Department of Earth Sciences, Syracuse University:
Graduate Program Guidelines
Sequence of steps in Graduate Degree Programs
The Department of Earth Sciences, like
Syracuse University as a whole, is built around the two central goals of
research and education. In order
to fulfill this mission, graduate students gain experience and expertise in
three areas integral to the degree program: 1) Research—formulating and
carrying out new and independent research; 2) Communication—written and
oral dissemination of results, including the ability to create posters, give
talks, write abstracts, papers and proposals; 3) Teaching—most students
will teach a recitation or lab, maybe even a lecture course, at least once
during their time at SU. All three
of these skills are critical to a career in the geosciences, whether you stay
in academia or go on to industry. Even if you choose a field that does not directly involve education,
everyone benefits from the ability to present information in a logical manner
and develop a coherent argument that comes from teaching experience. Other attributes that are important
during your time as a graduate student are the ability to network and
acquaintance withs other scientists in your area of expertise.
The following text is a sequential
presentation of how to meet the requirements for graduate degrees in the
department of Earth Sciences at Syracuse University, and is intended to aid and
facilitate students? progression toward the degree in a timely manner. Many of the steps are common for both
new M.S. students and new Ph.D. students. Differences in M.S. programs and Ph.D. programs are noted as
appropriate.
Check list for
students—Departmental forms required at various stages
These steps are listed in
necessary order of completion. Numbers in parentheses at the end of each category refer to page numbers
in this document that give more detailed information on that subject. All relevant forms can be obtained in
Heroy 204, the main office, and must be returned to the Director of Graduate
Studies with a copy to the Department Office once they are filled out
completely.
M.S./M.A.
Students:
?
1 or more weeks before
your first semester of classes begin: Meet with a faculty committee for an Advisory Review. At
this time a Temporary Advisory Committee will be assigned to you. ( page 4)
?
By the end of your first
year of graduate study: a Permanent Advisory Committee should be formed. Obtain, fill out, and return the form Formation of a Permanent Committee. (page 4)
Graduate student annual report form 2009, due end of March 2009
?
Research proposal must be completed by
the end of the 2nd, not later than the 3rd, semester of
study. Obtain a cover page
format for proposals from the main office. (page 6)
?
A Diploma Request Card needs to be filled out by the beginning of the term that student plans to graduate. This is done on your MySlice account.
?
Prior to the thesis defense, file a Program of Study form with the Graduate School. (page 10)
?
Three weeks before the defense of your thesis a Request for Examination form needs to be filed with the Graduate School. (page 10)
?
A final version of the
thesis must be completed and approved at least two weeks before the expected
graduation date. (page 10)
Ph.D.
Students
?
1 or more weeks before
your first semester of classes begins: Meet with a faculty committee for an Advisory Review. At
this time a Temporary Advisory Committee will be assigned to you. (page 4)
Graduate student annual report form 2009, due end of March 2009
?
By the end of your first
year of graduate study, a Permanent Advisory Committee should be formed. Obtain, fill out, and return the form Formation of a Permanent Committee. (page 4)
?
Must complete two Research Skills prior
to the qualifying exam, within the first 3 semesters of study. (page 6)
?
Dissertation proposal must be completed
by the beginning of the fourth semester of study. (page 6)
?
Qualifying exam must be taken no sooner
than the beginning of the third semester, nor later than the end of the fourth
semester. (page 7)
?
Prior to the
dissertation defense, file a Program of Study form with the Graduate School. (page 10)
?
A Diploma Request Card needs to be filled out by the beginning of the term that student plans to graduate. This is done on your MySlice account.
