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There are a number of advantages in organising to submit a thesis as a series of papers
i. Submitting a thesis in this form resolves the conflict between preparing the thesis for examination and preparing papers for publication. In essence, they amount to the same thing. In a climate where completion time limits are shortening, you need not feel that, whilst preparing papers for publication, you are running out of time to finish your thesis.
ii. If you have reviewer’s comments on your papers before submitting your thesis, you can use this feedback to improve your thesis prior to examination. This will not only improve the quality of your work, but also your confidence. By the time you submit your thesis for examination, at least a (perhaps substantial) proportion of it will have been subject to the scrutiny of experts in the field.
iii. Having part of the work published prior to examination establishes it as worthy of publication, which is one of the criteria for thesis examination. The larger the proportion that is published, the easier it is for your examiners and the Board of the Graduate Research School to recognise that your work is substantial and of value.
iv. In the event of disagreement in the examiners’ assessment of the thesis, it will be easier to defend if the work has earlier been validated through the peer-review process.
v. Experience in writing for publication is extremely valuable for candidates wishing to pursue competitive postdoctoral positions. Publications would also form part of a CV that could be submitted to potential employers.

However, there are also some challenges in successfully submitting a thesis as a series of papers
i. The decision to submit a thesis in the form of a series of published/publishable papers should be given careful consideration. You should make the decision early in your candidature, taking into account your School’s general disposition toward this submission format, as well as the opinion of your supervisor. Although the University allows all candidates to submit their thesis as a series of papers, it should be noted that this is not an accepted practice across all disciplines.
ii. When presenting a thesis as a collection of papers it is easy to make the error of allowing the thesis to become disjointed. This will stand against it. You must ensure that the papers are presented in a logical order, are linked together, and address the central thesis argument. The candidate MUST ensure that the thesis is a consistent and unified whole, prepared specifically for the submission of examination for the degree. Therefore, the candidate needs to critically place any published or publishable works used in the body of the thesis in the context of the thesis as a whole. In general, every thesis should include an introduction chapter which presents the general context of the research; the significance of the problem; the aims of the study; the methodology and/or theory; and a statement of the organisation of the thesis. Every thesis should also include a conclusion chapter which provides an overarching, critical assessment of the research. The introduction and conclusion chapters must link together the various papers submitted as part of the thesis, providing continuity to the extent that the reader can understand the logic behind the progression of the research program.