For aspiring researchers and academics, it is often necessary to write journal articles and theses. When preparing these documents, whether using tools like Microsoft Word, Overleaf, or LaTeX, leveraging available editing services can improve your workflow and save you substantial time. Alongside this, working with experienced editors and writers through an editing service increases the quality of your manuscripts.

1. Writing a Journal Article vs. Writing a Thesis: What’s the Difference?
For aspiring researchers and academics, it is often necessary to write journal articles and theses.
When preparing these documents, whether using tools like Microsoft Word, Overleaf, or LaTeX,
leveraging available editing services can improve your workflow and save you substantial time.
Alongside this, working with experienced editors and writers through an editing service increases the
quality of your manuscripts.
Given that most master’s or PhD thesis authors are required to publish journal articles, and usually
they have to convert their theses into separate research articles, knowing what the differences are
between these two document types is worthwhile. For example, in the process of converting a thesis
into a journal article, which is a complex editing and adaptation process, understanding the core
features of each one can make the task much easier overall.
The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the main features of theses and journal
papers, helping you to see the main differences between the two documents side by side, as well as
hi-lighting what editing and proofreading services do!
Features of theses
The main features of theses, both master’s and PhD theses (and some undergraduate theses),
include the following:
 Prepared to conform to academic requirements

2.  Submitted for review by specific committee members
 Consists of a series of chapters
 Usually long with varied word limits (e.g., 50,000 to 150,000 words)
 Lengthy statement of research context
 Lengthy literature review
 Complete presentation and justification of methodology
 Detailed description of institutional review board (IRB) approval
 Complete presentation of findings
 Copies of tools used (e.g., links to datasets, software, or data collection instruments such as
questionnaires or interview guides)
Features of journal articles
In contrast to the features of theses, those of journal articles are much more succinct. This is owing
to the short length of journal articles, which are usually 5,000 to 10,000 words – compared to the
potential length of 150,000 words for a PhD thesis. These features are:
 Prepared to conform to journal-specific requirements
 Submitted for peer review (i.e., a panel of “blind” reviewers)
 Consists of a series of sections
 Usually short with varied word limits (e.g., 5,000 to 10,000 words)
 Brief statement of research context
 Brief literature review
 Brief presentation and justification of methodology
 Brief description of IRB approval
 Succinct presentation of findings
 Depending on licensing and research funding arrangements, no copies will usually be
provided of research tools and instruments
Explanation
The shorter length of journal articles compared to theses accounts for many of the features that
differ between the two document types.
Altogether, the detail involved in a thesis is clearly greater than a journal article. At the same time, in
virtually every respect, journal articles state similar information but in a more succinct way.
If your aim is to convert a master’s or PhD thesis into a journal article, or a series of journal articles,
working with a professional editing service is recommended as a way to make the process effortless.