Edit Organization, Sentence Structure, and Word Choice

Edit your academic paper for organization, sentence structure and word choice. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Does each paragraph have one main idea expressed in a topic sentence?
• Do succeeding paragraph sentences relate to their topic sentence?
• Does sentence structure vary?
• Have irrelevant or repeated words or phrases been deleted?
• Is word choice precise, vivid, varied?

Edit Grammar

Now that your content is logical, connected and well organized, take a close look at your grammar. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Are appropriate verb tenses used?
• Are there any contractions e.g. "don't" or "can't"? If so, rewrite in full "do not" or "cannot".
• Have you run a spell-check? Have you searched for homonyms (their/there)?
• Are prepositions and modifiers in the correct places?

Key Resources
Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) This is a user-friendly site with an excellent section on grammar with handouts available in both .pdf and printer friendly formats.
Temple University Writing Center Nine Strategies for Successful Proofreading
Temple University Writing Center's Grammar, Punctuation and Mechanics