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Scholarly Publishing

A guide to publishing strategically

Publishing from your thesis

Publishing from your thesis requires significant re-working​, whether you are looking to adapt individual chapters into journal articles or publish your whole thesis as a book. Many publishers will have advice on the thesis-to-book process on their website.​

When negotiating with a publisher, be aware that you are subject to the University's Intellectual Property Policy (MPF1320):


4.19 Student theses must be made openly available to the public through the University’s Institutional Digital Repository, unless otherwise agreed with the University (for example where an embargo has been approved by the University). The University is deemed to have been granted by the Student a non-exclusive, royalty free, world-wide and irrevocable licence to use and reproduce the Student theses for non-commercial educational, teaching and research purposes, including making the thesis available to the public through the University’s Institutional Repository.

Students must retain all necessary rights to enable the University to publish and share the thesis and not grant exclusive copyright licence to a thesis to any other person or organisation.

In line with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) best practice in theses publishing guide, most publishers these days do not consider theses available online as prior publications for the purposes of publishing.

Refer to the Open Access Theses page for more information on publishing after your thesis is open access.

What to consider

 

Who are you trying to reach?

  • Will you best reach your target audience through academic journal articles, book chapters or books? Are you hoping to engage with practitioners who are more likely to read professional resources?

Do you have a timeline?

  • The frequency and time to publication can differ significantly between journals and books

Have you talked to your supervisor or departmental colleagues?

  • Will the publication add value to your academic career?
  • Would publication of a your thesis as a book adversely affect future publication, in particular your ability to get your research published in journals?
  • Would the publication be counted towards a research publication for reporting purposes, or for research assessment?
  • Have your colleagues heard of or had personal experience with the publisher(s) you are planning to submit to, or have been contacted by?

 

Guiding questions to help you identify and evaluate potential publisher include:

  • What is the selection process?
  • Is there a peer-review process? Will submissions be sent out to reviewers?
  • Will work be professionally edited? If so, what standing do the editors have in the discipline?
  • How will the publisher market or promote a publication?
  • What is the reach of the publisher? Do they have "standing orders" from university libraries? 
  • Will you receive royalties from sales of your publication and how?
  • Do authors have to pay to publish? (NB: this is a legitimate model for some 'gold' open access publishing but is only of value if the publication is refereed)
  • What are the copyright implications?

 

"Thesis mill" is a terms used to describe unethical or predatory publishers that target new graduates, offering thesis publication​. There is generally no editorial processes, peer review, copyediting, formatting, or marketing​. While these publishers usually don’t levy book processing charges, the author is still the primary source of income as they will have to buy copies of the book. There is also a risk of potential loss of author copyright​.

If you receive an unsolicited publishing invitation from a publisher you are not familiar with, check with your supervisor, departmental colleagues, or your Faculty and Liaison Librarians. The Think, Check, Submit website has useful checklists for journals, books and chapters to help you assess whether or not a publisher is suitable for your research.

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