Turning academic research into real-world impact - from Dissertation to published book:

 Thousands of unique and original dissertations, with innovative ideas and years of intellectual work, are produced every year by universities. However, much of this knowledge remains confined in academic archives and is only accessed by supervisors and examiners before being lost in digital archives. It is indeed one of the greatest resources that is still untapped in academia in many respects.

In fact, many dissertations can be made into good, marketable volumes of books. Today's readers are looking for research, credibility, new ideas and evidence-based insights — things that today's researchers already have. But academic writing is quite distinct from public writing.

A dissertation is a research tool, a knowledge and understanding of theory, and an academic level of accuracy. A successful book, however, is crafted for readers, for problem solving, for clearly communicating a concept and for making a difference. It is not the quality of the research but the presentation of the knowledge.

One of the main reasons academic work doesn't reach a wider audience is because academic writing is too technical, formal and complex for people who don't read it in its academic setting. Valuable ideas can become hard to digest when they are presented in the form of long literature review, explanations involved a lot of research, statistical analysis, and the use of academic jargon. Readers don't come looking for a thesis, they are coming for ideas to enhance their thinking, their career, their business or their lives.

This is what makes it so important to edit a dissertation into a book. Requires full adaptation. This is a change from the "proving expertise" to "sharing expertise" attitude of researchers. Authors should aim to capture readers by being clear, relevant, engaging, informative and practical rather than impress the examiners.

The first step in this change is to find the best and most valuable idea within the dissertation itself. Not all chapters fit into a commercial book! It's all about the content that comes across as both interesting and relevant to people who don't read in a scholarly capacity. From leadership to technology, education to psychology, healthcare to business to innovation, successful books are based on ideas that address the real problems and questions they seek to answer and raise.

It is also essential to be knowledgeable about the target audience. The style of a book written for entrepreneurs would be vastly different than that written for educators, executives, policymakers or industry professionals. The easier the audience, the more you can influence the tone, simplify the language, introduce structure and make it easier to form a good reading experience.

Books that are successful based on the dissertation also look to be readable rather than complicated. They do not overwhelm readers with methodology and theory, but instead tell stories, provide examples, case studies, useful frameworks, and actionable insights. Readers are looking for knowledge that they can use — not research to look at.

In this digital era, publishing a book is more than just about financial opportunities. A good book can make a person a thought leader, industry expert, consultant, speaker or expert in their area. Can lead to collaborations, media attention, conferences, consultancy and worldwide recognition. Most of all, it facilitates research to be disseminated to those who can benefit from it.

The availability of digital publishing platforms, strong branding, LinkedIn presence, podcasts, webinars and web, has made it easier than ever for scholars to disseminate their knowledge to a worldwide audience. Education does not have to be confined to university premises anymore.

Not the most academic book will be the most successful one based on a dissertation. They are the ones who render complex ideas understandable, useful, relatable and impactful. They maintain the essential characteristics of depth and enhance accessibility.

A dissertation is the result of years of discipline, dedication and discovery. It's not quite fit for an academic database. It can be a published book, with impact, educating readers, establishing professional authority, reinforcing personal brands and future impact with the right transformation.

Research done can be really potent if it is not just found — but communicated in a way the world understands.

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