An Embargo on Dissertations Will Not Solve the Bigger Problem - The Conversation - The Chronicle of Higher Education

"From one perspective, the American Historical Association’s call to allow the 'embargo' of dissertations by new Ph.D.’s for up to six years makes eminent sense. No one seems to know for sure whether having digital copies of a dissertation immediately and openly available on a university Web site will actually make publishing houses less likely to publish a revised version—but why take the chance? In most of the humanities, and much of the social sciences, the single most important ingredient for a successful academic career is 'the book'—the revised dissertation between hard covers. From another perspective, however, the controversy has highlighted the oddity of a system in which the completion of a long, grueling research project, and the triumphant awarding of a Ph.D., leads directly to several more years’ work on precisely the same subject. The system is not the result of conscious planning. Once upon a time, some universities automatically had all dissertations published by their house presses—the open access of the day. Relatively few universities required “the book” for tenure. But over the past 40 years, the pressures of competition and the wretched job market have gradually led more and more universities to the current system. Is it really necessary? ..."