? Three weeks before the defense of your thesis a Request for Examination form needs to be filed with the Graduate School. (page 10)
? A final version of the dissertation must be completed and approved at least two weeks before the expected graduation date. (page 10)
Important Things to
Remember:
Table of contents
Upon
matriculation, normally during the week before fall classes begin, you will
meet with a Temporary Advisory Committee (appointed by the chair in consultation with the DGS—Director of
Graduate Studies) for an Advisory Review. This committee
will always consist of the chair, the DGS and your advisor, plus 1-2 other faculty
members with broad expertise in your field of interest for a minimum committee
size of 3. During this review, the
committee will review your academic background, discuss your short-term and
long-term goals, and help you with a suggested course of study for the first
two or three semesters of your graduate study. The membership of your temporary committee will be chosen to
reflect your interests, and you should meet with this committee when making
academic decisions until a Permanent Advisory Committee has been selected (see
below).
The
department regards it as important that any incoming student has a solid
background in Earth Sciences, but also recognizes that Earth Sciences is an
interdisciplinary field, and that applicants for graduate study may have an
undergraduate degree in another related field (e.g., biology, chemistry,
physics). Such students are
encouraged to apply to the program, as this diversity of expertise enriches us
all. A certain amount of common
knowledge and experience is necessary to maintain a cohesive and functioning
graduate program and to provide high-quality instruction to undergraduate
students in lab courses taught by TAs. To this end, we require incoming graduate students to have taken, or to
take during their first two years in residence, at least four of the following
courses: Paleobiology, Sedimentology, Mineralogy, Structural Geology,
Geochemistry, Geophysics, Climatology, and Hydrogeology. In addition, all incoming graduate
students are expected to have successfully completed a full year (2 semesters)
of Calculus, Chemistry, and either Physics or Biology, and to have participated in a field course
or approved field experience. Your
background and coursework will be discussed with your advisory committee at the
start of your graduate program to ensure that these requirements are
satisfied. Students lacking in the
necessary background may petition to take these courses at the graduate level
where appropriate to avoid the extra tuition entailed, so long as the instructor
is willing to provide extra work to warrant graduate credit.
Graduate
students are usually offered the following amounts of support: MS student - 4 semesters, PhD student
who enters the program already with a MS - 6 semesters, PhD student who enters
the program with no MS - 8 semesters.
2.
Formation of a Permanent Advisory Committee:
When
you have decided on a thesis or dissertation topic and selected a research
supervisor, you must form a Permanent Advisory Committee, which is likely to have some overlap with your Temporary
Advisory Committee. Such a permanent committee is expected to be formed by
the end of the first year of graduate study towards a degree. In consultation with the research
supervisor, students will select committee members who are well qualified to
assist them in their research program. However, the Permanent Advisory
Committee should also provide scientific breadth. The membership of the Committee must be approved by the
Director of Graduate Studies and by the Departmental Chair.
Permanent
Advisory Committees may have members from outside the departmental faculty, but
because of the expense of bringing committee members to campus for meetings,
examinations and defenses, such members must be approved in advance by the departmental chair. Typically, travels costs for external members of the
permanent advisory committee are paid from the advisor's external research
funds.
A M.S./M.A. committee must have at
least three members, although a larger committee may be approved where appropriate.
A Ph.D. committee will usually
have 5 members, including at least 2 and typically 3 (or more) faculty members
from the department. Normally the
research supervisor is the Chair of the Permanent Advisory Committee. The committee works closely with the
student in planning the degree program and must approve any changes
(substitutions of courses, dropping courses, changes of research topic, etc.).
The
Permanent Advisory Committee will constitute the Examining Committee for the oral Ph.D. qualifying exam. Note that the advisor cannot be the
chair of the oral Ph.D. qualifying exam. The chair of the oral PhD exam is typically a faculty member from the
department who is also on the advisory committee. The Permanent Advisory Committee will constitute the final
examination (M.S. or Ph.D. thesis
defense) or the M.A. final written examination. However, the research
supervisor cannot chair the Examining Committee for a M.S. thesis defense—this is undertaken by an
additional Department faculty member, so the M.S. examining committee will
typically be four members (advisory committee + chair). In the Ph.D. dissertation defense the chair of the committee must
be a Syracuse University faculty member from outside the department.
