Writing great college papers does not come easy. It requires accuracy and consistency to make a well-written and well-researched paper. While some students can opt to seek for professional paper writers online to make things a lot easier for them, some can elect the help of a paper editing tool. After all, even great writers are guilty of misspelled words and grammatical errors. They could use an editor – whether a real person or an online application – to polish their essays or articles as well. In fact, there are even online tools that will summarize, paraphrase, and quote from the source.
Now, there are a lot of paper editing tools available online, some of which can be availed for free, but some have to be paid for. To help you choose the right one, we compiled the following apps and online tools that can help you with your academic writing requirements – from crafting a well-organized outline, compiling all the data and research you have gathered, writing, editing, and finishing the entire paper.
Workflowy is an organizational tool that allows you to take notes, write down lists, collaborate with fellow writers, brainstorm, and plan outlines before writing your essay or article. As the name implies, it basically creates your workflow by using bullet points and nested lists. It can be used for free, but with limited access. You can sign up or pay $4.99 per month for unlimited lists. It works with the Web, Chrome, iOS, and Android. A lot of reviews about the app are generally positive, with most of its users stating that it is very easy and simple to use.
Evernote is a cross-platform app that allows you to take notes, which you can organize, and archive. With the app, users can create a note, which can be formatted using text, a web page, a photograph, a voice memo, or even a handwritten ink note. Users can even attach files and sort notes into a notebook with tags, annotations, edits, comments, and searches. It is available for free, but only up to a certain monthly usage limit. Users can also pay $5 per month for Evernote Premium or $10 per user per month for Evernote Business. It works with the Web, Mac, iOS, Android, and Windows.
Scrivener is a tool for writers that generates content. Thus, the writer can concentrate on composition and structure of long documents such as novels, research papers, and scripts. It is a word processor and project management tool that allows you to craft these documents from start to finish by taking notes, viewing your researched data and information, as well as composing your text either in isolation or in context – all in just one application. You can subscribe for a 30-day free trial, after which you will need to pay $45 for Mac users and $40 for Windows users.
Coschedule is an editorial calendar app for content marketing and social scheduling. It is also the first editorial calendar available to integrate WordPress functionality. It allows users to collaborate and automate their schedule in just one application. A special feature of the site is that it actually allows you to write Tweets and Facebooks posts directly from the app. It is available through a 14-day free trial or you can purchase a subscription at $10 per month per WordPress blog. It only works with a WordPress plugin.
Google docs is a web-based software where you can create and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. It also allows you to store documents online and access them from any computer. Reviews are quite mixed for this app, but it has received praises for its simplicity, ease of collaboration, and frequent product updates. The best part, however, is that it is free. It is available as a web application, as a Chrome app that also works offline, and as a mobile app for Android and iOS.
Quip is a productivity software that allows groups of people to create and edit documents and spreadsheets, most of which are usually used for business purposes. Among its functions are word processing and spreadsheet functions with instant story of updates. Moreover, you can highlight bits of text and comment the document. It is available either for free or at $12 per user per month for Quip Business. It works with the Web, iOS, and Android.
Draft is an online editor with easy controls and collaboration tools, which can improve your written documents. After the document is edited, a new version of it is automatically generated for the user to individually accept or reject. When this process is done, a new version is generated again. This online editor comes for free, but the developers would appreciate it if users would provide donations. It works only with the Web.
Etherpad a real-time online editor allowing for collaborative editing of text documents. Enables seeing all of the participants’ edits in real-time, with each participant’s text rendered in their chosen color to distinguish it from others. This real-time editor is available for free, although donations are encouraged. To use it, users either have to download the plugin framework or take advantage of a public avenue like Etherpad.net.
Hemingway is an app to check the quality of a written document. Your paper is viewed in five sections, each with its own assigned color. This makes it easier for users to identify the errors and make the necessary changes. It also provides a tool that counts numbers of paragraphs, sentences, words, and characters. It even grades your paper based on its readability. It is available as a free web app or you can buy it for $6.99 for Mac and Windows users.
Polishmywriting.com is an online editor tool that checks spelling and grammar instead of making your prose shorter. After pasting your text to the box or composing it on the site itself, it will then scan and identify against issues like passive voice, redundancy, complex vocab, and spelling errors. The tool comes for free and is available only on the Web.