are dissertations considered peer reviewed

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FAQ: Can I use a dissertation as a scholarly source for my research?

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Last Updated: Oct 16, 2023 Views: 16379

When you use the Multi-Search, you may see dissertations and theses in your search results, even when you apply the “Peer Reviewed (Scholarly)” limiter to your search. This is because even though dissertations are not peer-reviewed (published in peer-reviewed journals), they are often considered scholarly because they were written for an academic audience. For more information on the difference between scholarly and peer-reviewed sources, see the FAQ: What’s the difference between a scholarly and peer reviewed journal?

Dissertations and theses have value as research material, and they are an important form of scholarly communication. Here are a few reasons why:

• They may reveal emerging trends and voices in a field of study.
• Because of their length, they frequently offer more substantial coverage of a topic than a traditional journal article can.
• They might be the only research or literature on an uncommon or niche topic.
• They often have up-to-date and thorough literature reviews.
• They almost always have extensive bibliographies of important sources in the field of study.
• In the sciences, they may have additional datasets, graphs, and field data that is sometimes excluded from future article publications by the author.

If your assignment requires you to use articles from peer-reviewed journals, then a dissertation is not a good fit as one of your sources. However, you can certainly comb through the References or Bibliography at the end of the dissertation to see if any of the sources they used might qualify for your research. You can then use the instructions in this FAQ to see if we have the full text for those articles in our library:  How do I find a specific article in the library?

If your assignment calls for scholarly sources, a dissertation may be a great contribution to your resources. Remember that all sources should be evaluated to determine not just if they are scholarly, but whether they are relevant and current enough to be used in your research. You should check with your professor if you have any questions or concerns about your ability to use dissertations as sources for your research assignment.

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Are dissertations and theses considered scholarly or peer-reviewed resources?

Dissertations and theses may be considered scholarly sources since they are closely supervised by a dissertation committee made up of scholars, are directed at an academic audience, are extensively researched, follow research methodology, and are cited in other scholarly work.

However, dissertations are still considered student work and are  not  peer-reviewed. Always clarify with your instructor or chair as to whether you can include and cite dissertations and theses in your research.

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Everything You Need To Know

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Very simply an article is peer reviewed if it has been read and scrutinized by scholars or other researchers in the field prior to publication. Think of it as quality control for research and publication.

The article and the journal where it is published also meet certain research and publishing standards for that particular discipline.

Other terms for  peer reviewed  are  refereed  or  juried .

Official Definitions:

The Oxford English Dictionary (2019) defines peer review as "To subject to, or evaluate by, peer review; to referee (a paper)" and peer reviewed as "That is, or has been, subject to peer review; (of a journal) that incorporates a system of peer review."

Bibliography

"peer review, v."  OED Online , Oxford University Press, September 2019, www.oed.com/view/Entry/237423. Accessed 29 October 2019.

"peer-reviewed, adj."  OED Online , Oxford University Press, September 2019, www.oed.com/view/Entry/263622. Accessed 29 October 2019.

Here are some general characteristics that usually apply to peer reviewed journals and their articles:

• Introduction & literature review
• Theory or background
• Methods (how I did my research)
• Conclusion and/or discussion
• Tone or language of the article will reflect the subject discipline for which it is written. It assumes some scholarly background on the part of the reader
• Most scholarly articles report on original research or experimentation
• May be accompanied by supporting charts and diagrams, but there may be few pictures
• Journal will have little or no advertisement

Is it peer reviewed? How do you know? We have a few ways to sort your results, or identify if your specific result is peer reviewed .

1. Sort your results: Most of our databases have a feature that allows you to limit or refine your search results to only those that are peer-reviewed. Look for that option on the search screen.  Pro tip: some database providers have a more lenient definition of peer reviewed , if you're not sure check with a librarian or your professor.

2. I'm not sure if this article or journal is peer reviewed :

You can look up the journal by title or ISSN number in Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory. Once you locate the journal, Ulrich's will tell you, by having an image of a referee shirt or not,  if a journal is peer reviewed or not.   Below, you can see that of the six results, the first and fifth result are not peer reviewed and the second, third, fourth, and sixth are peer reviewed.

• If you want to see if a particular journal is peer reviewed, go to  Ulrich's Periodical Directory  (you can get there from the Database A to Z list as well).  
• Do a search by Journal Title (here we used "Journal of Anthropology") to see if a journal is peer reviewed.  There will be an image of a referee jersey next to the title if it is peer reviewed. 
• In the below example, the search for "Journal of Anthropology"  UNLV  is not a peer reviewed journal, but  The Australian Journal of Anthropology  is (both electronic and print).

Popular magazines are those that are published with the general reader in mind. The articles generally assume no prior knowledge on the part of the reader and are written by journalists or editors. The goal may be to inform, entertain or persuade the reader.

Popular Magazines may have lots of pictures and they will have advertisements.

Some examples:

• Consumer Reports
• Mademoiselle
• Runners World
• Sports Illustrated

Trade publications are often written by and for professionals within a field or industry. The publication may cover emerging trends, current news and new products. The articles may be "how to" in nature or give practical advise for practitioners in a field. They are usually not academic in nature and are not peer reviewed . The publication will often contain advertisements and photos.   They can look academic, so be sure to review sources carefully.

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The Process of Peer Review

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Are Dissertataions Peer-Reviewed?

No. While dissertations are closely supervised by a dissertation committee made up of scholars, they are still considered student work.

Dissertations are often included in scholarly writing, although they are used sparingly. If you are unsure if you can use a dissertation in your annotated bibliography, talk with your instructor.

Verify Peer Review

Check whether a journal is peer reviewed with  Ulrich's Periodicals Directory .

Search for the  title of the journal (not article)  in the search box:

If the journal has a referee shirt, then it is peer-reviewed.  Double-check each journal title - your instructor will be checking also!

All three journal titles are the exact same publication.  Note that the only difference is that they are in different formats (print, online, and microform).

Check The Journal's Website

Journal websites will typically discuss editorial processes, including peer review.

This information is often listed in the following areas:

• editorial policies
• instructions for authors
• submission guidelines

A simple Google search for the journal will usually locate the journal's website.

Examples of Editorial Policies:

• APA's review policy for authors
• Management Science Journal's Submission Guidelines
• Journal of the American Medical Association Instruction for Authors
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Is a Dissertation Peer Reviewed? [2024 Guide]

Most prospective doctoral students know they will have to complete a dissertation, but many of them wonder, “Is a dissertation peer reviewed?”

A dissertation is a lengthy paper that a PhD student writes after conducting extensive research. It allows you to explore an area of interest in great depth. Before graduating, a doctoral student defends their paper in front of a committee of faculty members.

Editorial Listing ShortCode:

Knowing whether a dissertation is a peer reviewed scholarly paper is a point of interest for any student planning to pursue a doctorate.

Is a Dissertation Peer Reviewed?

No, dissertations are not peer reviewed because they do not go through a peer review process.

Most PhD students write a final academic paper in the form of a dissertation before they graduate with their doctoral degree. In doing so, they work with a project supervisor and committee, but they aren’t required to submit their articles for peer review.

The peer review process is designed to prevent the publication of poorly written or poorly researched material. During peer review, a group of experts examine an article and evaluate it in terms of different criteria, such as:

• Originality
• Significance to the field
• Validity and accuracy

These same factors are important in a doctoral dissertation, but they are measured by a dissertation supervisor and other faculty members rather than a group of peers.

