Combination Conventional/Publication Format
Another alternative to the conventional written thesis is a thesis that comprises a combination of conventional written narrative presented as typescript and publications that have been published and/or submitted for publication and/or text in manuscripts. Both the conventional written narrative and the publications/manuscripts must be closely related in terms of subject matter, form a cohesive research narrative and the publications/manuscripts must not have been accepted for any other University award.
The main body of the work should contain, in addition to the relevant publications/manuscripts, a contextual statement which normally includes the aims underpinning the publications/manuscripts; a literature review or commentary which establishes the field of knowledge and provides a link between publications/manuscripts; and a conclusion showing the overall significance of the work and contribution to knowledge, problems encountered and future directions of the work. The discussion should not include a detailed reworking of the discussions from individual papers within the thesis.
Where papers have joint or multiple authorship, they must be accompanied by a clear statement of the contribution (in terms of the conceptualisation of the work, its realisation and its documentation) madeby you and all other authors. The statement must be sufficiently detailed to describe accurately the contribution of each author. All authors are required to sign the statement and co-authors must give written permission for the paper to be included in the thesis. Original signatures are preferred but scanned signatures are acceptable.
The number of publication(s) that will comprise a PhD thesis or a Master of Philosophy thesis will vary greatly according to the discipline of study, the content of the publication(s) and where applicable, the impact factor of the journals in which they are published. In some fields of scientific research, three papers may be sufficient for a PhD, whilst in others, six may be the norm; for other fields, such as the Humanities, a single book length work may be sufficient.
