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You too may consider your paper to be above average work, but it is worth checking

the coverage (i.e. what referees expect to find) and quality of each section by refer-

ring to the final subsection in each of Chapters 12 to 19 .
If you have time it is a good idea is to get colleagues to review your manuscript
(including the title), and you review their work. Often it is much easier to spot
mistakes (grammatical, stylistic, structural etc.) in other people’s work than in your
own. But you can improve your critical skills of your own work if you become
accustomed to critically evaluating other people’s papers.

Referees are famous for asking for revisions before accepting a paper. These revi-
sions often involve what you might consider as trivial details, such as typos and
spelling mistakes. Such delays cost you time and money and may also mean that
another paper on the same topic gets published before yours.

This chapter covers what you should look for when doing this fi nal check. The
result is that you will increase the chances of your paper being accepted.

20.2 Print out your paper. Don’t just correct it directly

on your computer
It is good practice to print out your paper. You are more likely to find mistakes con-

nected with grammar, word order, and structure. Convert your document into a font
that you find easy to read (e.g. Arial) and use ‘double space’ line spacing.

On screen you have much less perception of how your paper will look visually, and
may not even notice that a paragraph is more than a page long. In a printed version,
such long paragraphs are instantly visible. You thus have the opportunity to break
them up into shorter paragraphs that are easier on the eye. Breaking up paragraphs
is quick and easy to do ( 3.13 ).

Also, ask a colleague to read your printed version. He or she will very likely fi nd
mistakes that you have overlooked – in fact, your familiarity with your own work

makes it quite difficult to spot errors.

Finally, read your manuscript aloud. You will find mistakes that are hard to fi nd by

reading silently – particularly with regard to how a sentence flows and whether there
are words missing.