A
form titled "Formation of a Permanent Committee" is available in the departmental office or the
departmental website. Students should prepare such a form, obtaining the signatures of all
committee members (who thus commit themselves to serve) and the signatures of
both the DGS and the Departmental Chair (who thus approve the committee). Students should understand that either
the DGS or the Departmental Chair, or both, may require modifications to the
membership of permanent committees. The formation of a permanent committee does
not require the approval of the Graduate School.
The
M.S. degree requires completion of 24 credit hours of graduate course work plus
6 credit hours of thesis work. The
M.A. degree requires completion of 30 credit hours of graduate course work, at
least 12 of which must be at or above the 600 level.
The
Ph.D. degree requires 72 credit hours of graduate course work. Thirty hours are credited for
completion of the M.S. degree, whether at Syracuse University or elsewhere. Up to 30 hours of dissertation research
are allowed. Thus, the minimum
course work requirement for the Ph.D. is 12 credit hours, although nearly all
students take more than this in preparation for research and examinations.
A
student on a TA is eligible for tuition waiver on 9 credits in the fall and
spring semesters and 6 in the summer - for a maximum of 24 in one year. Students on RA's typically have their
tuition credits paid for from external research grants at the 50% level with
the other 50% coming from a pre-arranged cost sharing with the College of Arts
and Science.
4. Changing from a M.S. to
a Ph.D.
If
a student is initially admitted into the department as a M.S. student, but
subsequently wishes to change to a Ph.D. student, the student should discuss
this with his or her advisor and advisory committee. The Department requires a student to petition the faculty to
change from a M.S. to a Ph.D. This
petition is discussed at a faculty meeting and a decision made. In addition, the student fills out the
appropriate from the Graduate School that is then signed by the chair.
5. Research Skills
Requirement for the Ph.D.
Ph.D.
students must complete an approved program of two Research Skills, which may be
satisfied by taking specialized courses either inside or outside (e.g.,
Physical Chemistry, GIS, Marine Ecology) of the Department of Earth Sciences,
by experiential learning through work in a laboratory or in the field, or by
other specialized methods. The two
Research Skills thus can encompass both a breath of expertise as well as a
depth of expertise. The two Research Skills must be developed in consultation
with the Advisory Committee and approved by the DGS and the Departmental
Chair. Ph.D. students
must have completed the Research Skills requirement and have an approved
Dissertation Proposal before the Qualifying Examination may be scheduled
(see 6 and 7 below). Note that the M.S. or M.A. degree
has no formal research skill requirement, although it is likely students will
develop such skills. Examples of research skills are listed in the
appendix.
The
student's advisor will write a memo to the Department of Earth Sciences Faculty
(care of the DGS) indicating that research skills have been completed before an
oral qualifying exam can be undertaken. This memo will be placed in the students file.
6. Preparation of Thesis
or Dissertation Proposal:
All
M.S. and Ph.D. degree students are required to write a thesis (M.S.) or
dissertation (Ph.D.) proposal. Because the M.A. is a non-thesis degree, proposals are not
required. Thesis or dissertation
proposals should clearly state the nature of the scientific problem to be
addressed, the approach to be used in solving the problem, and methods to be
used (analytical, observational, statistical, etc.). Proposals should include a realistic budget, indicating the
sources of funds (grant, departmental, personal, etc.). Proposals should be concise; M.S.
thesis proposals are typically 5-10 pages, but should not exceed 10 pages.
Ph.D. dissertation proposals may not exceed 15 pages of text. Text is defined
as 12 point, Times New Roman, 1.5 spaced, with margins of 1 inch, and exclusive
of figures, tables, references, etc. A cover page format for
proposals is available in the departmental office or can be downloaded from the
website. The department keeps a
record of previous research proposals and these can be used as examples.
