Editing and Proofreading

Editing and Proofreading, are they the same thing?

Although the terms are considered interchangeable and they are similar, they focus on different aspects of your work. They are two important stages in preparing your work for submission. Editing focuses on the subject content and the writing style. Proofreading focuses on minor errors which are unrelated to the topic.

Tips for both processes

• Remove all distractions, this can’t be done with a programme streaming in the background or part of your attention on your phone.

• Schedule short sessions for these tasks. One long session will not be as effective.

• Manage your workload so that there is time between finishing the writing and these processes. This space will allow you to approach the work fresh and this will improve your ability to focus.

• Use resources such as the Word 'Read Aloud' function to listen to the section that you are checking.

This is the iterative process of checking that you have done everything that is required in the assignment, making sure the writing is well organised including transitions that link the paragraph and confirming that the claims are accurate with evidence that strongly supports the arguments. Making a checklist will help you cover everything. This will include: 

Assignment structure

• Is the overall structure aligned with the specific assignment instructions?

• Do you have a clear introduction and conclusion?

• Are the paragraphs in the main body in a logical order?

• Do the transitions between paragraphs flow coherently?

Paragraph structure

• Is there a topic sentence?

• Is the paragraph about that single topic?

• Are there any sentences that are unnecessary or unrelated?

• Is anything missing?

Clarity

• Have you included definitions?

• Is each sentence complete and clear?

• Have you removed unnecessary adverbs and adjectives?

• Is the writing literal rather than figurative?

Style

•  Is the work subject focused i.e. written in the third-person? [There are some exceptions that are written in the first-person e.g. reflections. Follow the assignment guidance.]

• Are sentences succinct?

• Have you removed repetition?

• Is the writing straightforward rather than pretentious?

Citations and referencing

• Have you used APA 7th ed. for business modules and OSCOLA for law modules?

• Are quotations formatted and cited following the library guidance?

• Are all citations in the list of references?

• Was everything in the list of references cited?

• Is the reference list formatted according to the library guidance?

Develop your own checklist so that you can use it for each assignment

Edit your draft until you are happy with it.  The do some final proofreading. 

• Read it once again aloud - does it make sense? (Try Word Read Aloud or similar so you can listen to your work)

• Look for mistakes such as typing and spelling errors.  Look up doubtful spellings or ask someone

• If you used a spellchecker, check for words that are not misspellings in their own right, but which are no the words you want to use, especially homophones such as 'there' and 'their'

• When proofreading for grammar, punctuation and spellings it can help to work backwards through your writing (word by word for spelling), to avoid drifting into skim-reading

• Everyone has their own pattern of errors.  If there are certain mistakes you make repeatedly, note these down and be particularly careful in checking for them

Cottrell (2013)

Reference

Cottrell, S. (2013). The Study Skills Handbook (4th ed.). Palgrave, Macmillan

Obtain Turnitin similarity reports on your work during the writing process

Uses the Office 365 version of Microsoft Word: Please watch the short video and read the installation guide 

which explains how to install and use it here.

https://help.turnitin.com/draft-coach/student/using-draft-coach.htm

What is Turnitin used for?

• Turnitin is used to establish the degree of similarity between a piece of written work and existing text.

• It compares work against sources like books, journals and internet content.

• It also compares against other student work which has been submitted to Turnitin.

One purpose of Turnitin is to help academics to identify plagiarism. However, it is also a useful tool for students, to help improve academic writing skills, and to pick up accidental errors before submitting work. 

In the Faculty of Business and Law, it is possible to submit drafts of your work to a submission dropbox and identify any issues prior to final submission. You can then overwrite your draft with your final submission (before the assignment's due date).

Does this mean I have plagiarised?

Not necessarily! There are a number of reasons why a match may be found which do not carry the risk of plagiarism (although in each case it is vital that you check you have referenced and cited your work correctly, using the Library guidance).

The following are legitimate similarity issues which may occur in your work:

• Some/all of your reference list (or bibliography) may have been identified as a match because these sources have been used in other students’ work.

• If you have been given a template to use when completing your assignment, Turnitin may identify similarities with the work of other students (because you are all using the same template).

• Small strings of words (e.g. 3 or 4 in a row) may be identified because they are technical terms (i.e. business- or law-specific words and phrases), common phrases or genuine coincidences (Turnitin uses algorithms to identify similarities, so this is a common legitimate issue).

• Quotes will be identified (unless your course team have set the “exclude quotes” filter) as these are explicitly the words of another author. This will help you to check whether you have cited and referenced these sources fully.

Similarity issues which indicate a risk of plagiarism:

• Text may be highlighted if you have paraphrased (reinterpreted the words of another author) but have not changed the words to a sufficient degree. In this case, you need to rewrite the author’s point more thoroughly. For guidance on this, see this AST paraphrasing handout.

• If there is a match to a source which is not referenced within your paper.

These issues both indicate the possibility of plagiarism (deliberate or unintentional) in your work, so it is vital that you resolve these, to avoid potentially being accused of plagiarism.

What does it mean, and what can I do about it?

For more information:

• • • Video - Avoiding plagiarism

    • Video - How to understand the Turnitin Originality Report

    • Link to Library referencing guidance

    • Interpreting Turnitin reports

If you need help submitting a piece of work or with the technical aspects of using the system, please speak to your course team or BaL-Digital

How to Submit your Assignments