Proofreading

After revising and editing, you are ready to prepare the final manuscript. Make sure to allow yourself enough time for proofreading—the final and most important step in manuscript preparation.

Be sure to run the spell checker on your draft.

What to look for when proofreading

• consistency of style and manuscript conventions
• misspellings and typographical mistakes
• omitted words or word endings
• missing or unnecessary punctuation
• completeness, accuracy, and format of in-text and end-of-text citations
• page breaks

Such errors can be difficult to spot in your own work because you may read what you intended to write, not what is actually on the page.

A carefully proofread essay sends the message that you value your writing and respect your readers.

Proofreading strategies

Revision symbols

Related topics:

Editing sentences and paragraphs

Making global revisions

Spell checkers