Finishing Touches

The rule of making a good first impression does not just apply to meeting someone for the first time - it is necessary for your completed paper to present a good first impression too.

While these suggestions may seem like simple common sense, it is always good to have a reminder. The temptation is often to turn in a paper as soon as it is finished so that you can stop worrying about it. However, doing this can loose you a point here and a point there if small errors do not get corrected.

Run spellcheck and grammar check on your paper. This is a good start, but it should not stop here. The spellcheck programs for most word processing programs (including Microsoft Word) do not check proper nouns or very technical terms. These will need to be checked by proofreading.
Proofread. When you are done with your paper, proofread it carefully, with an eye to consistency, coherency, and grammar. Ideally, have someone else proofread it for you - they might catch errors that you miss simply because you are too familiar with your own work to be objective.
Make sure that you are representing all of your facts correctly.
Make sure that all of your parenthetical citations, page numbers, footnotes, endnotes, appendices, bibliography and everything else are correctly formatted.
Print out your paper on good quality paper on a good printer. If you are including color images or charts, opt for color printing over black and white.
Re-read the original assignment and make sure that your paper addresses all of the requirements.
Protect your paper from damage (wrinkles, stains, etc) until you turn it in.

Good luck with your paper!