When you finish editing, do a final proofreading. One good method is to read down a page slowly, sliding a six inch ruler or straightedge under each line as you go. This method keeps you from reading too quickly and helps you to catch errors. Another way to make yourself slow down and read carefully is to touch each word lightly with a pencil as you read.


As you proofread, keep these specific things in mind;


Check Your Punctuation : Have you put apostrophes in contractions and possessive nouns? Have you put periods, questions marks or exclamation points at the ends of sentences? Have you set off nonrestrictive elements with commas? Have you put quotation marks around direct quotes? Have you capitalized all proper names and nouns even when they’re used as adjectives such as German or Machiavellian? Are all parentheses and quotation marks paired?


Check for Omissions : Have you left out words such as to or for where they’re needed? Have you failed to delete words you intended to omit? Have you left out explanatory notes or dates where they’re needed?


Check Titles and Quotation : Are titles of books, plays and movies underlined or italicized? Are chapter titles or the titles of short works in quotations? Are long quotations set off and indented?


Check All Citations : Do notes and citations follow the proper form? Are notes and citations accurate?


Finally run your spell checker one more time. You may turn up additional typos. Such meticulous editing is a pain, to be sure, but the consequences of turning in or publishing sloppy work can also be painful.