Which sorts of dissertations are more effective in disseminating results? Find the answer in the new article by Asanov et al.
Anastasiya-Mariya Asanov, Igor Asanov, Guido Buenstorf, Valon Kadriu, and Pia Schoch address the question how the knowledge documented in dissertations is disseminated. They use a random sample of dissertations at German universities in economics, political science and sociology.
The authors find that "cumulative" dissertations - that is, dissertations consisting of a series of individual articles - are turned into three times more publications which receive three times more citations than monographic dissertations. Also, dissertations written in English and empirical dissertations have a higher publication success. The article concludes that a policy that allows doctoral students to write their dissertations in a cumulative format provides them with the opportunity to share the results of their research through publication in peer-reviewed journals.