Finishing a PhD thesis is a major milestone; it is the result of several years of hard work, significant experimentation, extensive reading and high levels of writing. Unfortunately, the majority of PhD theses are typically only picked up by a handful of individuals – examiners, supervisors and sometimes some researchers who come across your thesis when conducting online research. Therefore, most of the valuable research that you may have completed is often hidden from the scholarly community at large. By converting your PhD thesis into research papers, you are able to disseminate your findings to many more scholars. Research papers that are published through journals and conferences allow other scholars from across the world to be able to access both your published works and potentially cite them in their own research. This increases your work’s visibility and impact. Additionally, the publications resulting from your PhD thesis assists you in establishing your academic reputation; these publications will be an important part of your portfolio when applying for postdoctoral positions or faculty employment as a new researcher. At this point in the blog, you can present an image or graphic to illustrate the process of turning “PhD Thesis” into “Multiple Research Papers” – you may wish to show a single large PhD thesis splitting off into multiple smaller published articles in academic journals.
Understanding the Difference Between a Thesis and a Research Paper
While both a PhD thesis and a research paper are based on research, they have different purposes. A PhD thesis is a comprehensive document outlining your entire research journey, which may include a very comprehensive literature review, extensive details of methodology, experiments, etc. A research paper is typically much shorter and more specific than a thesis. The average journal articles are 6 to 12 pages in length. Rather than including everything, a research paper focuses on one clear research question or argument and one significant research contribution. Therefore, due to the differences in length and focus, you cannot turn your thesis into a research paper simply by copying and pasting from your thesis, as this will require you to rewrite and condense your material into a format that simply reports key points (i.e. results) in a clear and concise manner. To help illustrate this concept visually, you could compare the two types of documents (e.g., thesis and research paper) in terms of structure. Your diagram could contrast the chapters in a thesis against the shorter sections found in a research paper.
Identifying Publishable Units in Your Thesis
Next, you’ll need to determine what pieces of your thesis can become individual publications. Most PhD theses contain several studies or experiments, making all of these experiments viable for publication alone or in combination with others. For example, one chapter may detail a problem or provide background information on that problem by introducing a novel methodology or framework, while another chapter may include experimental data. Each of these components could comprise the basis of an independent article, assuming that the articles can tell enough of their own story so that someone who only reads that article understands the overall study without having read the entire thesis. To further aid readers in understanding this process within a visual format, it would be useful to create a diagram that connects thesis chapters to potential publication opportunities within your thesis. This diagram might indicate how chapters referenced as “Methodology,” “Experiment 1,” and “Experiment 2” could eventually become independent, published journal articles.
Turning Thesis Chapters into Stand-Alone Papers
Once you have identified the parts of your thesis that can be published as separate papers, the next step is to transform these sections into independent papers. To do so, you need to reorganize the content into the expected format for an academic journal. In general, all research articles follow the same basic structure of an introduction, literature review, methods, results and discussion sections. Even if you already have some of these sections completed, they may require reformatting to adhere to journal guidelines. The introduction should contain a clear statement of the research question, as well as an explanation of why this research is valuable. The method section should provide information about the specific methods used in conducting that study, not as a complete description of the methods used in conducting your entire project. At this point in your blog post, consider including a graphic showing the “anatomy” of a research paper, showing the standard IMRaD structure (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion).
Simplifying and Condensing the Content
Converting a thesis to a journal article can be difficult because it requires making the thesis shorter. Generally speaking, thesis chapters contain a lot of information that is either too detailed or not important; hence it is necessary to eliminate these items from the article and only include items that are significant. For example, a literature review included in a thesis may discuss many studies (including those that are not relevant to the current research); however, only the most relevant studies would be referenced in an article. In addition, time-intensive explanations of methodology would need to be condensed into essential information, thereby eliminating any superfluous information. The goal of this process is to provide focus and clarity in the writing. A good way to illustrate this concept would be by including a visual example of a long thesis chapter and a concise research article containing only the main findings.
Selecting the Right Journal for Each Paper
Once you’ve written your manuscript, the next task is deciding on a suitable publication venue. Journals are created for very different purposes and have different target audiences. Some journals are dedicated to theoretical research, while others give more consideration to empirical research. Choosing the right journal will increase your likelihood of being accepted for publication. To help you find an appropriate journal, you should review several of the most recent articles published in a particular journal to determine whether your research falls within their area of research. Additionally, you should check the journal’s author submission guidelines to make sure your manuscript meets their formatting and length specifications. Matching your manuscript to an appropriate journal is one of the most important steps in the publication process. You can visually represent the process of selecting a journal by creating a simple flow diagram that shows the decision-making process for selecting a journal, such as determining the research topic, reviewing the journal’s scope, and reviewing the journal’s submission guidelines.
Working With Your Supervisor and Co-Authors
It is common to collaborate with several other people when publishing your thesis. This includes having your supervisor as a potential co-author, given their experience in the peer-review process, where they can assist you with improving the quality of your manuscript. They will provide input regarding its structure, clarity, and contribution to your field. Other researchers (potential co-authors) that assisted with your research may also be considered for co-authorship. Collaborating with others can greatly enhance your chances of getting published and helps to ensure that the paper conforms to the standards of the journal in which it will be published. An effective visual would provide a collaboration network diagram with the PhD student in the centre, linking them to their supervisor and co-authors.
Creating a Publication Plan After Your PhD
Planning is critical when converting your thesis into several papers. Rather than publishing everything simultaneously, it is smarter to formulate a plan for publication dates. Your first step should be identifying 2-3 papers that can be completed relatively quickly (they might even be near journal quality if they were the final thesis chapters). Some of your additional papers may require more data analysis and possibly some restructuring of your writing. A schedule will help keep you on course with your goal(s) and ensure that the research you do will continue to be useful after you complete your PhD program. A timeline visualization would work well in this instance; for example, you could include a timeline of how long it took from thesis submission through each step of the process until you received your last journal article within the subsequent year-towards-two-year period.
Increasing the Impact of Your Research
Your thesis is more than just something to add to the resume; it is a way to share information with other researchers around the world. When you publish your research in a journal, other scientists can read it​, and they can also refer to it​ later when doing their own research.​ By having published work, you can have more impact on other scientists and help to advance your field. Beyond being a single document that is available at one university library, your thesis can entail a series of contributions that will contribute to future research. The idea could be visually demonstrated in a image showing research papers multiplying around the different universities, labs and industries worldwide that share this information.
With consideration for how to break down and list your writing in sections, how to structure and organize your research, what type of journals are available, and how to plan out your publication timeline, you can effectively split your dissertation into multiple publications. By doing this, you are able to share the knowledge you gained while completing your doctoral degree after you’ve finished earning it, allowing it to be able to reach the world long-term while making an impact long after receiving your doctorate degree.
Don’t forget to read: Which tool to use in each phase of your PhD?