Dissertations are also different from peer reviewed academic sources because they aren’t always published in journals or as books. Unless the dissertation author decides to pursue publication, it may only appear in a library’s database or archive. So, are dissertations peer reviewed? The answer to this question is always “no,” but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t valuable and high-quality documents.

Although dissertations, capstone projects, and theses are not peer reviewed, they are often categorized as scholarly writing alongside peer reviewed articles. This is because they are written for academic audiences, rely on reputable sources, and often include original research.

What Is Peer Review?

Peer review is a process that helps ensure published academic, professional, or scientific writing is high quality.

Effective peer reviews rely on feedback from trustworthy and experienced figures within the same field or closely related fields. For example, when someone submits an article to a peer-reviewed scholarly journal, a group of individuals with expertise in the subject reads the article and determines whether the content is appropriate for publication.

If peer reviewers feel that the writer is making unfounded assertions, misinterpreting evidence, or presenting disproven views, the article generally isn’t published.

Is a Dissertation a Scholarly Source?

In some cases, a dissertation would qualify as a scholarly source. When completing a dissertation project, a PhD student works under the supervision of advisors and a committee. The writer also conducts in-depth research and explains their results in academic language.

No matter how well-written a dissertation may be, though, it’s still student work and isn’t peer-reviewed. For this reason, some instructors and academics do not consider dissertations to be scholarly sources and discourage students from citing them in their own papers.

Are Dissertations Published?

A dissertation isn’t automatically published when a student completes their PhD. Instead, the dissertation committee, supervisor, and university library receive copies of the finished product.

If you feel that your dissertation makes significant contributions to your field, you can independently pursue publication following your defense. Depending on the length and subject matter, you may be able to publish your dissertation in its entirety as a book. Some graduates of PhD programs also publish dissertation chapters as articles in academic journals.

PhD Dissertations

Although there are online doctoral programs in education without dissertation , for most PhD students, a dissertation is an essential requirement for graduation. It requires months or years of research, planning, writing, and revising.

One process that doctoral students don’t have to worry about is peer review. Although dissertations are academic papers that meet very high standards, they are not reviewed by a panel of independent experts. They also aren’t always published in journals.

Despite these differences, dissertations are carefully researched and thoughtfully written. They allow you to graduate from a doctoral program and give you the opportunity to become an expert in the subject you find most engaging.

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• What Is Peer Review? | Types & Examples

What Is Peer Review? | Types & Examples

Published on December 17, 2021 by Tegan George . Revised on June 22, 2023.

Peer review, sometimes referred to as refereeing , is the process of evaluating submissions to an academic journal. Using strict criteria, a panel of reviewers in the same subject area decides whether to accept each submission for publication.

Peer-reviewed articles are considered a highly credible source due to the stringent process they go through before publication.

There are various types of peer review. The main difference between them is to what extent the authors, reviewers, and editors know each other’s identities. The most common types are:

• Single-blind review
• Double-blind review
• Triple-blind review

Collaborative review

Open review.

Relatedly, peer assessment is a process where your peers provide you with feedback on something you’ve written, based on a set of criteria or benchmarks from an instructor. They then give constructive feedback, compliments, or guidance to help you improve your draft.

Table of contents

What is the purpose of peer review, types of peer review, the peer review process, providing feedback to your peers, peer review example, advantages of peer review, criticisms of peer review, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about peer reviews.

Many academic fields use peer review, largely to determine whether a manuscript is suitable for publication. Peer review enhances the credibility of the manuscript. For this reason, academic journals are among the most credible sources you can refer to.

However, peer review is also common in non-academic settings. The United Nations, the European Union, and many individual nations use peer review to evaluate grant applications. It is also widely used in medical and health-related fields as a teaching or quality-of-care measure.

Peer assessment is often used in the classroom as a pedagogical tool. Both receiving feedback and providing it are thought to enhance the learning process, helping students think critically and collaboratively.

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Depending on the journal, there are several types of peer review.

Single-blind peer review

The most common type of peer review is single-blind (or single anonymized) review . Here, the names of the reviewers are not known by the author.

While this gives the reviewers the ability to give feedback without the possibility of interference from the author, there has been substantial criticism of this method in the last few years. Many argue that single-blind reviewing can lead to poaching or intellectual theft or that anonymized comments cause reviewers to be too harsh.

Double-blind peer review

In double-blind (or double anonymized) review , both the author and the reviewers are anonymous.

Arguments for double-blind review highlight that this mitigates any risk of prejudice on the side of the reviewer, while protecting the nature of the process. In theory, it also leads to manuscripts being published on merit rather than on the reputation of the author.

Triple-blind peer review

While triple-blind (or triple anonymized) review —where the identities of the author, reviewers, and editors are all anonymized—does exist, it is difficult to carry out in practice.

Proponents of adopting triple-blind review for journal submissions argue that it minimizes potential conflicts of interest and biases. However, ensuring anonymity is logistically challenging, and current editing software is not always able to fully anonymize everyone involved in the process.

In collaborative review , authors and reviewers interact with each other directly throughout the process. However, the identity of the reviewer is not known to the author. This gives all parties the opportunity to resolve any inconsistencies or contradictions in real time, and provides them a rich forum for discussion. It can mitigate the need for multiple rounds of editing and minimize back-and-forth.

Collaborative review can be time- and resource-intensive for the journal, however. For these collaborations to occur, there has to be a set system in place, often a technological platform, with staff monitoring and fixing any bugs or glitches.

Lastly, in open review , all parties know each other’s identities throughout the process. Often, open review can also include feedback from a larger audience, such as an online forum, or reviewer feedback included as part of the final published product.

While many argue that greater transparency prevents plagiarism or unnecessary harshness, there is also concern about the quality of future scholarship if reviewers feel they have to censor their comments.

In general, the peer review process includes the following steps:

• First, the author submits the manuscript to the editor.
• Reject the manuscript and send it back to the author, or
• Send it onward to the selected peer reviewer(s)
• Next, the peer review process occurs. The reviewer provides feedback, addressing any major or minor issues with the manuscript, and gives their advice regarding what edits should be made.
• Lastly, the edited manuscript is sent back to the author. They input the edits and resubmit it to the editor for publication.

In an effort to be transparent, many journals are now disclosing who reviewed each article in the published product. There are also increasing opportunities for collaboration and feedback, with some journals allowing open communication between reviewers and authors.

It can seem daunting at first to conduct a peer review or peer assessment. If you’re not sure where to start, there are several best practices you can use.

Summarize the argument in your own words

Summarizing the main argument helps the author see how their argument is interpreted by readers, and gives you a jumping-off point for providing feedback. If you’re having trouble doing this, it’s a sign that the argument needs to be clearer, more concise, or worded differently.

If the author sees that you’ve interpreted their argument differently than they intended, they have an opportunity to address any misunderstandings when they get the manuscript back.

Separate your feedback into major and minor issues

It can be challenging to keep feedback organized. One strategy is to start out with any major issues and then flow into the more minor points. It’s often helpful to keep your feedback in a numbered list, so the author has concrete points to refer back to.

Major issues typically consist of any problems with the style, flow, or key points of the manuscript. Minor issues include spelling errors, citation errors, or other smaller, easy-to-apply feedback.

Tip: Try not to focus too much on the minor issues. If the manuscript has a lot of typos, consider making a note that the author should address spelling and grammar issues, rather than going through and fixing each one.

The best feedback you can provide is anything that helps them strengthen their argument or resolve major stylistic issues.

