Revision Checklist
The final stage of writing is to proofread your paper for errors and make any revisions necessary. You should read through it yourself, but you can also give it to others for feedback (classmates or library staff). Reading your paper aloud is a great way to catch mistakes your eyes might gloss over while reading silently.
Creating a checklist can be helpful for making sure you don’t miss anything. A sample checklist might look like this:
- Grammar and spelling
- Organization (Do your sentences relate to each other? Is each one necessary? Does your argument or train of thought follow a logical progression?)
- Content (Do you cover all the topics you included in your road map? Are there unnecessary tangents or paragraphs that don’t relate to your main argument? Do you engage with other scholars, if that is part of your assignment? Are your quotes from other authors integrated or do they feel out of place? Are you engaging in good faith rather than exaggerating or misrepresenting positions you don’t hold?)
- Formatting (including font, margins, headings, quotes, block quotes, footnotes, and bibliography)
- Style (Are you overly wordy, complicated, or vague in your word choices? Can complicated sentences be divided up or made more concise? Do you overuse certain words to the point of being distracting? If you read your paper aloud, does it sound natural or is it awkward and difficult to follow?)
