Section-by-section tips for revising your thesis

Jump straight to:

• Pick a good title
• Rework your introduction
• Revise, rethink, restructure your chapters
• Write your conclusion
• Tighten up your table of contents
• Images, tables, diagrams
• Footnotes
• Check your references and bibliography
• Next steps for your book

Pick a good title

The title is where it all begins, although it might be one of the last things you nail down. It’s so important to get this right. Simply put, you need to tell the reader what your book is about.

Include keywords in your title and subtitle to help readers discover your work – think about the words people might use in search engines like Google Scholar to find your book. And bear in mind that the 2 or 3 most important keywords need to appear early in your title: this makes the difference between your book appearing on the first page of search results or languishing somewhere on page 12.

So yes, this does mean your publisher is almost certainly going to ask you to lose that pun you're so proud of. We're not being mean, we just want your book to be found by as many potential readers as possible.

Rework your introduction

Start with the context. Don't just parachute your reader into what might be unknown territory; take some time to explain where and when we are. This context can be historical, political, social, cultural – whatever is appropriate to your subject.

Then position your topic in the literature – but don’t regurgitate your literature review. Be concise and to the point. What key works do you build on? Which arguments are you countering?

Finally, give a brief overview of the trajectory of your argument, noting how each chapter develops it. Building on the table of contents, think of this as the reader’s detailed roadmap for your book.

Revise, rethink, restructure your chapters

Your thesis was most probably made up of an introduction/literature review, 4 long chapters and a brief conclusion. This isn’t the most palatable way for your reader to engage with your ideas. So think very seriously about a better way of presenting your argument.

Can any of the chapters be broken into smaller pieces? Would dividing your book into 2 or 3 parts or sections give the reader a better sense of its structure?

Is there scope to expand on what you covered in your thesis? Should you add more comparative material, carry out new research, introduce additional case studies? Were there avenues that you wanted to explore while working on your PhD but didn't, and can you pick up on them now?

Is there a chapter you never really liked? Was there a chapter that didn't add effectively to your overall argument? It's absolutely fine to ditch it from your book. Why not consider working it up as a standalone journal article?

Have things changed? Has new research come to light that you need to engage with? If you were focusing on a contemporary period and closed it off in, say, 2019, do you need to add an epilogue to bring things up to date?

When an editor looks at a proposal for a converted thesis, something we check is the number and length of chapters. If you’ve developed your thesis from 100k words in 4 main chapters to 90k words in 6 main chapters, that shows us that you recognise that revisions are required and you've thought about how best to do it.

Write your conclusion

It doesn’t need to be long, but you do need a conclusion. If your reader has stayed with you to end, don’t just let them come to an abrupt halt at the end of your last main chapter. Briefly sum up what you have argued. This is not the time to add anything new, though you can outline areas of future research that might develop from your book.

Tighten up your table of contents

Think about your table of contents as a map for your book. This is where you show your reader how to navigate the content. Clever titles or quotations might seem appealing, but your reader wants to get an idea of what you cover in each chapter. So clear, informative chapter titles are really important.

As with your book’s title, keywords are vital. They help the reader to navigate your book, and also help potential readers to find your book. Chapters are discoverable online too, so you want to make sure they will appear in the right search results. Be sure to give your Introduction and Conclusion their own keyword-rich titles as well.

Images, tables, diagrams

Think about what will be helpful for the reader. Tables can present your data in a way that is clear and visually appealing – but too many can be overwhelming. A picture is worth a thousand words – if it is well chosen and captioned helpfully. Maps are often a useful aid for readers.

You also need to think about who covers the administration and cost of securing high-resolution images and permissions. You should speak to your publisher about their expectations and any associated fees.

Footnotes

These are part of your word count so use them judiciously. Footnotes should tell the reader something it would be helpful for them to know but would disrupt the flow of your narrative to include in the text itself.

Remember: if something is important enough to be included, it should probably be in the main text. If it doesn’t sit well in the main text, maybe it’s not vital to include it after all. Interrogate each note with that in mind. Definitely don’t use your notes to go off on tangents!

Check your references and bibliography

Just as in your thesis, ensure your references and bibliography are are complete, including all the books, articles and other sources you drew upon directly.

Next steps for your book

Hopefully the tips in this guide have helped you begin to think about your thesis in a new light, and have given you a steer on what you need to do to revise. You’ll now be wanting to think about choosing the right publisher, writing a proposal, and the review process. And if you think you’d like to publish your book with us, we’d love to hear from you.

Where to now?

• Back: General tips for revising your thesis
• Next: Choosing the right book publisher
• Return to the ECR Hub homepage
• Ready to submit your manuscript? Discover the step-by-step guide to publishing with Edinburgh University Press