Dissertation to Journal Article: A Systematic Approach

Table 7

Trimming the length.

Aspect	Reason for trimming
Research questions	If the dissertation covers several distinct research questions, narrow the focus.
Results	Try to bring results under control.
Presentation	Try to avoid the common presentation pitfalls of many novice writers.
Conventions	Certain conventions in dissertations do not lend themselves to the presentation format for journals.
References	Be selective in the references that are reported in the literature review.
Writing style	Strive for clarity, delete extraneous words, avoid excessive reporting and repetition, be explicit, use the active voice, and use correct grammar.
Interpretation of data	Be careful not to overinterpret the data. Show restraint in forming the conclusions.
Careful conversion	Reviewers and editors easily recognise a manuscript that has been carelessly converted from a dissertation.

Sources: Cone and Foster [2], Calfee and Valencia [8], and Carver [9].