Option to consider writing thesis or dissertation in a format for quick submission to a journal

Some students may want to write their thesis or dissertation with a journal submission(s) in mind. To do this
they must meet the OHSU Graduate Studies Guidelines (stated below). There are a few important differences
between a manuscript and a thesis or dissertation. Recommendations for orani!in the thesis or dissertation
are pro"ided for students plannin # journal submission and for students plannin $ or more journal
submissions (presented after Guidelines).
Guidelines from Graduate Studies at OHSU
http://www.ohsu.edu/d/education/schools/school!of!medicine/academic!programs/graduate!
studies/students/upload/Guidelines!and!"egulations!re#ised!$!%&'&.pdf
(ain section of the thesis or dissertation. The body of the document should be orani!ed into chapters and
include an introduction% methods% results% discussion and conclusions. There is fle&ibility in the way this
information can be orani!ed into chapters.
'f the wor( has been submitted for publication or has already been published% it may be desirable to use the
manuscripts as the basis for preparin indi"idual chapters. 'f manuscripts are used as the basis for preparin
chapters% the o"erall style of each chapter should be similar. References should not be included with each
chapter but rather included as a sinle listin followin the main body of the document (usually after the
Summary and )onclusions). See additional notes on ne&t pae.
)ntroduction. The purpose of the introduction is to elucidate the nature of the problem addressed by the thesis
or dissertation research. The problem should be clearly presented% and its history discussed throuh a sur"ey
of the literature. The author should e&plain the rationale behind the scientific approach to the problem.
(aterial and (ethods *or Subjects+ ,pparatus+ -rocedure.. This section should contain descriptions of the
procedures employed in the project. The methods should be presented in detail sufficient to permit another
in"estiator to repeat the procedures.
"esults. This section should contain the summari!ed data from scientific wor( performed by the author. The
results should consist of a written description accompanied by tables% raphs% drawins% photoraphs or
theoretical and statistical analyses where appropriate.
/iscussion. This section should contain a discussion of the findins% their sinificance and their relation to the
findins of other in"estiators.
Summar0 and 1onclusions. This section should contain an abbre"iated statement summari!in the findins
of the thesis or dissertation. This section should end with a clear statement of conclusions drawn from these
findins.
"eferences. References should be included in a sinle list followin the main body of the document (usually
after the Summary and )onclusions). References should include a full listin of authors and title of the article
and conform to the style of a refereed journal.
,ppendices+ 2ables+ )llustrations+ ,bbre#iations+ 20ping: See OHSU uidelines%
http://www.ohsu.edu/d/education/schools/school!of!medicine/academic!programs/graduate!
studies/students/upload/Guidelines!and!"egulations!re#ised!$!%&'&.pdf
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1op0right information
Students when they complete their thesis or dissertation ha"e the option to delay release of the published
OHSU electronic dissertation or thesis for up to + years to allow time to complete publication(s)%
http-**www.ohsu.edu*&d*education*library*ser"ices*theses.dissertations*electronic.theses.cfm/0T1ran(2#.
0hen the students submit their thesis or dissertation to the OHSU library for bindin% they must sin a
permission form to release (or not release) the document for electronic publishin%
http-**www.ohsu.edu*&d*education*library*ser"ices*theses.dissertations*upload*3ermission.for.4lectronic.
3ublication.of.Thesis.5issertation.pdf. On this form% they can indicate 6Open 7ccess8 (immediate release)%
65elayed or Secured8 release (up to + years) or 69o release8. Students can also choose to partially release
sections immediately (and then they must indicate the specific sections of the thesis or dissertation that should
not be electronically released immediately). Some students may want to delay the electronic release of their
thesis or dissertation but not for + years. Once the students ha"e published their planned articles% they can
contact the OHSU library to release their thesis or dissertation earlier (than the + years). Before signing the
release form described above, it is wise if the students review the specific author guidelines of planned journal
submissions for copyright and pre-publication rules. Students may need to contact a journal editor for specific
guidance about an electronic publication of their thesis or dissertation.
'f students want to use their pre"iously published wor((s) in their thesis or dissertation% they should contact
their publisher for permission. 'f students (now in ad"ance when they are sinin the author:s areement with
their publisher that they want to use the article*boo( chapter in their thesis*dissertation% they can modify the
areement. The majority of publishers understand the role of raduate wor( and usually accommodate this
e&ception to copyriht.
The lin(s below pro"ide more conte&t-
7ddendum to 3ublication 7reement
9eotiatin with ;our 3ublisher from OHSU <ibrary:s 7uthor Rihts )ourse (section +)
OHSU <ibrary Thesis = 5issertations
"ecommendations for writing a thesis with one planned journal submission
There are a few differences between a journal submission and a thesis submission. Howe"er% the student can
craft the thesis with this understandin and >uic(ly re"ise the thesis for a journal submission.
1hapter ': )ntroduction. One of the biest differences between a thesis and a submitted manuscript (for
publication in a healthcare journal) is the lenth of the introduction. ?or the thesis% there should be sufficient
de"elopment of bac(round information that-
#. 'ntroduces the topic (with references) and e&plains why the topic is important.
$. 3resents the informatics or bioinformatics nature of the project% and why it was an important topic to
pursue.
+. This section typically closes with a brief statement of the project aims.