Thesis
or dissertation proposals should be prepared in consultation with the research
supervisor. When the research
supervisor is satisfied with the proposal, he or she will sign the cover
sheet. The proposal may then be
circulated to the other members of the permanent advisory committee for their
comments. When comments from the
advisory committee have been compiled, the student should consult with the
research supervisor on the final form of the proposal. All members of the advisory committee
should sign the cover sheet of the final proposal when they are satisfied with
it. Then, the proposal (both M.S.
and Ph.D.) should be dated (date of circulation) and made available to all
other members of the faculty. The
student will circulate an email to the faculty (see below) indicating the
thesis proposal is available in the departmental office. Faculty have one week from the
date of circulation to object, in writing, to the Departmental Chair. If no objections are received, the proposal is approved and will be
signed by the Departmental Chair and the DGS.
Use the following format for
your email to faculty:
Dear faculty and members of the department,
I have completed the thesis proposal for my [M.S.]
[Ph.D.] degree entitled "xxx". A hard copy of the proposal is available for perusal in the department
office (Heroy 204), as required by the Department of Earth Sciences Graduate
Student Protocol. If you are
interested in my project, please read my thesis proposal. If you have any objections about this
thesis proposal and this research project, as required by the department
protocol, please put your objections in writing addressed to the chair of the
department within one week of this date: LIST DATE.
Thesis
or dissertation proposals should be written as early in the degree program as
possible. They should not be written when the research is well under way or
nearly completed or just prior to the defense of the thesis, for the student
then risks much wasted effort if the proposed research is not approved. Normally, M.S. students should write
their thesis proposals in the second semester, but certainly not later than the
third semester, of their graduate degree programs. The Ph.D. dissertation proposal serves as the vehicle for
the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination. Because Ph.D. students are required to take the Qualifying Examination
not later than the fourth semester of their degree program (see below under
Examinations), it follows that the dissertation proposal must be written by the
fourth semester.
Students
should not make the mistake of assuming that their committees will read, edit,
and approve proposals on short notice. It is reasonable to plan on spending at least one month editing the
proposal and having it approved by the research supervisor. Approval by the rest of the committee
may take as much as an additional month. Be sure to establish a time schedule and maintain regular contact with
committee members to ensure that their comments and concerns are addressed in a
timely manner. Note that reading,
editing, and commenting upon thesis and dissertation proposals is a
responsibility of faculty members, and students should not hesitate, after a
suitable interval of time, to ask their committee members about the status of
their proposals. Students who
do not complete research proposals in a timely manner may jeopardize continued
departmental funding.
7. The Ph.D. Qualifying Examination:
The Ph.D. Qualifying Examination is a departmental
examination that must be taken by Ph.D. students no sooner than the beginning
of the third semester, no later than the end of the fourth semester. The examination will not be scheduled
until the Research Skills program has been completed (and a memo is in the
file) and a Dissertation Proposal has been approved (see numbers 5 and 6 above).
If
the Ph.D. student does not have a prior M.S. degree and is therefore seeking to
complete 36 credits of class work rather than the 12 credits required of a
student with an M.S. already, he or she may seek an extension by petitioning
the faculty. In this case, he or
she should plan to take the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination not sooner than the
beginning of the fourth semester, nor later than the end of the fifth semester.
The
examination is oral, and is based upon the Dissertation Proposal that serves as
a vehicle for a broadly based examination. The examination is not a "defense" of the
proposal. Rather, the aspirant
makes an oral presentation of the proposal that lasts about thirty
minutes. Following this, the
Examining Committee (the Permanent Advisory Committee) will examine the
aspirant on various subjects that are germane to the proposed research. The examination is designed to
determine whether the aspirant has the research skills, appropriate conceptual
abilities, and background knowledge to carry out advanced scientific
research. Any subject matter, including
basic earth science knowledge, which may be related to the proposed research,
is "fair game" for questioning. However, aspirants will not be asked questions that are unrelated to the
proposed research.