Give the type of feedback that you would like to receive

No one likes being criticized, and it can be difficult to give honest feedback without sounding overly harsh or critical. One strategy you can use here is the “compliment sandwich,” where you “sandwich” your constructive criticism between two compliments.

Be sure you are giving concrete, actionable feedback that will help the author submit a successful final draft. While you shouldn’t tell them exactly what they should do, your feedback should help them resolve any issues they may have overlooked.

As a rule of thumb, your feedback should be:

• Easy to understand
• Constructive

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Below is a brief annotated research example. You can view examples of peer feedback by hovering over the highlighted sections.

Influence of phone use on sleep

Studies show that teens from the US are getting less sleep than they were a decade ago (Johnson, 2019) . On average, teens only slept for 6 hours a night in 2021, compared to 8 hours a night in 2011. Johnson mentions several potential causes, such as increased anxiety, changed diets, and increased phone use.

The current study focuses on the effect phone use before bedtime has on the number of hours of sleep teens are getting.

For this study, a sample of 300 teens was recruited using social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. The first week, all teens were allowed to use their phone the way they normally would, in order to obtain a baseline.

The sample was then divided into 3 groups:

• Group 1 was not allowed to use their phone before bedtime.
• Group 2 used their phone for 1 hour before bedtime.
• Group 3 used their phone for 3 hours before bedtime.

All participants were asked to go to sleep around 10 p.m. to control for variation in bedtime . In the morning, their Fitbit showed the number of hours they’d slept. They kept track of these numbers themselves for 1 week.

Two independent t tests were used in order to compare Group 1 and Group 2, and Group 1 and Group 3. The first t test showed no significant difference ( p > .05) between the number of hours for Group 1 ( M = 7.8, SD = 0.6) and Group 2 ( M = 7.0, SD = 0.8). The second t test showed a significant difference ( p < .01) between the average difference for Group 1 ( M = 7.8, SD = 0.6) and Group 3 ( M = 6.1, SD = 1.5).

This shows that teens sleep fewer hours a night if they use their phone for over an hour before bedtime, compared to teens who use their phone for 0 to 1 hours.

Peer review is an established and hallowed process in academia, dating back hundreds of years. It provides various fields of study with metrics, expectations, and guidance to ensure published work is consistent with predetermined standards.

• Protects the quality of published research

Peer review can stop obviously problematic, falsified, or otherwise untrustworthy research from being published. Any content that raises red flags for reviewers can be closely examined in the review stage, preventing plagiarized or duplicated research from being published.

• Gives you access to feedback from experts in your field

Peer review represents an excellent opportunity to get feedback from renowned experts in your field and to improve your writing through their feedback and guidance. Experts with knowledge about your subject matter can give you feedback on both style and content, and they may also suggest avenues for further research that you hadn’t yet considered.

• Helps you identify any weaknesses in your argument

Peer review acts as a first defense, helping you ensure your argument is clear and that there are no gaps, vague terms, or unanswered questions for readers who weren’t involved in the research process. This way, you’ll end up with a more robust, more cohesive article.

While peer review is a widely accepted metric for credibility, it’s not without its drawbacks.

• Reviewer bias

The more transparent double-blind system is not yet very common, which can lead to bias in reviewing. A common criticism is that an excellent paper by a new researcher may be declined, while an objectively lower-quality submission by an established researcher would be accepted.

• Delays in publication

The thoroughness of the peer review process can lead to significant delays in publishing time. Research that was current at the time of submission may not be as current by the time it’s published. There is also high risk of publication bias , where journals are more likely to publish studies with positive findings than studies with negative findings.

• Risk of human error

By its very nature, peer review carries a risk of human error. In particular, falsification often cannot be detected, given that reviewers would have to replicate entire experiments to ensure the validity of results.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

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Peer review is a process of evaluating submissions to an academic journal. Utilizing rigorous criteria, a panel of reviewers in the same subject area decide whether to accept each submission for publication. For this reason, academic journals are often considered among the most credible sources you can use in a research project– provided that the journal itself is trustworthy and well-regarded.

In general, the peer review process follows the following steps: 

• Reject the manuscript and send it back to author, or 
• Send it onward to the selected peer reviewer(s) 
• Next, the peer review process occurs. The reviewer provides feedback, addressing any major or minor issues with the manuscript, and gives their advice regarding what edits should be made. 
• Lastly, the edited manuscript is sent back to the author. They input the edits, and resubmit it to the editor for publication.

Peer review can stop obviously problematic, falsified, or otherwise untrustworthy research from being published. It also represents an excellent opportunity to get feedback from renowned experts in your field. It acts as a first defense, helping you ensure your argument is clear and that there are no gaps, vague terms, or unanswered questions for readers who weren’t involved in the research process.

Peer-reviewed articles are considered a highly credible source due to this stringent process they go through before publication.

Many academic fields use peer review , largely to determine whether a manuscript is suitable for publication. Peer review enhances the credibility of the published manuscript.

However, peer review is also common in non-academic settings. The United Nations, the European Union, and many individual nations use peer review to evaluate grant applications. It is also widely used in medical and health-related fields as a teaching or quality-of-care measure. 

A credible source should pass the CRAAP test  and follow these guidelines:

• The information should be up to date and current.
• The author and publication should be a trusted authority on the subject you are researching.
• The sources the author cited should be easy to find, clear, and unbiased.
• For a web source, the URL and layout should signify that it is trustworthy.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

George, T. (2023, June 22). What Is Peer Review? | Types & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved July 16, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/peer-review/

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Answer Last Updated: Aug 24, 2017 Views: 375

Dissertations are student work. While there is supervisory oversight by a dissertation committee, there is no professional peer review process. Dissertations should therefore be used sparingly as research sources in scholarly writing.

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Library Basic Training: Resources for Doctoral Success

• Library Basic Training: Resources for Doctoral Success Reviews the most important resources for your dissertation research. Learn how to search for scholarly articles and dissertations, place Interlibrary Loan requests, find information about research methodology and design, use Google Scholar, and more.

NU Dissertation Center

If you are looking for a document in the Dissertation Center or Applied Doctoral Center and can't find it please contact your Chair or The Center for Teaching and Learning at [email protected]

• NCU Dissertation Center Find valuable resources and support materials to help you through your doctoral journey.
• Applied Doctoral Center Collection of resources to support students in completing their project/dissertation-in-practice as part of the Applied Doctoral Experience (ADE).

Dissertation Research

Dissertation topics are a special subset of research topics. All of the previously mentioned techniques can, and should, be utilized to locate potential dissertation topics, but there are also some special considerations to keep in mind when choosing a dissertation topic.

Dissertation topics should interesting, feasible, relevant, and worthy. The criterion of feasibility is especially important when choosing a dissertation topic. You don’t want to settle on a topic and then find out that the study you were imagining can’t be done, or the survey or assessment instrument you need can’t be used. You also want to make sure that you select a topic that will allow you to be an objective researcher. If you select a topic that you have worked closely on for many years, make sure you are still open to new information, even if that information runs counter what you believe to be true about the topic. To learn more about feasibility, see the Center for Teaching & Learning's Feasibility Checklist .

It is very important to think about these considerations beforehand so that you don’t get stuck during the dissertation process. Here are some considerations to keep in mind when choosing a dissertation topic:

• Access to the primary literature relating to your topic
• Access to grey literature relating to your topic
• Access to the surveys and assessment instruments that you will need
• Access to the study group to conduct your study
• IRB approval for your study
• Access to equipment for your study, if needed

Note that published surveys and assessment instruments are generally NOT free. Due to copyright laws you will more than likely need to purchase the survey from the publisher in order to gain permissions to use in your own study. Unpublished surveys and assessments (usually found in the appendices of articles) may be freely available, but you will need to contact the author(s) to gain permission to use the survey in your research.

