, therefore, to keep sentences to a maximum of two or three clauses (or segments). Avoid long paragraphs by starting a new one if you find one getting longer than three or four sentences: a wall of text can be off-putting to the reader. Leave a space between paragraphs if you’re typing your essay, as we’re doing in this article. Another way of keeping sentences to a reasonable length is to go through what you’ve written and tighten up the wording. If you find yourself writing long sentences, try to look for ways in which you can reword them to express what you’re trying to say more concisely. You’ll probably find numerous instances of phrases that take many words to say what could be said in two or three.

3. Keep overly complicated language in check

It’s going to look obvious if you’ve had a thesaurus next to you while writing, just so that you can replace all the simple words with more complicated ones. The thing is, it doesn’t always make you look intelligent; you may, for instance, inadvertently choose the wrong synonym , not realising that even close synonyms can have subtly different meanings or connotations. Sometimes using big words where simple ones would suffice can seem contrived and pompous; aim for clear, concise language to avoid being verbose or pretentious. That’s not to say you shouldn’t use more complex words at all – just choose the situation carefully and don’t overdo it.

4. Watch for repetition of ideas and words

It’s easy to repeat yourself without realising it when you’re writing, but the editing process is there to enable you to spot this before your teacher or lecturer sees it. As you read through your essay, keep a look out for ideas you’ve repeated and delete whichever repetitions add nothing to your essay (don’t forget that the first instance of the idea may not be the most appropriate place for it, so consider which is the best moment to introduce it and delete the other mentions). On a related note, look out for instances in which you’ve laboured the point. Going on about a particular point for too long can actually undermine the strength of your argument, because it makes you look as though you’re desperately grappling to find supporting facts; sometimes a simple, clear statement with a brief piece of evidence to back it up is all that’s needed. You should be equally wary of repetition of words within the same sentence or paragraph. It’s fine to repeat common words such as “the”, obviously, but it’s best to avoid using the same connecting words, such as “also”, more than once in the same paragraph. Rephrase using alternative expressions, such as “what’s more”. More unusual words should be used just once per paragraph – words such as “unavoidable”, for example – unless it’s for emphasis.

5. Don’t rely on the spellcheck

It’s a tip we’ve told you before, but it’s worth repeating because it’s very important! The spellcheck will not pick up every single error in your essay. It may highlight some typos and misspellings, but it won’t tell you if you’ve inadvertently used the wrong word altogether. For example, you may have meant to write the word “from”, but accidentally mistyped it as “form” – which is still a word, so the spellchecker won’t register it. But it’s not the word you meant to write.

6. Spotting typos

It’s said that if you read through your work backwards, you’re more likely to spot typos. This is probably because it’s giving you a new perspective on what you’ve written, making it easier to spot glaring errors than if you read through it in the order in which you wrote it and in which you know what to expect. So, start with the last sentence and keep going in reverse order until you get to the beginning of your essay. Another tip is to print out your essay and take a red pen to it, circling or underlining all the errors and then correcting them on the computer later. It’s often easier to read a document from a printed version, and it also means that you can follow what you’re doing by touching each word with the end of your pencil to make sure you’re not skimming over any errors.

7. Omit unnecessary words and eradicate weasel words

Without even realising it, you’ve probably used plenty of unnecessary words in your writing – words that add to the word count without adding to the meaning – and you’ll find that your writing works just as well without them. An example is the word “very”, which almost always adds nothing to what you’re trying to say. As Mark Twain said , “Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very’; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be”. Weasel words are worse, as they are used to hide weak or objectionable arguments. A study of Wikipedia found that these tend to fall into three different categories: numerical vagueness (such as “many people say” without specifying who these people are), the use of the passive voice to distance the writer from what they’re saying (“it is often said”, for example, without saying by whom it is often said), and the use of adverbs designed to soften a point (such as “probably”). Look out for these in your own writing and rephrase to remove them; they are disingenuous and your essay will be stronger without them.

8. Remove tautologies

A tautology is a stylistic error involving redundant words, in this case the use of two consecutive words that mean the same thing, such as “the big giant” (referring simply to a “giant” would have been sufficient to convey the meaning). Students often use them when they’re trying to make their writing wordier, not realising that they simply make their writing worse.

9. Watch the commas

People tend either to put too many commas into a sentence, or too few. Too many, and the sentence sounds broken and odd; too few, and the reader has to read the sentence several times to figure out what you’re trying to say, because it comes out in a long, jumbled mess. The secret is to put commas in where you would naturally pause when speaking aloud. If it helps, try reading your writing aloud to see if it flows. Where you would pause for slightly longer, a semi-colon might be more appropriate than a comma. Use a semi-colon to connect two independent clauses that would work as two separate sentences.

