Choosing a Topic

Researching the Topic

Writing the Paper

Building the Bibliography

Writing for Specific Purposes

Writing the Paper

Revisions

Now that you have completed the first draft of the paper, it is time to fine-tune and check for any needed revisions. As you make revisions, mark your changes in pen or pencil directly on the draft copy. As you revise, you should run through the following sequence of steps to make sure that you have consistent style and accurate information in your final paper:

• Check the overall organization
  • Does the introductory paragraph clearly state your thesis and the scope of your discussion?
  • Does the paper follow a logical "flow" from the introduction through the discussion?
  • Does your conclusion summarize your key points?
• Check each paragraph
  • Have you included clear topic sentences?
  • Is the sequence of ideas logical?
  • Do you make smooth transitions from paragraph to paragraph?
• Check each sentence
  • Have you used good sentence structure?
  • Consider breaking down lengthy sentences into shorter units.
  • Are your choices of word usage optimal? (This is the time to consider replacing overused words in a given sentence with appropriate synonyms)
  • Check your punctuation
  • Check all spelling (use the spellcheck feature of your computer but also check spelling in a manual reading)
• Check the paper overall
  • Is the format of your headings consistent? (Consider capitalization and heading levels)
  • Have you cited material paraphrased or quoted from other sources?
  • Have you included footnotes or endnotes, where appropriate?
• Check your references
  • Check the reference list or bibliography for consistent style
  • Check the reference list or bibliography against all in-text citations
• Proofread the entire paper more than once
  • It is easy to overlook typos in your own writing. Before your final proofreading of the paper, take a break so that you can read the paper through from a fresh perspective.