How to Rewrite Your Thesis as a Journal Article with Minimum Effort

So, you’ve finished your thesis, passed your viva, and now want to share your amazing research findings far and wide. To do so, you will need to figure out how to rewrite your thesis as a journal article.

As we’ve already established, it is acceptable to rewrite your thesis or dissertation; it’s extremely common among scholars and professors.

However, remember that a thesis is a different beast from a journal article. Journal articles and theses are intended for different audiences and serve different purposes. What’s more, if you want your work to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, you’ll need to ensure you present your research methodology and findings in the correct style and adhere to the expectations of your target journal. Oh, and you’ll most certainly want to make sure it is free of error. That’s where dissertation proofreading services can come in handy ?

In this post, you’ll learn the difference between a thesis and a journal article, why you need to tone down your introduction, how you can get a bigger bang for your buck by rewriting one dissertation or thesis into multiple articles, and why you need to skip the lengthy definitions.

So let’s dive straight in.

The Difference Between a Thesis and a Journal Article

Most undergraduate and graduate programmes cumulate in students completing long discourses known as dissertations or theses. These in-depth papers serve an educational function and must be submitted to a committee that determines if the candidate deserves a degree. As a result, a thesis or dissertation aims to showcase how much you have learned. With this in mind, many students will include all they know about a topic in a dissertation.

A thesis will usually have a long introduction, an extensive literature review, a full discussion of the study strategy and methods, complex reporting, and an in-depth analysis of the outcomes.

Journal articles are very different to theses and dissertations. They target busy researchers and scientists interested in finding practical, evidence-based ideas. As a result, journal papers must be particularly concentrated in terms of presentation. These papers must follow a certain format, including a brief literature review, a controlled methodology explanation, an overview of the most important findings, and a brief discussion section.

Above all else, it’s essential that you proofread your thesis.

How to Rewrite Your Thesis

Follow the steps outlined below to rewrite your thesis or dissertation as a journal article or book.

1. Reduce the length of your thesis or dissertation

Because a journal article is significantly shorter than a dissertation or thesis, it necessitates a more concise framework and style. A dissertation might be a few hundred pages long and contain around 20,000 words, but a journal article can be anything from 3000-6000 words long, depending on the area of specialism and the publication. As a result, each portion of the article must be significantly condensed. This may be accomplished by taking information from the thesis and reworking it. See our paraphrasing guide for more helpful hints.

2. Reduce the length of your abstract

A journal article’s abstract is usually between 150 and 250 words long. A dissertation abstract, on the other hand, is typically 350 words long. However, requirements do vary from publication to publication. Make sure you check the style guide for your target journal. Some publications favour an unstructured abstract, while others have different expectations. In some cases, you may even be required to submit a graphical abstract.

3. Focus on one research question for each article

This allows you to increase your chances of getting published while getting a bigger bang for your buck.

Students typically demonstrate their understanding of the current literature by including an extensive literature review in their thesis or dissertation. Therefore a thesis normally contains a lengthy introduction that introduces multiple research questions. However, the literature review presented in a journal article should be shorter and limited to a single research question and an overview of what motivated the study. If you have more than one research question in your dissertation or thesis, narrow your focus to one research topic for your journal article. The great thing about this approach is that if you have researched multiple research questions for your thesis or dissertation, you can potentially publish multiple journal articles.

4. Describe the experiments you conducted, not the research approach

A dissertation’s materials and methods sections typically present a lengthy overview of the research technique and strategy. On the other hand, a journal paper necessitates a more limited explanation of the methods employed. Ideally, you should restrict your discussion to the details of the technique utilised in the research; i.e., the experiments you conducted. It is unnecessary to present an in-depth description of the research strategy in a journal article.

5. Limit the discussion of the results to your single research question

A thesis or dissertation normally includes a comprehensive discussion of every outcome in great detail, whereas a journal article merely reports the most important facts. When it comes to journal publications, however, you should observe precise reporting guidelines and only report the outcomes directly related to the research question you have chosen and the associated evidence. If necessary, you can include secondary results as supplemental material.

6. Reduce the length of your discussion section

Are you spotting a trend here? Yes, once again, if you want to get your dissertation or thesis research findings published in a journal, you’ll need to reduce the discussion section.

The discussion presented in a thesis/discussion is more extensive than that required in a journal article. The dissertation will typically offer a full analysis of all the results to demonstrate the student’s complete comprehension of their data. Furthermore, students are required to engage in substantial conjecture to indicate their interest in future research paths. The journal article should be concise. Try to refrain from repeating your findings; it’s the insights into the findings that we’re interested in.

7. Limit your references to those included in the journal article

Dissertations usually include an extensive list of sources and, in certain cases, a bibliography. On the other hand, journal papers contain a limited number of references and the reference section only contains works that were directly cited in the journal article. Some journals even limit the number of references you can include. Similarly, while a ‘Definitions’ section is customary in dissertations, you can leave it to one side for your journal publication.

So there we have it. The suggestions outlined should set you in the right direction for rewriting your thesis or dissertation into a journal article. The best things in life don’t just land on your lap. To achieve your dreams of being a published scholar, you will need to invest a lot of time and effort into your paper. However, it will certainly be worth it and could open the door to many new opportunities.

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