This is only a critique of the monograph-type PhD thesis, which I agree that should become obsolete. Where I come from, a thesis is 3-6 published papers and a

This is only a critique of the monograph-type PhD thesis, which I agree that should become obsolete. Where I come from, a thesis is 3-6 published papers and a 20-60 pages introduction/summary that explains the background a bit more than is traditional in a paper, and summarizes the results. Yes, the student spends 1-3 months writing the summary part, but most of their time is spent on research and writing the actual papers.