publish my thesis as a book

9 Effective Tips for Publishing Thesis As a Book

While they may look alike, a thesis is not a book! The process of publishing thesis as a book is different right from its conception to completion. Created with an intent to target a specific audience, a thesis differs from a book in multiple aspects. Although your thesis topic would surely be relevant to your field of study, it perhaps, can be of interest to a wider audience. In such a case, your thesis can be turned into a book .

In this article, we will shed some light on the possible ways of publishing your thesis as a book .

Table of Contents

What is the Difference Between a Thesis and a Book?

Researchers spend years working on their thesis. A thesis focuses on the research conducted, and is thus published as journal articles . However, in some cases, it may also be published as a book for a wider readership. While both thesis and book writing require effort, time, and are equally longer versions of documents, they are different in several ways.

• A thesis always begins with a question or hypothesis. On the other hand, a book begins with a series of reflections to grab the reader’s attention. To a certain extent, it could be said that while the thesis starts with a question, the book starts with an answer.
• Another major difference between the two is their audience. The content of a thesis, as well as its format and language is aimed at the academic community. However, since the book is written with an intent to reach out to wider audience, the language and format is simpler for easy comprehension by non-academic readers as well.
• Furthermore, thesis is about documenting or reporting your research activities during doctorate; whereas, a book can be considered as a narrative medium to capture the reader’s attention toward your research and its impact on the society.

How to Turn a Thesis into a Book?

The structure of your thesis will not necessarily be similar to the structure of your book. This is primarily because the readership is different and the approach depends on both the audience as well as the purpose of your book. If the book is intended as a primary reference for a course, take the course syllabus into account to establish the topics to be covered. Perhaps your thesis already covers most of the topics, but you will have to fill in the gaps with existing literature.

Additionally, it may be so that you want your book to be a complementary reference not only for one course, but for several courses with different focuses; in this case, you must consider different interests of your audience.

The layout of most thesis involve cross-references, footnotes, and an extensive final bibliography. While publishing your thesis as a book , eliminate excessive academic jargon and reduce the bibliography to reference books for an ordinary reader.

Key Factors to Consider While Publishing Your Thesis as a Book

• Purpose of the book and the problems it intends to solve
• A proposed title
• The need for your proposed book
• Existing and potential competition
• Index of contents
• Overview of the book
• Summary of each book chapter
• Timeline for completing the book
• Brief description of the audience and the courses it would cover

With all of this in mind, here are 9 steps to successfully turn your thesis into a book .

9 Steps to Successfully Publish Your Thesis as a Book!

1. Establish Your Target Audience

Based on the topic of your thesis, determine the areas that may potentially rise interest in your book’s audience. Once you establish your target audience, figure out the nature of book they would like to read.

2. Determine the Objective of Your Book

Reflect on the scope of your book and the impact it would have on your target audience. Perhaps it can be used as a textbook or supplementary for one or more courses. Visualize what the reach of your book may be; if it is a book with an identified local market, an interest that arose in your educational institution, which can be traced to other similar institutions, or if it can have a national or even international reach.

3. Identify Your Competition

Find out which books are already on the market, what topics they cover, what problems do they solve, etc. Furthermore, ask yourself what would be the advantage of your book over those that already exist.

4. Define the Structure of Your Book

If the book is written as part of a curriculum, use that program to define its structure. If it covers several programs, make a list of topics to focus on individually and sequence them in an order based on educational criteria or interest for the potential reader.

5. Identify Potential Publishers

Search for publishers in your country or on the web and the kind of books they publish to see if there is a growing interest in the book you are planning to develop. Furthermore, you can also look at self-publishing or publishing-on-demand options if you already have a captive audience interested in your work.

6. Plan a Schedule

Based on the structure of your book, schedule your progress and create a work plan. Consider that many topics are already written in your thesis, you will only have to rewrite them and not have to do the research from scratch. Plan your day in such a way that you get enough time to fill in technical or generic gaps if they exist.

7. Follow a Writing Style

The writing style depends on the type of book and your target audience. While academic writing style is preferred in thesis writing, books can be written in simpler ways for easy comprehension. If you have already spoken to an interested publisher, they can help in determining the writing style to follow. If you’re self-publishing, refer to some competitor books to determine the most popular style of writing and follow it.

8. Incorporate Visual Aids

Depending on the subject of your book, there may be various types of visual and graphic aids to accentuate your writing, which may prove lucrative. Give due credit to images, diagrams, graphical representations, etc. to avoid copyright infringement. Furthermore, ensure that the presentation style of visual aids is same throughout the book.

9. Review Your Draft

Your supervisor and the advisory council review and refine you thesis draft. However, a book must be proofread , preferably by someone with a constructive view. You can also use professional editing services or just go ahead with an excellent grammar checking tool to avoid the hassle.

Do you plan on publishing your thesis as a book ? Have you published one before? Share your experience in the comments!

good article

Hello. Nice to read your paper. However, I fell on your article while browsing the net for the exact opposite reason and I think you can equally give me some insights. I am interested, as I earlier said, on how to transform my book into a thesis instead, and how I can defend it at an academic level. I am writing a research work on financial digital options trading and have done a lot of back testing with technical analysis that I explain, to rake thousands of dollars from the financial markets. I find the technical analysis very peculiar and would like to defend this piece of work as a thesis instead. Is it possible? Please you can reply me through e:mail thanks

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How to Turn Your Thesis into a Book

Table of contents, introduction, understanding your audience, adapting thesis content for a book, crafting a compelling narrative, writing style and tone, exploring publishing options, understanding literary agents and academic presses, preparing your manuscript for publication, creating a book proposal, marketing and promotion.

The transition from researcher to author can seem daunting, but turning a thesis into a book offers significant rewards. Publishing a book allows you to share your research with a broader audience beyond academia. It also helps establish your authority and expertise in your field.

Books have more longevity than journal articles, enabling you to tell a richer, more in-depth story. As an author, you can reach practitioners who can apply your insights and educate the general public. The process of adapting your thesis helps strengthen your writing and communication abilities.

A book enhances your brand and opens speaking opportunities, consulting engagements, and career options. However, writing a book requires reevaluating how to convey your ideas to non-specialist readers best. You must shift to a more accessible writing style and think creatively about crafting a compelling narrative arc.

This involves restructuring content, integrating anecdotes, choosing an engaging voice, and mastering storytelling techniques focused on keeping readers’ attention. The publishing process also brings new complexities concerning agents, editors, guidelines, and marketing. Yet, with careful planning and persistence, it is possible to navigate these hurdles successfully.

For academic researchers, the thesis often represents the culmination of years of study in a specialized field. However, researchers can turn their thesis into a published book rather than let it collect dust. This allows them to reach a much wider audience with their ideas and establish themselves as authorities in their subject.

Books have a permanence and legitimacy that other mediums lack. While journal articles may have more prestige in academia, books make research accessible to mainstream readers. They have the potential to educate the public, shape dialogues in a discipline, inspire future scholarship and impact real-world practice. By publishing a book , researchers greatly amplify the influence of their thesis.

Yet, transitioning from researcher to author involves more than copy-pasting a thesis. It requires adapting to a completely different style of writing. Academic writing prioritizes precision, empirical rigor, complex language, and speaking to a niche audience. Books aimed at general readers use clearer prose, compelling narratives, and real-world stories and structure content more thematically.

Researchers must shift their mindset accordingly. The publishing process also brings new challenges concerning agents, editors , guidelines, publicity, and marketing. With commitment and perseverance, this obstacle course can be successfully navigated.

Beyond making an original contribution to academic literature, publishing a book version of your thesis can provide career advantages and personal satisfaction. Turning a thesis into a book dramatically expands your audience and visibility. While only committee members may have read your thesis, a published book makes your ideas accessible to students, practitioners in your field, policymakers, journalists, and interested lay readers. This establishes your reputation as an authority on the topic.

With an academic book on your resume, opportunities for speaking engagements, consulting jobs, teaching roles, and media commentary will likely arise. Your work may even influence legislation or real-world applications of your research. On a personal level, adapting your writing style, finding your narrative voice, and connecting with readers can be deeply fulfilling. After spending years on specialized research, being able to articulate your insights to the public is incredibly rewarding.

Finally, a successfully published book represents a seminal career achievement. As an academic book author, you join the ranks of thought leaders pushing disciplines forward and changing conversations through their writings. Few accomplishments are gratifying than seeing your name and ideas preserved between book covers for posterity.

When transitioning from writing a thesis to writing a book, it is crucial to recognize that the audiences differ significantly. Academic writing is geared towards a specialized scholarly community familiar with theory, methodology , and disciplinary conventions. In contrast, writing a trade book targets a more mainstream readership looking for an accessible and engaging narrative. As an author, you must identify who your new readers are and what kind of content would appeal to them.

Academic writing utilizes discipline-specific jargon, an impersonal tone, extensive literature reviews, and a rigid structure to establish authority on a narrow topic. Trade writing uses plain language, anecdotes, humor, and a flexible narrative style to captivate nonspecialist readers on a more universal theme.

Determine if your book will speak to students, professionals, policymakers, or the general public interested in your field. Analyze comparable titles to discern what resonated. Shape chapter content and style to align with readers’ interests and background knowledge levels. Weave in examples and analogies rooted in their contexts to increase relevance.

