Non-AI thesis proofreader

Notes

Who is this for?

• Anyone writing a long document, and going somewhat numb to the words!
In particular, it may be useful to Ph.D. candidates, who have English as a second language

Why would I use this?

• It's free and provided with no adverts
• Your text stays on your computer - see the "Security" tab for more information.
• If you are writing in a text editor like Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, or Scrivener, it can be helpful to review in a different program. You may wish to split your screen, or put this tab on a second screen.
• The Word Count performs a simple word count. In Microsoft Word, if you have track changes enabled, your count may include words which are already struck through.
• It highlights all the places you have used a particular word.
• Tip: in Microsoft Word, from "Find in Document", then choose the ellipsis and "List Matches in Sidebar"
• It uses some pattern matching to find particular words, the passive voice, and double or excessive spacing.

How do I use it?

• Set the website theme to Dark or Light to match the time of day and your level of eye strain
• In Microsoft Word: Select All text (with Ctrl+A)
• Copy the text to your clipboard (with Ctrl+C)
• Come back to this browser tab
• Put your cursor into the "Paste or type your thesis text here..." box below
• Paste everything from your clipboard (with Ctrl+V)

Run the following checks

Once you have pasted text:

• The texts is checked, and a count of the issues is displayed on the buttons
• "Weasel 8" (as in the Example text) shows that 8 "Weasel Words" are present
• click any of the "Weasel, Passives, Duplicates, Lists, Syntax, American, Exact" buttons - selecting one de-selects the others
• Click the "Checks" button to see what each check does.
• If issues are found, the browser shows the issue in context of around 30 words.
• The browser focus moves to the first result - use the Tab key to navigate one by one
• If you are using keyboard navigation, press the Space bar to copy the text.
• If you are using a mouse, click anywhere in the result text to copy the text.
• Go back to Microsoft Word. Use Ctrl+F to open "Find in Document".
• In the "Search" use Ctrl+V to paste the fragment which is on your clipboard.

Who wrote this?

Adapted from Simon Willison's adaptation of these shell scripts published by Matt Might.

Nick Romney then developed the idea, using some assistance from Claude.ai to write further JavaScript code to identify issues, after reading a few chapters of a friend's PhD thesis.

How can I improve my academic writing?

The University of Manchester offers the Academic Phrasebank - the 9-page sample PDF is free, but genuinely useful and the 158-page PDF is available for £5.00

Check definitions

Weasel Words

Weasel words are vague qualifiers that make statements less precise and can weaken your writing. They often introduce ambiguity and may indicate a lack of clear evidence or reasoning.

Words checked: many, various, very, fairly, several, extremely, exceedingly, quite, remarkably, few, surprisingly, mostly, largely, huge, tiny, excellent, interestingly, significantly, substantially, clearly, vast, relatively, completely

Passive Voice

Passive voice constructions use a form of 'to be' followed by a past participle. While not grammatically incorrect, excessive use of passive voice can make writing less direct and engaging.

Patterns checked: be verb + past participle (regular -ed or irregular verbs)

Duplicate Words

Duplicate words are consecutive repetitions of the same word, like "the the"

Nearby text is also checked, to highlight duplicates across sentence or clause boundaries, where you may wish to use a synonym.

Example of the word "should"

First we should check lists for ordinals, then secondly we should check

Inconsistent List Markers

Inconsistent list markers mix ordinal forms (first, second, third) with adverbial forms (firstly, secondly, thirdly). For clarity and consistency, stick with one style throughout your document.

Ordinal markers: first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth

Adverbial markers: firstly, secondly, thirdly, fourthly, fifthly, sixthly, seventhly, eighthly, ninthly, tenthly

Syntax & Formatting Issues

This check highlights formatting issues in academic writing, including spacing problems, potential footnote numbers, unmatched punctuation, and mixed list styles.

• Excessive spacing
• Footnote numbers left in text
• Unmatched punctuation: quotes, brackets, etc.
• Mixed list styles (numeric, alphabetic, Roman numerals)

American spellings

This check highlights American spellings, e.g. the use of `-ize` rather than `-ise`, and offers its British equivalent

Exact String

This feature finds all occurrences of an exact string in your text, regardless of context. It's useful for ensuring consistent terminology or identifying overused phrases.

It might be particularly useful if you are contrasting two similar terms, to ensure that you have used them correctly.

Security / non-AI

All the code runs in the browser on your local computer

This page is delivered over the internet to your browser, and then everything runs locally.

All the text stays on your computer and nothing is sent to any remote server.

Offline / airplane mode

If you are really nervous about running this (and why wouldn't you be, with an important thesis)

• Open a private tab in your browser
• Load this page
• Disconnect your network cable or wireless connection
• Use this page
• When finished, close the private browser tab before you reconnect your network

This means that it would also work in settings with poor internet speeds (e.g. WiFi on a train)

No changes are made to your text

This site will not change your text - it highlights text to reconsider.

In a world filled with AI, it is still important to know that you have written all the text yourself.