Your lecturer may not talk about the importance of correct punctuation or spelling, but they will notice errors. They may also deduct marks from your work because of them, and that isn’t a happy story.
Is there a difference between editing and proofreading?
Yes. Editing is a different process from proofreading. Editing is the more in-depth process, and the job to do first. It involves reading through your work in detail and adjusting or rewriting paragraphs and sentences to improve the content or meaning.
Proofreading is a final check before you hand it in; scanning the document for basic errors like spelling or punctuation. You are not necessarily looking at content at this stage, just polishing it up.
Editing
Content
Editing content entails making a few focused reviews of your work. Preferably, you have taken a break from the piece of writing – at least one or two days. Editing is best done with fresh eyes!
First, consider whether you have addressed the task. Clues that show you have addressed the task include:
- using words from the question in your introduction
- stating your argument and the points to be covered
- defining any key terms
- demonstrating your understanding of the issue/s
Next, check that you have structured your argument.
Consider how your argument flows by checking that you:
- cover all points in a logical sequence
- focus on one point in each paragraph
- begin each paragraph with a topic sentence
- follow each topic sentence with material and evidence
that supports it - avoid unnecessary repetition of ideas
- summarise the main points in a conclusion
- put your argument back in a wider context
Then, check that you have supported your argument.
Your argument and ideas need to be evidenced.
Check that you have:
- referred to the work of others
- accurately provided references to support each time you have
summarised, paraphrased and quoted work by others - used the correct referencing style
Expression
Academic writing tends to use a particular word choice, voice (active or passive), and tense (past or present), and the language is often objective and inclusive. Having a consistent style will give your reader the impression of
reliability.
Active or passive voice?
The passive voice is often used in academic writing when the focus needs to be on the object (e.g. research), rather than the person doing it. Using this style implies objectivity.
By contrast, the active voice focuses on the person or thing doing the action, and not the object, so tends to be more direct and
dynamic.
Read more about active and passive voice.
Tense?
Sentences can be written in the past, present or future tense, depending on their purpose. Generally, past tense is used to report on things that have already happened, such as experiments, results, or past findings. Present tense is most appropriate when analysing or drawing conclusions about material.
- Past: The plots were measured twice a day…
- Present: The plots indicate that…
Read more about tenses in academic writing.
Word choice?
Editing expression includes checking whether you are communicating ideas as clearly as possible. Using ‘big’ words for the sake of appearing ‘clever’ can backfire if your use of them is not quite right. Some categories of words are also best avoided.
- use an equivalent simple word if uncertain
- avoid using “I” statements in your writing unless requested
- avoid using slang, e.g., guys (people), bucks (dollars)
- remove clichés, overused phrases that do not add anything original, e.g., ‘last but not least’
- avoid jargon, technical or specialised words/ phrases
- delete unnecessary words, e.g., use ‘round’ instead of ‘round in shape’, ‘summer’ instead of ‘summer months’
- choose the right words, e.g., do you want ‘accept’ or ‘except’?
Inclusive language?
Inclusive language is writing that treats all people fairly. Your writing should not suggest bias or prejudice on the basis of characteristics such as
gender, culture, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, age or religion.
Avoid using gendered words, such as:
- ‘mankind’ where you refer to ‘society’ or ‘human beings’ or ‘people’
- male pronouns (‘he’, ‘his’, ‘him’) – use ‘they’, ‘their’, ‘them’
Proofreading
Punctuation
Look at the ‘surface layer’ of your writing which primarily includes spelling and punctuation.
- Apostrophes used correctly (NOT needed for plural, e.g., tests, unless to show ownership, e.g., the researcher’s strategy (one researcher), OR the researchers’ strategy (many researchers)
- Words are written out in full, not abbreviated, e.g., ‘It is significant’, not ‘It’s significant’
- Commas used to signal a break
- Full stops at the ends of sentences
- Capital letters at the beginning of sentences
Read more about punctuation.
Turn on ‘spell-checker’
With your computer’s spelling checker enabled, typos and other grammatical issues will be indicated by a squiggly coloured
line under words in the text. Check where they appear. Also, choose Australian English spelling over American where possible.
Check for homophones
These are words that sound the same, but are spelt differently and have different meanings, such as:
- whether / wether / weather
- course / coarse
- here / hear
- there / their / they’re
- sure / shore
- where / wear
- know / no
- made / maid
Check the material
- Facts and statistics are clear and correct?
- Names, dates, and quotes match those in your reference list?
Layout & formatting
Think of the presentation as your essay’s suit when it is going for a job interview. It needs to look good. Fortunately there are standards that you can follow.
