You have successfully defended your dissertation. You have 200 pages of brilliant research. Now, you want to get published. So, you take Chapter 4, copy it into a new Word doc, add an abstract, and hit “Submit” to a top-tier journal.
Two weeks later: “Rejected.”
Why? Because a Dissertation is not a Journal Article. They are two different species. One is a “Student Exam”; the other is “Professional Communication.” Attempting to pass one off as the other is the most common mistake early-career researchers make.
At McKinley Research, we specialize in “Manuscript Conversion.” We take your massive thesis and carve out publishable gems. Here is how to make the shift.
1. The Scope: “The Whole Pie” vs. “A Slice”
- Dissertation: Tries to cover everything. You have 3 research questions, 5 hypotheses, and 10 variables. It is comprehensive.
- Article: Can only handle one idea. The Fix: Do not try to summarize your entire thesis in 6,000 words. It will be shallow. Instead, pick one specific finding (e.g., “Hypothesis 2: The impact of X on Y”) and write an article only about that. Save the other findings for a second or third article.
2. The Literature Review: “proving You Read” vs. “Setting the Stage”
- Dissertation: Your committee wanted to see that you read every book in the library. Your Lit Review is 40 pages long.
- Article: The editor assumes you know the field. They only want to see the literature that is directly relevant to the specific problem you are solving. The Fix: Cut it down. Ruthlessly. A journal Lit Review should be 500–1,000 words maximum. If a citation doesn’t directly support your specific argument, delete it.
3. The Tone: “Student” vs. “Expert”
- Dissertation: The tone is often defensive: “I did this because Smith (2010) said so.” You are proving to your professors that you followed the rules.
- Article: The tone must be authoritative: “This study demonstrates that…” The Fix: Stop justifying your existence. You are a PhD now. Write like a peer, not a pupil. Remove phrases like “In this researcher’s humble opinion…” and replace them with strong, evidence-based assertions.
4. The Length (The Hardest Part)
Shrinking 50,000 words to 6,000 words is painful. It requires “killing your darlings.” You might have written a beautiful paragraph about the history of the theory, but if it doesn’t move the data forward, it has to go. McKinley Research editors provide an objective eye. We can spot the “fluff” that you are too emotionally attached to delete.
Conclusion
Your dissertation is a gold mine. But you can’t sell the whole mine; you have to refine the gold. Don’t let your hard work sit on a library shelf gathering dust.