10. Consistent spelling

Some words have more than one correct spelling, and the important thing is to be consistent with which one you use. You could, if you wanted to make your life a little easier, delve into the settings on your word processor and manipulate the spellcheck so that it highlights the version you decided against – or even autocorrects to the right version. If you’re writing in the UK, ensure that your word processor’s default language is set to UK English so that you don’t end up inadvertently correcting English spellings to US ones (“colour” to “color”, for example).

11. Get rid of exclamation marks and ellipses

In virtually every case, you don’t need to use an exclamation mark, and – at least in academic writing – your use of one may result in your writing not being taken quite so seriously. Only use them in exceptional circumstances when you really want to convey a feeling of surprise or outrage. Ellipses (“…”) should also be avoided except when you’re indicating the truncation of a quote from another writer (that is, where you left a bit out).

12. Attribute quotations

Quotations from authors or academic writers should be attributed to them. As you read through your essay, keep a look out for any quotations you’ve mentioned and make sure that you say where they’re from. If you’re writing an essay for university, a footnote would be an appropriate way of citing another writer. If you are using footnotes, this gives an extra area on which to focus your editing skills; ensure that all footnotes are consistently formatted, and don’t forget to put a bibliography containing all the books you’ve used at the end.

13. Consistent formatting

The appearance of your essay matters, too – and the formatting should not be neglected when you’re in editing mode. This means being consistent with your use of fonts, using italics or underline for emphasis rather than using them interchangeably, ensuring that the spacing between lines is consistent throughout, and other such minor aesthetic points. This may not sound very important, but consistent formatting helps your essay look professional; if you’ve used different fonts or line spacing or anything like that, your essay will look a mess even if what you’ve said in it is good. You could make use of the pre-populated formatting options in your word processor to ensure consistency throughout, with header 1 for the title, header 2 for subheadings and ‘normal text’ for the body of the document. If you find that there are too many things on this list to think about in one go when you’re reading through your essay, you could read through it several times looking out for different things each time. All this may seem a lot to think about when you’ve already put in so much effort to write the essay in the first place, but trust us: it will pay off with a sleek and polished piece.

Tips to Self-Edit Your Research Paper

Self-editing a manuscript means correcting your own writing after your initial (first) draft. Multiple drafts should be produced until the manuscript is in the best possible shape. In this smartshort, we give you tips to effectively self-edit your research paper . You can also find a detailed article on this topic here .

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Academic Editing: How to Self-Edit Academic Text With Paperpal 

Academia thrives on the exchange of ideas. Researchers toil away, conducting groundbreaking experiments, formulating intricate theories, and constructing compelling arguments. But these discoveries remain hidden gems unless effectively communicated. This is where academic editing steps in, empowering researchers to share their brilliance with a broader audience. 

Despite its undeniable importance, the editing stage often presents a significant hurdle for many academics. Editing their own work can be a hurdle for researchers and PhD students. Between tight deadlines, juggling expertise in their field with grammar rules, and maintaining objectivity about their research, the process can feel overwhelming. In the case of non-native English speakers, ensuring clear, concise communication of complex ideas in English can be a time-consuming struggle.

Table of Contents

• Academic writing & editing: Struggles for non-native English speakers 
• Grammar and Mechanics 
• Sentence Structure and Clarity 
• Word Choice and Conventions 
• Language and Consistency checks 
• Journal submission readiness checks 
• A final check to avoid accidental plagiarism 

In this article, we explore the challenges of academic editing for native and non-native speakers and understand how Paperpal, the AI academic writing and editing assistant can solve them. 

Academic writing & editing: Struggles for non-native English speakers

A survey was conducted on 900 researchers, 1 primarily in the environmental sciences, to understand the importance of addressing language barriers and ensuring fair opportunities in research and academia. Its insights noted that non-native English speakers took twice as much time to write a paper compared to their native-speaking counterparts, and the frequency of paper rejections they faced due to language-related issues was 2.6 times higher. These differences led to lower opportunities, such as fewer conference invitations and lower acceptance rates for top positions. 

Taking this challenge into consideration, we asked our participants from our recent webinar – How to Use Paperpal’s AI Academic Editing to Write and Edit Like a Pro, to share their motivations behind using AI academic editing tools to quickly perfect an essay or research paper. 19.37% of them mentioned that they were not confident writing in English as a non-native speaker, and 18.92% of them were comfortable in English but wanted to make it sound academically correct.

Today, we have AI writing tools to assist in academic writing, but most of them can’t keep up with academic writing conventions. For example, translating foreign text into academic English often leads to losing context in theory, which doubles the editing effort required. Most AI writing tools write in conversational English, which cannot work at the university level and beyond. Let’s explore how Paperpal makes academic editing stress-free for beginners.

