How Proofreading Can Improve Your Writing

Having a proofreading service review your academic essay can be the difference between a good essay, and an excellent one. However, many students neglect the importance of a proofreading service as a key step in writing their essays. Proofreading is an essential step in the writing process and can be instrumental in ensuring your ideas and thoughts are communicated clearly and cohesively.

 

Proofreading should only be completed once the essay or document has been finalised. This means that the essay has already been through a rigorous editing process, where the argument has been thoroughly developed and organised. During this editing process, it is important to assess the structure of the essay. For example, could paragraphs be rearranged to improve your argument? Do the ideas you present follow each other in a logical and comprehensible way?

 

During the editing process, you should also take the time to rewrite any sections of the essay that you aren’t completely happy with, or that don’t add to the overall argument. The editing process allows you to revise aspects of the essay that may be weaker, or not as convincing as other sections. It is okay to add or change the content of your essay at this stage, as long as it relates to and supports your argument, and stays within the prescribed word limit.

 

The best practice during the editing process is to save each draft of your essay as a new file. This means that you will have a complete record of your progress and can refer back to older versions of the text if there is an idea you wish to revisit. When you are happy that the editing process is complete and the content of your essay is finalised, you can begin the proofreading stage.

 

Proofreading involves checking the content for errors in punctuation, spelling and grammar. It provides the opportunity to fix any errors or mistakes that may take away from the overall argument of the essay. Whilst many computers have software that can spell-checka document for you, they are not capable of checking for correct word choice or complex grammar.

 

An experienced proofreader can spot and fix grammatical errors, particularly as they will have a much greater understanding of the overall meaning of the sentence. Something as simple as incorrect punctuation can change the entire meaning of a phrase or sentence, so it is important to have your work reviewed by an expert.

 

Grammar, spelling and punctuation are key aspects of the academic grading process, and if unsatisfactory, they can bring the grade of the paper down. It is essential to have every error checked, regardless of how unimportant you think it may be. Proofreading can improve the clarity and understanding of your argument. A proofreading service can also check the format and clarity of the citations and references in the essay, another common mistake that impacts the grade.

How to Improve your Writing by UsingParaphrasing Services

In academia, a professional proofreading service can be instrumental in improving your writing. Paraphrasing can be a difficult skill to master, so if you are unsure, it is important to consult a professional paraphrasing service so that your work is not accused of plagiarism.

Paraphrasing is the act of rewriting a piece of text in your own words, whilst retaining the overall meaning and intention of the text. It can prove very useful if you have a large piece of information that you need to condense into a shorter, more digestible format. Paraphrasing is also a great opportunity to improve writing skills.

However, paraphrasing is not always a simple task. It requires strong comprehension skills as it requires a full understanding of the original text before it is rewritten. It is important that the meaning is not lost in each rewritten sentence. Practising paraphrasing can not only help to hone your skill, but also improve your written language skills as a whole.

Here are some ways practising paraphrasing can improve your overall writing ability:

 

Improves memory

The practice of reading a block of text, and then rewriting it in a new way can improve your memory. Paraphrasing encourages you to be more conscious of what are you are reading to ensure you fully understand its meaning and intention.

 

Improves understanding

Much like the point above, the act of paraphrasing can significantly improve your ability to take in and understand information. The process of rewriting the text in your own words, and ensuring the message is not lost improves your comprehension skills.

 

Improves creativity

Paraphrasing is a great way to become more creative and ambitious with your writing style and ability. As paraphrasing is not a direct copy of the original text, it provides you with an opportunity to make the text more engaging. It also requires you to learn new words and phrases that have similar meanings to those used in the original text.

 

Improves vocabulary

Paraphrasing is a great way to expand your vocabulary, as you search for new ways to say something written in the original text.

 

Practising paraphrasing can be an easy and fun task. Any text can be paraphrased so you can challenge yourself with a novel, or a magazine article. All you need to do is to pick a specific section of text and read it thoroughly. Once you are confident you understand the meaning of the text and its main discussion points, try writing them down in your own words. Paraphrasing aims to make the original text shorter, so try to make your writing more concise. It isn’t necessary to follow the same structure as the original text, as long as the meaning isn’t confused and the text flows.

In conclusion, paraphrasing is a great skill to learn if you frequently conduct research and need to summarise the information easily, but skilfully.