Becoming an adept storyteller enables your specialized material to crossover to mainstream audiences. Master cliffhangers, plot twists, character development, and other devices to immerse readers. Share amusing anecdotes and clever turns of phrase to add flair. Stimulate imagination through vivid scenic descriptions. Pose thoughtful discussion questions to encourage critical reflection. Building rapport with readers amplifies the book’s real-world influence.

Transforming a thesis into a book requires re-evaluating and restructuring the content for a more narrative-driven approach. Academic writing tends to be dense and technical, while general readers expect an engaging story and relatable concepts. As an author, you must balance retaining scholarly rigor and making the ideas accessible.

Identify your thesis research’s key themes, arguments, and findings. Break these down into logical chapters and subsections. Consider which topics would benefit from additional examples or backstories to embed within the analysis. You may need to condense detailed statistical analyses into summarized findings and then expand on the practical implications. The goal is to convert technical content into an intriguing narrative that draws readers in.

While academic texts impress with jargon and complex concepts, the general public loses interest quickly. As an author, focus on explaining ideas using everyday language. Define terminology and provide illustrative examples wherever possible. Break down complex arguments into step-by-step logic that is easy to follow. Quote outside experts to reinforce your points. Include stories and anecdotes to humanize the research. However, it upholds standards of intellectual rigor by substantiating claims and highlighting study limitations.

Personal perspectives allow readers to connect with the author and material more deeply. Share what motivated your research questions and discuss memorable moments from collecting or analyzing data. Describe conversations with study participants that illuminated key insights. Use examples from your own life to illustrate broader concepts. Occasional touches of humor also help. Such anecdotes breathe life into academic subjects. However, ensure that any personal information shared is appropriate and relevant to the discussion.

Storytelling is a powerful tool that can breathe new life into academic material. Researchers can make their work more engaging and memorable for general audiences by incorporating narrative elements like plot, characters, and setting.

Academic writing often focuses solely on facts, theories, and data analysis. While important, this approach rarely captivates readers outside one’s field. Storytelling techniques offer a solution—they provide structure, conflict, and resolution to make the content more compelling. For instance, case studies allow researchers to frame their work around a specific person or organization, adding a human element. Techniques like foreshadowing, flashbacks, and cliffhangers also heighten narrative tension. Applying story arcs to research gives readers a reason to care beyond factual accuracy.

Weaving in real-world examples brings sterile academic concepts to life. For example, an economic treatise could profile a small business owner grappling with rising inflation. This puts a human face on monetary policy debates. Case studies also showcase how theories operate in specific organizational contexts. Infographics, photos, diagrams, and other illustrations make complex ideas more understandable. Using relatable examples and visuals helps concretize abstract arguments for non-specialist readers.

A disjointed narrative quickly loses readers’ interest. Compelling storytelling strategically sequences events, balancing scene-setting, rising action, climax, and resolution. Transitions should smoothly guide readers between ideas. Maintaining narrative momentum also means limiting digressions and cutting content that distracts from the core story arc. Like fiction, academic writing succeeds when readers feel transported into an immersive world brimming with possibilities. Careful narrative construction makes scholarly work impossible to put down.

The shift from formal academic writing to a more conversational and engaging tone is key when adapting a thesis into a book for a general audience. Academic writing is often dense, technical, and aimed at a narrow group of experts. In contrast, trade nonfiction requires an accessible writing style that feels like a conversation with an intelligent friend sharing hard-won knowledge.

When academics write books for general readers, they must consciously work to transform their formal thesis prose into a more relaxed yet authoritative style. Sentences should generally be shorter and less complex. Technical jargon should give way to clear explanations and vivid examples. The text may directly address the reader through second-person narration and rhetorical questions.

At the paragraph level, variety in sentence structure and length helps carry the reader along. An occasional humorously phrased insight makes the text more enjoyable. Using active voice and strong action verbs injects energy into the narrative.

While academic writing seeks an objective, impersonal tone, trade nonfiction benefits from revealing glimpses into the author’s experiences, passions, and personality. The strategic use of anecdotes about the writer’s intellectual journey in a candid first-person voice makes the book more approachable and involving for readers.

That said, professional decorum must be maintained while allowing one’s voice to emerge. Too much informality risks undermining the writer’s scholarly credibility. A thoughtful, nuanced take on the subject matter, with careful qualifying statements where needed, reminds readers that this is still an expert guiding them through complex terrain.

For scholar-writers seeking to engage general readers, the central challenge lies in balancing academic rigor with accessibility. This means not watering down complex scholarly ideas but taking the time to contextualize and explain them clearly to intelligent non-specialists. Using vivid examples and metaphors to illustrate abstractions can aid understanding.

Occasionally, the author might consciously decide to retain some technical terminology where no equivalent plain language substitute exists or adequately conveys the precise meaning. In such cases, clear definitions should be supplied the first time such a term is introduced. The glossary can also be utilized for convenient reference.

By emphasizing quality over quantity of information and spotlighting the most critical insights from the thesis, scholarly authors can craft books that inform and enlighten readers without overwhelming them. The art lies in judicious simplification without distortion of meaning.

How to Turn Your Thesis into a Book: Navigating the Publishing Process

Understanding the publishing industry landscape is crucial for academics looking to turn their thesis into a published book. There are two main paths to publication – traditional publishing through an established publisher or self-publishing your work independently. Both have their own merits and considerations.

The traditional publishing route involves signing with an academic or trade publisher. This option benefits the publisher’s distribution networks, marketing capabilities, editorial services, and imprint credibility. However, competition is fierce, with low acceptance rates.

Self-publishing offers greater control and faster time-to-market, enabled by print-on-demand technology. Platforms like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing make self-publishing accessible. The downside is that marketing and distribution remain the author’s responsibility.

For the traditional route, securing a literary agent can be invaluable for getting your book noticed by publishers. Literary agents have established relationships with publishers and can help negotiate book deals and navigate the publishing process. On the other hand, academic presses specialize in publishing scholarly works and may be more interested in publishing academic theses. Researching and identifying potential literary agents and academic presses that align with your book’s subject matter and target audience is important.

Before submitting your manuscript to publishers or self-publishing, it is crucial to ensure it is polished and ready for publication. This involves careful editing and proofreading to eliminate any errors or inconsistencies. It is also important to format your manuscript according to the publisher’s guidelines or industry standards. Creating a visually appealing and well-structured book will enhance its professionalism and appeal to readers.

When submitting your manuscript to publishers, it is common practice to include a book proposal. This document provides an overview of your book, including its subject matter, target audience, market potential, and competition analysis. It is also important to highlight your qualifications and expertise as the author. A well-crafted book proposal can help publishers understand the value and marketability of your book.

Regardless of your publishing route, marketing and promotion are essential for getting your book noticed and reaching your target audience. This involves creating an author platform, including a website and social media presence, and engaging with your readers through blog posts or public speaking events. Utilizing online platforms such as Goodreads, Amazon, or book review websites can also help generate buzz and attract readers to your book.

Navigating the publishing process can be challenging, but with careful planning and consideration, turning your thesis into a book can be a rewarding experience. By understanding the publishing industry landscape, preparing your manuscript effectively, and implementing effective marketing strategies, you can increase the chances of your book reaching a wide readership and making a meaningful impact in your field.

We have delved into how to turn your thesis into a book that melds creative storytelling with scholarly acumen. It is a transformative act that extends the reach of your rigorous academic efforts to inform, engage, and inspire a general audience. The endeavor presents an opportunity to refine your ideas, solidify your expertise, and broaden the dialogue within and beyond your field. The thesis-to-book transition requires critical adjustments in writing style, narrative construction, and audience engagement. It demands that complex ideas be distilled without diluting their significance, enabling readers from various backgrounds to glean insights and appreciate the depths of your research. At once a scholarly and creative pursuit, reshaping a thesis into a book offers academics a wider platform for influence. It allows a work that might otherwise remain within the confines of academic circles to educate, affect public discourse, and potentially guide policy and practice. Upon successful publication, seeing your work in book form is not simply an act of personal accomplishment but a contribution to the collective repository of knowledge that charts new paths for understanding and innovation. Whether navigating traditional publishing avenues or embracing the autonomy of self-publishing, the meticulous effort to produce and promote a book is an adventure with unique challenges and rewards. The act of persevering through these stages is a testament to the importance you place on the dissemination of knowledge. Ultimately, transitioning your thesis into a book is more than a mere reformatting of academic work; it is a sharing of passion, a conversation extended to curious minds, and a beacon for those seeking to delve into your study’s essence.

As a newly minted author, you offer a window into a world shaped by your expertise, inviting readers to explore, question, and apply the knowledge within. The book that ensues carries the weight of your scholarly dedication and serves as a dynamic vessel for ideas to be encountered, contemplated, and utilized in the ever-evolving tapestry of intellectual pursuit.

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Scholarly Publishing

• Introduction
• Choosing Publishers - Considerations and risks
• Thesis to book?
• Vanity Publishers
• Presenting and publishing at conferences
• When choosing a journal
• Journals selection/ evaluation
• Open Research guide
• Publisher resources
• UOM Researcher publishing support
• Author Profiles
• Checklists and resources

My thesis to a book?

