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Two years ago I finished my thesis, at the time I wasn't interested in writing papers but I have since changed my mind. The thesis has been made available online by the department. It has been cited by someone else since that time.

I would like to take a chapter of my thesis and publish it as a journal paper. And based on this question here, it seems that could work:

Can I publish parts of the Ph.D thesis as a paper in a journal?

However, I have a follow-on question. Should I be citing my own thesis if I write a paper from one of the chapters? Notes:

  • I would not be adding any extra analysis
  • I will be using the same figures

Extra for experts: Should I be paraphrasing all or most of the text? At the moment I have paraphrased most but perhaps one or two sentences remain unchanged because I considered them to be in the most clear and succinct form I could manage for an explanation.

Community
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raprap45
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  • In my field (math), a PhD thesis falls into a nebulous category. It is not "published" in the archival sense of a book or a journal paper, but it can be cited. It's only slightly more "published" than a blog post. Republishing the results in an archival publication is not considered double-publishing. The answer by user3697176 would apply. – Oswald Veblen Jul 23 '15 at 13:39

2 Answers2

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Yes, you can publish a chapter of your thesis as a journal paper. The two-year time lag is slightly unusual, but it's not a show-stopper. However, since the thesis has been cited already, it is possible that someone else may publish a work that extends the results of the chapter you intend to publish, which might lead to rejection. You should be prepared for that.

I would also cite the thesis, in the introduction or perhaps in an acknowledgment section (depending on the intended journal; have a look through the archives to see common practices). "Some/The majority/Most of the materials contained in this paper were previously published (in modified form) in my thesis ...".

user3697176
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I strongly encourage you to write the papers. In my experience, this will give your work much more credibility. I also would not worry about rejection. If the thesis is original (your own writing) I think no reviewer would be disturbed by you using your own work in a paper- the language and the actual text. However- in my field, journal papers aremuch more concise and require much less background discussion than a Thesis- so the text for the journal would probably need to be made much more concise than it would be in the thesis. Go for it!! Good luck!

smb
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