Chapter 15: Editing, Formatting, and Final Verification

What You Will Make

Prepare a verified submission file and a completed checklist. Use the assignment’s required format and citation system. General setup guidance is available in Word and Google Docs Setup, but it does not override the course instructions.

Check Three Layers

First inspect the language: sentence boundaries, missing words, spelling, terminology, and headings. Next compare claims and quotations with the original sources and reconcile citation entries. Finally inspect the actual file, including page numbering, tables, comments, tracked changes, and any required disclosure.

For a Works Cited or References list, check correspondence with in-text use. If the assignment instead requires a broader bibliography, follow that distinction rather than removing legitimately consulted works mechanically.

Fictional teaching case: This lesson uses the invented campus-transit records in Chapter 1. Record labels and numbers are practice material, not real research to cite or submit.

Catch a Last-Pass Error

The draft correctly says eight of twenty volunteers reported a late-class gap, but a later sentence says “40 per cent of campus.” Verify both passages against Record C. The percentage calculation does not justify changing the population. Repair the later sentence and search the document for other versions of the same overclaim.

Then check the table or prose carrying the time comparison: 20:10 departure and 20:30 class end. Reversed labels would change the meaning even if the numbers themselves were copied accurately.

Try It Yourself

Select one quotation, one paraphrase, and one numerical or interpretive claim. Trace each to its source and locator. Then expand the check to every consequential claim. Record unresolved items explicitly instead of marking the whole document verified after a sample.

Export the required file, reopen it, and inspect every page. Check that references, headings, and any tables remain readable and that the intended version is easy to identify.

Check Your Work

• Do citations identify the correct sources and versions?
• Do locators support the attached claims in context?
• Are comments, revisions, and disclosures handled as required?
• Does the final file open and retain readable structure?

Keep the editable original and evidence records with the final submission copy.