Thesis by Publication: Definition, Regulations and Issues for Consideration

Abstract

In Taiwan, writing a thesis or dissertation is a basic need for graduate students to fulfill their requirement for graduation. The traditional thesis or dissertation usually refers to a monograph written and formatted by required order after completing a single research. Only students from a few departments may use their certificates of achievement with written reports or technical reports as substitutes for their theses or dissertations and apply for graduation. In recent years, the thesis by publication (TBP) approach has begun to appear. Foreign universities have their own policies and regulations for including published works as part of final thesis submission, and there are also a number of related research papers in the academic field. In Taiwan, some university departments have already adopted the TBP approach for years, but it seems that no local university has a clear school policy or brings up relevant perspectives to the authorities for discussion. To address the issue of TBP, this study uses document analysis method, analyzing public documents on the Internet and aims to portrait the TBP approach from literature. Firstly, the author inspects school regulations of Australian, UK, and Japanese universities; secondly, research papers are reviewed and the definition of TBP along with topics for consideration are listed. The recast of capability for independent research and practical practices are also discussed and presented, in the hope that this study will serve as a reference for policy makers in Taiwan’s higher education.

Keywords

• thesis by publication
• publishing during candidature
• ph.d. by prior publication
• graduate student
• higher education