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Essential Academic Skills

Editing and Proofreading

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What is it?

Editing and proofreading involve reviewing and revising your written work to improve clarity, flow, and correctness. Editing focuses on the overall structure, content, and flow of your writing. Proofreading involves checking for mistakes in grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

Why is it important?

Mistakes can confuse or mislead the reader and they can also reduce your credibility. Proofreading is necessary because mistakes are very common: everyone makes them! Good proofreading skills are therefore essential.

Editing is important because it is a challenge to communicate concepts clearly in writing for a diverse audience you have never met. It is usually necessary to improve the organisation,  or change the order of an argument to make it clearer. 

Good editing and proofreading can significantly improve your grades.

Examples

  • Re-drafting Content: Reviewing your work to ensure that your arguments are clear, logical, and well-supported by evidence.
  • Improving Structure: Organizing your writing to enhance readability and flow between sections and paragraphs.
  • Checking Grammar and Spelling: Identifying and correcting grammatical errors, typos, and spelling mistakes.
  • Consistency: Ensuring consistency in style, tone, and formatting (e.g. font, line spacing, vocabulary) throughout your document.

How can I learn how to do it?

  • Drop-ins: Find an upcoming drop-in on our calendar and talk to one of the team about editing or proofreading.
  • Online Resources: Use our page of editing and proofreading resources. Check out Grammarly's free grammar checker to help identify and correct errors in your writing.
  • Get Feedback: Show your work to others and be positive about their reactions. 

Links

Editing and Proofreading Resources Page: You'll find the video of the workshop, interactive activities, and our HowTo Guide on Editing and Proofreading.

Grammarly: Free online grammar checker.