{"id":60703,"date":"2021-12-13T14:39:04","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T19:39:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=60703"},"modified":"2021-12-13T14:39:04","modified_gmt":"2021-12-13T19:39:04","slug":"for-the-book-from-the-phd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/for-the-book-from-the-phd\/","title":{"rendered":"For the book from the PhD"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/post-defence-thesis.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"680\" height=\"340\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-60704\" srcset=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/post-defence-thesis.jpeg 680w, https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/post-defence-thesis-250x125.jpeg 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><br \/>\nI do love the book that comes from the PhD. The book seems like a fitting reward for all the hard work done during the doctorate. Indeed, in some countries, the post defence thesis is published as a book. That\u2019s the book\u00a0<em>of\u00a0<\/em>the PhD, not\u00a0<em>from<\/em>\u00a0it.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s nothing quite like getting the first copies of your first book. There\u2019s something uniquely satisfying about being able to hold the book in your hands, to feel its weight, its substance. It\u2019s joyous to be able to give copies to the people who supported you. And it\u2019s amazing to see the book advertised on publisher and commercial book sellers\u2019 websites and on real shelves.<\/p>\n<p>Of course not every PhD is book material. Some theses are better suited to being broken up, deconstructed into a series of papers and chapters of varying types. And some disciplines typically publish via papers and not books. It\u2019s not that the book is superior. The book is just different to papers. And of course it\u2019s not that writing papers isn\u2019t rewarding \u2013 seeing your papers in print also feels wonderful \u2013 here you are, in the company of people in your reference list.<\/p>\n<p><em>All<\/em>\u00a0of the publishing that comes from the PhD is to be enjoyed and celebrated.<\/p>\n<p>But not everyone holds the book in high esteem. Just this week, as I heard about another book from the PhD being made ready for publication, I had an anxious moment. I found myself thinking about those people whose PhD\u00a0<em>could<\/em>\u00a0be a book but who felt they needed to publish papers in highly ranked journals instead. That they didn\u2019t have the time to write the book and get it through the publication process and be competitive in the job market. That they needed to max out the number of papers they\u00a0\u00a0could get out in the shortest possible time. I wondered, what are we losing out on by insisting on particular types of publication?<\/p>\n<p>I worry about how the current pressure to publish straight after the PhD plays out, how the need to produce a particular kind of CV propels people into particular types of publications. Well, you know all the reasons producing piles of stuff while you\u2019re precariously or newly employed is a problem and unfair.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not uncommon for institutions push for more papers, arguing subtly or blatantly that papers lead to higher scores in international league tables across the board, regardless of discipline or topic. Such \u201cstrategic\u201d institutional interventions are often associated with audit measures of various kinds. Writing a book may well take longer than writing a paper. So the audit measure of papers v. books is also about a particular version of productivity, where volume per year counts most.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve heard a lot of people say that books no longer matter. Just this last week someone said this in my hearing. That journal articles matter more. This kind of comment worries me, as the interview panels and funding committees I\u2019ve been involved with\u00a0<em>do<\/em>\u00a0take account of books. The most recent research audit in the UK has in fact allowed books to be counted as a double entry. But if it is the case that in some spaces and places the book is seen as no longer important, this needs to be challenged, it ought not to remain unquestioned.<\/p>\n<p>The book has an important place in our shared scholarly library. While some kinds of academic work are best suited to short-form genres such as papers and chapters, other work is not. Sometimes a long-form write is required to do the scholarly job. There are some research projects which need a book rather than a smaller pieces which tell parts of the story. Similarly, there are some PhDs which need a book in order to present their case, to maintain the integrity of the work done, to make the significant contribution.<\/p>\n<p>The problem with an emphasis being placed on a narrow spectrum of genres, because they are quicker, easier to audit and compare, is that we lose out on particular forms of scholarship and reduce the possibilities for communicating scholarly ideas and research results. And we leave the book as a playground for established and job-secure scholars. Not OK.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2018m not arguing here that the book is dying. I\u2019m not discussing book costs or publication practices or digital books or open access, all of which are really important. I\u2019m simply saying that I would like all PhDs to feel \u2013 and be \u2013 able to write a book from their work, if that is the form that the work needs to take. And this choice shouldn\u2019t jeopardise their future prospects.<\/p>\n<p>So can we just reorganise the world so this is possible, please?\u00a0\u00a0And do just call me Pollyanna.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I do love the book that comes from the PhD. The book seems like a fitting reward for all the hard work done during the doctorate. Indeed, in some countries, the post defence thesis is published as a book. That\u2019s the book\u00a0of\u00a0the PhD, not\u00a0from\u00a0it. There\u2019s nothing quite like getting the first copies of your first [&hellip;]\n&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/for-the-book-from-the-phd\/\" class=\"more\">learn more&rarr;<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[3499],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-60703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-higher-education","tag-phd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>For the book from the PhD - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/for-the-book-from-the-phd\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"For the book from the PhD - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I do love the book that comes from the PhD. The book seems like a fitting reward for all the hard work done during the doctorate. Indeed, in some countries, the post defence thesis is published as a book. That\u2019s the book\u00a0of\u00a0the PhD, not\u00a0from\u00a0it. 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