10 Tips to Effectively Proofreading Your Paper

Have you ever read over an essay after you have handed it in and noticed some typos, grammatical errors, and punctuation mistakes? This reflects badly on you and could potentially cost you grades over silly mistakes! Proofreading your work before submission will help reduce these errors.

Below are some tips on how to effectively proofread your work:

• Leave it at least 24 hours between finishing your document and proofreading it, you'll be more worried about content than spotting the errors. So, leave it, chill, it can wait – well, a bit anyway.


• Turn the TV, Music and anything else off, get away from any distractions. This is important work that you're about to start.


• Double space your paper and print it off, it's easier to keep track of where you're up to and what you're doing if the work is in front of you and it's also easier to read.


• Read the words aloud. This will help you notice the incorrect use of punctuation and any missing words.


• Use a ruler, bookmark or coloured sheet of paper to track where you are, this will help you concentrate on one line at once and you'll work faster through the document.


• Use a different coloured pen to highlight your mistakes, red or green are easier to identify on paper than blue or black.


• If you have a lengthy document to proofread, then rest your eyes every 20-30 minutes.


• Did you check that all your sources were properly referenced and cited, so that you haven't fallen into the trap of committing plagiarism? Need more advice on plagiarism? We can help.


• When you've proofread your essay and are absolutely sure there are no mistakes, have Supaproofread take a look to ensure nothing has been missed.

Let Supaproofread take a look at your document. We'll check for typographical, spelling, grammatical and punctuation errors. And that's not all; we'll also provide you with feedback on how you can improve the clarity and understanding of your work.