ÂÜÀòÉç¹ÙÍø

 : : : Posting

---

From: Mike Hyman mhyman@nmsu.edu
To: ELMAR Members
Re: Multi-manuscript dissertations (a.k.a. theses in pieces)

Despite the supposed interest by ELMAR members, I received little feedback on multi-manuscript dissertations (a.k.a. theses in pieces). Regardless, the following is a summary.

Based on feedback from ELMAR members and a brief Web search, universities believed to accept or interested in accepting multi-manuscript dissertations in business:

• University of Houston
• University of Washington
• Stockholm School of Economics
• Marshall Goldsmith School of Management, Alliant International University
• University of Texas
• Nova Southeastern University
• Victoria University
• Monash University

(Folklore suggests that many more universities allow such dissertations. If you know any university in this group, please forward its name to me and I will add it to the above list.)

Comments from the less than ten ELMAR members who volunteered their opinions about such dissertations were mixed; some welcomed the flexibility, but others bemoaned the potential for a low quality product.

Only faculty members from two universities offered copies of their university’s guidelines. As a result, I received guidelines for multi-manuscript dissertations from Monash University and Victoria University. I have cut-and-pasted these guidelines below.

---

Monash University (from web page)

Thesis by Publication

All doctoral and MPhil candidates, including staff candidates, are permitted to submit a thesis by publication. The thesis by publication is not a different degree; rather, it is a thesis format that includes papers that have been prepared, or accepted, for publication. They may have more than one author, in which case signatures from co-authors are required. The papers do not have to be rewritten for the thesis: they can be inserted in their published format (see under Formatting Requirements below). Whether the papers have to have been published, accepted for publication, or only submitted for publication varies across faculties (see faculty guidelines).

The thesis must reflect a sustained and cohesive theme, and framing text is normally required. Faculty-specific requirements are listed below. We advise you to consult good examples of theses by publication in your discipline. Your department or school should have copies of all doctoral and M.Phil theses available for consultation. Workshops on the thesis by publication are also run through the exPERT series, if you require more information.

Candidature Conditions

Papers must have been researched and written during the course of candidature. The Handbook section 7.3.3 states the requirements. For staff candidates, at least 75% of the research in these papers must have been conducted during the period of employment at Monash or during tenure. See Handbook section 7.5 on PhD staff candidature for further information.

Extent of Candidate’s Contribution

The initiation, key ideas, development and writing up of each of the works within the thesis should be the primary responsibility of the candidate. Overall, the material presented for examination needs to equate to that which would otherwise be presented in the traditional thesis format. (This remains a matter of professional judgement for the supervisor and candidate.) Faculty-specific variations are listed in the faculty guidelines below.

Formatting Requirements

General

Consult the Doctoral Handbook Chapter 7, Section 7.3, Preparation, presentation and submission of doctoral theses for general information about presentation of a thesis.

Declarations

All theses by publication must include declarations which specify the extent and nature of your contribution to the publications. If you are the sole author, this still needs to be specified. There are two declarations that you must include which acknowledge the contribution made to the research work and/or authorship by you and other parties:

General declaration (part A): this is placed at the front of the thesis and replaces the standard general declaration. It lists the work/s written by you in collaboration with other authors and shows the publication status of those works. If you are the sole author, you only need refer to the publication status.

Specific declaration (part B): this is required for each work in the thesis that you wrote in collaboration with other authors and contains their signatures as well as yours. It is not required for sole-authored work. We strongly advise you to arrange for the Part B declaration form to be signed by contributing authors as soon as the paper is prepared or submitted for publication. This is preferable to trying to collect signatures as you prepare your thesis for submission. You and any co-authors who are students at Monash University also need to agree on your relative contributions in percentage terms. Each declaration should be placed at the start of the thesis chapter where the conjointly authored work appears. While the contributions of all authors must be described, only you and any co-authors who are also students at Monash University need indicate the extent of your contribution in percentage terms.

Template declarations are available for download. You need to customise the highlighted statements.

General declaration (part A)
Specific declaration (part B)

Please note that completion of these forms does not negate the need to comply with any other university requirements relating to conjointly authored works. If one of the contributing authors is unable to sign, see our section on obtaining signatures.

---

VICTORIA UNIVERSITY INSTRUCTIONS TO EXAMINERS
DOCTOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

The Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) is a professional research doctoral degree offered through the Faculty of Business and Law at Victoria University. It differs in several important ways from the Doctor of Philosophy, which we ask you to keep in mind when examining this thesis.

Structure:

The DBA is a three year (full-time equivalent) programme based on a combination of coursework subjects and research thesis. The coursework subjects required comprise of doctoral level business subjects taken in the first year of the programme. At the completion of the coursework, students must pass a comprehensive examination.

The research thesis is then completed over the next two years of the programme. It is deemed to have two-thirds of the weighting for the programme.

An Australian PhD is based on the thesis, alone. It is based on a three year (full-time equivalent) course of research.

Thesis:

The thesis for the DBA is seen as having the same essential features of that for a PhD. As such, it must, generally, meet the criteria set out in the Guidelines to Examiners document. However, as the thesis comprises two-thirds of the weighting of theprogramme and is completed in two-thirds of the time of a PhD, the expectations of size and breadth of the thesis are also smaller. That is, the thesis for the DBA would be 40,000 to 65,000 words and have a more contained focus compared to a PhD thesis of 60,000 to 100,000 words.

If you require further information please contact the Office for Postgraduate Research: telephone (03) 9919 5014; facsimile (03) 9919 4559.

Updated: February 2006

---

DISCUSION OF MULTIPLE COMPONENTS

Research Only-Candidates select option under guidance of Faculty

Option 1
DBA dissertation
45,000 – 65,000 words 48 credit points per semester x 4

Option 2
DBA research project A
20,000 – 30,000 words 96 credit points
DBA research project B
20,000 – 30,000 words 96 credit points

Option 3
DBA research paper A
15,000 – 20,000 words 64 credit points
DBA research paper B
15,000 – 20,000 words 64 credit points
DBA research paper C
15,000 – 20,000 words 64 credit points
For further information, please contact the Victoria Graduate School of Business on (03) 9919 1295.

---