Q: Do I need to update the literature review when converting my dissertation into an article?
One of the first (preparatory) steps in conducting the doctoral research was doing a thorough literature review. I'm trying to determine if this is necessary for writing a dissertation-related article.
A journal article is different from a dissertation in several ways. Some key differences are that a journal article is shorter, around one research question, and meant for time-strapped researchers and academics. So, when adapting your dissertation into an article, you will need to keep this in mind. In fact, your dissertation would typically have explored multiple research questions. You will need to determine which of these you wish to adapt into a journal paper. So too for the literature review. While the literature review for the dissertation would have been extensive, you will need to distil it for the journal article, keeping only the parts of the review relevant for the research question you will discuss in the article. Additionally, if it has been some time since your dissertation, you may also need to update the literature review to include more current articles.
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This content belongs to the Conducting Research Stage