Q: Is it ethical to publish a portion of a dissertation prior to completing the final oral defense?
I have a colleague who has had his dissertation student submit a manuscript based on her dissertation to a journal for review and publication prior to the student's completing her final defense. Is there anything inappropriate about this practice?
No, this practice is perfectly acceptable. In fact, certain universities also accept compilation thesis, which is a collection of several journal articles compiled as separate chapters of a thesis.
In fact, I appreciate the fact that your colleague is trying to help his/her student get a journal publication by the time he/she completes the PhD. This will definitely add value to the student's CV and help him/her in finding post-doc positions.
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This content belongs to the Conducting Research Stage