When you have dealt with the more basic matters included in the revision stage, it is time to review the document carefully for correctness. As you edit your document, however, continue to do whatever you can to improve accuracy, clarity, conciseness, coherence, and appropriateness. For example, could any sentences be made more effective by restructuring?
No matter how sound your document may be technically, your credibility will be undermined by errors in sentence construction or grammar, word choice, usage, punctuation, mechanics, or spelling. If you need more information about grammatical elements, refer to parts of sentences and parts of speech. If English is not your native language, check the list of common ESL writing problems.
Finally, have you used the language of your sources appropriately and give them proper credit? If your document is supposed to follow an established style for citing sources and creating a reference list, have you followed the right style correctly and consistently?
When you come to sentences that are hard to follow, locate the main agent (thing doing something) and the action (thing being done):
The solid was contaminated [main action] as a result of a leaking cleaning solution
[main agent].
A leaking cleaning solution contaminated the solid.
Here are some ways to tighten up your prose:
