ABSTRACT
This chapter explains what the changing landscape of academia and university might mean for a thesis writer. It explains how the thesis by publication has entered doctoral education in the social sciences and humanities as an alternative to, and in some cases a replacement for, the monograph. The chapter focuses on some of the key debates that have shaped this emergence. The emergence of the thesis by publication and the controversies surrounding this format should be understood in light of profound structural changes in doctoral education. One important reason for the emergence of the thesis by publication as a popular alternative to the monograph has to do with a more general turn towards systems of accountability and quality control in higher education. Writing a thesis by publication means having to adapt to multiple academic conventions at a time: those governing the different journals and those governing the narrative for the submitted thesis.
