Research Paper Self-Revision Checklist
Directions: If you can answer yes to a question below, put a check mark next to the
number. If not, continue to work on that part of your essay.
Ideas
_____ 1. Does my topic sentence correctly identify the main idea?
_____ 2. Do I include only the most important facts to support it?
_____ 3. Is my research paper interesting and informative?
_____ 4. Are my sources current and trustworthy?
Organization
_____ 5. Does my paper have a thesis statement in the opening paragraph and a topic sentence in all
other paragraphs?
_____ 6. Is all of the information in a logical order?
_____ 7. Does my ending paragraph cover my main points?
Voice
_____ 8. Does my voice sound confident and informative?
_____ 9. Do I sound knowledgeable and interested in my topic?
Word Choice
_____ 10. Do I use my own words?
_____ 11. Do I explain any technical or unfamiliar terms?
_____ 12. Do I use quotations and paraphrasing effectively and correctly?
Sentence Fluency
_____ 13. Do I use a variety of sentence types and lengths?
_____ 14. Do I combine choppy sentences?
_____ 15. Do my sentences flow smoothly from one to another?
Conventions
_____ 16. Do I correctly cite my sources?
_____ 17. Is my works-cited page set up correctly? Are the sources listed in alphabetical order?
Punctuation
--Do all sentences have end punctuation?
--Does the writer make limited use of exclamation points?
--Are commas used in the appropriate places (after introductory elements, before and/or after interrupters,
compound sentences, lists, etc.)
--Are all other pieces of punctuation used correctly (semi-colon, colon, hyphens, brackets, dashes, parenthesis)?
--Are all citations punctuated correctly?
Capitalization
--Do all sentences begin with capital letters?
--Are all proper nouns capitalized?
Spelling
--Are all words spelled correctly?
--Are there words that the spell-checker may have missed?
Grammar
--Are correct forms of verbs used (had gone, not had went)?
--Do the subjects and verbs agree? (She and I were going, not She and I was going.)
--Is usage correct? (to, too, two…)