Vital Things To Remember While Editing Your Master's Thesis


Editing your Master’s thesis is vitally important. Many students do not edit their thesis before submission and end up losing grades because of simple errors that could have been fixed.

It is also important to note the difference between editing and proofreading. Editing is the process by which the structure, tone and logic etc., of a paper are checked and corrected. An editor can change sentences or even whole paragraphs. A proofreader goes through a paper after an edit has been done and does so with a fine-toothed comb to find errors in spelling and punctuation etc. In common usage though, both the terms are used interchangeably and that is how we will use them below.

Here are some vital tips for you to remember when editing your Master’s thesis.


  1. Print it out
  2. Printing out a long thesis may seem like such a waste in today’s environmentally friendly world but it is absolutely necessary. You can catch errors while reading off paper that you will miss while reading off a computer screen. It is also just easier to mark mistakes and errors using a pen while jotting down short notes on the margins. You may be tempted to do this in a few stages and take a print out after every round of correction. That is perfectly fine and you will see a gradual improvement in your paper along the way. Keep copies of each stage both on your computer and in print so you can consult them if need be.

  3. Does it make sense?
  4. When you first start reading your paper, concentrate on finding out if it even makes sense. Look at the logic of what you are writing. Does the thesis statement make sense? Have you put it in the context of a great literature review? Has your research explained some part or the entire problem? How does it add to the research done already and how have you shown that in your conclusion? Review the whole first, get an overall picture and then make changes if required.

  5. Make smaller corrections
  6. Once you are convinced that what you have written and researched has been put down on paper in a worthwhile manner, go about correcting the minor errors. This can include spelling, punctuation and grammar.

  7. Another set of eyes
  8. Once you have done it yourself, have someone else read it. A professional editor can be extremely helpful too and will help you overcome many problems you have not picked up on.