Looking at previously published dissertations is a great way to gauge the level of research and involvement that is generally expected at the dissertation level. Previously published dissertations can also be good sources of inspiration for your own dissertation study. Similar to scholarly articles, many dissertations will suggest areas of future research. Paying attention to those suggestions can provide valuable ideas and clues for your own dissertation topic. Note that dissertations are not considered to be peer-reviewed documents, so carefully review and evaluate the information presented in them.

The literature review section in a dissertation contains a wealth of information. Not only can the literature review provide topic ideas by showing some of the major research that has been done on a topic, but it can also help you evaluate any topics that you are tentatively considering. From your examination of literature reviews can you determine if your research idea has already been completed? Has the theory that validates your study been disproved by new dissertation research? Is your research idea still relevant to the current state of the discipline? Literature reviews can help you answer these questions by providing a compact and summative description of a particular research area.

You may find it difficult to find scholarly articles, and books in which your hypothesis is directly addressed. If so, then expand your search to theories and variables that are related, but not directly so. No matter how specific or elusive your topic is, there is research out there that is relevant, so keep looking. Look for resources that address one or two of the variables in your study, theories that are either directly or indirectly related, as well as research that relates specifically to the population of interest. By focusing on resources that address different parts of your research topic, you can combine this information in a way that is directly applicable.

The sub-pages in this section provide resources for your Dissertation Research.

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Peer Review: An Introduction: Where to Find Peer Reviewed Sources

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Why is it so hard to find Peer-Reviewed Sources?

It isn't hard to find peer-reviewed sources: you just need to know where to look!  If you start in the right place, you can usually find a relevant, peer-reviewed source for your research in as few clicks as a Google search, and you can even use many of the search techniques you use in Google and Wikipedia.

The easiest way to find a peer-reviewed article is by using one of the Library's numerous databases. All of the Library's databases are listed in the Online Journals and Databases index. The databases are divided by name and discipline.

Departmental libraries and library subject guides have created subject-focused lists of electronic and print research resources that are useful for their disciplines. You can search the library directory  for links to the departmental libraries at the University of Illinois Library, or search library websites by college  if you're not sure which departmental library serves your subject.

Peer-Reviewed Resources for Disciplinary Topics

There are numerous print and digital resources for specific disciplines, areas of study, and specialist fields.  To find research resources and databases for your area, consult the comprehensive directory of LibGuides , the websites of specialist libraries, and above all, contact a librarian for help !

Here are a few major databases for finding peer-reviewed research sources in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences:

• MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window Indexes critical materials on literature, languages, linguistics, and folklore. Proved access to citations from worldwide publications, including periodicals, books, essay collections, working papers, proceedings, dissertations and bibliographies. Use MLA International Bibliography in the NEW EBSCO user interface . more... less... Alternate Access Link
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• IEEE Xplore This link opens in a new window Provides full-text access to IEEE transactions, IEEE and IEE journals, magazines, and conference proceedings published since 1988, and all current IEEE standards; brings additional search and access features to IEEE/IEE digital library users. Browsable by books & e-books, conference publications, education and learning, journals and magazines, standards and by topic. Also provides links to IEEE standards, IEEE spectrum and other sites.
• Scopus This link opens in a new window Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database including peer-reviewed titles from international publishers, Open Access journals, conference proceedings, trade publications and quality web sources. Subject coverage includes: Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Engineering; Life and Health Sciences; Social Sciences, Psychology and Economics; Biological, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
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Dissemination of PhD Dissertation Research by Dissertation Format: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Arlene smaldone.

1. Professor of Nursing and Dental Behavioral Sciences, Assistant Dean, Scholarship and Research, School of Nursing and College of Dental Medicine Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.

Elizabeth Heitkemper

2. Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Bioinformatics, Columbia University School of Nursing, New York, NY, USA.

Kasey Jackman

3. Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Nursing Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.

Kyungmi Joanne Woo

4. Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Nursing, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.

Judith Kelson

5. Assistant Director, PhD program, School of Nursing, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.

The study purpose was to compare dissemination of PhD dissertation research by dissertation format: traditional (five-chapter document providing a complete and systematic account of the PhD research) versus an alternate (substudy [document containing three smaller studies but not written as stand-alone manuscripts] or publication [document containing three or more related manuscripts intended for submission or published in a peer-reviewed journal]) format.

A retrospective study of all PhD dissertations (1999–2019) from one research intensive school of nursing.

Following identification of graduates via the school’s PhD database, we searched ProQuest and PubMed databases for the dissertation and first authored peer-reviewed publications of each graduate to determine dissertation format, study design, timing and number of dissertation research publications, and inclusion of dissertation sponsor in authorship. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon rank sum tests.

Of 113 graduates, 80 (70.8%) employed a traditional format, with the remaining graduates structuring dissertations using an alternate (substudy [ n = 12], publication [ n = 21]) format. Of those using the traditional format, 33 graduates (41.3%) never published dissertation research findings in a peer-reviewed journal. For those who published their dissertation research in a peer-reviewed journal, time to first publication was 1.4 ± 2.1 years (median 1.6 years) following degree conferral. In contrast, all graduates who utilized alternate formats published one or more components of their dissertation research with shorter time to first published manuscript (−0.6 ± 1.1 years; median −0.5 years; p < .001). Number of peer-reviewed publications was higher for those who utilized an alternate format compared to the traditional format (2.9 ± 1.5 [median 3.0] vs. 1.8 ± 1.1 [median 1.0], p = .001). Acknowledgment of the sponsor’s contribution via publication authorship was higher for those using an alternate format compared to the traditional format (100% vs. 70.2%).

Conclusions:

Number and timeliness of peer-reviewed publications stemming from dissertation research was higher for PhD graduates who utilized an alternate dissertation format. Alternate dissertation formats should be encouraged by PhD programs as one means to improve dissemination of PhD nursing research.

Clinical Relevance:

Dissemination of PhD research through peer-reviewed publications promotes the continued development of nursing science to inform nursing practice and advances the career trajectory of PhD graduates.

Dissemination of research via peer-reviewed publications is important to the profession and to the career development of the emerging nurse scientist. While the traditional five-chapter dissertation format containing an introduction to the problem (chapter 1), review of literature (chapter 2), methods and materials (chapter 3), research results (chapter 4), and discussion and conclusion (chapter 5) was once the sole option for students in research-focused graduate programs leading to a doctor of philosophy (PhD) degree, over the past decade there has been rapid uptake of the publication format dissertation both in nursing ( Graves et al., 2018 ) and other fields ( Stock & Siegfried, 2013 ). The publication format dissertation, also known as the three-paper format, differs from the traditional format dissertation in that chapters 2, 3, and 4 are reports of individual studies prepared as manuscripts consistent with the format specified by the targeted peer-reviewed journal. As recently as 10 years ago, fewer than 20 schools of nursing offered a publication format dissertation option to their PhD students ( Baggs, 2011 ; Nolan et al., 2008 ; Robinson & Dracup, 2008 ). Since then, the number has more than doubled. Of 79 schools of nursing offering PhD programs who responded to a recent survey, 70% offered the publication dissertation format option. Both format options were offered by 59% of the schools, with less than one fourth of schools offering the traditional option only ( Graves et al., 2018 ).

