After spending years working diligently on something that matters to you, it is common to want people to know about your findings. However, the problem is most authors want to put everything in at once. There is no way to put your whole PhD dissertation in 6,000 words or less successfully. It cannot work.
Therefore, it is advisable to write two or more papers from one PhD, focusing on different aspects of the research for each paper (See best advice for writing a research paper). Your paper does not need to contain the entirety of the set of experiments that were carried out as the basis of your project. Additionally, the order in which the experiments were carried out does not matter.
Additionally, the order in which your project was carried out does not necessarily have to be the same order that your paper must follow. Shuffling the experiments may be required to have a logically compelling story that is worth publishing in a reputable journal.
It is essential to know the significant difference between a PhD dissertation and paper. A PhD dissertation is typically based on original research written by PhD students as part of the requirement to get the degree. A paper, on the other hand, is written by a researcher to be published in reputable journals to share their findings and ideas.
Writing a paper from a PhD just requires you to come up with a story that makes sense instead of showing the number of exciting experiments or how hard you have worked to reach your conclusions. Also, you have to put your readers in mind when writing a paper, so they will not lose interest in your paper.
Once you have decided to convert your PhD dissertation into a paper, it is important to focus on the conciseness and focus, relevant literature review. Also, you should look at the writing style, data analysis, and the appropriate interpretation of the results.
How to Successfully Write a Paper from Your PhD
Prepare for it
It is important to start planning for the papers you are going to get from your PhD immediately after graduation when it is still fresh in your mind. When converting your PhD to a paper, it is important to identify the chapters and subchapters that will make for a good paper. Also, you will need to decide on the journals you will be sending those papers to, as well as figuring out how long it will take you to write each paper.
Additionally, make sure you find out the aim and scope of your target journal to make sure you can work your paper to fall within the journal’s scope. Also, if your research happens to fall outside the scope of your preferred journal you can find a more suitable home for your paper.
Find good co-authors
After figuring out the aspects of your PhD that will make good papers, it is advisable to find good co-authors to help with the paper. Plus, having co-authors will help improve your paper, and it is usually well received in those fields of study. Also, being able to publish with different authors shows you are ready to reach out to the world as well as work well with various research groups and universities.
Know that your papers will not turn out the same
It is important to have it at the back of your mind that some of the papers gotten from your PhD will come out well with just a few writing sessions. However, sometimes it is not easy to turn a part of your PhD dissertation into a stand-alone paper. Therefore, it is important not to give up and get frustrated as some paper requires more time and effort than others to be just as good.
Structure
It is important to note that the structure of a PhD dissertation and a research paper are significantly different. Therefore, it is important to note the following element when converting your PhD dissertation to a paper
- Length: The length of a paper and that of a PhD dissertation are significantly different. Brevity happens to be an important factor in consideration of a manuscript for journal publication. Therefore, in the conversion process, it is important to shorten the overall thesis or aspect of the thesis.
- Abstract: Just like in the overall length of the paper, journal abstracts are typically more limited than those of universities and colleges. Therefore, the abstract also needs to be condensed to be appropriate for the specific journal
- Introduction: Converting the rather comprehensive literature review of your PhD into a more compact and suitable introduction for a journal article can be rather challenging. Therefore, it is important to limit the introduction to only the text that is related to the context of the research questions and hypotheses included in the paper.
- Method section: In this section, it is important to provide the necessary information that would allow readers to understand the data collection and evaluation process. Also, giving full details of every step taken is not needed. Instead, you can refer readers to supplementary materials or previous studies that will inform on the method.
- Result section: Careful selection in the inclusion of analyses in the result selection is essential. It is advisable to report only the relevant analyses and, at the same time, not omitting relevant study data. Also, ensure that all the results directing contribute to answering the research questions and hypotheses.
- Discussion section: As the focus of your PhD dissertation and that of the paper may have differed, it is crucial to tailor your discussion according to the analyses and results in your paper. Also, interpretation and application of findings do no go beyond the data in your paper.
Prepare your paper for submission
To successfully concert your PhD dissertation into a paper that can be published, you will have to prepare the paper for submission to the journal. Therefore, you will have to format and reference the paper following the guideline of the target guideline. Also, this might require changing the citation and referencing format of your PhD dissertation to that of the target journal.
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