Revising and editing go hand-in-hand and are critical steps in preparing your paper for submission. Revision is focusing on your paper as a whole by making substantial changes to your paper (i.e., moving paragraphs around, cutting unnecessary information, adding transitions, etc.). Editing is focusing on sentence-level issues (i.e., cleaning up spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors).
These phases take time so be sure to plan accordingly. It’s recommended that you set your completed draft aside for a few days and then come back to it to make revisions. This will help give you a fresh perspective. During the revision process, you may find that you have to delete sections of your paper or re-write them completely. Don’t be discouraged – every writer has to revise and edit their work. Taking the time to look at your paper with a critical eye will help ensure that you submit your best work.
Want to see a paper move through the various stages of the writing process? The documents below follow one student’s paper, from brainstorming and outlining to the final draft.