• Quite frequently early career researchers are approached to consider publishing a thesis as a book. If you intend to publish your thesis in this way considerable editing and reformatting will be required first.
• Often examiners’ reports suggest publishing options.
• Books published by print-on-demand and vanity publishers may often not be eligible for categorising as an A1 (authored) book for internal institutional auditing purposes.
• If you are approached by a publisher please refer to our  What if you are approached by a publisher? Consider asking some of these questions  section.
• Also consider contacting the  faculty or liaison librarian  for your discipline to explore options and considerations further.

Is re-purposing of text acceptable?

Israel, M. (2018, January 20). Self-plagiarism? When re-purposing text may be ethically justifiable. Research Ethics Monthly . https://ahrecs.com/research-integrity/self-plagiarism-when-re-purposing-text-may-be-ethically-justifiable

Mark writes up some tips for those considering re-using text that they have previously published.

Roig, M. (2016). Recycling our own work in the digital age. In T. Bretag (Ed.), Handbook of academic integrity (pp. 655–669). Springer.

Miguel helps to define self-plagiarism within science and scholarship and review its common forms - duplicate publication, augmented publication (when a dataset is republished with additional observations), salami publication (creating two or more publications from the same study), and text recycling (re-using substantial parts of your own previously published publications). He discusses the reader-writer contract and some scenarios of re-use in books (e.g., new editions, re-using portions of chapters from one book to another, from journal articles to book), , conference presentations (e.g., presented at more than one conference, conference presentation to journal article) and doctoral dissertations and theses (e.g., dissertation/thesis to publication, publications to dissertation). He explains why authors should be concerned about re-using previously published work.

Vanity publishers

Vanity publishers are publishing houses which charge authors to have their works published without the selection criteria usually used in hybrid publishing models.  Protect your future academic credibility and ensure maximum prospects for future publishing of your work in credible journals by carefully evaluating the credibility of these publishers BEFORE accepting any offers. Refer to our Choosing publishers section in this guide.

Torres, M.R. (2012, June 24). Advice: Dissertation for sale: A cautionary tale [Blog post].  Retrieved from http://www.chronicle.com/article/Dissertation-for-Sale-A/132401/?cid=wb&utm_source=wb&utm_medium=en

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• Roles and responsibilities
• Signing your contract
• Writing your manuscript
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• Promoting your book
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• Manuscript guidelines

Book author services

• Publish a book
• Publish conference proceedings

Our common goal is the publication of your book. Before your book is published, there are numerous internal steps in the publishing process.

To ensure timely publication, these steps should be planned and scheduled in good time, so don't be surprised if your editor contacts you during the writing process! Don’t worry, your editor just wants to make sure that the company can plan its internal resources for your book.

Below you can explore these steps, along with some helpful tools and tips to aid you in writing your manuscript.

How to prepare your manuscript

With these clear manuscript guidelines and easy-to-follow checklists, submitting your finished work couldn’t be easier.

Once you've submitted your final manuscript, our team of experts will work on the formatting and typesetting. They will transform your work into a print book, an eBook, or our own digital format, MyCopy.  Learn more about MyCopy .

Writing your manuscript in your native language

You want to publish with Springer Nature in English or German, but you have written your manuscript in another language? Or you prefer writing your current manuscript in your mother tongue?

Your English or German language skills are fine but you lack the time or funding for a translation?

Springer Nature offers a free  auto-translation service . 

• Accessibility

At Springer Nature, we’re committed to Accessibility and we want to help you make your research accessible too. Many factors regarding accessibility are handled by Springer Nature, but we request you to take some actions as well to help make your research accessible.

Alternative Text When preparing your manuscript, it is recommended that you write alternative texts (also known as alt texts) for all figures, illustrations and for tables, which you include in an image format.

• Alternative text is a brief and objective description of the content of an image and/or of the purpose it serves in a digital format. Alt text is crucial for individuals using screen reader technology, as well as for those trying to comprehend the content of an image in case it doesn't load..
• Alt text is not the same as a caption, which typically provides information that is not already in the visual element itself.
• For more tips on how to write good alt text, please visit the Poet Tool .

Requirements for Figures When differentiating elements in charts and graphs, do not just change the color, also change shapes and patterns, or provide other visual differentiation like direct segment labels.

How to Include Alternative Texts in the Manuscript Alternative texts should not be included in the body text to avoid any possibility of confusion with the captions or with the main text. Please include a separate table per chapter in which you make the assignment of figures and the alternative texts clearly. 

Multimedia enhancements

Springer Nature offers a number of multimedia tools that you can add to your book:

Video & audio: Integrate video and audio files into your book to convey specific content in its most suitable form. Both media types can either be streamed online from our electronic book versions or accessed by your readers via the SN More Media app for mobile devices. Learn more about video and audio .

Digital flashcards:  Create digital flashcards for your readers, which can be accessed by your readers via a web and mobile micro-learning app. This way your readers can learn and test their comprehension and better perform on exams.  Learn more about digital flashcards .  

Programming code: Programming code can easily be accessed from your book product page if you use one of our GitHub repositories.

Supplemental files:  It is possible to attach supplemental electronic files (like PDFs, Excel sheets, etc.) to individual chapters of your book. 

Lecturer material:  If you want to provide additional material only available to lecturers (like PowerPoint presentations or solution manuals), you can use our restricted lecturer material service.

ORCID - your personal identifier

Make sure to use your unique, personal, persistent identifier (an iD) that distinguishes you from every other researcher. ORCID also enables organizations to link to your affiliations and works – including your publications - to your iD, ensuring you receive proper credit for your work.  Learn more about ORCID .

Which templates/macros should I use?

To help you in structuring your manuscript you will have access to Word and LaTeX templates for books, as well as for contributed books. See our manuscript guidelines .  

Once it is well structured, the production teams will work on your manuscript to be in proper Springer Nature style.

How to improve search engine optimisation (SEO)

Interesting fact: Over two thirds of our website visitors come from search engines. This shows how critical search engine optimization (SEO) is!

To make sure your book's homepage and content appears at the top of the results list of an appropriate keyword search, Springer Nature constantly lay emphasis on the further optimisation of our product pages.

Check out some  SEO tips for book authors      

How to revise your thesis into a book

Springer Nature will consider submissions containing material that has previously formed part of a PhD or other academic thesis. 

This includes those that have been made publicly available according to the requirements of the institution awarding the qualification. Theses should be nominated for publication by heads of department at internationally leading institutions.

Prospective authors should bear in mind that every PhD thesis will need to undergo rigorous revision in order to be published as a monograph with our press. To help with this revision, our editors have put together the following advice:

How do you go about planning the revisions, and when should you start?

Be aware that transforming your dissertation into a publishable book is a complex process that will take time and require some careful planning. Most authors take at least a year to complete a PhD-based book; however, this timeline may be extended if the book requires fresh data and new research. 

You should only start working on your book proposal after you’ve submitted your thesis, defended it successfully, and completed your PhD program. This will allow you to look at the thesis with a fresh eye and to take into account any helpful feedback from your examiners as you develop your proposal.

Consider all the available formats. Depending on the subject and breadth of the topic, some proposals may develop into a full-length authored book (approximately 90,000 words), whilst for others a shorter format like Palgrave Pivot (25,000 to 50,000 words) may be suitable – for example a single-case or single-country study once they have been extracted out of any redundant or unnecessary content.

What’s the difference between the PhD Thesis and an Authored Book?

• Audience:   While a PhD thesis is meant to be read and scrutinized by your supervisors and examiners, the readership of your book will extend to the broader academic community, scholars and practitioners, who may not be specialized in or even familiar with your research topic.
• Rationale: The motivation behind writing your book will need to be rethought to reflect the expectations of your new audience and should be clearly explained in the introduction. The objective is not to convince your examiners that you have what it takes to complete a PhD, but to make sure the book is coherent and your conclusions are persuasive. 
• Structure:  Your introductory chapter should also offer readers a concise ‘preview’ of the various chapters. The conclusion should summarize your key findings and identify avenues for further research. Look over the table of contents in books which you would consider as related literature or competitors. How does their structure differ from the structure of your thesis? You should simplify and optimize your table of contents to present the material in a logical and accessible fashion.
• Length:  Monographs are typically much shorter than PhD theses. Separate chapters about the review of literature and research methodologies may be essential in a thesis, but will not be necessary in a book, as readers and experts in your field will be familiar already with both. References to the relevant literature can be moved to the endnotes of individual chapters, and what is not pertinent to advancing your own arguments can be removed. The methodology chapter should be reduced and merged with the introduction or omitted altogether.

Learn more about publishing German theses .

