Dissertation to Journal Article: A Systematic Approach

Table 6

How dissertations differ from journal articles.

Feature	Difference
Abstract length	A typical dissertation will have an abstract of 120 to 350 words whereas an abstract for a journal will usually be in the range 150 to 250 words.
Introduction	The introduction in a dissertation is similar to that in a journal article.
Literature review	A literature review in a journal article will be much shorter than a dissertation and will be far more focused.
Research methodology	The research methodology in a journal article will describe the methods used and will not include extensive discussion of the research approach and philosophy found in a dissertation.
Research findings and analysis	The research findings and analysis in a journal article will provide the main findings and analysis of the research and will not report all the results as commonly found in a dissertation.
Discussion	The discussion section in a dissertation will be longer than in a journal manuscript submission.
References	Only references cited in the text will be included in the journal article reference list.
Appendices	Space and content requirements will limit the use of appendices in journal articles.

Sources: Cone and Foster [2] and Calfee and Valencia [8].