If you’re a college student, writing a research paper is the task you’ve definitely faced during your course. And if writing a project itself is something that you can handle at least somehow, the majority of students hate editing their own projects. They tend to skip this stage, and when they do it, they lower their chances of getting the desired degree. The point is that cleaning the text and cutting unnecessary sentences are a must at the stage, when you’re required to polish your paper.
If you can’t boast being an editing pro, but the research assignment is out there for you, consider the following research paper guide related to advice on how to edit this kind of academic project.
- Read the Paper. That may sound quite primitive, but the truth remains the same – once you’re approaching the revising stage, make sure to read the research paper from A to Z. Stay away from social networks, turn the TV off and dive into the process of text absorption.
- Plan Up Your Edits. In case your research paper includes both the written text and the visual items such as diagrams or tables, make sure to print them in the form that is the most comfortable for your to revise. Besides, it is recommended to plan the exact time when you’re supposed to be doing a major revising and when it’s better to deal with trivia stuff that does not require that much of attention. This simple technique will enable you to see where you should take serious steps to complete the revising task.
- Break Down the Tasks that Should Be Undertaken By Each Day. Once you’re done with planning the edits (check your diagrams, re-reading this or that article that is related to your project, re-conducting a data analysis, etc.), ensure to schedule up the exact time every piece of work requires. In case you’re dealing with major revisions, try to break them down into smaller segments. It’s easier to complete the editing when you know you have to cope with ONE piece of assignment at a time.
- Don’t Be Lazy, Take a Pen! Once you start editing your research paper, make sure to print out a new version of your project and revise it with pen in your hands. Yes, that’s right. It’s time to edit by hand! If it makes sense, approach someone you can trust for a professional read. A fresh look at your paper will do the job!
- Mind the Grammar, Punctuation, Style and…Bibliography. Of course, it’s hard for some students to focus on all those aspects at a time. This means you will need to set a deadline on every matter in order to make sure research project is written in accordance with the punctuation, grammar and style rules. By the way, revision is the right time to check literature resources and whether they’re placed appropriately within the content.
- Chill Out & Repeat. When all the work seems to be done, put the paper aside and go out. Enjoy a cup of coffee, take a walk in a park or enjoy a warm spring afternoon riding a bike. Just make sure to have some rest before getting back to the written text and revising it once again.
Real revision is more than just cutting some sentences here and there in the research paper. Real and professionally conducted revision requires you to open yourself up to the fact that some segments of your project (and who knows, maybe the entire paper!) might need to be re-considered or even re-written. Hope this research paper guide helped, good luck with that!