Tips for writing your textbook

• Prerequisite knowledge: What topics or concepts should readers already be familiar with? Do you need to review these or provide further explanation?
• Self-contained: Students typically want a one-stop resource so you should try to ensure that as much of the information that student needs is presented in your textbook.
• Modular chapters: Students will likely dip in and out of the textbook rather than read it linearly from start to finish so try to make chapters self-contained where possible, so they can be understood out of context of the rest of the textbook.
• Succinct and to the point: Keep focused on the course that the textbook is supporting and the topics that need to be covered. Avoid including less relevant topics, very advanced topics, explanations of concepts that students should already understand, and any other content that may not actually be useful to the student.
• Didactic elements: Elements such as exercises, case studies, definitions and so on help break up the main chapter text and make it more engaging. Consider what didactic elements you want to include before you start writing so you can ensure that the main chapter text provides the right information to support the didactic element e.g. that a concept is adequately explained in order to answer an exercise question, or that theory is suitably described before a corresponding case study is given
• Writing style: Textbooks can have a lighter, more conversational writing style than monographs and references works. Try to use active rather than passive sentences e.g. “It is believed by some physicians that…” becomes “Some physicians believe that…”
• Online resources: If you have exercises, consider writing a solutions manual for instructors so they don’t have to work out all the solutions themselves. Are there data sets, spreadsheets, programs, etc., that would be useful for students to access so they can test concepts themselves? The same copyright issues apply for online resources as for the print book – see Obtaining Permissions for further information
• Write a helpful Introduction: Explain who the textbook is for and how it should be used. Confirm the level of the students (e.g. 3rd year undergraduates). Confirm the course that the textbook supports. List any prerequisites or assumptions you have made about the student’s background knowledge. Explain how the textbook could be used. If applicable, identify core must-read chapters and chapters that are more advanced or optional; provide short summaries of the chapters (just a sentence or two)
• Test your material as you write: Use your draft chapters as part of your lecture course and see how students respond to it. Do they understand the concepts you are explaining? Are they able to complete any exercises?

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Academic Publishing

Options for Publishing Your Thesis as a Book for Free: A Comprehensive Guide

Congratulations on completing your thesis! After all the hard work, it’s time to think about sharing your research with a wider audience. One great option is to publish your thesis as a book .

But the thought of the publishing process can be daunting, especially if you’re on a tight budget. That’s why we’ve put together a comprehensive guide to help you explore the options for publishing your thesis as a book for free.

First, it’s important to understand that there are different ways to approach this. You can either self-publish your book or seek out a traditional publisher, or a combination of both .

Self-publishing is a great option if you want complete control over the publishing process. You can use platforms like Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, Lulu, or IngramSpark to format your book, design your cover, and set your price. while there are no upfront costs, these platforms will take a noticeable percentage of your sales.

If you’re interested in traditional publishing, there are some options for publishing your thesis as a book for free. Many university presses offer publishing services for academic authors, including the publication of dissertations and theses, though their distribution and marketing is very limited. Some of these presses include University of Michigan Press, University of California Press, and Penn State University Press. It’s important to note that these presses have different submission guidelines and timelines, so be sure to research them carefully.

Another option is to look for grants or fellowships that offer funding for publishing. For example, the American Association of University Women offers a grant specifically for the publication of dissertations. There are also other organizations and foundations that offer funding for academic publishing, so be sure to do your research and apply early.

Finally, consider reaching out to your academic network for support. Your thesis advisor or committee members may be able to offer guidance or connect you with publishers or funding opportunities. You can also connect with other scholars in your field and ask for recommendations or advice. Usually the major flaw with this direction is that you are relying on the network’s grace, whereas there are platforms that let all authors publish their work, such as LAP Publishing . Their liberal approach made them a preferable choice for young authors.

Why should I even publish my thesis as a book anyway?

If you’re a graduate student who has recently completed your thesis, you might be wondering what the next step is. After all the hard work and research you’ve put in, it’s natural to want to share your findings with a wider audience. One option that you may want to consider is publishing your thesis as a book.

Here are some compelling reasons why you should consider publishing your thesis as a book:

• Reach a wider audience: By publishing your thesis as a book, you’ll be able to reach a broader audience beyond your academic community. This means that your research and findings could potentially impact a larger group of people, which can be incredibly rewarding.
• Establish yourself as an expert: Publishing a book based on your thesis is a great way to establish yourself as an expert in your field. It can also help to increase your visibility and credibility as a researcher, which can be particularly beneficial if you’re looking to pursue a career in academia.
• Make your work more accessible: While theses are important pieces of academic work, they’re not always the most accessible. By publishing your work as a book, you can make it more accessible to a wider range of readers, including those outside of academia.
• Preserving your work: A thesis is often the culmination of years of research and hard work. By publishing it as a book, you can ensure that your work is preserved and accessible for future generations.
• Potential for financial gain: While publishing a book may not always be a lucrative endeavor, there is potential for financial gain. If your book is successful, you could earn royalties from sales, which could help to offset some of the costs associated with publishing.

In conclusion, publishing your thesis as a book is a great way to share your research with a wider audience, establish yourself as an expert, and make your work more accessible. While it may require some additional work and investment, the potential rewards make it a worthwhile endeavour.

Are you a researcher or an author struggling to get your thesis published? Look no further than Lambert Academic Publishing! We offer an easy and affordable publishing process that allows you to share your research with a global audience. With no publishing contract required and professional editing and formatting services included, publishing your thesis with us has never been easier. Plus, our worldwide distribution network ensures that your work will be seen by a wider audience. Don’t let your research go unnoticed – publish your thesis with Lambert Academic Publishing today and take the first step towards sharing your findings with the world!

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Things to Consider

Publishing your thesis as a book can be an alternative or an accompaniment to publishing an article in a journal. If you are considering publishing your thesis as a book or monograph, here are some things to consider: 

• You will first need to edit or restructure your thesis to make it suitable for publication. When adapting your thesis for publication, consider the expectations of publishers and your potential audience. 
• Your book should be published by a commercial or academic publisher, rather than a print-on-demand or vanity press. For help finding an appropriate publisher in your subject area, consider consulting your supervisor or a librarian. Self-publishing is not considered reputable for academic careers. 
• You will need to submit a book proposal to potential publishers. For more information on this, consult the Book Proposals tab. 
• Most publishers do not consider a thesis to be prior publication. Consult with the publisher for their policies on this. 

Selected Video Resources

• “From Dissertation to Book: Navigating the Publication Process” A panel talk of academic publishing experts hosted by UC Berkeley.
• “How to Turn Your Dissertation Into a Book” A panel talk of publishing professionals hosted by Yale University.
• “The Monograph Publishing Process” A short video from Cambridge University.
• “From Thesis to Monograph” A short video from Cambridge University.

Selected Library Resources

• << Previous: Publishing a Book
• Next: Book Proposals >>
• Last Updated: Nov 27, 2023 9:20 AM
• URL: https://dal.ca.libguides.com/ScholarlyCommunications

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Publishing from your thesis

Examples of publisher's policies, got invited to publish a book.

• Publishing processes
• Author rights & copyright
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Worried your open access thesis will compromise your article publishing? 

Some researchers may have been questioned or refused acceptance for self-plagiarism. Many publishers use plagiarism checkers like Turnitin on the initial submission and this will find postgraduate theses on Tuwhera.

Consider the following before you submit your articles:

• Check the publisher's policy on their website.
• Check publisher's policy -  this document  lists some key publishers' statements regarding pre-publication and open access theses.
• Whether you are writing a book or an article from your thesis, make sure you have rewritten your research substantially.
• Negotiate an agreement with your publisher to ensure that you are able to use your research in your thesis for your article or book.
• Make sure that you have gained permissions for using any 3rd party copyright materials in your publications.
• Turning your PhD into a successful book Taylor and Francis
• Converting your PhD Thesis into a Book in Five Steps Elsevier Author Services

Some postgraduates may be contacted by "Print on Demand" (POD) publishers offering to publish their research as a book. POD publishers publish theses in a PDF format with an ISBN number. Theses are then listed on Amazon and other bookseller sites. A hard copy is printed when someone makes a request. Typically such emails come from a publisher called VDM (Verlag Dr. Mueller) or any publishing units associated with LAP (Lambert Academic Publishing).

While you own the copyright in your work and are therefore free to decide what to do with it, we advise that you consider these points before proceeding:

• Unlike traditional publishing, the works are not vetted, peer reviewed or professionally edited.
• Your research is already available on Tuwhera, without cost or restriction, for other researchers and students around the world to read.
• You may be asked to sign away the copyright in your own work. Look at the terms and conditions very carefully and consider seeking legal advice before signing.
• Publishing in this way is very likely to harm your chances of publishing your research with a traditional and often more reputable publisher.

In addition to requesting a copy of their author-publisher agreement, here are some things you should try to ascertain before making a decision:

• What is the quality of the printed books (jackets, binding, etc)?
• What is the royalty share you will receive? With POD, as with vanity publishing, you have very little certainty as to the number of books that will be sold.
• What will the publisher do to market/promote your work?
• Will people be able to obtain your thesis only through this publisher from now on? Will they require that your thesis be removed from Tuwhera ?

Vanity Press

The difference between predatory publishers and vanity press. "Predatory publishers claim to have a working peer review, but actually it’s either not present or it’s substantially flawed. Vanity press, on the other hand, never claim to have a peer review process – therefore they are usually perfectly legal businesses." From Bealll's List . Be careful about sending your work to these publishers.

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• Next: Publishing processes >>
• Last Updated: Jan 26, 2024 11:18 AM
• URL: https://aut.ac.nz.libguides.com/getting_published

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Turning Your Thesis Into A Book

Tips and tricks to rewrite for a different type of reader, from Teresa Pitt, a legendary former Senior Commissioning Editor and Publisher with MUP.

MUP occasionally publishes books that have begun their lives as theses and academic research projects.

Some recent examples include Susan Carland's Fighting Hislam, Glenn Morrison's Songlines and Faultlines and Rebe Taylor's Into the Heart of Tasmania .