All
faculty members are invited to attend the examination presentation, but if they
wish to attend or participate in the questioning, they must remain until the
examination is completed and participate in the Committee's discussion of the
outcome. Only the Examining
Committee, however, votes on the outcome. The result of the examination shall be Pass or Fail. More than one negative vote
constitutes failure of the examination. Should the Examining Committee decide that the results of the oral examination
are inconclusive, it may schedule a written examination to be taken within one
week of the oral examination; in this case, the committee vote may be deferred
until evaluation of the written examination in completed.
Students
who pass the Qualifying Examination are advanced to "Candidacy for the
Ph.D. Degree". If the student
fails the examination, one additional attempt may be made, but not sooner than
three months after the initial attempt. If the examination is not passed on the second attempt, the student's
doctoral program will be terminated. Examining Committees also have the option to grant a "Pass"
that is conditional upon limited additional course work, reading, etc. and may
require a further committee examination or review of such additional work. If this is the case the committee will
reconvene at the appropriate time to discuss whether the student has met the
additional requirements. The
limited additional requirements undertaken by a student to proceed to Ph.D.
candidacy should a pass be conditional shall be accomplished within 6 months of
the examination. A committee may also
recommend that the student undertake a M.S. degree should he or she not perform
well in the Ph.D. qualifying exam.
The chair of the examining
committee shall write a signed memo to the faculty of the Department of Earth
Sciences following the examination. This memo shall list the date of the exam,
members of the committee, and the outcome of the Qualifying Examination, as
well as any details of a conditional pass. The original will be retained in
departmental records, with copies given to the student, other members of the
committee, and the Director of Graduate Studies. As a courtesy, a copy will be sent to the graduate
school. The transition of the
student from a Ph.D. student to a Ph.D. candidate is a departmental concern.
8. The Thesis (M.S.) or Dissertation
(Ph.D.):
The
thesis (M.S.) or dissertation (Ph.D.) is the written presentation of research
accomplished. The research phase
of a graduate program is generally the most exciting and productive part, and
should be very carefully planned. Research by graduate students is normally done in close consultation
with the Research Supervisor and the Advisory Committee. Research studies vary widely because of
the breadth and interdisciplinary nature of earth science. However, the department expects that
all research done by its students will be of the highest quality, involving
careful study of significant scientific problems while adhering to ethical
standards.
Funding
for Research Assistantships is usually arranged by the Research Supervisor, but
graduate students are strongly encouraged to seek their own supplemental
funding through agencies like GSA or Sigma Xi, or by searching the databases
located online at the Office of Sponsored Programs (http://osp.syr.edu). Ph.D. students in their first year of
graduate study, or those in the final year of writing, may also be eligible for
fellowships sponsored by NSF or other agencies, and students are strongly
encouraged to explore all of those opportunities.
M.S.
theses and Ph.D. dissertations must comply with the general requirements of the
Graduate School; students who are approaching the writing stage of their
programs should read the Graduate Catalogue and the booklet "Instructions
for Preparation of Theses and Dissertations" that are available from the
Graduate School. The Department of
Earth Sciences encourages M.S. and Ph.D candidates to prepare theses or
dissertations in a format that is suitable for publication and, in addition to
standard format documents, will accept texts that constitute one or more
articles ready for submission to journals. The number of articles, particularly for Ph.D.
dissertations, will depend upon the subject studied (but typically number three
papers in peer reviewed journals of international merit for Ph.D. students and
one paper for M.S. students) and must be approved by the Advisory Committee and
the Chair of the Graduate Studies Committee.
Students
should understand that completion, editing, and approval of a document as
important (and sometimes lengthy) as a thesis or dissertation is not a trivial
exercise that can be accomplished in a couple of weeks. Ph.D. students in particular are
strongly encouraged to write up and submit to their advisor individual chapters
(ideally, manuscripts for submission) as they complete that phase of their
work, rather than waiting until the end of their degree program to write them
all at once.
