1. Researching, Writing and Presenting Information - A How To Guide: Effective Proofreading Skills

The writing process has different stages:

• The composing stage – when we brainstorm, plan and write the first draft.
• The reviewing (proofreading) stage – when we evaluate what has been written.
• The rewriting stage – when we make changes to our original piece and write or word process the final copy.

One excellent way of proofreading work is to read your work aloud to yourself or someone else. Other people will listen to your work not as a writer but from the perspective of a reader. You are forced to slow down when reading out loud because you pronounce every word. By slowing down your thought processes, you read what is actually written, rather than what you think should be written. This helps to detect problems with sequencing, language errors and development (fully exploring all the relevant points). See the list below for more proofreading stategies.

As well as reading aloud, there are many different approaches to proofreading. Try some of the methods below to perfect your proofreading skills.

Take a break between writing and proofreading. If you can, set the document aside for a night, or even an hour, so that you can approach it with a fresh, clear mind.

Print your document and use a ruler under each line as you read. This will give your eyes a more manageable amount of text to read.

Proofread when you are most alert. If you perform better in the mornings or afternoon, save your proofreading until then.

Proofread backwards. Start by reading your document at the conclusion and then read each paragraph at a time all the way up top the introduction. This will force you to focus on the surface elements like grammar and punctuation rather than the meaning.

Know your weaknesses. Before you read your work, think about past feedback and the areas that you know you need to work on, maybe it is topic sentences, or grammar. Focus on those areas.

Read through your paper more than once. Focus on a different area each time, maybe look at spelling first, with the next time just looking at punctuation, and so on. 

Get help. If you’re not sure if you need that comma or whether to use “affect” or “effect,” get help. Ask your teacher or look up the word in a glossary or online. Keep in mind that Australian English is different to American English, so make sure you're using the correct information.

Use the following checklist for proofreading your writing. Self-evaluate your strengths and weaknesses in the 'comment' section.