Benefits of Proofreading

Many people may question why they need to use a professional proofreading service in their professional or academic careers. But there are many benefits to using a proofreading service such as providing objectivity, providing reassurance of the quality of the document and protecting a business or brand from any reputational damage that may come from errors or confusion.

 

Proofreading is the last step in checking and reviewing a document before it is published. A proofreading service will check for accuracy and consistency as well as the standard checks listed below:

• -       Grammatical errors
• -       Spelling mistakes such as capitalisation and hyphenation
• -       Formatting errors
• -       Check for sense and understanding
• -       Check on word usage, such as subject-verb usage
• -       Incorrect or inconsistent page, chapter and section numbering
• -       Ensure headers and footers are correct and consistent across the document
• -       Incorrect captions on tables, figures and photos
• -       Consistency in the table of contents
• -       Consistency and correctness in referencing

 

Some less obvious and less well-known checks that will also be carried out by a proofreader are as follows:

-       Any end-of-line breaks that might cause confusion

-       Check the references cited in the document to ensure they are consistent. A proofreader will not however check the validity of the references themselves.

-       Check for style, design and layout

-       Check for “widows” which is a short last line of a paragraph at the top of a page, or “orphans” which is a short line of a paragraph at the bottom of a page

-       Alert the author to any areas of the text that are not clear

 

The proofreading process is a key part of the creation and publication of a document, in a range of contexts, from a university paper to a corporate press release. A proofreading service can find and fix any errors or inconsistencies before the document is published and any mistakes, which could prove irreversible if left unchecked!

 

Below are two examples that show the importance, and benefits of proofreading.

 

Example 1: When proofreading a financial textbook, the proofreader noticed that a key diagram that was described and referred to in text, was missing. The diagram was essential to the chapter and its omission would have had a knock-on effect on figure references and page numbering.

 

Example 2: When proofreading a company’s Annual Report and Accounts, the proofreader noticed a spelling mistake in the job title of one of the directors. This was then able to be corrected before the document was published for the world to see!

 

These examples demonstrate the importance of proofreading across a range of written texts. Whether it be a book, journal, report, commercial document, press release or social media post, each must be proofread before publication. There is only one chance to impress your audience, and an inaccurate or confusing document will reflect badly on yourself, ora business.

Copy Editing vs Proofreading: What’s the Difference?

Both copy editing and proofreading services have the same end goal: to make a piece of written text as coherent and free of mistakes as possible. Copy editing and proofreading services are not interchangeable, they are both as important as each other.

 

The role of a copy editor is to improve the writing of the author. This is mostly understood to be correcting spelling and grammar, but copy editing involves much more than that. In professional publishing, copy editors ensure that the text is in line with the chosen style guide, and is suitable for the correct audience.

 

Copy editors will also suggest changes to a piece of text, to improve its accuracy and readability. This can involve editing sentences to improve clarity and conciseness, suggesting alternative word choices to improve meaning, and ensuring the text adheres to the same tone of voice. The role of a copy editor is not to remove or edit the author writing style, but to improve it.

 

The role of a proofreader, on the other hand, is to check the writing of both the author and copy editor for any errors that may have been previously missed. In traditional publishing, a proofreader is the last person to read the complete manuscript before it is sent to print, and after it has been through the hands of a copy editor.

 

The proofreader will then carefully read the manuscript, checking for any errors that may have arisen after edits were made and checking how the manuscript reads in print. Proofreaders will also look out for incorrect page numbering, misaligned text, additional spaces between words, incorrect indexes and incorrect paragraphing. The role of the proofreader is not limited to those listed above, and often there can be much more involved at this stage, depending on the type of text that is being proofread. For example, if it was an article for a newspaper or magazine, the proofreader may also be responsible for fact-checking the text.

 

So, when should you hire a copy editing or proofreading service?

 

A copy editor should always review the manuscript or document before a proofreader. But before you send your manuscript off to a copy editing service, you should ensure that you are happy with the structure of the text. A copy editor will check for flow and clarity, and are likely to alter individual sentences and paragraphs. If there is a possibility that an extra chapter will need to be added, so don’t send your manuscript to a copy editor just yet!

 

Once your manuscript has been reviewed by a copy editor, hire a separate proofreader. This is best practice, as there is always a risk that a copy editor may not pick up on their own mistakes as similar to the original author, they know what the text means and should say. When the proofreading stage is complete, your manuscript is ready to be published and presented to your audience.