You will save time and money if your text is as accurate as possible before you send it for
a final, professional proofread.
Here are my ten top tips for proofreading your own work.
a final, professional proofread.
Here are my ten top tips for proofreading your own work.
Read it out loud – a very good way of catching small words that are missing. Most people will skim a text for meaning, relying on the eye and brain to fill in the gaps. Reading out loud slows you down, and helps to reveal the missing words.
Read it backwards – particularly useful for proofreading numbers and computer code, but also good for text in capitals.
Watch out for capitals – the eye uses pattern recognition to speed-read ordinary text, but this doesn't work well for text in all-capitals. Check letter by letter.
Read it on paper – onscreen proofreading is hard on the eyes, and some typefaces are more readable than others on a computer. If your document is not too long, print it out to proofread it before making your corrections onscreen.
Go up a size – one of the benefits of working onscreen is that it's easy to magnify a document. It's also easy to make the font size bigger (as long as you remember to change it back again afterwards). Very handy for checking small details like punctuation, and for making sure your eyes are not straining.
Change the typeface – another advantage of using word-processing software. Changing the look of the words can sometimes help to draw attention to details you might otherwise miss.
Make a list (and check it twice) – there are likely to be particular words or names that feature prominently in your document. Find every instance of those words (Ctrl+F in Word will do it for you) and check them separately to make sure they are all right.
Share the pain – is there a friend or colleague who can check the document with or after you? They will find things that you have missed (and vice versa).
Work in sections – most documents have different elements: text, headings, images, diagrams, and so on. Take one type of material – all the chapter headings, say – and check them together. It's much easier to detect inconsistencies when you are comparing like with like.
Take a break – proofreading is careful, painstaking work, and can be fatiguing. Give your eyes and your brain a rest.
When that's all done, put your mind at rest and call a professional proofreader!
'Pam proofread and copy-edited some of my research proposals and academic articles. She is knowledgeable, meticulous and reliable. Pam quickly grasps both the scope and style of a text and responds accordingly. Her suggestions are always spot on.'
Christian Ferlaino, 2019
Christian Ferlaino, 2019
Open Book (1988) by Guy Diehl. Reproduced with the kind permission of the artist.
Copyright © 2016/2021 Pamela Smith
Copyright © 2016/2021 Pamela Smith