Below are the steps that should be followed after the student has a first draft of his or her thesis,
complete with figures and tables in acceptable form, with estimates of the
time required:
a) Edited version of the first draft
returned to the student by the Research Supervisor with comments and
suggestions. About three
months.
b) Edited version of the revised text,
with tables, maps, figures, etc. in final form, returned to the student by the
Research Supervisor with comments and suggestions. Three weeks to one month.
c) If Research Supervisor thinks the text,
figures, etc. are ready for Advisory Committee reading, he or she signs a
preliminary cover page (or suitable memo) and the text is distributed to the
Advisory Committee. Edited
versions, with comments and suggestions, back to students from the Advisory
Committee. One month.
d)
The final Defense version of the thesis or dissertation is prepared by the
student and approved by the Research Supervisor; the defense version is then
distributed to the Defense Committee at least 2 weeks (14 days) prior to the
defense date (see below). The
defense committee must sign the cover page indicating their consent that a
defense may be scheduled. Two
weeks.
e)
Note that the process may take more than six months after completion of the first draft! Add
more time if your writing skills are not what they should be. Add more time if you try to do all of
this during the summer when faculty may be away from the department doing field
work or other research work.
Prior to the thesis or dissertation defense (see
below), and with the advice and concurrence of the Research Supervisor and the
Departmental Chair, the student must file a Program of Study form with the
Graduate School. This form made is
obtained from the departmental office or from the Graduate School (http://gradsch.syr.edu/download.htm).
Directions for filing are given in the University's Academic Rules and
Regulations booklet (http://coursecatalog.syr.edu/rules.aspx). The Program of Study must be filed
before any credits will be transferred from another college or university
(i.e., if any credits from another university need to be transferred to SU to
go towards a student's Ph.D. or M.S. then the student needs to fill out the
portion of the Program of Study form entitled ?Transfer Credit?).
10.
Thesis or Dissertation Defense:
At
least four weeks before the
Defense, the Department Chairperson, in consultation with the Research
Supervisor, recommends an Examining Committee to the Graduate School. Normally, the Examining Committee
consists of the Advisory Committee plus another member who serves as Chair of
the defense. Thus, a minimum of four examiners are required for a M.S. defense whereas six are required for a Ph.D. defense.
In the case of a M.S. defense the chair is usually another faculty from the
Department. In the case of a Ph.D. dissertation defense, the Chair must be from a department in the university other than Earth Sciences.
In order to ensure that the process described above occurs, the student must file a Request for Examination form with the Graduate School at least three weeks before the defense date of their thesis or dissertation. This form is available in the main office (Heroy 204) or from the Graduate School Website (http://gradsch.syr.edu/download.htm).
Defenses
of theses and dissertations are public events in which the student presents the
results of his or her research and then answers questions. The normal format is that a
presentation lasting thirty to forty-five minutes is made. Then, the floor is opened to questions
from the audience. Normally, the Examining
Committee does not ask questions at this time. After the general audience has asked questions, it will be
excused and the Examining Committee will ask questions of the candidate to
elucidate any aspects of the research it deems necessary. For both M.S. and Ph.D.
candidates, the Defense is a final examination. Questioning by the Examining Committee generally lasts in
the neighborhood of 2 hours, but may go longer.
Members of the committee may make their approval
conditional upon certain changes in the dissertation being made by the
candidate. The report of the examining committee indicates one of the following
results:
o
Pass The results will be reported on a form provided by the
Graduate School. It is the responsibility of the Chair of the Examining
Committee to obtain the concurring signatures of the Committee members on the
final defense cover page and to
report the results of the exam in a letter to the Graduate School (plus a copy
for departmental files).
For editorial changes, the committee may refer final
approval of the dissertation to your dissertation advisor. If approval hinges
upon making substantive changes, committee members may withhold their
signatures of approval until the required changes have been made. In cases
where substantive revisions are required, the chair and the advisor, on behalf
of the committee, should ensure that revisions are successfully completed. At
the discretion of the committee, other members of the committee may participate
in the oversight of the revisions as well. The candidate is entitled to an
explanation from the committee concerning the disposition of the defense. If
the candidate does not pass the examination, he or she may be invited to
schedule a subsequent examination.
