The act of proofreading involves looking for errors or mistakes within a document concerning the “spelling, punctuation, grammar and word choice,” (Writing Tutorial Services 2004). These are issues pertaining directly to the content of a document, and is important to ensure that a written document is cohesive and flows well. To that end, proofreading helps get rid of unwanted errors that may get in the way of a reader’s experience in reading a document (Mousseau 2006). Proofreading helps maintain a standard of quality for any piece of work. It also helps if you wish to write in a business environment; companies will expect professionalism and correctness out of any documents one might produce for a company (Putnis & Petelin 1996 p. 236).
One very interesting tidbit about spelling mistakes is that if you have made a mistake in terms of spelling words and proofreading did not catch it, this may be because your mind actually read the word properly, regardless of whether the word was actually spelled correctly or not. This is because people tend read words as a whole, so as long as the the first and last letters of a word are preserved, the rest can be jumbled up and still be readable (Sen n.d.). This is something to be aware of as it means that spelling errors can be easily overlooked.
Another issue that has to be highlighted is that the author of a document is less likely to spot mistakes within the document than other people are (Business in Berkshire n.d.). This is because the author, being familiar with the text, already has expectations and knowledge of what was meant to be written, rather than what was written. Thus, the author of a document should never proofread their own work by themselves.
There are of course numerous other kinds of errors that may appear within any document, which is why people proofread. Measures have to be taken to ensure that a document has as few errors as possible (preferably none). Martin (2005) has some tips to help the proofreading process:
- Have multiple people proofread the document.
- Do not be overly-reliant on spell-checker tools; they may miss some errors.
- Study proper grammar books to ensure proper grammar use.
- Read aloud or think of the words phonetically when reading a document.
- When proofreading, scan the document, so as not to miss out on any minor errors that may be present.
- After proofreading, set aside the document and read it again at a later time or day. Some errors might have been overlooked.
In addition to that, Martin also said that if possible, a printed, bound copy of the document should be read when proofreading, to ensure that the margins, spacing, and other design issues were also without error. Martin was talking about proofreading in the context of a book, but the point stands, that being that proofreading should ideally take place in what the end product of the document will look like. If it is a web page, use a web browser to view it. If it is a report, print it out and bind it appropriately. This is basically killing two birds with one stone, by checking both proofreading and document design at the same time.
To sum up, proofreading is a valuable tool to try ensure that a document is not jarring to the reader and meets professional standards of quality. If you wish to get started on proofreading and how to proofread, see the following link: Proofreading Symbols and Abbreviations (Webster). If you wish to see how a lack of proofreading can go horribly wrong though, please watch the video embedded below..
References
Putnis, P & Petelin, R 1996, Professional communication: principles and applications, Prentice Hall, Sydney
Business in Berkshire n.d., The importance of proofreading, viewed 12 June 2008, <http://www.businessinberkshire.co.uk/businessinberkshire/features98.html>
Martin, K 2005, Costly mistakes, the importance of proofreading, Self-Pub.net, viewed 12 June 2008, <http://www.self-pub.net/guides/proofreading.html>
Mousseau, J 2006, The importance of proofreading one’s work, Associated Content, viewed 12 June 2008, <http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/89287/the_importance_of_proofreading_ones.html?cat=31>
Sen, R n.d., Importance of proofreading, Perfect Editing Solutions, viewed 12 June 2008, <http://www.perfectediting.com/proofreading-advice.htm>
Writing Tutorial Services n.d., Proofreading for common surface areas: spelling, punctuation, and grammar, viewed 12 June 2008, <http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/proofing_grammar.shtml>
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