Checking your assignment

You want your reader to find your work easy to read, so it’s very important to spend time checking (proofreading) your work when you are happy with the content. You can use the spelling and grammar check in Word, or other apps, but there may well be typos, formatting inconsistencies and other presentation problems that are missed, so you need to check carefully for yourself too.

It’s very common to make slips in your writing, especially when you’re concentrating on the content, and it can be difficult to notice them. This page contains some ideas that should help you to improve the readability of your work.

Read through your work

It’s a good idea to read over your work several times, breaking it down into manageable chunks. Reading your work aloud can help you to hear your mistakes. If you know you have certain weak areas, punctuation or referencing for example, read through focusing just on that aspect. You can then read over again perhaps a few times to hunt for any other mistakes.

Microsoft Word Immersive Reader

You might find it easier to check your work by using the Immersive Reader view in Word. This is available in the online version of Word in Office 365. The text is more spaced-out, which can make it easier to spot mistakes. You can also use the text to voice option to listen to your text being read aloud.

Referencing

Check your referencing carefully: have you referenced where you need to (every time you include an idea from a book, journal, the Internet, or any other source)? Does your reference list or bibliography include everything that is referenced in the main body of your text or in your footnotes? Have you formatted the references correctly in your text or footnotes and in the reference list or bibliography? If you’re at all unsure about how to reference correctly, check your School Handbook or use Cite Them Right Online.

Other kinds of mistakes to look out for are:

Typos, spelling mistakes and missed words
Incomplete sentences
Extra spaces where they’re not needed
Missing punctuation
Inconsistent formatting (with fonts, spacing, use of headings/sub-headings)
Language slips: inconsistent use of tenses, missing articles (a/an/the), vague use of pronouns (this/that/these/it) without being clear about what you are referring to.

Have a look at the Using Sources pages for more help with referencing.

Need more help?

If you are unsure about how to check your work, you can contact the Learning Enhancement Team by email or see the Learning Enhancement Team's webpages.

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