15 ways Paperpal makes academic editing a breeze

Paperpal’s mission is clear: to empower researchers of all backgrounds to excel in academic writing. We address the challenges faced by both non-native and native speakers. For non-native speakers, Paperpal builds confidence in academic English. For native speakers, it bridges the gap from conversational to academic writing. Ultimately, Paperpal aims to democratize academic writing, making it accessible and effective for all. 

To achieve this, Paperpal leverages the power of AI. Trained on a massive dataset encompassing 2.5 million+ professional editor hours and 1300+ fields of study, Paperpal understands the nuances of academic writing across disciplines, from economics to scientific research. It’s not just about fixing grammar; Paperpal delves deeper. By drawing on 21+ years of STM expertise, it offers insights into precise word choice, patient-focused language, and real-time editing practices employed by reviewers. 

Building on this foundation, Paperpal analyzes your work through the lens of an academic editing checklist, providing feedback across 15 domains of academic editing:

Grammar and Mechanics

• Tense usage/voice 
• Article usage 
• Singular/plural usage 
• Subject-verb agreement 
• Punctuation: commas, hyphens 

Sentence Structure and Clarity

• Parallelism 
• Modifiers 
• Comparisons 
• Dummy subject 
• Wordiness 

Word Choice and Conventions

• Confused words, collocations 
• Patient-first language 
• Abbreviations 
• Formal usage/contractions 
• Numbers and units 

Also Read: How to Find the Right Academic Editor and Proofreading Partner  

How to use Paperpal for academic editing: A step-by-step guide

Here’s a step-by-step process to edit your content with Paperpal’s academic editing capabilities.  

Install the Word Add-in or sign up/log in via the web to use Paperpal’s academic editing capabilities. Set your language preferences to British or American English to receive customized suggestions and choose your editing mode. Paperpal offers two editing modes, Extensive and Essential, that help you edit depending on your needs.   

• Extensive mode offers comprehensive feedback on all aspects of your writing beyond grammar, clarity, conciseness, etc., including rephrases and is suitable for thorough revisions.  
• Essential mode focuses on key suggestions like actual errors to correct grammar and improve readability. 

Once the setup is done, here’s an overview of how to leverage Paperpal for academic editing. 

Language and Consistency checks

One of Paperpal’s standout academic editing features is its ability to identify and correct language inconsistencies throughout your document. From punctuation corrections, including hyphenation and comma usage, to ensuring consistency in writing style and terminology, Paperpal provides continuous suggestions for clarity and correctness.

Paperpal makes it easy to approve or dismiss suggestions with a single click. This keeps you in charge and lets you decide how much AI helps with your writing and editing, all while saving you time. To access this feature, navigate to “Edit” on the right-hand pane and select the “ Language ” tab or “ Consistency ” tab as per your requirement. 

Some of the editing elements in the Language and Consistency feature involve: 

• Punctuation Corrections: Hyphenation , Comma / Run – ons    
• Academic Word Choice: Collocations, Patient-first language, Formal usage, Subject-verb agreement, Noun numbers 
• Sentence Structure and Clarity: Parallelism, Modifiers 
• Clarity and Conciseness Improvements: Dummy subject, Wordiness/Redundancy, Removing redundancy and filler phrases 
• Consistency and Style Check: Maintaining consistency in writing style i.e. American/British English, terminology, and formatting for coherence and flow in academic writing. 

Journal submission readiness checks

In addition to its editing capabilities, Paperpal offers tools for collaborative editing and manuscript preparation for journal submission.

• Reviewing and managing suggested edits: Helps you to review and manage suggestions ensuring transparency throughout the editing process. 
• Maintaining a record of edits: Keeps a record of editing decisions, to track back changes if necessary while editing.  
• Submission-readiness checks: Paperpal enables you to upload manuscripts for comprehensive checks, ensuring that your documents are submission-ready and compliant with journal guidelines. To access this feature, navigate to Checks on the right-side panel and click on the Journal Submission Check option. Then, upload your manuscript to optimize it with Paperpal’s comprehensive checks. 

A final check to avoid accidental plagiarism

A similarity score measures how closely a piece of writing resembles existing literature. Often, researchers draw from previous studies, but improper citation or overreliance on existing material when compiling content from various sources can potentially lead to high similarity scores and accidental plagiarism.  

To address this, Paperpal offers an online plagiarism checker which enables you to check up to 7,000 words monthly for plagiarism. It is designed to analyze your writing and compare it against a vast database of existing texts, identifying similarities between your work and existing sources.  

It flags passages that may be too similar and prevents the serious consequences of unintentional plagiarism. With its user-friendly interface and accurate detection capabilities, it ensures the creation of original, high-quality work. Check your paper for plagiarism here .  

While Paperpal leverages powerful AI technology, it’s not here to replace your brilliance. Unlike some generative AI tools, Paperpal doesn’t write your paper for you. Instead, it acts as your supportive academic editing partner, highlighting areas for improvement and suggesting ways to elevate your writing. This ensures your work remains original and upholds the highest standards of academic integrity. Paperpal empowers you to take control of the editing process, providing the tools and insights to make your research truly shine. So, consider Paperpal not as a replacement, but as a valuable ally on your path to academic success. 

