Q & A for Assignment Writing

Q: Can I use my dissertation, conference proposals, or other existing writings for our final paper and other related assignments?

A: Yes, in fact it is highly recommended to use your existing work.  Starting from the scratch isn't ideal at all, unless you have good reason to do so.

Dissertation

In generally, one dissertation is too much for one journal manuscript based on the study breath.  Remember, it depends on your dissertation study.  In educational technology field, one dissertation could be divided into 2-3 journal manuscripts. In addition, dissertation length is much longer than journal manuscript.  Be sure to check the journal's submission guideline.  Furthermore, dissertation writing format is different from journal manuscript. One of goals for dissertation is to "demonstrate" your ability and capability to conduct scientific research and report your findings etc.  Journal manuscript is "to communicate" with other professionals on your research findings etc.  Our class assignments will prepare you for journal manuscript.  That is reason why you are taking this class.

Conference proposals/proceedings

The lengths for conference proposals/proceedings generally are shorter than journal manuscript.  Likely, you will need to expand it for journal manuscript. We need to provide more details in each sections of manuscripts.

Q: Is it considered unethical to use my published conference proceeding for journal manuscript?

A: It depends on how similar they are.  Generally, proceeding and journal manuscript have very different focus, particularly in the length.

My suggestion is that your proceeding could focus on a smaller scale of your study while journal manuscript could be more comprehensive.

Personally, I rarely publish my study on proceeding because conference proceeding doesn't carry much weight in the academic performance, such as annual review, and tenure and promotion etc.  While spending so much efforts toward to publication, why not focus on journal publication.  Remember, this is my personal thought. It doesn't represent others. In addition, your field may be different from mine.

Q: How many words or page should I prepare for each section (literature review, method, results, discussions, and conclusions) of journal manuscript?

A: That is not fixed answer for this question.  Check journal submission guidelines.  So you have better ideas on the word counts or page requirements.  As an author, you need to decide how you may appropriate your space/length for each section in journal manuscript.  You may be able to do this in the beginning of manuscript writing.  When you are finalizing your manuscript, you need to pay attention to the length.