Can You “Hack” The Proofreading Process?

In a professional proofreading service, the expert you work with will typically be able to adequately check up to 2,500 of your words per hour.

This means that for a 10,000-word dissertation, it would take a professional proofreader around 4 hours to complete a high-quality proofreading service. Likewise, for a smaller document of, for example, 2,500 words, this would only take a proofreader 1 hour.

Interestingly, while this may sound very fast to some writers, it is unusual for the experts who provide proofreading services to work any faster than this.

This is despite the fact that you – if you are a non-trained proofreader (e.g., a student or academic) – may believe you can proofread at quicker pace. If you think you can, remember that most professionals work much more methodically than you are likely to.

Why is this the case? Why can’t proofreaders work any faster?

Another interesting question that arises is: Can we “hack” the proofreading process,making it shorter without compromising on quality?

 

How to “hack” the proofreading process

The simple and short answer is that there is no known way to “hack” the proofreading process.

In other words, no matter how great you may become as a professional proofreader, the limit of being able to adequately proofread 2,500 words per hour will not increase much. For example, some of the best and most efficient proofreaders may achieve up to 3,000 words an hour, but after that, their quality is likely to decline.

You might think that computers could be used to speed up the proofreading process. This is true, but even with the use of helpful proofreading software (e.g., spellcheckers), evidence strongly suggests that 2,500 words per hour is a hard upper limit.

While it may be upsetting to hear this, it shouldn’t be surprising. After all, considering the complexity of the task that a proofreader needs to complete, being able to make a full pass at 2,500 words per hour is very impressive.

If you try to time yourself, for example, the evidence suggests that – especially if you are an inexperienced or non-expert proofreader – you will only be able to proofread around 800 words adequately per hour.

 

How to accelerate the proofreading process

Having established that there is no way to “hack” the proofreading process, given the complexity of the task, it is essential to point out that the process can definitely be accelerated.

There are various ways to make the proofreading process much quicker. To save time during proofreading and complete the process quicker (and more effectively), you can put into practice the following pro tips:

·         Properly edit your document first, and only then begin proofreading

·         Take breaks to energise yourself and keep your eyes fresh

·         Use digital shortcuts (e.g., “Find and Replace”)

·         Use digital tools (e.g., spellcheckers such as Grammarly)

·         Maintain a checklist of commonly overlooked errors