Academic Writing for Social Work Editing and Proofreading

Once you have a complete first draft of your work, you need to give it a thorough revision. Try to give yourself a break of a day or two if you can before you start.

Key questions when you begin editing. Have I answered the essay question? What about the assessment criteria?

Presentation and Organisation Does the introduction set up the argument effectively? Is there a clear line of argument running through the whole essay? Are the paragraphs clearly structured? Is there a good flow from one to the next? Does the conclusion effectively bring together the strands of the essay into a final ‘big picture’?

Presentation and Organisation Are spelling, grammar and punctuation correct? Is subject-specific vocabulary used appropriately? Is there an appropriate academic style? Have you avoided unnecessary repetition? Is your essay a good read?

Coverage and Use of the Literature and other available evidence Is there evidence of adequate research? - key sources - a good range of sources Have you cited your sources consistently and correctly? Have you listed all the sources you’ve cited in your reference list?

Coverage of issues Have you covered all aspects of the essay task sufficiently? Have you shown a good awareness of the key debates around your service-user group?

Discussion Have you looked at the issues from different perspectives? Have you discussed them in critical depth?

Anti-Discriminatory and Anti-Oppressive Practice Issues Have you shown a good grasp of AD/AOP as an approach to Social Work practice, specifically its relevance to your service-user group? Have you mentioned key theorists relating to AD/AOP? Have you explored from different angles how your service-user group is affected by oppression/discrimination?

Proofreading Proofreading is the final stage in the preparation of a written paper when you concentrate on ‘surface errors’ – grammar, spelling and punctuation, repeated words or omitted words, and typos (typing errors). Also check for consistency in variable spellings, use of punctuation, referencing conventions and spacing, e.g. between paragraphs, long direct quotations, at the end of sentences, etc.

When to do the final proofread. Before you start proofreading, make sure you have made all the major changes to your text. Try to resist the temptation of rewriting as you go along – this is likely to result in more surface errors, or indeed have a knock-on effect on the content and structure of your text.

Some general tips about proofreading. Always allow some time to elapse before you proofread your work. A fresh pair of eyes makes all the difference! Do it when you’re not tired. Proofread from paper copy rather than from the computer screen.

General tips cont’d. You may find it helpful to print out a copy in a larger font. You may find it helpful to change the font.

General tips cont’d. Use a bright-coloured pen to highlight the errors and put a cross in the margin for each line in which yOu have spotted one X (or more than one cross if there’s more than one error in the line). It can be helpful to read aloud – but you probably won’t want to do that for a long piece of work!

General tips cont’d. Do you have any particular errors you want to concentrate on, such as typos (e.g. from vs. form) that the spell check won’t pick up? Do you have any particular weaknesses in grammar, punctuation or commonly confused spellings that you need to focus on?

General tips cont’d. Don’t always start from the beginning of your text. Don’t forget to proofread the title and reference list too.

General tips cont’d. You will probably need to proofread your work more than once. You might find it helpful to focus on a specific aspect each time. Do your own proofreading. Any assessments handed in by you must be your own work.