Integrated within a program of PhD study, the publication format dissertation has the potential to offer substantial benefit both to the student and faculty mentor. For the student it provides a first-hand experience in journal selection and discussion about authorship early in the process ( Broome, 2018 ; Chyun & Henly, 2015 ). The student who writes a publication format dissertation benefits from the opportunity to identify journals appropriate for the research, develops skills in clear, concise scientific writing, avoids unintended plagiarism, benefits from external peer-review critique, and revises the manuscript based on reviewer feedback ( Foster, 2009 ; Francis, Mills, Chapman, & Birks, 2009 ; Gross, Alhusen, & Jennings, 2012 ; Kearney, 2015 ). These experiences are less likely to be encountered during predoctoral education by those who write a traditional dissertation. One or more first authored peer-reviewed publications may provide a competitive edge for a postdoctoral fellowship or tenure track faculty position ( Freeman, 2018 ). For faculty, co-authorship with their dissertation advisee is a demonstration of mentorship ( Gross et al., 2012 ). On the other hand, concerns have been raised about potential copyright issues, need for additional help with writing by students, and faculty burden in providing that assistance when the publication option is pursued ( Broome, 2018 ; Kearney, 2014 ; Robinson & Dracup, 2008 ).

Although there has been discourse about the potential pros and cons, little is known about the dissemination of research findings as peer-reviewed publications for those who have opted to structure their dissertation research as distinct publications. The purpose of this study was to examine the timing, number, and authorship of peer-reviewed publications stemming from dissertation research of PhD graduates at one school of nursing by dissertation format: traditional five-chapter versus an alternative (substudy or publication) format. The substudy and publication formats are similar since both contain dissertation research presented as three smaller studies. However, the formats differ in the sense that the publication format presents each study as a standalone manuscript, whereas in the substudy format the results chapter is limited to findings of each study with interpretation of findings from the three studies found in the last chapter of the dissertation.

We analyzed data from a retrospective cohort of 113 Columbia University School of Nursing PhD graduates (May 1999 to February 2019). The program began as a Doctor of Nursing Science (DNSc) program in the mid-1990s, with its first graduate earning the degree in May 1999. In 2008 the program transitioned from a DNSc to a PhD program. With this change, all students were required to maintain full time enrollment status as per Columbia University policy. First and second year students in good standing who had entered the DNSc program were offered the option to either continue the DNSc curriculum or to complete the additional requirements of the new PhD nursing curriculum (one additional two-credit course, Interdisciplinary Research Models). The rigor of the dissertation requirement was not altered with change in terminal degree. The first PhD degree in nursing was awarded in October 2009. The history of doctoral education for nurses in the United States (US), including similarities between the DNSc and PhD degrees, recent phasing out of DNSc programs, and their replacement with PhD programs in nursing, has been summarized by Reid, Ponte, and Nicholas (2015) . Similar to other universities (e.g., University of California at San Francisco), in 2011 Columbia University retroactively awarded a PhD degree to 58 DNSc graduates without any additional course requirements. From program inception, while the majority of students employed a five-chapter traditional style dissertation format, select students (e.g., students who had successfully competed for National Research Service Award F31 predoctoral fellowships) were offered the opportunity to format their dissertation using an alternative format.

In 2014 the PhD program curriculum was modified with the expectation that PhD students would register for core, elective classes or dissertation advisement during fall, spring, and summer semesters with the goal of accelerating time to graduation, making it possible to complete the program in 3 years. The minimum number of credits required for graduation remained unchanged. Also, in 2014, a process for a publication option consisting of three publishable papers was formalized and included in the PhD student handbook as a choice for all Columbia Nursing PhD students. The decision regarding dissertation format is made by students in collaboration with their faculty mentor and declared at the time of the students’ dissertation proposal defense. Table 1 provides a summary of requirements for the dissertation proposal by format type. For those choosing a publication format option, the target journal and an alternate journal for each proposed paper as well as authorship are determined at the time of proposal defense. The first manuscript is a review of literature in the topic area of the research using systematic review, integrative review, scoping review, or qualitative meta-synthesis methods. Topics for the second and third manuscripts are determined by the student in collaboration with their dissertation committee and may include a methods paper, a quantitative study, or a qualitative study. For both dissertation formats, a fifth chapter will be written following completion of the research prior to the dissertation defense. Chapter 5 includes summarization and discussion of research findings within the context of what is known in the field and the implications of the research for policy, research, and practice.

Requirements for Written Dissertation Proposal Defense by Format Type

Note. Summarized from Appendices F1 and F2, PhD Program Student Handbook, 2018–2019 available at http://nursing.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/documents/phdstudenthandbookrevaugust2018.pdf

In the US, federally funded T32 training programs provide sources of funding to support the education of PhD students as well as to establish an infrastructure within the school for specific types of research. Currently, there are 21 National Institute of Nursing Research–funded T32 training programs in the US ( National Institute of Nursing Research, n.d. ). Since PhD program inception, the school has been awarded three distinct T32 training programs in informatics (T32 NR007969, 2002–2022), infection prevention (T32 NR013454, 2007–2018), and comparative effectiveness research (T32 NR014205 2013–2023). Many students have been supported by these training grants during their doctoral studies.

Data Sources and Variables

Data for this retrospective cohort study were collected from three sources: Columbia University School of Nursing PhD Microsoft Access database, ProQuest dissertations & theses at Columbia University, and PubMed (U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health). The PhD database was used to identify all program graduates from 1999 through February 2019. From the PhD program database, name, dissertation sponsor (faculty member who provided mentorship to the student in planning, implementing, and reporting the dissertation research), date of degree conferral, dissertation title, and degree(s) earned prior to entry to the PhD program (bachelor of science in nursing [BSN], master of science in nursing, or master of public health) were extracted for each graduate since program inception (J.K.). Each dissertation was retrieved using the ProQuest database. At Columbia University, dissertations are available via ProQuest within a few weeks of final submission of the dissertation. The abstract, table of contents, and acknowledgments sections were read for general sense of the research aims, study design (quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods), topical area of study, and whether the graduate had collected original data as part of dissertation research or used a secondary source such as national or state level data (E.H., K.J.). The dissertation format was categorized as either a traditional or alternate (substudy, publication) format based on the dissertation abstract and table of contents (A.S.). When the name of the graduate’s dissertation sponsor was unrecorded in the PhD database, the name was retrieved from the acknowledgments page of the dissertation. Finally, PubMed was searched in September 2017 and updated in March 2019 to identify the number of first authored peer-reviewed publications that were directly related to the dissertation research. We excluded publications that did not stem from the students’ dissertation research. The year and month of first publication and year and month of the last publication were retrieved, as were the name of the journal in which the manuscript was published and whether the dissertation sponsor was included as a co-author or senior (last) author on the publication. If the publication was available online ahead of print, this date was selected. Journals were categorized as nursing, interdisciplinary, or other discipline (E.H., K.J., A.S.). Using date of degree conferral and date of first publication, we estimated time to first publication. For those with more than one dissertation research publication, dates of first and last publication were used to estimate time from first to last publication. Time to graduation was estimated using date of degree conferral and date of program entry.

Data Analysis

Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics; dissemination of research via peer-reviewed publications and time to degree conferral by dissertation format (traditional vs. alternate [substudy and publication] formats) were compared using the Wilcoxon sign rank test. SAS 9.4 statistical software (SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, NC, USA) was used for all analyses. A p value of <.05 was considered statistically significant.

