Revision and Editing of Your Paper

The Revision and Editing Process of Your Paper

The final stages your paper will go through before it is ready to be submitted, is the revision and editing process. Revision and editing (for example phd dissertation editing or revision) are often confused with each other or considered to be the same process. This may be a result of the way the terminology is used. The important thing is that both processes are completed and not how the particular process is labeled. In general you may look at editing and revision of your paper in the following way:

• Revision – Revision will occur before editing. Revision will have to do with the overall presentation of your paper, its ideas and concepts. Revision may include restructuring paragraphs or eliminating whole parts of a paper. A major revision could entail a complete paper overhaul.
• Editing – Editing deals more with the mechanics of writing. Spelling and grammatical error checks are the types of things covered in the editing process

Elements to Be Examined in the Revision Process

The revision portion of the revision and editing process examines the whole premise of your paper. The following is a list of questions to ask yourself during the revision process:

• Purpose – What is the papers purpose? Does it fulfill its purpose?
• Thesis – What is the thesis of the paper? Is it clearly stated?
• Structure – What are the main points of the paper? Do they support the thesis?
• Development – Do details, examples and other evidence support your thesis?
• Unity – Does each sentence and paragraph contribute something in the way of support to the thesis?
• Coherence – How clearly and smoothly does the paper progress? Does the placement of any of the information disrupt presentation?
• Introduction and conclusion – Does the introduction gain the reader’s attention? Does the conclusion properly summarize your paper and arguments and provide a sense of completion?

Points to Check during Editing

The very last stage is the editing process. This will mostly involve looking for and correcting errors of a mechanical nature. Essentially these types of errors will be either grammatical errors or spelling mistakes. Comma usage, run on sentences and subject/verb agreement and other grammatical mistakes need to be corrected. Some basic proofreading tips for editing include the following:

• If time permits put the paper aside for a day before editing. When editing immediately after writing the brain tends to see what it expects to see, not what is there.
• Edit for one type of mistake at a time.
• Read your paper backwards when checking for spelling mistakes so you focus on words, and not content.

Editing puts a final polish on your paper and keeps mechanical errors from distracting from content. In addition, it’s worth visiting our site where you may get additional information about how to avoid plagiarism in academic writing. 

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