Thesis & Dissertation Services

There are several things you will need to do to prepare your thesis or dissertation for publication:

• Select a journal or publisher to which you want to submit your work: 
• Review the selected journal or publisher's publishing standards
• Ensure that your work abides by the publisher's guidelines:  This may require revising your original work and removing certain pieces.  Many publishing guidelines involve changing font size or type, page length, and/or page format.

Do not be concerned if your original work undergoes several formatting changes.  It is possible that you will have several versions of your thesis or dissertation that are formatted to different publishers' guidelines.  It might be a good idea to keep a master copy that you will never revise so that you can work with your original thesis every time.

When submitting work for publication, you are expected to follow a publisher's guidelines carefully and thoroughly.  Instructions and policies vary from journal to journal and from discipline to discipline.  On top of journal publishing standards, there are several things to consider when preparing your work for publication (Cronin and Heyman, 2005).

Questions to ask when preparing your work:

• Why do you want to publish your thesis?
• Who is your audience?
• What is the scope of your work?
• What story does your work tell?  Do all parts of your thesis connect to that story?
• Does your work have correct grammar and follow a formal language/writing style?
• Does your research contribute to the field in a positive way?
• Will publishing in this journal have the potential to harm your professional career?

Here are some tips and things to consider before submitting your work for publication:

• Review a publisher's guidelines before submitting your work.  Some theses are rejected because they do not conform to the publisher's formatting guidelines.

• Review the publisher's credentials.  If the publisher does not clearly state their credentials or policies, it could be a predatory publisher.  You can read more about predatory publishers in our guide on predatory publishing.

• Write a cover letter on top of your submission addressing the publisher.  Like applying for a job, you will get extra consideration if you address the publisher directly.

• Double-check the final document for formatting errors, as converting documents to other formats can change the formatting or spacing or a paper without you realizing.

• Have your final document reviewed by a peer or academic advisor.  They can identify any potential issues with your work that you may have overlooked.

If you are concerned about predatory publishers and would like more information on how to avoid them, check out our guide on predatory publishing.  It is recommended that you familiarize yourself with predatory "red flags" so you do not jeopardize the integrity of your work and reputation as a researcher.

As a supplement to our guide on predatory publishing, you can also use Cabell's.  Cabell's is a database that ranks and reviews academic journals for predatory practices and publishing violations.  When it comes to submitting your work for publication, it is a great resource when you may not know what journals to consider.  If you are not familiar with using Cabell's, you can view our tutorial below.

For more information on copyright, you can view our copyright guide (below) or read Tiffin University's copyright infringement policy, available here.  A full version of Tiffin University's copyright policy is also located here.  If you have specific questions regarding copyright policies and procedures, you can send an email to Christine Scott at scottc@tiffin.edu.