How rough is rough?

Students often confuse a rough draft with a first draft. They are sadly mistaken in this understanding. A rough draft may be shorter or longer than a planned final draft, but it should nevertheless be coherent and complete. This means that it should have citations and a bibliography in the correct format, be carefully proofread, and should cover all of the points you plan to cover. Some of you might be asking yourselves, "well, what makes it a rough draft, then?" A rough draft is one that you know will need polishing, and may need revising, expansion in some areas, cutting from others, and/or reorganization. Few people can write a good paper in less than four or five drafts. Any rough draft you give to others to read should already have undergone editing and revisions at least a couple of times. When you turn in a draft to someone else for their critique, you should consider it a courtesy, or favor. Someone is giving you their time and their effort to help you improve your work: it's incredibly rude to waste it by asking them to read something that requires them to correct grammar, proofread, or otherwise try to make sense of something that hasn't received the author's full attention. So remember, 'rough' = 'unpolished'. It's like a raw gemstone or something you've made of wood or metal that may be functional, but hasn't been sanded or painted/varnished/oiled. 'Rough' doesn't mean 'unfinished'.