Does anyone know roughly how many publications you need to have written to apply for a PhD by published work?

Many Thanks.

LOTS written on here re this. Try a search.

Could you point me in the right direction please - I can't seem to find the response I am looking for?

That's probably because you don't want to accept the responses which are out there, i.e. the fact that it's not happening unless you're rich and famous anyway. It does NOT represent an alternative to a traditional Ph.D pathway!

I've been advised to try this so I hope it's not that bad! Not sure I will though, will see how it goes. I was advised to have at least 3 papers (preferably 4) with an overall intro and wrap up overall discussion.

Also - I was told this is currently becoming more popular in the natural sciences rather than other fields.

Smilodon - what are your times scales, both for the publication of your 3/4 papers and the thesis? Surely this is a more cost effective method of achieving a PhD?

I need to submit by end of this year so I would not expect all papers to be published but at least 'in press'. This plan was suggested for two reasons - a) no need to write thesis and then papers and papers will help applying for posdoc funding (so more time-economical overall which is important for me) and b) my project is ideally best split into quasi-independent projectlets which are best presented seperately but do have a broad overarching theme. I'm aiming for 4 papers but I need to input the last of my data before I really know if this will fly or not. I have the kind of project where all the papers come at the end and not before.

Thanks for your explanation... I found it useful! My situation is that I work in industry and am looking to gain a PhD to help achieve the longer term aim of becoming a business consultant. The PhD by published work route seems to be the best method as I will be able to vary my research time scales according to the publishable developments within the company and ideally without committing large sacks of cash.

Does anyone know if this route is only available to staff or alumni of a particular university?

As far as I know this is a genreal trend and any university can try it if they want. But I expect you still need examiners and therefore still need to pay fees to somebody in order to register to be examined. Interesting situation.