Connecting the dots: writing a doctoral thesis by publication

Abstract

Pushed along by pressures in academia to publish research outcomes, the “thesis by publication” is becoming more common in Australia and elsewhere. While we know a little about the experience of publishing alongside or from the thesis, less is understood about the thesis-by-publication format and its value or otherwise. This chapter explores the research literacies that are developed through writing a thesis by publication, attempting to connect the dots between students’ prior experiences of “publication” in digital forms and their academic research environment. Focus groups of doctoral candidates who had some experience of writing a thesis by publication were conducted at an Australian university, and the results set alongside the learning theory of “connectivism” (Siemens, 2004). It is proposed that familiarity with digital forms of creating and publishing knowledge in the twenty-first century might mean that today’s doctoral candidates are more attuned than their predecessors to the idea of publishing their research. This in turn links to the participants’ sense of their emerging scholarly and researcher identities.