Thesis

Ph.D. Thesis Research is expected to be professional research of the highest caliber, and must contribute to advancing the body of knowledge in the field. The Ph.D. dissertation, which describes the research and results in detail must be a scholarly work, in the substantial content as well as in the presentation. The contribution of the thesis must be considered significant and original by the research community in the field, represented immediately by the students' thesis committee. The dissertation document (thesis) must contain, in addition to details of the main work, the context and placement of this work in the general field of study. The document should be a coherent presentation consistent with standards and documentation requirements (such as references) expected of scholarly work. The students' advisor and thesis committee are the final judges of the quality and quantity of research and writing required to complete the thesis. They judge the quality of contribution including the analysis and originality of the work to the field. The work is usually equivalent to that which would result in three or four publishable papers. In certain cases, when the student's research has led to the publication of a number of significant peer-reviewed journal articles (e.g., 3 to 4), the manuscripts for these papers (either published or accepted for publication) may be directly submitted as the major text for the thesis, with brief introductory and concluding chapters describing the overall theme and context of the papers. Approval of the student's thesis committee is required for this type of thesis.

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