But rewriting a thesis is not simply a matter of making revisions to existing text. Here are some tips and tricks to help turn your thesis into a book (or perhaps a manuscript you can submit to publishers –  including us ).

An original thesis should be regarded as the basis for an entirely new work, written with a new audience in mind. This new work will address intelligent general readers who seek to be provoked, engaged, intrigued and/or seduced into reading your book. General readers do not expect you to prove to them how thorough your research has been, or how many other texts you have consulted. They simply want to know what you have found out and what you think about it.

The most important tasks in rewriting a thesis are to:

Remove all academic scaffolding

In a thesis, the examiners expect you to explain what you are setting out to do, and how you are going to go about doing it, before you actually do it. Then, after you have done it, you are required to restate or summarise your methods, findings and conclusions.

In a book, these preliminaries and wrap-ups are superfluous. They get in the reader's way, become repetitive and obscure the impact of the real subject matter. They also take up valuable space. The Abstract and Introduction that are both essential in a thesis are not needed in a book. Neither are the usual chapter Introductions and Conclusions.

Ordinary readers want you to get straight to the point. Thus, anything that sounds like "In this chapter I will argue . . ." or "In this chapter I have shown . . ." should be deleted immediately.

Reorganise the material

When writing for the general reader, you should introduce the most arresting, intriguing, or unusual aspects of the work the heart of the matter immediately.

The background information and theoretical discussions should come later. As a rule of thumb, start from the particular, and work to the general, rather than the other way around. In journalism, the rule for any story is always to "grab the reader's attention" in the first paragraph – indeed, in the first sentence. It may seem strange to compare a serious academic work with a newspaper story or article, but in fact the best serious non-fiction writers follow a similar principle.

The most interesting, arresting or unusual parts of the story or argument should come first to attract the interest of the general reader, you can go back later to provide the necessary background and interpretation.

Refocus clearly on the heart of the story

You need to "pick the eyes" out of your thesis. That is, you must decide what the most interesting or important issues or themes are, and concentrate on these, ruthlessly discarding the more peripheral material. Background material for example, surveys of previous literature, historical background, discussions of earlier and current theories, arguments, methodology, etc. if retained at all, should be moved from the beginning to the ends of the book, or incorporated in a much-condensed form into the relevant sections of the main text.

Remember you are writing now for non-specialist readers. You must be aware both of what you want to tell them and of what is going to catch and retain their attention.

Reduce the scholarly apparatus

Most theses have a enormous number of footnotes and an exhaustive bibliography, all designed to impress your examiners with the breadth and depth of your research. Having successfully impressed them, you now need to cut or condense your notes ruthlessly, and to reduce your bibliography to a reasonable size. Keep only what will be genuinely useful to an ordinary reader.

Any discursive or explanatory notes should either be incorporated back into the text or deleted altogether. Notes should be restricted to sources only, and should be turned into endnotes rather than footnotes.

Rewriting and new writing will be necessary. Having sketched out a new structure and focus, you now have to start writing all over again to create a completely new work.

As you rewrite you must move firmly away from the usual impersonal, abstract academic style. This means hunting down and expunging instances of:· academic jargon (find a way of expressing the concept in plain English, especially the first time you introduce it):

• long, complex, convoluted sentences (no sentence should contain more than two ideas, which should be expressed as directly as possible)
• inordinately lengthy paragraphs (break your paragraphs up as much as possible and vary them between, say, three and twenty lines)
• abstract nouns (use concrete nouns wherever you can) the passive voice (don't say "Similar observations were made by Johnson and Smith"; say "Johnson and Smith made similar observations")
• the third person used for yourself (don't say "In the present writer's opinion"; say "I think").

You must learn to address your writing as directly as possible to an imagined non-specialist reader, using a natural, personal, and unpretentious voice and using plain English. Audience awareness the sense of a real, actual person to whom you are talking/writing is one of the most useful communication skills you can develop.

Try to imagine, as you write, that you are talking about your work to an intelligent, educated friend over the kitchen table or in the pub. Your friend is in another field altogether and knows little or nothing about your particular speciality, but is curious to know more about what you do. You would talk to this friend in quite a different way than you would write for your examiners. It is this friendly, straightforward, conversational style that you need to develop.

A number of academics who have become successful writers for a general audience have gained great benefit from joining a writing class in order to develop their writing skills, to enhance their audience awareness, and to unlearn the unfortunate writing habits instilled during their academic training. Courses in creative writing and non-fiction writing are widely available, and we recommend you give this option serious consideration.

Kevin Brophy's Explorations in Creative Writing would be an excellent place to start.

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Publishing Simplified

How to Publish a Ph.D. Thesis as a Book?

Now your doctoral thesis can be published online as a book, in high-quality paperback, eBook, or hardcover, with worldwide distribution via one of the leading international  book publishing companies.   This blog discusses the  steps to self-publishing a book  for your Ph.D. thesis. 

Completing a Ph.D. thesis takes years and years of research, hard work, and sleepless nights. The research conducted as part of a Ph.D. is valuable. Its value doubles when decision-makers qualify the researched work for Ph.D. gradation. 

Which makes a Ph.D. dissertation a valuable academic textbook to a broader set of audiences, including teachers, scholars, and students. So, if you want to know whether you can publish your doctoral thesis as a book? The answer is yes. And what’s more? There is a wide range of options for publishing Ph.D. research. And quite a few of them are affordable and profitable. 

Ways to Publish a Ph.D. Thesis 

Today the scope of publishing has grown. With free self-publishing and online book publishing options, there are a ton of resources and tools available that you can use to get your researched thesis out into the hands of millions of interested people. 

Convert and Publish Your Entire Thesis into a Book:  If your thesis includes a topic that interests a large audience of students and professionals, answers questions, and communicates its importance, including evolution, impact, and probable solution, you can publish your entire thesis as a book.

Use Parts of the Ph.D. Dissertation in a Book:  You can include parts of your collaborative, ongoing, or past research studies in your book (written or co-authored by you). 

Use an Element of the Ph.D. Thesis in an Edited Book:  If a book with a subject that fits with your research theme is being edited or upgraded with new content, you can collaborate with the writer, share your studies, and contribute your expertise with other contributors. 

Rewrite Your Ph.D. Thesis into a Book Before Publishing

A thesis is not a book – its language, content, style, and format – everything is created for an academic audience and examiners. On the other hand, a book is easily digestible and understandable, created to inform, educate, intrigue, provoke, and engage readers. A thesis starts with a question, but a book begins with an answer. 

Therefore, it is crucial to ensure your Ph.D. dissertation connects with your readers so that they actually read it. Thesis can get boring; examiners do not mind, but readers will. Hence, you will have to rewrite a major chunk of your thesis for non-specialist readers. 

Before publishing, follow the steps below to convert your thesis into a proper book or manuscript. 

• Develop the Plot of the Book Interestingly 

A thesis has sections, sub-sections, strict rules, guidelines, bibliography, references, abstract, literary review, scientific approach, interpretation, result, and conclusion. But a book needs to have a story.

Even with a serious subject, you must create a background story in your introduction, establish context, environment, objective, and strike emotions. You should talk to your audience with examples, quotes, and personal stories and unfold layers slowly. Help readers discover each layer and new things with each chapter instead of revealing everything together. 

• Reorganize the Content Based on Reader’s Psychology 

Write for the general reader – introduce the most unusual aspects of the work immediately. Start from the heart of the matter, then move to theory, and finally to general stuff. The most interesting things should come first, followed by the necessary background and interpretation. Also, change the narrative from third-person to first-person – passive to active and interactive. 

• Remove all Academic References

Remove everything in the thesis that comes in the reader’s way – anything repetitive, obscure, and takes up unnecessary space, including Abstract, Introduction, Summary, Sections, Sub-Sections, Historical Backgrounds, Surveys, Conclusions, Arguments, and other peripheral material. Get straight to the point and delete the rest. 

• Add-Additional Content and Broaden the Scope

Adding multiple layers to the book can keep the reader hooked to your book. Without meandering from the theme, try adding extra content, ideas, and multiple narratives that relate to the main topic so that readers do not wander off in between. 

• Rewrite the Book by Keeping ‘Engagement and Storytelling’ in Mind
• Steer clear from impersonal and abstract tone. Use a friendly, conversational, and straightforward tone. Express more, command less. Impress less, inform more. 
• Use plain English. Introduce scientific concepts and academic jargon in layman’s language with examples. Use a lot of examples and references. 
• For engagement, use historical, cultural, art, literature, and mythological references. 
• Choose different ways to prove your point.
• Sentences should be short, simple, direct, and shouldn’t contain more than two ideas. 
• Paragraphs should be between 3 to 10 lines, and avoid repeating abstracts. Be creative. 
• Use active voice and concrete nouns. (Avoid abstract nouns and passive voice)
• Write in first-person (I think you should learn, etc.)
• Write like talking to an intelligent friend (but with another educational background) in a café or pub. 
• Include human references, case studies, people’s stories, and personal experiences. 
• Add “Bibliography,” not “References,” at the end of the book.
• Most Important Tip

After rewriting your book, wait a week to ten days before editing. Hold yourself back for a few days, clear your mind, think about the target audience, and edit with a fresh perspective. 

How to Publish Your Ph.D. Thesis and Earn Money 

Publishing your Ph.D. dissertation into a full-length book has its own perks – you can start your career as an author, open your doors to academic book writing opportunities, and most importantly, earn a good profit from the book sales. 

