What qualities make a dissertation publishable?

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This is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. Thank you so much!

 

One factor to consider is inclusion of copyrighted material.
When I wrote my ERAU thesis/prject I used a lot of material (photographs) from UK museums and government institutions all of which were copyrighted (Unlike the USA, all UK govt prepared material is copyrighted). I got permission to use it for my thesis (educational) then my ERAU advisor suggested I write a paper, which I did, and got permission again (I published the paper through a not-for-profit US museum - again educational). But to obtain permission to reproduce copyright material in a for-profit book is much harder to obtain.

 

Okay, I've not published (yet), but there are a few things that come to mind, here.

I have a friend who received a Ph.D. from Baylor several years ago who just had his dissertation published by a German press. I have a copy of it from Proquest dissertations, but I just might purchase a copy so I can have him sign it.

I took a course, years ago, with a professor whose dissertation was the course text. It was absolutely horrendous as a course text. Essentially and all I could figure was that it was a vanity thing. The professor, whom I actually think the world of, was also on my dissertation committee. Thankfully, he can't shoot me now ;-)

When I chose my dissertation topic, I knew I was going to aim to publish my paper in some for as an article with an eye to certain journals or types of journals. I consulted with several committee members on that very idea along the way. Now, it's done and over, I'll start trimming it to make it article friendly.

Much luck; I think it would be so exciting to be published!

 

Yes, it would be exciting. I'm just starting out in my PhD program and plan to begin work on my dis very soon, with the intention of not waiting until the dissertation phase. Hopefully, that will take some pressure off and allow me to think about how to make it publishable. We'll see if my plan works or not. Got any tips on that?

 

I'm sure others can speak to this much better than I. Be that as it may, I knew almost from the onset what my topic would be and, more or less, how I would approach it. From there, any opportunity I had, I used the topic or aspects of the topic in completing coursework requirements. Coursework within an Ed.D. tends to be quite focused, though, so I couldn't use if for everything (for example, trying to fit Kohlberg into efficacy theory was a bit weird). It did, however, help me work out some of the kinks in how I would approach the topic and the paper and significantly broadened my perspective.

Not having any experience in a Ph.D. program, I'm not sure how others would approach it, but I did the same thing with my master's thesis. Throughout my master's work I developed my topic and expanded my research, so that worked out quite well.

The thing is, in my view, your focus may take some twists and turns, so I wouldn't be too horribly fixed on the vision of the dissertation as a finished product so early on. While I was certain of my topic and relatively certain of my approach, it did evolve a bit from the time I began my program until I proceeded. Actually, it became more than I had expected, so I would aim to remain flexible, at this point, and see if what you think you want to do remains what you actually want to do, in the end.

Oh and as they say, you better love that topic because you may be married to it for quite some time...

Notice I always have 2 cents to contribute ;-)

 

Thanks for that DrB, that's helpful. At least you still have 2 cents to give!

 

Does it sound pretentious? If so it'll probably get published.

 

Ah... so the key is to be narcissistic, pompous, pretentious and arrogant? I thought there was a trick to it!

 

I would say just the opposite. No one will want to read some uptight, dry, research data. Make it fun, enjoyable, and easy to digest.

 

ABD = Awesome Bad Dude. That was the nice one I thought of...I can think of others.

 

Do the words "dissertation" and "enjoyable" even belong together in the same sentence?

 

Not to mention "digest". Using the word "digest" in the context he used just screams pretentious.

Sounds like your dissertation was made out of fiber or something.

 

That's the wrong approach. Write the dissertation to satisfy your dissertation committee and any meddling nonspecialists you encounter outside your committee.

(Note that dealing with meddling nonspecialists is particularly difficult, because they have no idea what they are even talking about when it comes to your topic and the research traditions associated with it; they simply apply what they know to your research problem, which is usually [not always though] a stupid waste of your time and money. Moreover, trying to explain the stupidity of applying their favorite research method to your research problem is a waste of time also, because people [especially narcissists] generally don't want to hear how stupid they are behaving...)

That said, a good dissertation is not publishable to a general audience, by definition. Writing a book is whole different issue. It's also labeled with a term of derision: Monograph. Writing a book that is commercially viable is even a bigger challenge than just writing book.

However, if you want to do a little work on popularizing your topic, start developing some PowerPoint slides you can use to introduce the topic to your wife, girlfriend, mother, or grandmother... That could be helpful in the long run.

 

Hmmm...showing PowerPoint slides about advanced theory to my grandmother while she is knitting and watching Jeopardy. We'd have to turn up her hearing aid a bit so she could hear me.

 

Actually Randell's right. The more accessible the article the more likely it's going to be considered for publication. The pretentious behavior is more appropriate for the snide commentary to the peer reviewers... I think someone once best stated the quality as having " a brutally vicious command of common sense."

 

The granny test is an indicator of whether the research can be popularized and sold. If granny can't understand it, then you haven't struck the mother lode in publishing...

 

I understand the point you are making and I appreciate it. The "granny test" is used figuratively and is a very good idea for creating a readable work. If you knew my grandma you would understand the humor I saw in that idea.