Most modern graduate programs, at least the ones I'm in, effectively do this. Your "dissertation" is an introductory chapter, several free standing publications

Most modern graduate programs, at least the ones I'm in, effectively do this. Your "dissertation" is an introductory chapter, several free standing publications that are at least in submission, and a closing chapter wrapping it all together. While my postdoctoral mentor lamented the decline of the traditional dissertation, most programs even express their graduation requirements in terms of N Papers, in STEM fields.