Going through Book Publishing Companies 

Approach book publishing companies or a publishing house, write your proposal stating why they should publish your thesis, submit your manuscript for review, and wait for the approval. An editor will read your manuscript to determine whether your book is worth publishing. 

If the publishing company accepts your manuscript and decides to publish your book, they will buy the copyrights from you and pay you an advance against future royalty, based on the current market rate. They will then take care of the book formatting, publishing, ISBN allocation, distribution, and marketing. 

This process generally takes 2 to 18 months. You will be offered 10% to 15% royalty or 5% to 10% of the net sales profits once or twice a year. This process is known as traditional book publishing.

Self-Publishing A Book

Self-publishing is a DIY solution that allows writers to publish their own books without losing creative and copyright control. Choose a leading self-publishing company that offers free publishing options, like Writat, and  create an account . Most self-publishing companies provide mobile-enabled, online publishing solutions. 

Self-publishing is the most profitable, trending, and easiest way to publish a Ph.D. thesis. All you have to do is download a suitable template for your thesis book and copy-paste your manuscript, and convert into a PDF. Choose a suitable cover design from the library or upload any image of your choice, select the book copy option (Paperback, Hardcover, or eBook), and submit your book for processing. 

Once the manuscript is submitted, the self-publishing platform will evaluate the quality (formatting and alignment), approve the cover design, and assign an ISBN. Your book will be published in less than 30 minutes and distributed in 40,000 distribution channels worldwide for greater audience reach. 

Best self-publishing companies offer 70% to 90% of the net profits and other added benefits, like  assisted publishing and customized solutions  (editing, cover designing, and marketing) at a minimal cost.\

Click here  to publish your Ph.D. thesis as a book. 

Read the  Difference Between Writat and Other Book Publishing Companies .

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The Ultimate Guide to Getting Your Thesis Published in a Journal

• 7-minute read
• 25th February 2023

Writing your thesis and getting it published are huge accomplishments. However, publishing your thesis in an academic journal is another journey for scholars. Beyond how much hard work, time, and research you invest, having your findings published in a scholarly journal is vital for your reputation as a scholar and also advances research findings within your field.

This guide will walk you through how to make sure your thesis is ready for publication in a journal. We’ll go over how to prepare for pre-publication, how to submit your research, and what to do after acceptance.

Pre-Publication Preparations

Understanding the publishing process.

Ideally, you have already considered what type of publication outlet you want your thesis research to appear in. If not, it’s best to do this so you can tailor your writing and overall presentation to fit that publication outlet’s expectations. When selecting an outlet for your research, consider the following:

●  How well will my research fit the journal?

●  Are the reputation and quality of this journal high?

●  Who is this journal’s readership/audience?

●  How long does it take the journal to respond to a submission?

●  What’s the journal’s rejection rate?

Once you finish writing, revising, editing, and proofreading your work (which can take months or years), expect the publication process to be an additional three months or so.

Revising Your Thesis

Your thesis will need to be thoroughly revised, reworked, reorganized, and edited before a journal will accept it. Journals have specific requirements for all submissions, so read everything on a journal’s submission requirements page before you submit. Make a checklist of all the requirements to be sure you don’t overlook anything. Failing to meet the submission requirements could result in your paper being rejected.

Areas for Improvement

No doubt, the biggest challenge academics face in this journey is reducing the word count of their thesis to meet journal publication requirements. Remember that the average thesis is between 60,000 and 80,000 words, not including footnotes, appendices, and references. On the other hand, the average academic journal article is 4,000 to 7,000 words. Reducing the number of words this much may seem impossible when you are staring at the year or more of research your thesis required, but remember, many have done this before, and many will do it again. You can do it too. Be patient with the process.

Additional areas of improvement include>

·   having to reorganize your thesis to meet the section requirements of the journal you submit to ( abstract, intro , methods, results, and discussion).

·   Possibly changing your reference system to match the journal requirements or reducing the number of references.

·   Reformatting tables and figures.

·   Going through an extensive editing process to make sure everything is in place and ready.

Identifying Potential Publishers

Many options exist for publishing your academic research in a journal. However, along with the many credible and legitimate publishers available online, just as many predatory publishers are out there looking to take advantage of academics. Be sure to always check unfamiliar publishers’ credentials before commencing the process. If in doubt, ask your mentor or peer whether they think the publisher is legitimate, or you can use Think. Check. Submit .

If you need help identifying which journals your research is best suited to, there are many tools to help. Here’s a short list:

○  Elsevier JournalFinder

○  EndNote Matcher

○  Journal/Author Name Estimator (JANE)

○  Publish & Flourish Open Access

·   The topics the journal publishes and whether your research will be a good fit.

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·   The journal’s audience (whom you want to read your research).

·   The types of articles the journal publishes (e.g., reviews, case studies).

·   Your personal requirements (e.g., whether you’re willing to wait a long time to see your research published).

Submitting Your Thesis

Now that you have thoroughly prepared, it’s time to submit your thesis for publication. This can also be a long process, depending on peer review feedback.

Preparing Your Submission

Many publishers require you to write and submit a cover letter along with your research. The cover letter is your sales pitch to the journal’s editor. In the letter, you should not only introduce your work but also emphasize why it’s new, important, and worth the journal’s time to publish. Be sure to check the journal’s website to see whether submission requires you to include specific information in your cover letter, such as a list of reviewers.

Whenever you submit your thesis for publication in a journal article, it should be in its “final form” – that is, completely ready for publication. Do not submit your thesis if it has not been thoroughly edited, formatted, and proofread. Specifically, check that you’ve met all the journal-specific requirements to avoid rejection.

Navigating the Peer Review Process

Once you submit your thesis to the journal, it will undergo the peer review process. This process may vary among journals, but in general, peer reviews all address the same points. Once submitted, your paper will go through the relevant editors and offices at the journal, then one or more scholars will peer-review it. They will submit their reviews to the journal, which will use the information in its final decision (to accept or reject your submission).

While many academics wait for an acceptance letter that says “no revisions necessary,” this verdict does not appear very often. Instead, the publisher will likely give you a list of necessary revisions based on peer review feedback (these revisions could be major, minor, or a combination of the two). The purpose of the feedback is to verify and strengthen your research. When you respond to the feedback , keep these tips in mind:

●  Always be respectful and polite in your responses, even if you disagree.

●  If you do disagree, be prepared to provide supporting evidence.

●  Respond to all the comments, questions, and feedback in a clear and organized manner.

●  Make sure you have sufficient time to make any changes (e.g., whether you will need to conduct additional experiments).

After Publication

Once the journal accepts your article officially, with no further revisions needed, take a moment to enjoy the fruits of your hard work. After all, having your work appear in a distinguished journal is not an easy feat. Once you’ve finished celebrating, it’s time to promote your work. Here’s how you can do that:

●  Connect with other experts online (like their posts, follow them, and comment on their work).

●  Email your academic mentors.

●  Share your article on social media so others in your field may see your work.

●  Add the article to your LinkedIn publications.

●  Respond to any comments with a “Thank you.”

Getting your thesis research published in a journal is a long process that goes from reworking your thesis to promoting your article online. Be sure you take your time in the pre-publication process so you don’t have to make lots of revisions. You can do this by thoroughly revising, editing, formatting, and proofreading your article.

During this process, make sure you and your co-authors (if any) are going over one another’s work and having outsiders read it to make sure no comma is out of place.

What are the benefits of getting your thesis published?

Having your thesis published builds your reputation as a scholar in your field. It also means you are contributing to the body of work in your field by promoting research and communication with other scholars.

How long does it typically take to get a thesis published?

Once you have finished writing, revising, editing, formatting, and proofreading your thesis – processes that can add up to months or years of work – publication can take around three months. The exact length of time will depend on the journal you submit your work to and the peer review feedback timeline.

How can I ensure the quality of my thesis when attempting to get it published?

If you want to make sure your thesis is of the highest quality, consider having professionals proofread it before submission (some journals even require submissions to be professionally proofread). Proofed has helped thousands of researchers proofread their theses. Check out our free trial today.

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Revising your thesis into a book

Springer will consider submissions containing material that has previously formed part of a PhD or other academic thesis including those that have been made publicly available according to the requirements of the institution awarding the qualification.

Research Guides

Submit and publish your thesis.

• The Graduate Thesis: What is it?
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• Your Rights as an Author
• Re-using Third Party Materials
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• Turning Thesis into an Article
• Turning Thesis into a Book
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Publishing from your thesis before or after graduation

"Will repository submission affect my publishing plans?"

... this is a common question for someone looking to publish from their thesis before or after graduation.

Most journals welcome submissions based on a thesis or dissertation. Some may have additional requirements, such as to:

• Let them know about the university’s requirement to make your thesis publicly available
• Submit a manuscript that is substantially different than the thesis content
• Embargo the thesis until after publication, etc.

