Regardless of how meticulously you proofread your project, you are likely to always find errors – including typing errors, punctuation errors, misspellings or issues relating to cohesion. The probability of such errors typically increase when more writers are involved; and this is often the case when group projects are completed.
Semester projects may be quite comprehensive – up to 100 pages – and since several students often write such projects in cooperation, it is essential that the project as a whole appears uniform. This will have an impact on how you project is assessed by your supervisor and external examiner and therefore also on how it is graded.
All curricula and regulations at Aalborg University states:
”In the assessment of all written work, irrespective of the language in which this is written, the students’ spelling skills and fluency will be considered. The assessment of linguistic performance will be based on orthographic correctness, academic writing standards and stylistic proficiency. The linguistic performance will always be assessed as an independent dimension in the overall assessment. However, no examination will be awarded an overall pass grade solely on the basis of good linguistic performance, nor will an examination usually be awarded a fail grade solely on the basis of very poor linguistic performance”. (often Section 8, page 11)
Therefore, remember to set aside some time for proofreading your project towards the end of the process. Moreover, even before you begin writing your project, it might be a good idea for your group to discuss your writing style, such as whether or not you use abbreviations, write long or short sentences, etc. This may facilitate the process of working towards completing a uniform project. It might also be a good idea to set aside some time for proofreading you texts as you go along. Some groups prefer to do their proofreading together. If your group prefers to do so, you can find a big screen on which you can all proofread the project together. Other groups prefer to let just one or two group members proofread the project. However, make sure that all group members are familiar with the formal requirements, know how to write and use punctuation correctly. If you do not have a good grip on orthography, you may end up paying for it in the end.