Efficient Thesis Writing: Structuring for Publication Success

1. Phyllis Tharenou 2006, updated GRC October 2011 Writing the PhD and Publications at the Same Time: Two for One Professor Phyllis Tharenou Dean Research Division of Business RESEARCH

2. Why should a thesis be written as a series of possible journal articles/papers? • Lot of effort to write a PhD and only get a PhD out of it • Lot of effort to later turn a different structure into articles – may never happen • Chunks it to help you write it. • Is shorter, an argument, a sequence, chunked, helping the Examiners to follow the logic • Can submit journal articles along the way and get free feedback from strangers to adjust thesis before submission (fewer or no corrections) • Can use publications to get a job or a promotion. • Why Not Write the Thesis So That Possible Articles Are SimultaneouslyBeing Written?

3. The “Bookends” Thesis Structure Intro  Ch.1  Ch.2  Ch.3  Ch.4 etc. Final Chapter Study 1Study 2Study 3Study 4 Chapter Paper Paper Paper Paper Possible? Possible? Possible? Possible? ASKS DOES THE ANSWERS RQs --------------------- RESEARCH ---------------- THE RQs IN A LOGICAL SEQUENCE TO ANSWER THE RQs • Possible series of journal articles and/or a book.

4. Principles • Write the thesis as a series of studies - a program of research in a sequence. Each is a possible article. • What might be the order to present the work (the sequence of chapters) to arrive at the final answer to the problem? • May need to decidewhat the separate studies/ chapters/papers are after the data have been collected and part analysed (for theses without data, still need to work out the sequence as papers) • The sequence of chapters/articles inexorably sticks to the topic and answers the RQs. All other material is appendixed. • May have some chapters that cannot be papers. • May need to combine some chapters to submit as paper to a good journal.

5. Do Not Do • Series of one big or 3 or more small chapters giving a very long literature review ALL AT FRONT eg 80 pages – how can an examiner follow it? • Method (could be chapter 4 or 5) • Results (could be chapter 6- why wait that long?) • Discussion, concluding chapter Instead: • Write most of thesis (eg except first and last chapters) as a series of papers, with each paper having its own (i) Introduction/lit. review arguing for its own research propositions/hypotheses, (ii) method, (iii) results, and (iv) discussion. • Lit review done where needed along way in each paper

6. The Thesis: A Possible Structure • Introductory Chapter - Overview • Aim, importance, background • Critical literature review arguing for research questions RQs • End with the upcoming structure of thesis matching RQs • Series of chapters/articles/papers • Chapter 2/Possible article - Decide Title • Chapter 3/Possible article - Decide Title • Chapter 4/Possible article - Decide Title • Chapter 5/Possible article - Decide Title etc. • Final Chapter – Overall Discussion and Conclusion How results overall answer Ch 1’s RQs and add to knowledge • What the overall results mean, what is the explanation, what is the conceptual development, the implications for theory • Limitations and future research, practical implications. Sequenced order of studies/ program of research to arrive at answers to RQs

7. Each Chapter/Study/Article • Each is a self-contained possible article. eg: • Intro/Critical Literature Review Hypotheses or Res. Props • Method eg Sample, data collection, measures, method of analyses • Results – written against the Hyps/Research Propositions • Discussion & Conclusion – what results mean, how explains, contribution to theory, limitations, future research. • Intro para of each chapter leads on from prior chapter and its conclusion and introduces its aims. • Conclusion paragraph of each chapter summarizes its results and leads into next chapter. • Appendices Needed to the Thesis • Other material not part of the sequenced papers/ studies eg • Pilot studies, some conceptual material that does not fit into ‘papers’/chapters, some information on methods of analysis, some preliminary or exploratory analyses giving results

8. What is Written First? Chapters or Articles • Need to decide if write a journal article for submission first or write the chapter 1st • Be efficient about writing. What is being written along way will be part of thesis and updated at end. • Try not to make articles and chapters too different from each other (really front para and back para and may be method section)

9. Converting Chapters into Journal Articles • Need to adjust a chapter to turn it into an article: • Add the reference list • Change the front intro para & back closing paragraph Front intro now needs some material on importance and significance and background (because do not have Ch. 1 now establishing why doing this) • Expand some parts of method section. • Article may need more method in it. In thesis usually give method first time it is needed. Then do not repeat it in later chapters whereas in an article need full method. • May need to adjust results’ section (eg some may be appendixed in thesis) • Back closing para needs changing because now not leading into next study.

