OK, you have finished your thesis, so what to do now? Now is the time to edit your thesis. Editing thesis seems a herculean task undoubtedly, but you have no other way to get it done. You must be aware that editing means refining your written work to make it lucid and coherent for a reader. Is it as easy as you think? Absolutely not.
You may be tempted to hire editing services from professionals, but have you ever thought that what they do that you cannot? Well, there is nothing that you cannot do. The only problem is you do not know the exact way to carry out editing. The correct way of editing has been mentioned below.
1. Start from the beginning
Look at the introduction you have written. An introduction is the first thing that your research committee will glance at. Check whether or not the introduction answers the following questions:
What is a research topic?
What is a research problem?
What is the significance of a research problem?
What is the research background?
What are the aims and objectives of your study?
Your introduction cannot be considered correct if any of these questions are missing in your thesis.
2. Know what to look out
When it comes to editing thesis, you have to check the structure and presentation way of your thesis, not to mention you have to look for grammatical errors, wrong spellings and punctuation errors too. Look over each paragraph to see if you have put extraneous information, whether there is a flow between paragraphs, and whether it justifies your research objectives and support research questions.
3. Use these tools for editing
There are several online tools for editing purpose such as AutoCrit, Slick Write, ProWritingAid and SmartEdit. You may lose sight of some errors while editing manually. Further, it is critical to spot all mistakes if English is not your native language. These tools will help you with rectifying repetitive phrases by suggesting relevant synonyms, word choice and sentence-verb agreement to elaborate the meaning of your sentences. See the example below.
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Redundant Phrases |
Edited Phrases |
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In the month of May |
In May |
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On a frequent basis |
frequently |
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Has an ability to do |
Can do |
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Take into account |
consider |
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Conduct an investigation |
investigate |
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Grammatical Errors |
Corrections |
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It can help by giving money to the institution. |
It can help out by giving money to the institution. |
|
Who did it write? |
Who wrote it? |
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It is always a risk in starting a new business. |
It is always a risk starting up a new business. |
4. Layout
It is requisite that you rectify layout flaws. You should follow your university’s guidelines. Look for margins and indents, consistencies in bullet points, numerical digits, font and size of headings and subheadings, and spacing before and after paragraphs, headings, tables and charts. Another thing to consider while editing thesis is bibliography or references. Check all the sources are acknowledged appropriately and written consistently.