Students often focus on revising the details of their papers, when revising the organization of their papers should be the priority. Once the substance of your paper’s argument has been developed, make sure that readers will find the paper coherent.

Check the following:

• Do key terms run through your paper? Do you introduce the main points later in the essay but don’t introduce them earlier in the paper? Does your paper seem to wander?

• Is the beginning of each section and subsection clearly signaled? Would inserting headings or extra spaces between major sections make readers more easily understand your points?

• Does each major section begin with words that signal how that section relates to the one before it? Are their transitions that show why one section comes after the other? Does that paper flow?

• Does each section relate to the whole and to your argument? What is the purpose of the section? Is it necessary? If not, consider cutting it.

• Is the point of each section stated in a brief introduction or conclusion?

• Do terms that unify each section run through it? What are the major themes of the section that make it distinct? If two sections are the same, consider combining them. If they are too similar, you may need to edit them more so that they are different.

• Scan your paragraphs. Do they flow in the right order? Do some paragraphs be broken down further to clarify a point and be easier to read? Does the first sentence, preferably, or the last state the point of the paragraph?

What do you do to revise the organization of your papers?