Critical Skills: Proofreading

Proofreading is a step in the process of developing a paper, book, or other text for print or electronic publication. During this step, a proofreader carefully reviews the text to correct mistakes in grammar, style, and spelling and also to correct problems with layout and typography. The proofreading step is generally the last step before publishing or submitting a text. Often proofreading takes places after a paper or text is written, edited, and copyedited. The proofreading is meant to be the final step to clean up a text and ensure its high quality.

Proofreading may be done by the person who wrote the original work or it may be done by someone else. People who write papers for school, blog posts, and e-mail communications will most likely proofread their own work. People who write books, scholarly articles, and articles for newspapers and magazines will most likely have their work proofread by a professional proofreader. Although proofreading one's work is slightly different from proofreading professionally, many of the same skills are required and many of the same steps are followed.

Proofreading generally takes place after a work has been written, revised, and edited. The goal of proofreading is to finalize the work for publication; it is not to make major changes to the work. People who are proofreading their own texts should wait for a brief period after writing them to proofread them. For example, a student completing a paper for college might complete the paper one day and proofread it the next. This pause helps the proofreader notice more errors. Most proofreading takes place on hard copies of texts. If a student is proofreading a paper, he or she should print it and make the changes on the paper before inputting the changes into the document on the computer. Professional proofreaders often input their changes on physical copies of books or other publications, though some indicate changes electronically. Often, though, professional proofreaders do not enter the corrections themselves. Professional proofreaders use proofreading marks in their work. Different marks exist to show deletion, insertion, capitalization, and more. Professional proofreaders use standardized marks so that everyone who sees the correction understands what change is required.

People who are proofreading their own work can use a number of different strategies to help them identify errors in their work. People who are proofreading their own work can read the text out loud. Reading the text can make a person focus on each word, without skipping any. Reading the text out loud can help a proofreader notice missing words and repeated words. It can also help proofreaders determine if the text has a logical order. People who are proofreading their own work can also try reading the work backward. This can be an effective strategy for finding errors because the proofreader's eyes will not as easily skip over errors as they could when reading the text in the correct order. People who are proofreading their work can also take notes about repeated errors. Many writers make the same mistakes over and over again. People will be more likely to catch all instances of certain types of mistakes if they are looking specifically for those types of mistakes. If a proofreader finds more than one types of repeated mistake, he or she could scan through the text numerous times, each time looking for one specific type of mistake. Proofreaders can also use the Find and Replace function in electronic documents to locate repeated errors.

Core Skills & Competencies

Proofreading requires people to use a number of different skills and competencies. Understanding proper grammar, usage, and spelling is important for proofreaders. However, the level of editing during the proofreading phase will vary depending on the text being proofread. Individuals proofreading their work will often check for and change errors in grammar. Yet, professional proofreaders might not change errors in grammar, as those changes should have been made during the editing phase. Proofreading includes some editing, but proofreaders should edit text only when they have important reasons for doing it. Professional proofreaders, in general, should not reedit a text that has already been copyedited. Yet, people who proofread their own work will most likely correct grammar and usage errors.

Depending on the level of editing required for a project, a proofreader might have to note missing words, misused words, typos, sentence fragments, run-on sentences, subject-verb agreement errors, punctuation errors, and more. By understanding proper grammar, usage, and spelling, all proofreaders can substantially improve their work. Proofreaders will sometimes also have to make sure that writing adheres to a specific style. Proofreaders should understand how to research different styles that might be required for a particular type of writing. Proofreaders also often have to look up the spellings of words and names. Proofreaders do not need to know all the rules of grammar, usage, spelling, and style, but they should be able to research this information when needed.

Proofreaders must understand basic concepts of typography and layout. Typography is the style and appearance of the printed text. Layout is the way a text or book is arranged for printing. Proofreaders indicate if a layout is confusing or inefficient. They should ensure the information in the text is arranged logically and should make notes if it is not. Proofreaders also identify layout errors such as orphans and widows. Orphans are single words or short lines at the bottom of a paragraph, column, or page. Widows are words or lines that end a paragraph but are separated from the rest of the paragraph and begin another column or page. Orphans and widows are problematic because they create too much white space on the page and can cause confusion. (White space is any area on a page that is not filled with text or graphics.) Proofreaders point out these layout issues so that the person or team in charge of laying out the text will fix it. Proofreaders also check any images and their captions to ensure all the information is correct and they correspond with each other.

Although proofreaders have the job of locating all the necessary changes, they also have to judge whether the changes are necessary when compared to the cost and time it will take to do them. The goal of the proofreader is to ensure that all the work is of the highest quality, while also ensuring that the project's deadlines are strictly adhered to. If small changes would require a great deal of money to correct, the proofreader may choose to skip a certain correction. A professional proofreader should verify exactly what is expected from the proofreading process before beginning a job. Some people and organizations will expect proofreaders to make more changes to text, others will want proofreaders to make as few changes as possible. For example, many professional proofreaders will not correct common grammar errors, especially if the text contains many grammatical errors. Also, different organizations require different styles in their texts, so professional proofreaders should verify if they need to use a certain style in their work.

Research & Theory

Proofreading is an important skill that can be used in any discipline that requires writing. Practicing proofreading is beneficial for a number of reason. The first reason proofreading is important is that it can improve the future writing of people who practice it. People who proofread their own work or other people's work are more likely to begin to recognize mistakes in their own writing. A study published in 2006 indicated that students who saw and corrected errors in grammar were less likely to make grammar mistakes in their own writing over time. People who proofread will likely make fewer mistakes in their own writing. A 2003 ACT National Curriculum Survey also found that college instructors agree that good grammar and usage skills are important for incoming college students to possess (Quible 2006).

Proofreading is also important because it can help people better understand the paper, text, or book. One of the most important reasons for using one's proofreading skills is to create a document or text that is easy to read. Proofreaders often change words or phrase that have been misused. These misused words can fundamentally change the meaning of a text. People who proofread can help ensure that a text sends the intended message and that message is clear to readers. Correcting layout and typographical errors can also help readers better understand the information as these errors can make reading and comprehension more difficult. Texts that are free of errors often take readers less time to read, which can be important in classroom and business settings.

Proofreading also improves credibility by reducing errors. Errors in grammar, usage, typography, and layout are not only distracting, but they can also be damaging to one's credibility. People tend to find writing more credible and arguments more powerful if the text is well written and does not contain errors. A study conducted in Great Britain in 2013 and reported by Hesse indicated that people would be more than 50 percent less likely to purchase from a company whose website included grammar errors. By proofreading, one can improve one's own grammar and usage for the future and maintain one's credibility in the present.

Bibliography

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