Publishing Your Dissertation

The following is based on my own experience of getting published in a highly respected journal in my field and my work as an editorial assistant for another journal while a grad student. If you're interested in publishing your dissertation ...

Don't Wait

Set a goal and timeline for publishing your dissertation immediately after your defense. You've just gotten feedback from your committee and it's likely you'll have to do revisions anyway. It doesn't have to be a huge effort; just get started and keep some momentum going.

Your advisor, who will probably be the second author, will be more willing to be a part of the writing and submission process at this time. As time goes by your work won't be as fresh in their mind and other priorities will take over. Ask right away and get started writing.

Of course you'll need a break before you think about publishing your dissertation. The key is to mentally begin the process of getting an article published and have a plan with a tentative schedule for submitting an article to a journal.

The Writing Process

Everyone has a different way of going about writing and there are many other websites about the process. There are a few other things you should know about writing to publish your dissertation.

This is a different type of writing. In your dissertation you're encouraged to repeat yourself and explain everything in great detail. In journal articles the opposite is true. You have to be clear, present your argument and evidence, and get your point across.

It will take a lot of work. In my case it felt like Dissertation Part II. You have to write and think at a higher level to be successful.

You don't need to try to condense your entire dissertation into 40 or 50 pages. Discuss with your advisor what part makes sense to write about. What is being published now? What are areas of focus by the current editorship of journals you're considering? Be strategic.

Look at my recent article and notice that there is little repetition and the writing style is concise. Further, each statement is backed up with either evidence from another study or data from my research.

Getting Published: A Long Process

First off, publishing your dissertation is a long process. In my case, it meant being initially rejected, but being encouraged to rewrite and resubmit (R & R). This stretched things out further. It's very common to receive an R & R so don't be surprised if this happens. Below is a timeline for my article.

November 13, 2009 - Successfully defended dissertation.
May 9, 2010 - Submitted manuscript to journal.
August 11, 2010 - Received decision of Reject & Resubmit.
October 27, 2010 - Resubmitted revised manuscript.
January 11, 2011 - Received decision of Accept with Revisions.
April 9, 2011 - Resubmitted revised manuscript.
May 7, 2011 - Completed minor revisions suggested by Editor.
July 29, 2011 - Received eProofs for review.
August 22, 2011 - Article available online in Early View.
January, 2012 - Article published in print journal.

You're thinking, "Did it really take that long?" Yep. Rewriting is time consuming. I think this is largely because the reviewers and editors ask a lot of questions that you don't know the answers to. This means a good bit of reading and thinking and that takes time.

There are also considerable delays between when you are accepted, when the publisher formats everything, when it's assigned to a journal issue, and finally gets physically printed. But the print version is somewhat less relevant, since people can find it online by searching. Once it's online you're published.

Big Idea ...

Get started right after you defend, expect a Reject & Resubmit, stick with it, and hopefully you'll be accepted to a highly respected journal within a year. If not, have a second journal ready to submit to.