Tips for proofreading

Tips for proofreading
When you are proofreading, you can’t read text in a normal manner.
Normally when reading a text the eye focuses on a couple of places on each
row and leaves it for the brain to fill in the unread information. Minor errors,
such as occasional spelling errors or repeated words, remain in most cases
undiscovered. That is no way to proofread a text. What you have to do
instead is to make sure your eyes follow the lines and carefully examine every
word.
Here is a to-do list you can utilize when proofreading:
1. Remember to check the headlines.
Capital letters are the first things that the eye misses. Every journalist has
experienced instances when carefully proof-read articles have been
published with spelling errors in the headline.
2. Remember to check the details.
Is it the correct date? Is the pagination correct? Is the author’s name
spelled correctly? When checking captions for illustrations or diagrams –
is the corresponding text correct?
3. Consequence-check all names.
Spell a name wrong, and get an enemy for life. Is it Karlsson or Carlsson?
Does it say Karlsson on page 2 and Carlsson on page 5? Check and
double-check.
4. Make a numerical check.
Is there numerical data and equations in the text? Double-check
against the source. Check diagrams and tables – is it the same figures
as in the text? Whip out the calculator and redo all your calculations.
5. Don’t trust spell-checking programs.
Spell-checking programs are good for when your fingers stumble and
you write adn instead of and. But if you write here instead of hear, no
spell-checker will warn you.
6. Ask someone else to read what you write.
The brain is a master of deception. You see what you intended to write,
not what you actually wrote. Your colleague will tell you what you
ought to have written.
7. Don’t skim through the text.
Read the text as if it was written in a foreign language.

8. Read the text out loud.
Or at least read it out semi-loud. The ears hear mistakes that the eyes
don’t catch. Skimming through the text becomes impossible. And if
something sounds wrong – rewrite.
9. Read the text one row at a time.
Cover the text with a sheet of paper so that only the first row is visible.
Read the first row and then move the paper downwards so the second
row appears. Read the second row and continue in the same manner.
Why? This reading method prevents you from skimming through the
text.
10. Read the text backwards.
If you really want to find all spelling errors you should read the text
backwards. One row at a time.
11. Read the text twice.
Look for spelling errors the first time around – go through the content
the second time. Does it make sense? Have you forgotten anything?
Have you skipped a step in your reasoning process? You can’t read the
text both ways at the same time. If you hunt for spelling errors you lose
track of the content. If you concentrate on the content you’ll be blind
for spelling errors.
12. Ban the “isn’t-it-spelled-like-that”-method.
You can’t reason your way to the correct spelling of a word. Either you
know how it’s spelled – and then you know that you know – or you
don’t know how it’s spelled. And don’t ask someone else who doesn’t
know, that’s just a waste of time. Look it up.