At some point during a master’s thesis, the results may turn out to be surprisingly good. When that happens, it makes sense to raise the bar and aim at producing a peer-reviewed scientific paper, ideally published on arXiv before the thesis defense. This is what I call the “paper track”. This post explains what it means and how to navigate it.
The Decision
The paper track decision typically happens at mid-thesis, during a supervision meeting, when preliminary results look solid enough to think beyond the thesis itself. The trigger is usually a combination of: a clearly novel contribution, reproducible results, and a student with enough time and energy left to go the extra mile.
This is a joint decision between the student, the supervisor, and the examiner. It should not be taken lightly. Once engaged, expectations rise on all sides.
What Changes
Going paper track raises the bar in several important ways:
Higher quality bar. A thesis is evaluated by an examiner at one institution. A paper is evaluated by reviewers from around the world. The writing, the methodology, the evaluation, and the related work must all meet a higher standard.
More work. A paper requires a tighter, more polished version of the thesis content. The related work must be deeper. The evaluation must be more rigorous. The writing must be cleaner.
Tighter scope. A thesis can explore, meander, and document failed attempts. A paper must be focused on one clear contribution. The student must learn to cut what is interesting but not central.
Authorship. The paper will have co-authors. We will discuss authorship early and explicitly (see Authorship in scientific papers). The typical case is: student as first author, supervisor, examiner.
Coordination. The paper and thesis are sequentially coordinated. The paper is submitted to arXiv first, and the thesis after. The thesis references the paper.
Why It Is Worth It
The benefits of going paper track are real:
- Visibility: an arXiv paper is indexed by Google Scholar and Semantic Scholar immediately. It can be read and cited by anyone in the world.
- Career: a first-authored arXiv paper is a strong signal for PhD applications, research positions, and industry jobs in research-oriented companies.
- Scientific contribution: a paper is a more durable and reusable contribution than a thesis. Papers get cited; theses rarely do.
- Training: writing a paper is one of the most important skills in research. Going through the process once, with supervision, is invaluable.
Practical Advice
Decide early enough. A paper track decision made in the last month of the thesis is unlikely to succeed. The right moment is mid-thesis, when there is still time to shape the work with a paper in mind.
The paper is not a chapter of the thesis. A paper is typically 8-12 pages, self-contained, and written for a different audience than a thesis.
Identify the target venue. The paper track means 1) a arXiv preprint first and 2) later submitted to a conference or journal.