The Research Process

Scholarly communication is the process by which academic research is created, published, distributed, and discovered. 

Publishing is an essential step in that cycle. By publishing, scholars allow readers to view, comment, and build upon their work, all of which are necessary steps to further knowledge.

Publishing also increases the scholar's standing in his or her respective field which is important for funding and employment. Many accreditation bodies require that faculty remain active in their field; publishing is the most common way to show active engagement.

Although your dissertation has been published in ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, you are still the copyright holder. And, as long as you hold the copyright, you are able to decide how your dissertation may be made available (e.g., reworked into a book, divided into a few journal articles, presented at a poster session, etc.). For additional information, please see Copyright and Your Dissertation or Thesis: Ownership, Fair Use, and Your Rights and Responsibilities.

Note, however, that you will need to be careful about reproducing images, test instruments, etc. You will need to ensure that you have permission to reproduce these resources in other formats. This may require contacting the author or copyright holder of the work.

Additionally, it is important to keep in mind that most journals prohibit multiple submissions of the same paper. You will likely be required to sign paperwork stating that your paper has not already been submitted to or published by another journal. Please consult the individual publisher websites for additional information. Often they have a page for author information such as the example here.

For additional information, please see the following resources: