When writing something such as a research paper, thesis or any academic book, you need to focus on the quality and quantity of your research. In this process, punctuation, spelling, grammar, etc. may get overlooked. However miniscule these may seem to you, they do affect your credibility as a writer.

Effective editing requires you to assume the role of a reader as well. Taking the time to edit your document is important as it ensures that your intended meaning is not misinterpreted. Today, an increasing number of agencies are providing academic editing and proofreading services in Mumbai. We, at Stylus Solutions— one of the best agencies providing academic copy editing services in India— follow 6 simple rules of editing. Let us take you through each of them.

1. Maintain Consistency

Regardless of the type of document you are working with, maintaining consistency is important. Creating a style sheet is the best way to ensure that consistency is maintained. Some publications have a pre-defined style sheet or style guide. However, if you are working on a document that doesn’t come with a style guide, you can easily create one yourself. The style guide can include details about headings styles, capitalization rules, type of English language used, etc. At Stylus Solutions, one of the leading academic proofreading services in India, this is the first thing we do before working on any assignment.

2. Avoid Confusing Terms

Pumping up your vocab unnecessarily is definitely not the way to get your thought across to the readers. The best way to convey your intended meaning is to convey it in the simplest manner you can. Ensure that the language and style is appropriate for the target audience.

3. Punctuate Appropriately

Wrong punctuation is the easiest way to confuse your reader, or worse, be misinterpreted! This is applicable with respect to over punctuating as well as under punctuating. Again, maintaining consistency in terms of punctuation is also vital. For example, for pre-ordered, you either use the hyphen or you don’t; but follow it consistently.

4. Get Rid of Redundancy

Saying the exact same thing by using more words is redundant! See what we’re talking about? Words such as basic fundamentals, future plans and brand new are few common examples of redundant phrases. Writing straightforward sentences that are to-the-point can help avoid redundancy.

5. Break Up Sentences

Sometimes even though your sentence might be grammatically accurate, it can often lead to confusion. Your reader can get lost in the several ideas that you are trying to convey through one sentence. Excessively wordy sentences may bore your readers and they might just leave your document midway.

6. Run a Spell Check

Most applications come with a spellchecker feature. After proofreading the entire document, running a spell check will ensure that any minor errors that might have been missed out are brought to your notice. However, this doesn’t mean you rely on it completely as spellcheckers cannot pick up on missing words or typos that might actually be words!

The above mentioned rules will ensure that your document reads smooth as silk. Once you understand the crux of these rules, you will realize editing is a cake walk and you can edit your own work. However, you can also save yourself from the hassle of writing, reading and re-reading documents and hire the services of Stylus Solution, offering the best academic editing services in Mumbai.