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Publish your research

Information, suggestions, and resources for preparing your written work for publication, including information on open access publishing.

Dissertation vs book

This section explains how one can approach revising their dissertation into a book. There are many differences between a dissertation and book, which often include differences in purpose, audience, voice, structure, and length.

  • Purpose: A dissertation provdes that the author has earned the PhD degree; a book disseminates new knowledge and solidifies the author's credentials.
  • Audience: A dissertation's audience is a committee; a book's audience is a community of researchers and/or the public.
  • Voice: A dissertation's voice is the student; a book's voice is the expert.
  • Structure: A dissertation is usually divided into multiple arguments (e.g. chapters) to fulfill multiple requirements; a book is united under a main argument and each chapter is articulated under the main argument.
  • Length: A dissertation's length is determined by degree requirements; a book's length is determined by the audience and market.

Adapted from "Dissertation to Book" by University of Illinois Library licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license

Resources for revising a dissertation into a book

From UC Berkeley licensed under CC-BY-SA-4.0.
https://libguides.royalroads.ca/publishyourresearch/disserttobook
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