How to Effectively Proofread an Essay? Here are a Few Steps

Are you on the last step of writing an essay? Yes, the step of proofreading. But you lack the skills to do so, which makes you search for “Can I get assistance for proofreading my essay?”. Worry not, this article gives the nine best steps to do it effectively for any essay.

But before that, first, we have to learn what proofreading is. It is the process of reading a text and making corrections to it. The changes can be in grammar, sentence structure, or content accuracy. Proofreading increases readability and makes error-free content, so now let us start with the how part.    

9 Practical Steps to Do Proofreading of an Essay

Now that you have learned the meaning and importance of proofreading, let's learn the steps. This article breaks down the whole process of proofreading into simple steps. Each one has its significance, so do not miss any. If you omit any, your final product will lack grammar, accuracy, etc. So do not avoid any and let us start with the first step. 

Do not Proofread Immediately

This step means you must avoid proofreading an essay just after you have written it up. After putting down the essay, your brain is tired and you will not be able to focus. Give yourself time, to play outside, finish other chores, or talk to your friends. Essay writing is an essential skill as you need it in every degree, like Management, Literature, etc. But worry not, you can always seek expert help by searching for MBA essay writing.   

Read Each Line Thoroughly

Sometimes, students are in so much rush because they quickly want to end this essay problem or have a close deadline. It makes them read the content in such a rush that they leave so many mistakes behind. So read every word carefully, put all your focus in there, understand what you have written, and identify mistakes to correct them. Moreover, Read the content aloud to know what you want to say and what you have written.  

Verify the Information

You have to go through your content twice. For the first time, check for the accuracy of the content you have provided in your essay. Start reading it and check the information as it comes. You can google, ask experts, and consult teachers to verify it. You do not have to check for every piece of information in the essay but do it, especially for the ones you are not sure of. Moreover, to get correct information, use credible websites only while researching. 

Check the Readability

Readability means how easy is your content to read and understand. Start going through the content of your essay a second time and do two things. First, make them clear if they are difficult to understand or have vague meanings. Second, make them short, if you can write a sentence in ten words, why do you have to use twenty? Lastly, shorter sentences are easier to understand and look less messy.     

Correct the Grammar

Now is the time to check for the grammar of your content. The incorrect one can piss off your readers. Correct all the mistakes of subject-verb agreement, tenses, capitalization, etc. Moreover, check for spelling mistakes too, especially for technical terms. You can do it manually by reading the content a third time and correcting the errors as you identify them or you can go for any online grammar checker tool.

Clarify the Vague Pronouns

Vague pronouns refer to those that do not tell which noun they are referring to. For instance, Stephney made a cake for her cat, she is happy now. In this sentence, who is happy - Stephney or the cat? Look for this type of pronouns and correct them by changing the sentence structure. As leaving them will hamper the readability of your content. 

Change to Active Voice

One big mistake students make is using passive voice to write sentences. Do not do that, change to active voice. But why? First it is easier to understand the sentences, as the subject is coming before the object. Second, the passive voice is submissive, as the situation is happening on the subject, which can make your essay boring. To sum up, active voice makes sentences easy to understand and powerful. 

Use a Plagiarism Checker

Plagiarism means the copied content of your essay. It is better to check it, as you can lose marks. So, once you finish the proofreading part, put your content in any plagiarism checker tool. If it has only a few lines showing as copied, you can correct them by changing some words or using synonyms. Lastly, you can leave the commonly used lines, if the tool shows them as plagiarised content.

Ask Someone Else

Ask someone else to proofread once you finish doing it yourself. But why? Because a person reading your essay for the first time can easily find all the unclear sentences and hidden mistakes you may have left. The other person can be your friend, teacher, sibling, etc. You do not have to make all the changes they said, because they can be wrong too.

Make Mistake Notes

You have now finished proofreading your essay by yourself and someone else, it is time to note the mistakes. Whatever errors you make, whether of grammar, sentence structure, plagiarism, etc, make notes. Why do you have to do that? Because writing them will make you remember and avoid them the next time you will do an essay.   

Conclusion

So, these are the nine steps, you have to follow to proofread your essay effectively. They will help you correct all the grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and incorrect information. These steps will also make your essay easy to read and understand, making it error-free. But still, if you want any help, search for “Can someone help in proofreading my essay?”If you get professional assistance, your work will be done in a quality manner, before the deadline, and without any error. Remember, proofreading is an essential step, so do not miss out on that, do it great and seek expert aid if needed.