While a dissertation’s in-depth research and analysis can provide a strong foundation for a book, the dissertation itself is not a book and will not be published by an academic press without substantial revisions. Some acquisitions editors are interested first books, especially if they bring new perspectives and fresh ideas to a field, while others do not often publish first books. If you are considering submitting your dissertation for publication, we recommend that you contact editors at university presses that publish in your subject area for guidance on revising your work. Many editors prefer to be involved in the early stages of this process so they can advise you on how to structure the book and your arguments to create a publishable book. Editors generally require changes in the length, content, tone, and style of a dissertation in order to produce a book that will appeal to buyers in the academic market. Read more about submitting a proposal in our Scholarly Publishing Guide.
Below are selected resources to help you revise your dissertation for publication as a book or journal article(s).
Advice from publishers
- De Gruyter
- Harvard University Press
- Palgrave Macmillan
- Rowman & Littlefield
- Taylor & Francis
- University of North Carolina Press
- Yale University Press
- Publisher Policies on using content in both a thesis or dissertation and an article (from MIT Libraries)
Books
- From Dissertation to Book by William Germano (Lauinger Library, 4th Floor, PN162 .G37 2013)
- Revising Your Dissertation, Updated Edition : Advice from Leading Editors (updated edition, 2008) edited by Beth Luey (online; GU NetID and password required)
Videos
- From Dissertation to Book, Duke University (February 27, 2018)
- From Dissertation to Book (full transcript), Harvard University (December 17, 2010)
- How To Turn Your Dissertation into a Book, Yale University (April 6, 2016)
Articles
- From Dissertation to Book by Leonard Cassuto (Chronicle of Higher Education, May 30, 2011)
- From Dissertation to Published Book (lanugageandphilosophy.com report on an American Comparative Literature Association workshop)
- Give It a Rest by Laura Portwood-Stacer (Inside Higher Ed, August 6, 2019)
- The Stages of Revising a Dissertation into a Book by Amy Benson Brown (Journal of Scholarly Publishing, vol. 52 no. 2, 2021, p. 127-140) (GU NetID and password required)
- Turning Your Dissertation into a Book (University of Washington)
- Publishing your Dissertation (American Psychological Association)