Doing a thesis or dissertation during a masters or PhD program is a colossal task that requires a lot of effort and commitment. However, do you really feel equipped at the time of doing your thesis? A lot of medical schools across the world do not provide adequate training in the basic research techniques such as literature review, study design, biostatistics, manuscript writing and other skills required to plan and execute a high quality thesis. To learn more about these techniques click here.
In this blog, lets assume that you have already done your thesis and want to proceed to publish it in a high-ranking peer reviewed journal.
Before we begin, lets understand the difference between a thesis and scientific publications in a journal. Firstly, a thesis write up is extremely exhaustive and includes a lengthy review of literature; detailed methodology including standard operating procedures if any and every possible result derived using every possible research tool. Secondly, it usually more than 10,000 words, 10-15 tables, a lot of figures, graphs and illustrations and usually has more than 100 references. And finally, the thesis may answer many relevant clinical questions as part of the entire project. On the other hand, an article intended to be published in a scientific journal needs to be crisp in writing respecting the IMRAD (introduction, methods, results and discussion) format, within the journal word count, have limited references and answer a specific question that would be of interest to the journal readership. With these differences in mind, you can imagine that a journal manuscript is essentially a précis from the thesis. However, you need to follow certain guidelines when you are looking to convert your thesis to a journal article. Remember that you have all the material for a good article if you have done your thesis well. It’s just a matter of reorganization and goal directed writing to come up with an unbeatable article for a journal, especially if you follow what’s given below.
Now that we understand the basic differences between a thesis and journal article, it will be easy to understand how to go about converting the thesis into an article. Lets take a step-by-step approach to this process:
Writing an abstract: A journal article requires you to submit an abstract which is a stand-alone précis for your study findings. A structured abstract is required by most journals with the following sub-headings: Purpose, Methods, Results and Conclusions. You will need to try and highlight the salient points of your study under these sub-headings within a word count between 250 – 350 words depending upon the journal. Remember that the abstract is freely available online, and after the title, the abstract is the most widely read part of your future publication. Hence concentrate on making it the best resume for your study.
Writing the Introduction: For a thesis, you will write a review of literature and show your exhaustive understanding of the topic. However, the main goal of the introduction of a journal article is to be succinct and narrow down a readers’ attention from what is known to what is unknown about the topic, thus pique their attention and provide a rationale for your study. It is best to restrict the introduction to about 250 – 300 words.
Writing the Methods: This section is easiest to write since you have done the study already. However, it is by no means a copy – paste job. The main purpose of the methods in a journal article is to show what was done so that someone else can replicate your study. Omit unnecessary details from this section that do not add value to the manuscript. Yet try and retain the essentials. It is important to mention inclusion and exclusion criteria, sample size calculation, study design, execution (what was done a every step) protocols in short, outcome measures and statistical tests used. It is best if you can show the methods in a flowchart so that it is easy for the journal reviewers as well as readers to easily understand what you did by just eye-balling your paper.
Writing the Results: The thesis write up will have a lot of results with tables and figures for just about every variable you have measured. Remember that journals hate repetition of results in the written text, tables and figures. A practical approach to writing results for a journal article is to mention the demographics first, followed by results of the primary outcome measure and then results from other outcomes you might have measured. Limit the outcomes you report to those that are meaningful for the particular paper. Before writing, understand your results and decide which results will be in written text, which will go into tables and which results are best represented by a diagram, chart, graph or illustration. It is best to restrict the total tables and figures between 5 and 7 to retain readers’ attention. If you find that you are unable to fit everything nicely into the results, then you might consider splitting the data into 2 different papers which will both be equally consequentially. Avoid salami slicing which means unnecessarily splitting data into multiple papers.
Writing the Discussion: There is not much difference between writing the discussion for the thesis and journal article other than the length. Since you are reporting only meaningful results and not every result you found, the discussion is automatically shortened. It is best to discuss the results of your primary outcome measure first followed by others. Limit comparing your particular outcomes to 2-3 previous studies alone. Choose which ones are closest to your methodology and compare – contrast your discussion as to why your results are similar or different from these previous studies. To learn more about manuscript writing, click here.
References: Restrict the number of references as per the journal instruction to authors. In fact, it is critically important to understand all aspects of the instruction to authors including referencing style, number of references allowed, instruction for figures (dpi, colour scheme, sizing etc.), restriction on number of tables and figures, word limits etc. To know more about referencing and reference managers, click here.
Choosing a journal of choice: This is a critical decision and should be done keeping in mind the merit of your paper, your target audience, the journal reputation, impact factor, scope and rapidity of decision making. For more detailed approach to choosing an appropriate journal, click here.
A checklist approach: There are internationally accepted checklists that can be used to write manuscripts. In my opinion, since you already have exhaustive material, using checklists is the best way to convert your thesis into a great journal article without missing out on any of the above-mentioned points. To know more, click here.
In conclusion, turning your thesis into a journal article can be frustrating with frequent rejections from journals if you don’t follow the correct approach, but can be enjoyable if your approach is right. These concepts are applicable not only for a thesis but for any manuscript you wish to submit to a journal. Another caveat is that you need to do the thesis well and derive robust results that cannot be easily refuted or doubted. The foundation for this should be laid even before you begin the thesis. You can enrol into the E-Learning portal of Sengupta’s Research Academy here and acquire much needed skills to do a good thesis and publish.