10. Strategy: Which Journals to Submit to? • Need to decide journals a chapter/paper could be sent to - Plan A, Plan B, Plan C. • Select the journal by whether? • It publishes that type of research eg that topic, perspective? • Articles from the journal are cited in the PhD • It uses the methodology or methods of data analysis • The journal editor showed interest in it • Quality of the journal • It is a journal with an impact factor or one without? • Is it a local journal or an international journal? • Is it an ERA-ranked journal or not? • Strategy for choosing what parts of thesis to submit as Journal Articles (JAs)? • Is it the lit. review (intro chapter) or only empirical studies? • Is it to get feedback or just a publication?

11. What is an impact factor? • The average number of times articles from the journal published in the last 2 years have been cited • Where to find out if the journal being considered for submitting to has an impact factor: • Web of Science eg Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) covers over 1700 scholarly social science journals in over 50 disciplines (also Science Citation Index) • Journal Citation Reports from Web of Science are used to find the particular journal and see if it has an impact factor • Can take a subject category (eg applied psychology) in SSCI, specify it, and obtain the impact factor of a journal  Get the rank of journals in the discipline Library runs training courses on this.

12. Research Publications: Other Considerations • Should submit publications to journals with no impact factors? • Find out if have an impact factor, if of high standing? How fare in published evaluations of journals? • Is it an ERA-ranked conference? (only available for ITEE conferences) • To Conferences eg Conference Proceedings? • In a few disciplines, are the way research is published • Are they esteemed internationally? • Are they full papers peer reviewed? • Is there a decent rejection rate for the conference? • Do they publish the papers? (some of the best don’t) • As Book Chapters - is it research? • Is book published by an esteemed editor or publisher? • Invited or refereed? Is it a research chapter? • As Books - Can the thesis be turned into a book? • Standard of publisher? Good? International? • Will it be reviewed in a journal after it is published?

13. Writing the PhD is Easier Provides a logical order - program of research- to help answer the RQs Makes it doable by chunking, sectionalising it Makes deciding what was found clear Gains Feedback before Submit If articles submitted to decent journals along the way, get feedback prior to submitting to the examiners Can adjust thesis using the feedback - find out what is wrong before submitting and solve problems prior to submission Fewer examination problems Gain Achievements Along Way Get feelings of great joy, achievement, happiness and self-esteem when published Helps Gain Jobs After PhD If cannot publish along the way, still have the thesis structurally written as papers to adjust for submission to journals after submission Can use publications to get an academic job later or to apply for a postdoctoral position (eg ARC, advertised by an Institute) or promotion Conclusion: Two for One - Why Do It?

14. Conclusion • Can the thesis be chunked to be written as a series of articles (which are chapters) to submit to journals? • Can the thesis chapters be simultaneously written as possible articles? ie a program of research? • Which journals should the work go into? • How are those journals assessed? • Is feedback needed as the thesis goes along? • After the thesis is awarded, does the student want? • A postdoc • An academic job • An opportunity for a promotion if an academic? • Does it take longer or is it quicker?

15. Exercise • What major research questions does the thesis answer? ________________________________________________ • What order do the RQs need to be answered in? What is their sequence (some need to be answered first, some second, some third) to arrive at the overall answer to the problem posed in your thesis? _______________________________________________ • How would you chunk/sectionalise the RQs? _____________________________________________ • What are the studies that will be done to answer the RQs? ________________________________________________ • What order do the studies go in to make up the research program to answer the RQs and the overall problem? ________________________________________________

16. Exercise • What are the data collections reported in each study? ____________________________________________ (i) If there is one big data collection, what are the parts/ elements that will be carved up to sequentially answer the RQs? What is the order to those parts/papers? ____________________________________________ (ii) If there are 2 or 3 data collections, do they form a sequence of studies/papers to answer the RQs & what is their order? ____________________________________________ • What is the title of each chapter/study/article? • Does the overall list of chapter titles make sense in terms of the logic of the argument being used to answer the RQs? ie the logical structure of the thesis. ____________________________________________

17. How to Access the Web of Science to Assess the Quality of Journals in a Discipline • Go to Library Databases, go to Database Titles.   • Select Web of Science in the database titles list • A window comes up. Click on Web of Science “for UniSA staff and students”. • Gives the ISI Web of Knowledge Home Page.  Select ISI Journal Citation Reports. Then click Go. • Then click on JCR Social Sciences Edition (or Science) & select the latest edition (window always has it on the latest). • Select words Subject Category. Press Submit. • Up comes a box with all the subject types. • Pick the subject type most relevant to you. eg Management. Before you press Submit, go to the box that says Sort and select "Impact Factor", and then press Submit.    • The journal list will come up ranked in order of Impact Factor. • Can also search by individual journal to get an impact factor