Your steps will depend on the following scenarios:

Scenario 1 - you ARE NOT planning on publishing your thesis before or after graduation

In this case:

• You can submit your thesis without an embargo
• Your thesis will become publicly available in TSpace  and Library and Archives Canada after your convocation and will be widely indexed via search engines and indexes
• Use the TSpace-generated permanent URL to share and cite your thesis - see example of such citation below

Tajdaran, K. (2015). Enhancement of Peripheral Nerve Regeneration with Controlled Release of Glial Cell Line-derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF) (Master’s Thesis, University of Toronto). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1807/74747

Scenario 2 - You ARE planning on publishing your thesis AFTER graduation

Most journals are interested in “original, previously unpublished” research. Some journals consider theses as a form of “prior publications”, others do not, and the majority does not have a clear definition. It will be best to check journal policy before you submit your thesis.

Nature Research will consider submissions containing material that has previously formed part of a PhD or other academic thesis which has been published according to the requirements of the institution awarding the qualification.

►►►How to check journal policies:

• MIT Libraries' list of policy excerpts from major publishers
• Journal’s website - usually under Information for Authors or Copyright / Permissions or Editorial Policy; or in the publication agreement if available online
• If such information cannot be located online, contact the editors directly
• If the journal requires that you place an embargo on your thesis until after publication, see the SGS instructions on how to request an embargo on your thesis .

Scenario 3 - You ARE planning on publishing (or have already published) from your thesis BEFORE graduation

You may want or be expected to publish parts of your thesis before your thesis is submitted, such as with an integrated/publication-based/sandwich thesis. The most important thing to keep in mind here is copyright. You own copyright of your written materials, and a publisher may require copyright transfer of your manuscript.

You need to ensure you retain certain rights or obtain permission in order to satisfy the university’s requirement of making your thesis openly accessible via TSpace, ProQuest and Library and Archives Canada (LAC). For more details on these repositories, see the  Review and Release  section of this guide.

Check whether the journal requires prior notification about U of T’s open access requirement for theses. Some journals want to be notified of this mandate whether or not they restrict the re-use of articles in theses.

Check whether the publisher requires copyright transfer . This should be stated on their website, in the publication agreement, or you can inquire directly with the journal.

If the publisher does not require copyright transfer , i.e. author retains copyright, then you can reuse your article/chapter in your thesis; no permission needed.

If the publisher requires copyright transfer , follow these steps:

Check if the publisher has special provisions for reusing your published work in your thesis. They may permit the inclusion of a non-final version, such as your submitted or accepted manuscript. See more below on understanding different article versions for sharing .

►►►How to check journal policies:  See MIT Libraries' list of policy excerpts from major publishers or the journal/publisher website.

For example, Taylor and Francis policy allows to:

Include your article Author’s Original Manuscript (AOM) or Accepted Manuscript(AM) , depending on the embargo period in your thesis or dissertation. The Version of Record cannot be used. https://authorservices.taylorandfrancis.com/copyright-and-you/

Check if the article is distributed under a Creative Commons license. This may allow re-use.

►►►How to check journal's CC license:  See the journal/publisher website or contact the journal directly.

If the publisher requires copyright transfer, has no special provisions and does not publish under a CC license, you will need to contact them to request permission to include your article in your thesis. You can:

• Negotiate making the article available as part of the thesis in TSpace, ProQuest, and LAC Theses Portal; 
• Request an embargo [link to Lisa’ section on embargo] if the publisher only permits open sharing after some time post-publication;
• If permission is denied you may include in place of the chapter an abstract and a link to the article on the journal website.

If you have specific questions about your situation, publisher policy or author rights, contact the Scholarly Communications and Copyright Office at [email protected] for a consultation (best before you publish!)

Understanding different versions of a published article

A publisher may distinguish between the versions of an article that you may be allowed to include in your thesis:

• Submitted manuscript / pre-print - version you initially send in (often permitted)
• Accepted manuscript / post-print - version after peer review but before copyediting, layout editing, formatting, etc. (sometimes permitted; publisher may require an embargo/access restriction for a period of time)
• Version of record / final publisher’s PDF - version that appears in the journal (many publishers do not permit sharing this version)

►►►How to check article versions permitted for sharing:

• MIT Libraries’s list of policy excerpts from major publishers
• Sherpa/RoMEO database of publisher policies
• Journal’s website - usually under Information for Authors or Copyright/Permissions or Editorial Policy; or in the publication agreement if available online
• << Previous: Creative Commons Licenses for Theses
• Next: Turning Thesis into an Article >>
• Last Updated: Sep 15, 2023 3:23 PM
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Thesis Publication

Thesis publication is often considered essential if you wish to expand your career in academia or a related profession. Publishing your thesis/dissertation as a book monograph can be used as a building block to an academic career, to influence your discipline and expand your knowledge of the field. As a thesis, your work had a very small readership, but when you get published online it should attract a much larger readership.

We publish academic thesis/dissertation as a thesis monograph with ISBN and DOI through our AIJR Thesis series which will get deposited in the CrossRef thesis database. All submitted manuscripts will be internally reviewed and the author should expect a number of modifications as per the editor’s instruction.

How to Submit?

Who can submit.

All students whose thesis has already been approved from their institution and a degree has already been awarded based on that thesis can submit their thesis to publish in book form as a thesis monograph. The supervisor can also submit their student’s thesis on behalf of the student by providing the required document and student’s contact information.

Can the supervisor act as a co-author?

No, we publish the academic thesis as a standard ‘Thesis Monograph’, where only a single student can be the author. Supervisors can be included and acknowledged in the inner pages as per thesis standard but can not be a co-author of the thesis monograph.

Thesis Publication Fee

If approved by the editor, the author will require to pay a non-refundable publishing fee of $100 (or Rs. 5000/+GST for Indian students).

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More From Forbes

Ai and the author: how ai is transforming book writing.

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Miles Rote is the Chief of Author Strategy at KAA, empowering authors through book writing, editing & publishing navigation. See our books.

Many people want to write a book, but few actually do it because of how difficult the process can be. I’ve interviewed thousands of business professionals and thought leaders about their books, and consistent themes resonate through them all.

It’s not a lack of desire or inspiration that keeps them from doing it. It’s lack of time, unfamiliarity with the industry, and the intimidation of a blank page. But in the age of generative AI and modern publishing, the arduous journey from a blank page to a published book is no longer what it used to be.

How To Use AI To Enhance The Book-Writing Process

Many of the titles we know and love are ghostwritten by other people. That doesn’t mean the book isn’t from the author or isn’t their words. On the contrary, a talented ghostwriter amplifies the author’s voice.

AI can do something similar: Help us extract the ideas we have in our head and piece them together for a book. AI's role is therefore less about writing the book and more about enhancing the ability to start and finish one.

O J Simpson Dies Of Cancer At 76

Aaron lewis hits a new career low with his new album, 10 billion productivity startup notion wants to build your ai everything app.

Can it replace high-quality ghostwriters or editors? No, but here are a few strategies to use AI to help with the book-writing process.

• Ideation: AI can help overcome the dreaded blank page syndrome. By inputting a theme or a basic premise, AI can suggest creative ideas, character arcs or even entire story outlines to kickstart the creative process.

• Structuring: Organizing a book can be daunting. AI can help in outlining chapters, suggesting narrative structures and even advising on pacing and plot progression.

• Research: AI can swiftly summarize relevant information, provide historical context or even suggest thematic material, significantly reducing the time spent on research. It can also review your writing and poke holes in your arguments.

• Language And Style: For those struggling with grammar, sentence structure or stylistic elements, AI tools offer real-time suggestions for improvement, enhancing the readability and professionalism of the text.

• Character And Plot Development: Especially in fiction, crafting compelling characters and plots is vital. AI can suggest character traits, plot twists or even dialogue options, enriching the narrative.

AI Tools To Help Write Your Book

The market has become saturated with AI writing aids, each offering unique features. You can do some online research to discover many more, but I'll focus on three of my recommendations below.

Use Perplexity For Research

While Perplexity AI utilizes a combination of its own proprietary and existing AI models to power its services, its real strength is providing the most current information available, making it akin to having an up-to-date news reporter at your disposal. It’s like having a team of virtual assistants Googling and researching on your behalf.

• Pros: Fast and reliable research with citations, real-time information, contextual understanding, versatility.

• Cons: Content creation, rewriting, chain prompting.

Use ChatGPT For Writing

The paid version of ChatGPT continues to be a leading tool for a variety of writing tasks. It’s easy to use and is the most popular tool, in part because of its Custom GPTs feature.

• Pros: Content creation, ideation, rewriting, plot structure, chain prompting, custom GPTs.

• Cons: Can’t analyze large amounts of text, not great at research.

Pro tip: Check out the Creative Writing Coach custom GPT to assist with fiction writing.

Use Claude For Analysis

Claude is unique in that it has a very large context window, allowing you to enter more than 5X the information compared to ChatGPT. This means you can reference significant portions of your manuscript for consistency, coherence and plot holes so you can make improvements on pacing and structure. Claude can also analyze large PDF files (think ebooks) to assist with research.

• Pros: Analyzing large chunks of text, analyzing PDFs, character development, consistency.

• Cons: Content creation, rewriting, less well-known.

Tips for Using AI To Help Write Your Book

Get good at prompting..

The quality of your prompt will define the quality of the output. The better you get at prompting AI with the right questions, the better answers you’ll receive.

Blend AI suggestions with your creativity.

AI tools provide suggestions; it's your job to select, refine and integrate these into your book. Use AI-generated ideas as a springboard for your creativity, not a replacement.

Maintain authenticity.

While using AI, it's essential to retain your voice and ensure the story reflects your vision. AI should augment your narrative, not define it. When overused, generative AI tends to flatten your voice, not enhance it.

