This book examines the intertwined challenges of thesis writing and academic publishing as they are experienced by doctoral researchers navigating early academic careers. Focusing on two compulsory doctoral courses, Academic and Thesis Writing and Scholarly Publishing for Academics at a leading Singaporean university, it explores how structured pedagogic interventions can both empower students and shape their identities as emerging scholars. Situating this inquiry within a highly competitive, market-oriented higher education context, the book interrogates whether such courses function primarily as mechanisms of institutional regulation or as spaces for critical reflection and disruption. Drawing on a critical ethnographic approach informed by Foucauldian and Bourdieusian frameworks, it analyses key obstacles in academic publishing, including evaluative metrics, self-censorship and peer review practices. It ultimately invites supervisors, writing specialists and doctoral students to reconsider how institutional forces influence knowledge production, scholarly voice and academic legitimacy.

Olivine Lin is a senior lecturer in the School of Law at Singapore University of Social Sciences.

Glenn Toh is a retired senior lecturer at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.