What we correct, in the order we correct it
Editing in the wrong order wastes your money. There is no point polishing a paragraph that should not exist, so the structural work always comes first and the line work second.
- Whether the assignment answers the question that was actually set
- Thesis and argument: is the position clear, and is it held to throughout
- Paragraph order, transitions and section balance against the word count
- Claims left unsupported, or evidence presented without interpretation
- Grammar, punctuation, tense consistency and sentence structure
- Academic register: hedging, first person, contractions and informality
- Formatting, headings, tables, figures and citation style consistency