References  

• The manifold costs of being a non-native English speaker in science https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002184  

Paperpal is a comprehensive AI writing toolkit that helps students and researchers achieve 2x the writing in half the time. It leverages 21+ years of STM experience and insights from millions of research articles to provide in-depth academic writing, language editing, and submission readiness support to help you write better, faster.  

Get accurate academic translations, rewriting support, grammar checks, vocabulary suggestions, and generative AI assistance that delivers human precision at machine speed. Try for free or upgrade to Paperpal Prime starting at US$19 a month to access premium features, including consistency, plagiarism, and 30+ submission readiness checks to help you succeed.  

Experience the future of academic writing – Sign up to Paperpal and start writing for free!  

Related Reads:

• Differences Between Editing and Proofreading
• Paraphrasing in Academic Writing: Answering Top Author Queries
• 4 Types of Transition Words for Research Papers 
• How to Paraphrase Research Papers Effectively

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We’re Expert Academic Editors

Our editors are highly educated and trained, coming from a range of academic backgrounds. In addition, we have helped many researchers convey their findings clearly and concisely, helping to prepare countless papers for publication. So if you need academic proofreading or editing, we’re the experts.

Make sure your writing is the best it can be with our expert English proofreading and editing

When you submit a research paper for proofreading, our editors will:

• Correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors
• Check sentence structure for concision and clarity
• Ensure use of a suitably academic tone and vocabulary
• Highlight areas that may require clarification
• Offer helpful feedback on writing style in comments

And to ensure you are in full control of the final draft, we also provide two copies of your edited paper when we’re done:

• A ‘Clean’ copy in the original file format
• A Track Changes  copy  saved as an MS Word document

We use this ‘Track Changes’ copy to highlight all edits in the document, so you can review our work and make further changes if required. And if your  chosen file format  doesn’t support Track Changes, we can adapt our process.

We are experts at formatting research according to journal or university guidelines. To get your research paper formatted, simply select our flexible  formatting service  at checkout and let us know your requirements.

Lightning-Fast Delivery

You’ll never miss a deadline with our speedy services: our Next-Day Guarantee means we’ll return any document up to 10,000 words long within 24 hours

And if you need a faster turnaround, simply select your desired delivery speed when you submit your document. We have three options:

We can also meet custom deadlines! Just let us know what you need.

*For documents up to 8,000 words 

**For documents up to 3,000 words

How We Work With Academics

You’ll never miss a deadline with our speedy services: our Next-Day Guarantee means we’ll return any document up to 8,000 words long within 24 hours.

And if you need a faster turnaround, simply select your desired delivery speed when you submit your document. We have three options

We can also meet custom deadlines! Just let us know what you need. 

* For documents up to 8,000 words

** For documents up to 3,000 words

Great Pricing

Our pricing is affordable and transparent – the cost is based on the exact length of your document. Check out our pricing calculator for an instant quote, and rest assured that you’ll receive the highest quality proofreading and editing for the best value on the market.

Referencing Expertise

Our team includes experts in various referencing styles and systems, including AMA, APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, Vancouver, and IEEE. No matter what style you’re using, though, we can check that your citations and references are correct and let you know if any information is missing. Visit our referencing page to learn more.

Subject-Matter Experts

Our team includes over 750 professional editors with backgrounds in a wide range of disciplines, so we’ll always match you with the best editor for your writing, whether you need help with a sociology dissertation, handouts for a music theory lecture, or a biology research paper.

24-Hour Support

Our support team is available around the clock to address any concerns or questions you have about your order. This means you’ll never be left in the dark, no matter where you are or what time it is.

Instant Quote

You can also upload a document to get an instant quote

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Looking For The Perfect Proofreader?

We can help you improve everything from journal articles to theses. Let us show you how!

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Welcome to the Purdue Online Writing Lab

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

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Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction.

The Purdue On-Campus Writing Lab and Purdue Online Writing Lab assist clients in their development as writers—no matter what their skill level—with on-campus consultations, online participation, and community engagement. The Purdue Writing Lab serves the Purdue, West Lafayette, campus and coordinates with local literacy initiatives. The Purdue OWL offers global support through online reference materials and services.

A Message From the Assistant Director of Content Development 

The Purdue OWL® is committed to supporting  students, instructors, and writers by offering a wide range of resources that are developed and revised with them in mind. To do this, the OWL team is always exploring possibilties for a better design, allowing accessibility and user experience to guide our process. As the OWL undergoes some changes, we welcome your feedback and suggestions by email at any time.

Please don't hesitate to contact us via our contact page  if you have any questions or comments.

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