Integrate with traditional writing practices.

AI tools are most effective when used in conjunction with human intuition, creativity and editorial judgment. Regular writing routines, feedback from peers or mentors and personal reflections are just as crucial in the writing process as AI assistance.

Embracing AI As A Collaborative Partner In Writing

AI in book writing offers a new way to enhance your creative process, break through barriers and bring about more efficiency. However, the heart of your book—its message, emotion and connection with readers—comes from you, the author.

Over-reliance on AI can lead to homogenized content that doesn’t interest or help readers. Even when used appropriately, it’s still important to work with professional editors to elevate your manuscript from good to great. Looking ahead, AI's role in writing is poised to grow. We can anticipate more sophisticated AI tools that offer even more nuanced suggestions and insights. However, the essence of storytelling will still remain a profoundly human endeavor.

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• Entertainment

The Story of O.J. Simpson’s Controversial Book, If I Did It , And Why It Was Canceled And Later Released

Simpson’s hypothetical account of how he would have killed his ex-wife and her friend was published by one of the victim’s family in 2007

Ethan Miller/Getty; Beaufort Books

O.J. Simpson died on April 10 from cancer. He was 76. The contentious figure, who was an actor, broadcaster and Hall of Fame football player, is now arguably best-known for his arrest, trial and acquittal for the 1994 murders of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. Following an hours-long televised police chase — which garnered 95 million viewers — Simpson's trial lasted for months before jurors declared him not guilty of the killings in 1995.  In 2007, Simpson was arrested on non-related felony charges for armed robbery and kidnapping . At that point, he was convicted and sentenced to 33 years in prison following a 2008 trial, and was released in Oct. 2017 after serving nearly nine years.

Simpson’s alleged involvement with Brown and Goldman’s murders was the subject of a highly controversial book. If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer , Simpson’s hypothetical account of how he would have murdered Brown and Goldman, had a rocky road to its eventual 2007 publication. 

Beaufort Books

Prior to If I Did It , Simpson published I Want to Tell You: My Response to Your Letters, Your Messages, Your Questions in 1995, while he waited to appear before the jury for his hearing. Per the book’s description , I Want to Tell You was intended to be “an emotional and factual self-portrait of O. J.'s mind at this critical time,” and included letters that Simpson had received since his incarceration.

In 2006, publisher Judith Regan announced that she would publish a book by O.J. Simpson through ReganBooks, a former imprint of HarperCollins. Regan claimed that Simpson’s legal team contacted her in a 2006 interview, which became public in 2018. “I received a phone call from an attorney who said that O.J. was ready to confess,” Regan said in the interview. “And actually, I thought it was some kind of a scam and didn’t believe him, and I thought, ‘This guy’s a lunatic,’ but I took his number and said I’d call him back.”

Isaac Brekken-Pool/Getty

“The next day, I called him back and he said he was willing to do it, and the only condition that he had was that he didn’t want to call the book I Did It," Regan claimed. “He wanted to put an ‘if’ in front of it, so he would have deniability with his children . He couldn’t face his children and he couldn’t tell them that he had done it. That was the way it was portrayed to me. That was his only condition.” The book sold for a reported $3.5 million and was set to publish on Nov. 30, 2006. However, outrage from both the public and the victims' families led to the book’s publication being canceled. Regan was also fired by HarperCollins on the heels of the controversy.

“I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project,” Rupert Murdoch, then-News Corp. chairman, said in 2006. “We are sorry for any pain that this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson.”

In the wake of his 1995 acquittal, Simpson was sued by both the Brown and Goldman families in civil court. The court ruled in the families' favor in 1997, and awarded them a $33.5 million liability judgment, though Simpson only paid a fraction of the initial amount.

Following the cancellation of the book, however, a battle for the rights to If I Did It ensued. Lorraine Brooke Associates, a company run by Simpson’s daughter, Arnelle, with the Simpson children as the main shareholders, had negotiated the original book deal with HarperCollins. However, after a California judge ordered the rights sold to benefit the Goldman family, Lorraine Brooke Associates filed for bankruptcy.

In 2007, rights were awarded to the Goldman family, CBS reported at the time , to satisfy a $38 million wrongful death judgment against Simpson. The judge presiding over that case found that Lorraine Brooke Associates was founded in an attempt to hide O.J. Simpson's involvement with the book, which led them to award the rights to the Goldmans, CBS reported.

Jason Bean-Pool/Getty

The Browns, who won a $24 million wrongful death case against Simpson, were awarded a 10% cut of the book’s first gross proceeds. The Goldmans were tasked with bearing the burden of finding the book a publisher, as well as its marketing efforts.

With the rights secured, the Goldman family published a revised edition of If I Did It in 2007. The new book included Simpson’s original text, as well as additional commentary from the Goldman family, the book’s original ghostwriter Pablo Fenjves and journalist Dominick Dunne. The new edition also covered the bankruptcy case and the court proceedings that led to Simpson’s conviction, per the book's description.

"After 13 years of trying to get some justice, today is probably the first time we had any sense of seeing light at the end of the tunnel," Goldman’s father, Fred, said at the hearing after the book rights were awarded. "It's gratifying to see."

Never miss a story — sign up for  PEOPLE's free daily newsletter  to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.

According to Amazon , all royalties from the book's sales are currently awarded to the Goldman family.

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Annie Jacobsen: 'What if we had a nuclear war?’

The author and Pulitzer prize finalist, who has written the latest pick for the New Scientist Book Club, Nuclear War: A scenario, on the "shocking truths" about a nuclear attack

By Annie Jacobsen

12 April 2024

The Titan nuclear missile in the silo in Arizona, US

Michael Dunning/Getty Images

Not long after the last world war, the historian William L. Shirer had this to say about the next world war. It “will be launched by suicidal little madmen pressing an electronic button. Such a war will not last long and none will ever follow it. There will be no conquers and no conquests, but only the charred bones of the dead on an uninhabited planet.”

As an investigative journalist, I write about war, weapons, national security and government secrets. I’ve previously written six books about US military and intelligence programmes – at the CIA, The Pentagon, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency– all designed to prevent, or deter, nuclear world war III . In the course of my work, countless people in the upper echelons of US government have told me, proudly, that they’ve dedicated their lives to making sure the US never has a nuclear war. But what if it did?

“Every capability in the [Department of Defense] is underpinned by the fact that strategic deterrence will hold,” US Strategic Command (STRATCOM), which is responsible for nuclear deterrence, insists publicly. Until the autumn of 2022, this promise was pinned on STRATCOM’s public Twitter feed. But to a private audience at Sandia National Laboratories later that same year, STRATCOM’s Thomas Bussiere admitted the existential danger inherent to deterrence. “Everything unravels itself if those things are not true.”

If deterrence fails – what exactly would that unravelling look like? To write Nuclear War: A scenario , I put this question to scores of former nuclear command and control authorities. To the military and civilian experts who’ve built the weapon systems, been privy to the response plans and been responsible for advising the US president on nuclear counterstrike decisions should they have to be made. What I learned terrified me. Here are just a few of the shocking truths about nuclear war.

The US maintains a nuclear launch policy called Launch on Warning. This means that if a military satellite indicates the nation is under nuclear attack and a second early-warning radar confirms that information, the president launches nuclear missiles in response. Former secretary of defense William Perry told me: “Once we are warned of a nuclear attack, we prepare to launch. This is policy. We do not wait.”

The US president has sole authority to launch nuclear weapons. He asks permission of no one. Not the secretary of defense, not the chairman of the joint chief of staff, not the US Congress. “The authority is inherent in his role as commander in chief,” the Congressional Research Service confirms. The president “does not need the concurrence of either his [or her] military advisors or the US Congress to order the launch of nuclear weapons”.

When the president learns he must respond to a nuclear attack, he has just 6 minutes to do so. Six minutes is an irrational amount of time to “decide whether to release Armageddon”, President Ronald Reagan lamented in his memoirs. “Six minutes to decide how to respond to a blip on a radar scope… How could anyone apply reason at a time like that?” And yet, the president must respond. This is because it takes roughly just 30 minutes for an intercontinental ballistic missile to get from a launch pad in Russia, North Korea or China to any city in the US, and vice versa. Nuclear-armed submarines can cut that launch-to-target time to 10 minutes, or less.

Today, there are nine nuclear powers, with a combined total of more than 12,500 nuclear weapons ready to be used. The US and Russia each have some 1700 nuclear weapons deployed – weapons that can be launched in seconds or minutes after their respective president gives the command. This is what Shirer meant when he said: “Such a war will not last long and none will ever follow it.”

Nuclear war is the only scenario other than an asteroid strike that could end civilisation in a matter of hours. The soot from burning cities and forests will blot out the sun and cause nuclear winter. Agriculture will fail. Some 5 billion people will die. In the words of former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, “the survivors will envy the dead”.

I wrote Nuclear War: A scenario to demonstrate – in appalling, minute-by-minute detail – just how horrifying a nuclear war would be. “Humanity is one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation,” UN secretary-general António Guterres warned the world in 2022. “This is madness. We must reverse course.”

Nuclear War: A Scenario   by Annie Jacobsen, published by Torva (£20.00), is available now. It is the latest pick for the New Scientist Book Club: sign up  here  to read along with our members

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