Of 113 PhD graduates, the majority (70.8%) had formatted their dissertation as a traditional five-chapter document, with the remaining graduates using alternate (substudy [10.6%] or publication [18.6%]) formats. Figure 1 illustrates the shift from use of the traditional dissertation format to the publication format and time to graduation by dissertation format over the 21-year period. Across formats, median time to graduation decreased from 4.7 years during the period 1999–2004 to 3.5 years during 2015–2019 (data not shown). Across time intervals, use of the publication format option did not increase time to program completion.

Dissertation format (A) and time (years) to degree conferral (B) over a 21-year period.

Table 2 provides details regarding the characteristics of graduates and their dissertations by format type. Across formats, the majority of graduates had entered the PhD program after achieving a master’s degree in nursing. For those who used the traditional dissertation format, quantitative study designs were most frequently employed (68.8%), with many using existing national or state level data sources. More than half of those who used an alternative format (substudy [58.3%], publication [61.9%]) employed mixed-methods study designs. Across dissertation formats, the majority of graduates had collected original data for all or part of their dissertation research. Overall, topic areas for dissertation research varied widely ( Figure 2 ), with some (e.g., informatics [16.1%] and infection prevention [8%]) being very consistent with the T32 research training efforts of the school. Notably, approximately one third (35.7%) of dissertations were categorized as “other,” reflecting both the diversity of research interests by PhD graduates and the broad expertise of faculty mentors to guide the research.

Dissertation topic areas by dissertation format.

Characteristics of Dissertations by Format Type

Note: BSN to PhD = a student entering a PhD program in nursing following completion of the Bachelor of Science degree in nursing; MPH = a student entering a PhD program in nursing following completion of one or more degrees in nursing and a master’s degree in public health.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Of those who utilized the traditional dissertation format, 58.7% of graduates had published one or more peer-reviewed research articles, whereas all graduates using the alternate formats disseminated their research via peer-reviewed publications. In total, 181 peer-reviewed publications were retrieved. The number of first authored publications stemming from dissertation research was higher for those who utilized alternative formats versus the traditional dissertation format (2.9 ± 1.5 [median 3.0; range 1–7] vs. 1.8 ± 1.1 [median 1.0; range 0–6], p = .001). Across dissertation formats, graduates who had earned a master’s degree in public health prior to PhD program entry, on average, had disseminated more peer-reviewed publications (2.7 ± 2.0; median 2.0, range 1–7) compared to those who had entered the program either as BSN to PhD (2.3 ± 1.9; median 2.0, range 0–5) or with a master’s degree in nursing or another field (1.4 ± 1.4; median 1.0, range 0–6; p = .02). Of graduates who had disseminated their research via peer-reviewed publications, the dissertation sponsor was included as either a coauthor or senior author in 70.2% of publications stemming from traditional dissertation formats compared to 100% of publications using an alternate format. Across dissertation formats, graduates most frequently published their work in journals targeted to an interdisciplinary readership. Manuscripts were published in more than 90 journals.

Timing and Dissemination of Dissertation Research

Time to first publication was significantly shorter for those using alternate formats compared to the traditional dissertation format (−0.6 ± 1.1 [median −0.5] years vs. 1.4 ± 2.1 [median 1.6] years; p < .001), with no differences in duration between publication of the first and last dissertation publication (1.8 ± 1.0 [median 1.7] years vs. 2.0 ± 1.6 [median 1.3] years; p = .70). There were no differences in timing or number of publications by educational preparation of the graduate at time of program entry.

In this sample of PhD graduates from one school of nursing, dissemination of dissertation research via peer-reviewed publications was both greater in number and the timing of the first peer-reviewed publication occurred approximately 2 years earlier for those with dissertations structured in an alternate format compared to those whose dissertations were written using the traditional five-chapter format. For more than half of the PhD graduates using an alternate format, publication of at least one manuscript published in a peer-reviewed journal occurred prior to defense of the dissertation. Acknowledgment of the dissertation sponsor’s contribution to the research via either co-authorship or senior authorship was more frequent when an alternate dissertation format was employed.

While the majority of graduates disseminated their research via peer-reviewed publications, approximately 40% of those who used the traditional dissertation format did not. This may be because the graduate either did not attempt to submit manuscripts of their work or was unsuccessful in doing so. However, the proportion of PhD graduates with unpublished dissertation research in our sample was significantly lower than what has been reported by others both in nursing ( Kearney, 2017 ) and in other fields such as psychology ( Evans, Amaro, Herbert, Blossom, & Roberts, 2018 ), where the proportions of unpublished dissertations were 76% and 74.4%, respectively. An unpublished dissertation is a lost opportunity for both the graduate and the scientific community at large because research findings reported in dissertations are less likely to be cited in academic journals ( Thomas, 2015 ) or included as part of systematic reviews of literature ( Moyer, Schneider, Knapp-Oliver, & Sohl, 2010 ). Envisioning dissertation research as publishable manuscripts at the time of proposal defense helps the PhD student to think about journal selection, negotiate authorship, and envision the end goal of dissemination right from the beginning.

Faculty support and mentorship is critical to success for all PhD students. Students using the publication dissertation option have additional mentorship needs relating to the publication process, including journal selection, criteria for authorship, keeping to strict word limits, the manuscript submission process, and responding to the feedback of peer reviewers. Evidenced by the publication rate of graduates who opted for the publication format in our sample, mentorship in writing and the publication process was both available and sufficient to foster PhD student success. However, this may not be universally true across all PhD programs in nursing. In a recent survey of PhD nursing programs, lack of PhD faculty support was the reason most frequently reported by schools who chose not to adopt a publication format dissertation option ( Graves et al., 2018 ). Our T32 training grants have provided tuition and stipend support for many of our predoctoral students. Most of our PhD faculty currently have federally funded projects and are actively engaged in disseminating their research via peer-reviewed publications; this may not necessarily be true for all schools that have PhD programs. Further, in 2013 the school implemented a manuscript writing workshop for faculty in which manuscripts are “workshopped” and receive feedback from peer reviewers who are naive to the work. The workshop, now open to postdoctoral students and select PhD students with a completed manuscript ready for feedback, is an additional resource for PhD students ( Kulage & Larson, 2016 ). Schools of nursing need to consider faculty and school resources when implementing an alternate format dissertation option.

Our study has several limitations. The sample included only one school of nursing and may not be broadly representative. We did not directly contact graduates regarding their peer-reviewed publications of dissertation research; instead, we relied on an electronic database search. Peer-reviewed manuscripts may have been published in journals that were not indexed in PubMed and therefore missed. Other forms of dissemination such as conference poster and oral presentations were not examined. It is also possible that the number of publications, particularly of more recent graduates, may be underestimated.

Conclusions

Findings of this study demonstrate outcomes from one research-intensive school of nursing. PhD graduates who opted to employ an alternate dissertation format had both earlier dissemination of their research and a greater number of peer-reviewed publications of work completed as part of their dissertation. This illustrates the potential for increased dissemination of nursing research with greater uptake of the publication dissertation format that is occurring nationwide in schools of nursing. Future research in multisite samples is needed both to confirm and expand upon these findings by examining other forms of research dissemination. Dissemination of PhD research through peer-reviewed publications promotes the continued development of nursing science to inform nursing practice and advances the career trajectory of PhD graduates. Alternate dissertation formats should be encouraged by PhD programs as one means to improve dissemination of PhD nursing research.

Please gray-box Clinical Resources

Clinical resources.

