Demystifying commentary guidelines of PhD by published work in the UK: Insights from genre analysis

ABSTRACT

PhD by Published Work has become an increasingly common option for experienced researchers in Europe, including the UK. While thesis requirements of a PhD by Published Work differ from those of a traditional monograph, guidelines on how to write a PhD by Published Work thesis (commentary) vary across institutions, giving rise to issues pertaining to quality assurance and student support. To devise more appropriate writing support for PhD by Published Work candidates, this small-scale study analyses guidelines of 81 UK universities to identify the structural components of a PhD by Published Work commentary. Genre analysis yields 10 structural components and reveals similarities and differences with a traditional PhD monograph. Specifically, issues which PhD by Published Work candidates need to tackle are highlighted, including languages used to present synthesised findings from publications. Moreover, implications for language advisors who give writing support to PhD students undertaking this route are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• PhD by Published Work
• thesis writing
• UK
• genre analysis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. Sketch Engine is a text analysis software with multiple search functions, including collocation search, concordance search, word list generation.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sin Wang Chong

Sin Wang Chong is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in TESOL at the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, Queen’s University Belfast in the UK. His research interests include feedback literacy in educational and academic contexts, educational and language assessment, educational technology, and research synthesis methods. He is Associate Editor of two international refereed journals, Higher Education Research & Development and Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching.