6 Simple Steps for Editing a Research Paper Advice, Colllege Writng Tips, Essay Guide
6 Simple Steps for Editing a Research Paper in 30 min
10 Nov 2020
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6 Simple Steps for Editing a Research Paper Quickly
Writing a paper is only one portion of the task; the creative part. The significant work comes after that, when you cut through the words and phrases to bring out the best version of your paper.
Many students tend to overlook the importance of editing to present compelling research. According to the editor of the academic platform essaywriterservice.com, it is the key to guarantee that your paper is persuasive and well-rounded to the reader. At this point, you have already done the heavy lifting to convert your research into a first draft. We recommend that you take a break after finishing the writing to review it with a fresh mind.
1. Revise the Paper
Your first draft is merely a rough representation of your ideas. Before you get to the fine-tuning of the paper, you need to analyze the bigger picture. Is the overall organization of the document appropriate for your research context?
Begin by reading the entire paper. Find out whether the structuring works with the flow you intended. Put yourself in the reader’s shoes and contemplate whether you have managed to accomplish your goals.
Revising is done to rethink your ideas and to reorganize the paragraphs. During this process, you might realize that you need to refine your arguments further, provide additional evidence, or delete any unnecessary material.
2. Proofread Your Paper
Proofreading is necessary to ensure there are no issues in the paper relating to spelling, grammar, syntax, or formatting. In this stage, you are focusing more on the sentence structure than the arrangement of the whole paper.
There are a few points you need to consider here:
- Are there any spelling errors?
- Are all paragraphs indented?
- Is the punctuation accurate?
- Are the in-text citations formatted correctly?
- Is the vocabulary appropriate for the context?
- Have you used the right tenses?
- Are you using active verbs?
When you focus more on the individual paragraphs, you will be able to identify these errors easily. Changing the font and increasing the font size will also allow you to take a better look at any grammatical or spelling mistakes that you might have overlooked.
3. Edit the Paragraphs
By now, your paper would be decent at first glance. However, there might be numerous flaws you have disregarded. This step of editing each paragraph lets you take a closer look to ensure the logical following of a sequence. When you take SAT breaks, it helps you to refresh your mind for the next steps. Make sure that each paragraph gets the point across. The goal is to verify that the organization of the sentences within the passage fits well with the puzzle.
We have a checklist from a research paper editing service that will help you quickly get through this step.
- The topic sentence and the following sentences have to be connected. If not, you need to rephrase it or present it as another paragraph.
- The final sentence has to sum up the evidence, as well as transition the reader to the next point.
- Is the paragraph easy to follow?
- Does evidence support every fact?
- Does the paragraph hold your interest?
The last point is particularly crucial. Many times, academic writing is deemed dull and unable to hold the reader’s attention. That doesn’t mean you have to replace technical terms and jargon with layman’s language, who will not be the readers. Instead, you are writing for the reviewers and the professor of your undergraduate or Master’s degree program. Think about whether the paper would be interesting to their eyes.
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4. Read Out Loud
The three steps above cover the three critical stages of your editing process. However, it is likely that you might have missed an error or two. Reading your paper out loud will reveal any mistakes that evade your attention.
Sometimes, while writing, you might phrase sentences that do not make sense later. Make sure that every word has a purpose, and they are clear. Often, common mistakes such as its vs. it’s, respectively vs. respectfully, are difficult to spot unless you read it aloud.
5. Get Third-person Reviews
You are likely to get this self-editing done in half an hour. If you can spare more time, it is advised to ask someone else to read your work. Even better if it is someone from your field. If it’s not, this step will ensure that you have covered all the bases in avoiding mistakes.
Proofreading is less about the content and more about the format. Another person can identify the cliches and any rambling in your research content.
6. Do Not Hesitate to Make Cuts
Research papers often have a word count to meet. However, as a result, there are also chances of writing too much where only a little is needed. Such verbosity will, in fact, only make your paper less appealing.
The art of writing by omission emphasizes that you need to use only the right and necessary words, nothing more or less. And as a result, when you are severely strict about producing a concise research paper, you might end up cutting a lot of the words. However, it will tighten your work and make it clearer.
Once you have fixed all the errors that you noticed, make sure to revise it once more. But this time, print out a hard copy and read through it, Double-check all the points we have discussed earlier.
Note
In addition to all this, check if your professor is willing to give their feedback on your paper before you submit. If that’s the case, create a checklist of their input, and confirm that you have addressed every suggestion. In case any point doesn’t make sense to you, clarify why your professor proposed it.
Understandably, you are looking to get a quick revision done at the last minute. However, the editing process might reveal issues that require time to address. So set aside sufficient time for editing right from the beginning. While reviewing your paper in 30 minutes is achievable, a lack of proper editing can make you come across as incompetent and unprofessional as a researcher.
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