Want a PhD by Publication? Watch this first

By now, you may have heard that some people finish their dissertation and don't write the huge big document. They take another route. It's true that option may be available for many of you in your journey, but the truth is it's different. But it's not easier. It has its own path and its own challenges. I'm Dr. Steve Tippins and in this video we're going to explore what PhD by publication is, the route you take, and the advantages and disadvantages. I've sat on over 300 dissertation committees helping people finish their dissertations, many of whom have used the PhD by publication route. If you're looking for help deciding about the traditional dissertation route or PhD by publication, join our dissertation help community and get assistance from people who've helped students finish hundreds of dissertations. Just click the link below. So what is PhD by publication? It's not one big dissertation. Some think it's many, but it's smaller in a PhD by publication traditionally. Now, what that entails is you're going to publish three papers in peer reviewed journals. Now, before we go any further, what's confusing, it's seemingly every school has a different path to this, so you really have to check into your school first if they offer this alternative and second, what the alternative is. At your school, the simplest path is get published three times in peer reviewed journals and you have completed almost your entire dissertation. I've seen schools that have sent two peer reviewed journals. I've seen schools that said, yes, you need three publications, but they just need to be in Q1 journals or Q1 or Q2 journals. Other places say you need three publications and that's it. There's no definition of the level of journals. I've also seen schools accept conference presentations for at least one of these. So ultimately you have to understand what your school lays out OR defines as PhD by publication. Once you know the rules, then you can determine if this is a route for you. So how does it work? Seemingly it can sound easy. Hey, I'm going to write three papers, I'll submit them to journals, I'll get them accepted, and then I'm done. Well, typically if you get your three papers accepted, you're then going to have to bundle them together in one document with an introduction of some sort and some sort of conclusion, tying everything together for your degree, for finishing your dissertation. Do not do. What I saw one person do is take off on this journey without checking to see if their school actually allowed that journey. And it turned out they didn't. So fortunately they caught this early enough and they switched to doing one document. So you really have to do some checking. Sometimes you're also going to need your committee to approve this approach. And that might be interesting because many committee members have only seen the traditional dissertation. So you're going to have may have to convince them that this is route for you. One other thing you want to check on is when you do this publication route, who gets included as an author? Do they have to be sole author? Do you have to include your chair and or your committee members on this? Don't submit something, get it accepted and have it set out the wrong way. It's harder to correct things after the fact. One thing you really need to be aware of is this does not mean it's a faster route. When I say I need three publications, that means I need to go through the publication process three times of submitting, getting reviews, maybe resubmitting. This can take months, depending on the journal, even years to get through. So be aware that this may not be a faster approach. So if it's not faster, what are the advantages? Why would I do this? Well, the first one that comes to mind is if you're going into academia, the currency with which academics talk to each other and value each other is on publications and numbers of publications. Schools have been burnt by people who've written dissertations but haven't been able to translate that traditional document into publications. But if you show up saying, I have three publications, they know you understand the process. It can make you a much stronger candidate. And I've seen one person get hired because of that. They came in and said, I do research, I've done research. I have a track record of doing research. They're much more confident about hiring you if you can show them that you might be able to take a topic and approach it from multiple angles. And that's how you can get your three publications. I haven't seen a school allow someone to take one topic and a second topic that's completely unrelated in a different area and in a third topic, also completely unrelated in a different area. But. But if you can take a topic and approach it methodologically one way, methodologically another way, and maybe tweak variables a little bit from one database, that can be a way to move your process forward and move your graduation date up. Many times journals have a queue that can be six, eight, nine months a year out. And if you have to wait until they're actually in publication, that can slow you down. There's actually a benefit for you to that too. Because if you can be in a queue a year out, get a job, you might then be able to change your institution of affiliation on the publication so that your new publication counts at your new job towards tenure. So what are the disadvantages and risks? Well, some people might think, well, I don't have to deal with my committee. That can be a disadvantage. Your committee is not involved anymore. Now I've got editors and reviewers who aren't don't know you. In fact, it's going to be blind, so they aren't predisposed to helping you. So it can be slower, it can be pretty strict. Journals have specific guidelines, different styles they want. So if you have three papers and three different journals, you might have to change to three different styles or page length requirements. Or sometimes a journal will issue a special issue. They only want their material on a certain topic, which means you might have to wait till the next iteration of acceptances or submissions for your material to be considered. And like I said said earlier, you may have committee members who don't understand this process because they hadn't been presented it for themselves. It can be a great way to go forward, but you may have to spend time educating them as to why this is an appropriate method for you to earn your doctorate. I was talking to someone recently who was taking the three publication route, was all ready to submit, and then found out that their committee had the expectation that they would submit to Q1 journals, whereas the school's guidelines didn't really specify that. So the committee was not in favor of the plan they had and it slowed her down. So ultimately, is this a path to take if you've got ideas that span three areas? Yes, it may be a path to take if you can handle working on multiple projects at once, or can finish a project relatively quickly, then move to another one. Yes, it may be a path to follow if your committee supports this route. Yes, it can be a path to follow if you want to go into academic academia where publications are the currency. Yes, it can be a path to follow if you want to spend time going very deeply into one idea. This may not be the path for you. If you don't want to live with the uncertainty of multiple journals and peer reviews and multiple reviews by people who don't know you, stay away from this option. Ultimately, as I've been saying, well, it was said to me when I was in Graduate School 100 years ago, the only good dissertation is a done dissertation. If you can get to done dissertation by writing three publishable papers, congratulations and good luck. So how do I decide? Well, is three papers going to help me? Am I going into academia where it can really help me? Can I handle this type of work? Am I ready for the uncertainty of the journal review process? Is my committee on board? Does my university allow this path? You know, if you're thinking about this, that's the first question to ask does my university allow it if they don't go to the traditional route? If they do, then maybe it is the path for you. If you're looking for help along this journey, join our free dissertation help group below. Just click the link and you'll get support from dissertation chairs who've helped hundreds of people. Finish. No matter what route you choose, I wish you luck, and I hope you finish very quickly.