• American Association of Colleges of Nursing. PhD Education. http://www.aacnnursing.org/Nursing-Education-Programs/PhD-Education
• Columbia University School of Nursing. PhD program student handbook. http://www.nursing.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/documents/phdstudenthandbookrevaug2018_0.pdf
• National Institute of Nursing Research. Institutional training programs (T32). https://www.ninr.nih.gov/researchandfunding/funded-ninr-grants-collaborative-activities/institutionalfile
• Reid Ponte, P., & Nicholas, P. K. (2015) . Addressing the confusion related to DNS, DNSc, and DSN degrees, with lessons for the nursing profession. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 47(4), 347–353. doi: 10.1111/jnu.12148

Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by T32NR007969 (Principal Investigator Bakken) and T32 NR014205 (Principal Investigator Stone). A portion of this work was presented as a symposium at the 2018 Eastern Nursing Research Society Scientific Sessions and as an oral presentation at the 2019 American Association of Colleges of Nursing Doctoral Education Conference.

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Is referencing another PhD dissertation or Master's thesis a reasonable practice in a Master's thesis?

Not much literature can be found on what I'm working on and it's all by the people I work with. Am I able to reference their work/text in my thesis or I should just stick to referencing material published in journals and conferences, however remote they might be and just get away with whatever's not published and not back them up?

• research-process

• Also see this question Can you cite other master's theses when writing your own? –  gman Commented May 22, 2015 at 10:21
• 3 Why would you think it wouldn't be okay? If the information is available there, why not use it? –  curiousdannii Commented May 22, 2015 at 13:52
• 3 If you use someone's previous work, you must cite it. No exceptions. It is completely irrelevant whether that previous work appears in a journal, conference proceedings, PhD dissertation, technical report, arXiv preprint, working paper, lecture notes, newspaper article, TED talk, StackExchange comment, or cocktail napkin. –  JeffE Commented May 22, 2015 at 14:42
• 1 I cited three PhD dissertations and two Masters dissertations as part of my Masters dissertation. Reference it like you'd reference any other publication. In fact, I also cited a lecturer's powerpoint slides. Actually, now that I think about it, I cited my own previous work at one point too. Every source is valid so long as you reference it. That's not to say that every source necessarily carries weight, of course. You have to evaluate the source. But from a citation point of view, it's all good. –  Jonathon Cowley-Thom Commented May 22, 2015 at 15:01

5 Answers 5

Yes, you are able to reference their work in your text, as long as you make clear in the bibliography what type of document (master thesis, PhD thesis, Institution) it is.

However, i would not consider it to be ideal if your work critically depends on such references in the sense that a central assumption or starting point in your thesis breaks down if the reference provides false or incomplete results. Particularly in the case of master theses / dissertations it is not generally clear whether and to which extent they are peer-reviewed and what their overall trustworthiness is. With (accepted!) PhD theses things are better, as these normally go through a review process. Furthermore, for PhD theses i would expect that their main points have been published somewhere (conference or journal) and then you clearly should prefer these publications.

• 3 +1. I have cited MSc theses in journal papers and that was not a problem either. As you say it was not something the paper critically depended on ; in my case it was to raise a point in the Discussion section. –  user8458 Commented May 22, 2015 at 6:30
• 6 There's a reasonable argument to be made that it's unwise to depend critically on anything you can't verify - including things in peer-reviewed papers, which have been known to be wrong. Ultimately, peer review is just as much a human activity as anything else, and is prone to error - the best that can be said of a peer-reviewed paper is that it has been checked by somebody of unknown experience for an unknown amount of time. In many cases, people put a lot of effort into peer review, but that's not always the case, and even when it is, errors creep in. You're well-advised to check yourself. –  Stuart Golodetz Commented May 22, 2015 at 8:12

This is really an addendum to the two previous answers, but nevertheless it is still answer-worthy IMO .

It is mostly true that with PhD theses, the crux of the stuff is generally published in journals etc. so that those count as more reliable sources (I dare say primary sources). However, it is not necessarily true that this will always be so. For instance, I am aware that at least in Theoretical Physics, University of Bielefeld is an example of an institution where it is not mandatory to have the stuff written in the thesis published. Theses are judged for what they contain and whether or not that represents an original contribution to the subject. I am using this only as an example, the general statement is - it is possible for a PhD thesis to contain original stuff which is otherwise unpublished. And at any rate, it is possible to have stuff written more elaborately than in the published papers (mine is an example). (Occasionally, this might also be because some letters journals have stringent limits on word counts and/or pages, so people shrink stuff there and feed out many more details in the thesis).

Thus, there is no harm in citing a PhD thesis, provided you mention that it is what it is.

• 1 "not mandatory to have the stuff written in the thesis published" - in particular, all the stuff. In fact, at my university it is mandatory to publish some parts of your research before writing your doctoral thesis, but at the same time, it is also mandatory that the doctoral thesis contains more than just the sum of all previous publications. –  O. R. Mapper Commented May 22, 2015 at 8:03

If others have completed theses or dissertations related to the topic you are studying, I would definitely cite them. While writing my MA thesis, there were very few peer-reviewed publications available in the particular region I was working in but there were a number of recently completed theses and dissertations. Some of these were excellent and provided great data to support my own arguments, while others were of lower quality and were not cited. As long as you're critical of the content and argument of these documents you should be fine.

As with most referencing questions, you have to consider what you're depending on them for. If it's a matter of "further details on the previous experiment", a thesis is likely to go into much more depth than a paper and is the best you're likely to get. If it's "so-and-so proved that..." you should really be looking for something peer-reviewed. Most cases will fall in between, and then you need to use your judgement and be clear what you're citing.

you shouldn't quote a master's Thesis because they are typically not published. only published work should be cited in a research work. If it hasn't been published no one is responsible for the Content

• And if they are published? Your whole argument builds on this (false IMHO) assumption. –  Mayou36 Commented Jul 2, 2019 at 7:06

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Adapting a Dissertation or Thesis Into a Journal Article

Dissertations or theses are typically required of graduate students. Undergraduate students completing advanced research projects may also write senior theses or similar types of papers. Once completed, the dissertation or thesis is often submitted (with modifications) as a manuscript for publication in a scholarly journal. Thus, the dissertation or thesis often provides the foundation for a new researcher’s body of published work.

Writers will first want to determine whether the work in their dissertation or thesis merits publication. If it does, we then provide guidance on how to adapt a dissertation or thesis for submission to a journal.

Adapting a dissertation or thesis into a journal article is covered in the seventh edition APA Style Publication Manual in Section 12.1

Deciding to submit a dissertation or thesis for publication

When deciding whether to publish the work in your dissertation or thesis, first consider whether the findings tell a compelling story or answer important questions. Whereas dissertations and theses may present existing knowledge in conjunction with new work, published research should make a novel contribution to the literature. For example, some of your original research questions might be suitable for publication, and others may have been sufficiently addressed in the literature already. Likewise, some of your results may warrant additional experiments or analyses that could help answer the research questions more fully, and you may want to conduct these analyses before seeking publication.

You may also want to consider such factors as whether the current sample size provides sufficient power to adequately inform the analyses and whether additional analyses might clarify ambiguous findings. Consultation with colleagues can help evaluate the potential of the manuscript for publication as well as the selection of an appropriate journal to which to submit it. For information on selecting and prioritizing a journal (and tips for avoiding predatory or deceptive journals), see Sections 12.2 to 12.4 of the Publication Manual .