0hile most journals will want the same information in the introduction% it is often only a few pararaphs as
many journal editors recommend a total word count for the manuscript of +@,, (A7B7) or C,,, (A7B'7) for
oriinal research. 9ote- this word count typically doesn:t include references% fiures% tables or appendices (if
allowed).
1hapter %: 3ackground. The bac(round of the thesis should include a comprehensi"e re"iew of prior wor(.
This section also pro"ides a summary of the aps in the current literature. This section will be substantially
loner than a bac(round section in a manuscript. 7t the completion of the bac(round section% students often
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fully state the project aims% research >uestions and hypotheses. Some students will include a conceptual
model. The conceptual model% project aims% research >uestions and hypothesis can also be written as a
stand.alone chapter or open the Baterials and Bethods chapter.

1hapter 4: (aterial and (ethods. The methods of the thesis can be similar to the methods drafted for a
manuscript. 'f additional information is needed to e&plain the methods these can be noted in sub.section or
appendi& (and later remo"ed for submission to a journal). 't is important that the methods refer to any
conceptual model% stated aims% research >uestions and hypotheses.
1hapter 5: "esults. The thesis allows the added opportunity for presentin interestin results that may not be
directly related to the major research >uestions or hypotheses under study. ?or e&ample% numerous tables of
data may be acceptable in the thesis. These would li(ely be e&cluded from a submitted manuscript. Some
journals now allow electronic appendices and these additional results could be submitted as an electronic
appendi& if it adds to the main theme of the paper.
1hapter 6: /iscussion. Aournal editors re>uire a "ery focused discussion for their published manuscripts. 7
thesis% on the other hand% allows further space to be more thorouh in discussin interestin findins from the
analysis and will allow a more inDdepth discussion of e&istin literature in the area of research. This section in a
thesis also includes a thorouh presentation of limitations of current wor( and recommendations for future
wor(. Eecause of space limitations in a journal article% the future wor( section is often only a pararaph or two.
1hapter 7: Summar0 and 1onclusions. This section will be "ery concise in a journal article.
"eferences. Aournal editors may limit the authors to $, or $@ references. ?or the thesis there is no limitation
on number of references and these will e&ceed $@. 4ach journal has a specific style so refer to the 7uthor
Guidelines for formattin your article.
,ppendices+ 2ables+ )llustrations+ ,bbre#iations+ 20ping. 4ach journal has its own specifications for these
items (see 7uthor Guidelines).
"ecommendations for writing a dissertation or thesis with two or more planned submissions.
;ou may be plannin se"eral manuscripts within your dissertation or thesis. One approach that has been
appro"ed by OHSU Graduate Studies in the past is to use the stated aims at the end of the 'ntroduction to
orani!e the subse>uent chapters. These may be stand.alone e&periments or studies that will later be the
basis for manuscripts. Students should pro"ide the same le"el of detail recommended for a thesis with one
planned submission% described pre"iously. The orani!ation for a dissertation or thesis with multiple planned
papers miht be as follows.
1hapter ': )ntroduction. This section typically opens with a hih le"el introduction of the topic and closes
with the statement of the project aims (e..% + aims) and associated stated hypotheses.
1hapter %: 3ackground. This section should include a comprehensi"e re"iew of prior wor( across the stated
aims. This section also pro"ides a summary of the aps in the current literature. This section will be
substantially loner than a bac(round section in a manuscript.
1hapter 4: ,im '
a. 'ntroduction to 7im #
b. ?ocused literature re"iew related to 7im #. This section will include the most rele"ant literature
addressin this aim.
c. )onceptual model% research >uestions and hypotheses
d. Bethods to complete 7im #
e. Results of 7im #
f. 5iscussion of 7im #
g. )onclusions for 7im #
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1hapter 5: ,im %
a. 'ntroduction to 7im $
b. ?ocused literature re"iew related to 7im $. This section will include the most rele"ant literature
addressin this aim.
c. )onceptual model% research >uestions and hypotheses
d. Bethods to complete 7im $
e. Results of 7im $
f. 5iscussion of 7im $
g. )onclusions for 7im $
1hapter 6: ,im 4
a. 'ntroduction to 7im +
b. ?ocused literature re"iew related to 7im +. This section will include the most rele"ant literature
addressin this aim.
c. )onceptual model% research >uestions and hypotheses
d. Bethods to complete 7im +
e. Results of 7im +
f. 5iscussion of 7im +
g. )onclusions for 7im +
1hapter 7: /iscussion of findings of 4 aims. This section would contain discussion of findins across the
three aims.
1hapter 8: Summar0 and 1onclusions. This section should contain abbre"iated statements summari!in
the findins of the thesis or dissertation across the three aims. This section should end with a clear statement
of conclusions drawn from addressin the three aims. ?or the manuscript submission% only the associated
summary statements and conclusions would be presented (e..% only the summary statements and conclusions
from 7im # would be included in the manuscript for 7im #).
"eferences. 7s noted abo"e in the OHSU Graduate Studies uidelines% the references for each chapter
should be listed at the end of the dissertation (or thesis) and not at the end of each chapter. 0hen submittin
journal articles% the references specific to each article will be submitted and not the full list from the dissertation
(e..% only the associated references for 7im # would be included in the manuscript for 7im #).
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