Proofreading Your Paper
It is always difficult to find errors in one's own work. The words and
sentences appear correct on rereading because if the writer had known better,
he would not have made the errors in the first place! But a careful rereading
of a paper aloud before it is turned in helps considerably.
Perhaps a checklist of common errors will serve you as a guide. Keep
this list and a grammar book before you as you read your paper over, checking
every sentence for these items.
Run-on Sentences and Sentence Fragments
...Check each sentence to make sure it has a subject and verb and complete
thought.
...Have you run two sentences together incorrectly with neither period,
conjunction nor semicolon separating them?
Punctuation
...Have you ended every sentence with a period, question mark or exclamation
point?
...Are your thoughts within sentences broken up correctly by commas
for easier understanding?
...Have you broken up series by commas?
...Have you used a period after abbreviations?
...If you are in doubt about the proper punctuation of a sentence,
have you asked or looked it up in your grammar book?
Quotation Marks
...Did you remember to place exact quotes within quotation marks?
...Did you place all periods and commas inside the quotation marks
while placing semicolons and colons outside them?
Subject-Verb Agreements
...Check every subject and verb to make sure that if you have used a singular
subject, you have also used a singular verb.
...Similarly, a plural subject needs a plural verb.
Sentence Length
...Compute the average number of words per sentence. How close is that
number compared to the average of 22?
...Have you varied the length of sentences in each paragraph?
...If your sentences are too long, break them into shorter units.
...Sentences that are very short tend to produce a jerky style of writing.
...Does each sentence follow clearly and logically from the one before
it? Have you used some type of transitional device between each sentence?
Apostrophes
...Have you used them correctly to indicate possession? If you're unsure,
check a grammar book.
Tenses
...Have you incorrectly jumped about in different tenses?
...Have you used the correct form of the verb to express the tense
you want?
Capitalization
...Have you capitalized names of persons, cities, countries, streets, titles?
...Have you capitalized a quotation according to the original and the
needs of your sentence?
Spelling
...Check any word you have doubts about.
...If you are unsure of the spelling of a certain word, look it up.
...Be especially careful of the words listed as spelling nightmares;
also "ei" and "ie" words, words which add "-ing" and "ed," and words with
one or more sets of double letters.
Paragraphing
...Does each paragraph have a topic sentence which states the main idea?
...Have you used examples and vivid specific details to describe your
topic?
...Have you used explanatory sentences to give your opinion or judgement
on the topic?
...Have you included sentences which pertain only to that idea?
...Are transitions used between sentences and paragraphs?
...Is there a concluding sentence?
Omissions
...Have you left out any words in your sentences?