If your lecturer has not specified a particular format (e.g., font size and style, text spacing), read our general guidelines for layout and appearance.
It includes suggestions for fonts, spacing, margins, title or cover page, and more.
Referencing & citation
Most importantly, ensure you have used the appropriate referencing style for your discipline, e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago Note or Australian Harvard. This information should be in your course description.
Check that:
- reference list is accurate and only contains material you cited
- dots, commas and brackets are used correctly
- a single space follows each dot or comma in your reference list or bibliography
- titles of the books or journals in italics, if required by the style
We recommend having access to the University’s online referencing tool, FedCite, when you are proofreading your work. Choose your referencing style from the options.
Listen to your work
As a final check, listening to your work rather than reading it provides you with a new perspective. Convince a friend or family member to read it to you – preferably someone who is not studying the same course as you (avoid the risk of plagiarism!).
If you cannot find a human to assist, software exists that can convert text into an MP3 format so you can hear it spoken aloud. One example is WYNN – What You Need Now.
It gives you the option to hear to how your work flows and whether it makes sense as a story. WYNN is available on student computers on campus.
Common writing problems
Waffle
Writing that ‘waffles’ is often well over the word count. It can leave the writer feeling as though they haven’t read much in terms of content.
A similar sin is ‘verbose’ writing, which means to use more words than are needed. The good news is that this can generally be improved easily.
First, trim unnecessary words. In the following example, the word ‘quite’ does not add anything useful to the sentence. Delete it.
The results showed that the experiment had been quite successful.
Next check for duplication of information, or where you may have said the same thing twice in slightly different ways, for example:
The increase in the number of soldiers attending such a funeral reflected the General’s popularity. There was a greater number present than expected. He was well-loved by all he commanded among the military divisions. In particular, the 15th (Scottish) division performed the Highland Dirk dance in his honour.
Download our helpsheet, Cutting Sentence Length.
Similar-sounding words
Affect/Effect
These two have similar meanings, which is probably why they are so often confused. However, one is a verb and one is a noun, which means one is an action and the other is a thing.
‘Affect’ is the verb, so something has to DO it, or it has to be done to something:
Pancakes containing bacteria may affect your health’, said the researcher in defence.
‘Effect’ is the noun, meaning it is treated like an object or thing:
Students were surprised to learn that the effect of bacteria in pancakes can be severe illness.
Then/Than
‘Then’ is a conditional word. It means that, if one thing occurs, something else is going to as well:
If bacteria are introduced to food, then a sleepless night may follow.
See the comma before ‘then’? It keeps the two related things nicely contained in their own part of the sentence.
‘Than’ is a comparative word. It is used to show some sort of difference or disparity between two things, or simply contrast the items in some way.
Researchers concluded that the students would experience worse problems than sleepless nights if they continued to ingest the pancakes.
These aren’t the only similar-sounding words, just some of the most common in academic writing. By familiarising yourself with their meanings, you will be better-equipped to use them correctly.
Activity: Editing
The following text could be much more concise. Delete the unnecessary words that do not add anything to the content.
Exploring the expansive world on extremely long-distance ocean journeys can have considerable impacts on the health of all sailors. For example, the demanding sea voyage itself is shown to have lasting effects on the sailor’s body’s immune system resulting in an array of unfortunate illnesses (Lu et al., 2010). In particular, cardiovascular disease is the most commonly diagnosed ailment identified amongst seafaring crew members (Hearty, 2009). Moreover, studies by Sponge and Lope (2011) indicate that these negative health effects are mainly due to two contributing factors: diet and lack of physical exercise on board the sailor’s ship. “There’s too many worm infested crackers and not enough deck scrubbing” explains one well-known ship captain (Blackbeard, 1720).
Activity: Answer
The words that are highlighted below could be deleted without risking a loss of clarity. They are largely descriptors, which are not generally used in academic writing. Some are judgements (e.g., ‘unfortunate’), which similarly do not have a place in academic writing.
Exploring the expansive world on extremely long-distance ocean journeys can have considerable impacts on the health of all sailors. For example, the demanding sea voyage itself is shown to have lasting effects on the sailor’s body’s immune system resulting in an array of unfortunate illnesses (Lu et al., 2010). In particular, cardiovascular disease is the most commonly diagnosed ailment identified amongst seafaring crew members (Hearty, 2009). Moreover, studies by Sponge and Lope (2011) indicate that these negative health effects are mainly due to two contributing factors: diet and lack of physical exercise on board the sailor’s ship. “There’s too many worm infested crackers and not enough deck scrubbing” explains one well-known ship captain (Blackbeard, 1720).
Download our helpsheet on the topic, Editing Your Writing.