Challenges and approaches in the process of writing an article-based thesis in social sciences and humanities

Abstract

An increasing number of theses in the humanities and social sciences are written as compilation theses, a text-genre derived from the natural sciences. New challenges may arise when a genre model is adopted from another field, something that is rarely discussed explicitly. This article is directed at supervisors and doctoral students, and addresses some of the challenges that can arise when the article-based thesis model is used in the social sciences and humanities. Three approaches to addressing these challenges are presented: a holistic view, coherence and anchoring. They are discussed as possible tools to utilize in supervision and writing, for a smoother process and better final product.