Adapting a dissertation or thesis for publication

Once a decision is made to convert your dissertation or thesis into a manuscript for submission to a journal, you will want to focus attention on adapting it for publication. By attending to brevity and focus, writing style, relevant literature review and data analyses, and appropriate interpretation of the results or findings, you can enhance the fit of your manuscript for journal publication. Editors and reviewers readily recognize an article that has been hastily converted; careful attention when reformatting the dissertation or thesis is likely to increase the manuscript’s potential for serious consideration and eventual publication.

There are several steps writers seeking to prepare their dissertation or thesis for publication can take beforehand:

• Look at articles in the field and in relevant journals to see what structure and focus are appropriate for their work and how they are formatted.
• Request and consider the input of advisors, colleagues, or other coauthors who contributed to the research on which the dissertation or thesis is based.
• Review an article submitted to a journal alongside their advisor (with permission from the journal editor) or serve as a reviewer for a student competition to gain firsthand insight into how authors are evaluated when undergoing peer review.

The original research reported in a dissertation and thesis can then be reformatted for journal submission following one of two general strategies: the multiple-paper strategy or the conversion strategy.

Multiple-paper strategy

The quickest strategy for converting (or “flipping”) a dissertation or thesis into one or more publishable articles is to use a multiple-paper format when initially writing the dissertation or thesis. This involves structuring the dissertation or thesis used to fulfill the requirements for a degree as a series of shorter papers that are already formatted for journal submission (or close to it). These papers are usually each the length of a journal article, conceptually similar, and come from the same overarching project—but can stand alone as independent research reports. Consult your university’s editorial office to confirm that this is an approved format for your dissertation or thesis and to obtain the specific guidelines.

Conversion strategy

A second strategy is to reformat and convert a dissertation or thesis into a journal article after completing your dissertation or thesis defense to fit the scope and style of a journal article. This often requires adjustments to the following elements:

• Length: Brevity is an important consideration for a manuscript to be considered for journal publication, particularly in the introduction and Discussion sections. Making a dissertation or thesis publication-ready often involves reducing a document of over 100 pages to one third of its original length. Shorten the overall paper by eliminating text within sections and/or eliminating entire sections. If the work examined several research questions, you may consider separating distinct research questions into individual papers; narrow the focus to a specific topic for each paper.
• Abstract: The abstract may need to be condensed to meet the length requirements of the journal. Journal abstract requirements are usually more limited than college or university requirements. For instance, most APA journals limit the abstract length to 250 words.
• Introduction section: One of the major challenges in reformatting a dissertation or thesis is paring down its comprehensive literature review to a more succinct one suitable for the introduction of a journal article. Limit the introductory text to material relating to the immediate context of your research questions and hypotheses. Eliminate extraneous content or sections that do not directly contribute to readers’ knowledge or understanding of the specific research question(s) or topic(s) under investigation. End with a clear description of the questions, aims, or hypotheses that informed your research.
• Method section: Provide enough information to allow readers to understand how the data were collected and evaluated. Refer readers to previous works that informed the current study’s methods or to supplemental materials instead of providing full details of every step taken or the rationale behind them.
• Results section: Be selective in choosing analyses for inclusion in the Results section and report only the most relevant ones. Although an unbiased approach is important to avoid omitting study data, reporting every analysis that may have been run for the dissertation or thesis often is not feasible, appropriate, or useful in the limited space of a journal article. Instead, ensure that the results directly contribute to answering your original research questions or hypotheses and exclude more ancillary analyses (or include them as supplemental materials). Be clear in identifying your primary, secondary, and any exploratory analyses.
• Discussion section: Adjust the discussion according to the analyses and results you report. Check that your interpretation and application of the findings are appropriate and do not extrapolate beyond the data. A strong Discussion section notes area of consensus with and divergence from previous work, taking into account sample size and composition, effect size, limitations of measurement, and other specific considerations of the study.
• References: Include only the most pertinent references (i.e., theoretically important or recent), especially in the introduction and literature review, rather than providing an exhaustive list. Ensure that the works you cite contribute to readers’ knowledge of the specific topic and to understanding and contextualizing your research. Citation of reviews and meta-analyses can guide interested readers to the broader literature while providing an economical way of referencing prior studies.
• Tables and figures: Make sure that tables or figures are essential and do not reproduce content provided in the text.

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Verify Peer Review: Home

Verify peer review.

Check whether a journal is peer reviewed with  Ulrich's Periodicals Directory .

Search for the  title of the journal (not article):

A referee shirt next to the journal means it's peer reviewed.

Learn how to verify peer review in Ulrich's

What is peer review.

Peer review is a  scholarly form of review used by journals only for journal articles.  After an article is sent to an academic journal, the editor sends it to several peer reviewers — typically scholars in the field — for evaluation .

These peer reviewers examine the paper's methodology, literature review, and conclusions. They note the existence of bias or other flaws. The peer reviewers may accept the article, require rewrites from the authors, or reject the article.

If you are asked to find articles that are peer-reviewed, what you are really looking for are articles from a peer-reviewed journal .

Peer review can also be called: 

• blind peer review
• scholarly peer review
• refereeing or refereed

Search Tip:   Peer-reviewed journals may also contain items that are not peer reviewed, such as letters to the editor, opinion pieces, and book reviews. Even if you check the peer-review limiter box, you still need to examine the items carefully to be sure they are articles.

• Click on the  Search icon  and find your journal in the search results. 
• Look for the refereed icon, shaped like an umpire's jersey, indicating the journal is peer reviewed. It displays on the left side of the page, near the article title.

Check the journal's website

Journal websites will typically discuss editorial processes, including peer review.

This information is often listed in the following areas:

• editorial policies
• instructions for authors
• submission guidelines

A simple Google search for the journal will usually locate the journal's website.

Examples of Editorial Policies:

• APA's review policy for authors
• Management Science Journal's Submission Guidelines
• Journal of the American Medical Association Instruction for Authors

Are dissertations peer reviewed?

No. While dissertations are closely supervised by a dissertation committee made up of scholars, they are still considered student work.

Dissertations are often included in scholarly writing, although they are used sparingly. If you are unsure if you can use a dissertation in your assignment or literature review, talk with your instructor or chair.

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Education: Peer-Reviewed/Scholarly Materials

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Peer Review in 3 Minutes

What is Peer-Reviewed?

• A peer-reviewed journal, sometimes also called refereed , is a journal where the articles are vetted by the article author's peers. In other words, if an educational scholar wants to submit his or her article to a peer-reviewed journal, a group of other educational scholars who review articles for the journal have to agree that it is good/rigorous enough to be included in their journal
• Here are some criteria for telling popular magazines from trade journals and from academic, peer-reviewed journals

How to tell if a journal is peer-reviewed

You can't always trust an article database on whether or not a particular journal is peer-reviewed. To find out whether it is or not, you can:

a) Search the journal title in the UlrichsWeb database

• Ulrichsweb Ulrichsweb is a bibliographic database providing detailed, comprehensive, and authoritative information on serials published throughout the world. It covers all subjects, and includes publications that are published regularly or irregularly and are circulated free of charge or by paid subscription.

b) Search the journal title in Google or another search engine

• If the journal isn't in Ulrich's, you can search for its website, which will tell you whether it's peer-reviewed or not
• In  Google  or another search engine like  Bing , type the journal title in  double quotation marks  so that it's read as a phrase
• E.g., type:  "canadian journal of education"
• Usually, there will be writer's guidelines called "Submission guidelines," "Writers' guidelines," or something similar. That's the section where they will frequently tell you whether the journal is peer-reviewed
• The information may also be under the general information on the journal, or under something like "editorial policy"
• Sometimes it will say "blind review" when it's peer-reviewed
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• Next: Finding Articles >>
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