Section outline

  • Course Overview

    This course equips you with the ability to utilize and present supplementary material, including data and third-party content, effectively within your article. It also gives advice on how to transform a thesis or dissertation into a high-quality journal article.

    Learning Outcomes

    This course will help you to:

    1. Evaluate why data is used within a journal article and make informed decisions on when and how to use research data
    2. Create and format data to highlight your findings and drive impact
    3. Understand the different types of research data and how to appropriately document each type
    4. Understand what open research data is, why sharing is important, and how to share it
    5. Reuse suitable material in your article while abiding by appropriate copyright and permission guidelines
    6. Effectively turn your thesis or dissertation into an article
    7. Evaluate the advantages and limitations of supplemental materials to inform what material will best support your paper


    From time to time, we will refer to SAGE’s own specific publishing practices so that we can give you the most specific and practical guidance possible. However, these processes will likely be applicable to other journal publishers. If in doubt, always check their guidelines.

    • Course Resources

      You will need to access certain files and resources throughout the course to get the most out of the activities. You can find them all here. 

    • Video Transcripts

      You can access all video transcripts here.

    • Pre-Course Self Assessment

      Before you dive into this course, spend a few moments reflecting on your familiarity with the topic and your current level of skills confidence. 

      You will then re-visit the same questions in our Post-Course Self Assessment and reflect on how the course has helped you develop in confidence and grow your skills. 

      • Module One: Presenting Data

        This module will help you to:

        1. Evaluate why data is used within a journal article to help you make an informed decision around when and how to use your data
        2. Recognize the best ways to present data and apply these formats appropriately when writing your journal article
        3. Create and format data presentation techniques that highlight your findings and drive impact

      • Module Two: What Is Research Data and How Do I Share It?

        This module will help you to:

        1. Understand the different types of research data and how to document it
        2. Understand what open research data is and why data sharing is important
        3. Know how to share your research data

      • Module Three: Reusing Third-Party Material

        This module will help you to:

        1. Reuse suitable material in your article whilst abiding by the appropriate copyright and permission guidelines

      • Module Four: Turning Your Thesis Into an Article

        This module will help you to:

        1. Effectively turn your thesis into a journal article

      • Module Five: Supplemental Material

        This module will help you to:

        1. Evaluate the advantages and limitations of supplemental materials to inform what material will best support your paper
        2. Identify suitable materials that should be incorporated within supplemental files

      • Post-Course Self Assessment

        Now you’ve completed the course, spend a few moments reflecting on where your familiarity with the topics and your confidence skills levels are at now. 

        Has the course helped you develop new skills and grow your confidence?

        You'll need to complete the Post-Course Self Assessment in order to download your certificate. If you didn't do the Pre-Course Self Assessment before starting the course, please go to the top of the page and reflect on your familiarity with the topic and your level of skills confidence before you started the course.

        • Completion: Certificate

          Completing all modules (plus the pre and post-course assessments) will unlock the course certificate, which you can then download here. Your course certificate will only be made available once you have completed all these sections.

          If you have difficulty accessing your certificate, please contact the Sage support team at: onlinesupport@sagepub.co.uk. You can also check out this FAQ page which may be helpful.

          • Give Feedback About This Course

            Did you enjoy the course? Please take two minutes to share your feedback. We use learner feedback in future course updates and developments to provide an excellent learning experience.

          • Accessibility

            We have high standards of accessibility on Sage Campus and as of May/June 2024 all activities within this course are keyboard and screen reader compatible. For more details on accessibility standards, please see the Sage Campus Accessibility Guide.

            For those using assistive technology, please note that within this course:

            • Tab components: JAWS and NVDA behave slightly differently. For NVDA to keep reading, it is best to exit focus mode and go back to browse mode. 
            • Matching: JAWS does not read out question label on dropdown focus.