Half of SA’s doctoral degrees do not lead to publications

But number of papers originating in PhD research increased steadily over a decade

Doctoral research by South African graduates does not necessarily lead to journal publications, a bibliometric analysis has found.

The study by researchers at Stellenbosch and Rhodes University found that by 2017 less than half of the 14,000 doctoral theses of students published between 2005 and 2015 could be linked to a publication.