Editorial

The contributors to this special issue have undertaken research on professional doctorates that puts an emphasis on practice and practitioner research and how this can provide for and impact upon workplaces, professions, societies and the candidates themselves. They are all experienced academics in the field of professional doctorate (PD) learning providing individual examples of their researched practice and drawing on international literature and evidence. Research outputs and conferences that focus on professional and practice-based doctorates have become more evident over the last 20 years. An international biennial conference series held in Australia from 1996 to 2004 accelerated the debate; each of which produced a set of papers, many of which were developed as contributions to higher education journals. Then in 2009 the UK Council for Graduate Education and Middlesex University in the UK started an international PD conference series which has had six meetings. Many of the papers in this issue started as ideas brought to the Council for Graduate Education conference series. These also spearheaded an International Association of Practice Doctorates (IAPD). The association has an international membership and works to support academics and practitioners involved in practice based doctorate programmes, to consider policy issues, provide a source of information and to widen the debate about professional and practice-based doctorates www.professionaldoctorates.or