- Include definitions for terms that might not be understood by the reader.
- Consistency. Do you remain focused on your main idea, or thesis? Are there areas where you've gone on tangents, or made points that contradict your thesis?
- Fact-checking. Have you made unsupportable claims? Are there areas that need outside sources and evidence? If so, you'll need to put more time into your research.
- Citations for quotes and paraphrases. Any material borrowed from an outside source should include an in-text citation in the formatting style required by your professor.
- Over-use of quotes and paraphrases. Essays that include research and peer-reviewed articles as evidence should not be overwhelmed by the quotes and ideas of your sources. Your instructor might have a preference for how much of your paper can consist of outside sources, but generally it should not be more than 20%.
- Style. Do your sentences have a varied structure (short, long, simple, complex, etc.)? Have you used an informal tone or graphics that distract from your message? For example, have you used slang, colorful fonts, or text-message style language? Be sure to follow the guidelines of the formatting style your instructor has assigned for you.
- A conclusion that restates the main idea, without repeating it word for word.
Trust the Process
After you've read through your document for these content-related points above, you can go to the next stage which is checking spelling, punctuation, grammar, capitalization and sentence structure (sentence fragments and run-ons). You'll be tempted to correct these errors in the content editing stage, but try not to. Focus on one thing at time--content editing, then copy-editing--to save time.
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