> A PhD is one of the few opportunities in academia to do true, unconstrained, open ended research. Sure, but is this really in conflict with publishing articl

> A PhD is one of the few opportunities in academia to do true, unconstrained, open ended research. Sure, but is this really in conflict with publishing articles? The sort of scientific advances that require a full book or dissertation for a proper treatment are few and far between. Also: doing true, unconstrained, open ended research as a PhD student is taking a big risk, one that is (a) quite likely to prolong the time necessary for completing the PhD and (b) almost certainly a bad idea if not done with the full support of their PhD advisor.