When all revisions have been made the advisor will
sign and date the candidate?s title page and submit it to the GEMC. This
document determines the student's certification.
The final version of the dissertation, incorporating
all required revisions, must be completed and approved at least two weeks
before the proposed graduation date. Details of requirements regarding microfilming, copyrighting, and
binding can be found in the booklet Academic Rules and Regulations. The University will bind the final
copies of the thesis or dissertation and place them in the University Library.
The Department of Earth Sciences endorses and follows
the guidelines of the Vancouver Protocol on research policy and
authorship. Important components
of the Protocol that are particularly relevant to the department are summarized
below. The master document can be found at: http://www.icmje.org/
1. Objectives:
1a: The Protocol aims to provide an understanding of the
qualifications for authorship and the responsibilities of each author for a
submitted manuscript or a presentation at a conference.
1b: The guidelines also ensure that the
contributions of students and staff (or others) who participate in research
activities leading to publications are acknowledged in a fair and proper
manner.
1c: To provide a basis for the order of authorship in
multi-authors papers or presentations.
2. Qualifications for authorship
2a: Qualification for authorship requires substantial
participation in a research project. The following conditions must all be met:
2a(i) conception and design, or
execution, or analysis and interpretation, of at least part of a research
output in the author's field of competence
2a(ii) drafting at least part of the
article or revising it critically for important intellectual content
2a(iii) participation in approval of
the version to be published
2b: Any author, regardless of order of authorship must be able
to take scholarly responsibility (inside and outside the University), for at
least that part of the output in the person's area of competence.
2c: Some contributions to the research will not qualify for
authorship but should be recognized in the "acknowledgement" section,
or elsewhere in the paper/presentation. Examples of these contributions may include: designing and maintaining
apparatus, statistical advice, data collection only, administrative support and
data entry, scholarly advice, conducting interviews, translation and
transcription, providing only physical resources or funding, leadership or
membership of a research entity under which the research was carried out
without fulfilling 2a(i) or 2a(ii). Initialization or conceptualization of the original idea upon which the
research was based without fulfilling 2a(i) or 2a(ii).
2d: No-one can be included as an author, or acknowledged for a
contribution, against their wishes.
2e: Authorship (especially the order of authors) can often be a
delicate subject. Thus, authorship
as part of a research project should be discussed at a relatively early stage,
and reviewed when there are changes in scope or involvement in a project.
2f: The first or primary author usually writes the first draft
of a research paper or other research product.
2g: Qualification for authorship is usually decided by the other
authors. This applies to whether
paid consultants to a research team should be authors. Common practice is that consultants who
contribute substantially to the intellectual research output are included as
authors. However, consultants who
do not contribute in a substantial way or who contribute only through data
collection or analysis, but not to the intellectual part of the research are
not normally included as authors, but are acknowledged.
3. Authorship order
3a: The order of authorship is usually decided by intellectual
contribution, with the researcher making the largest contribution being the
first author, or to select where they want to be in the list of authors.
3b: The order of other authors in a multi-author publication is
also decided by their relative intellectual contribution, although
discipline-specific variations also determine authorship order (e.g., alphabetical
after the major contributors, the research advisor is added last - provided
they meet the criteria of 2a(i) and 2a(ii)).
3c: Authorship order should be negotiated between authors, but
usually the first author plays a lead role in determining order.
3d: Authors in a multi-author publication
may choose to simply list authors in alphabetical order or honor a particular
author by placing them first.
4. Graduate students as authors
4a: If based upon the research conducted
for a Ph.D. or M.S., the student usually qualifies as the primary (first)
author. It is regarded as unusual
is a graduate student who fulfills the requirements of a M.S. or Ph.D. and is
awarded that degree by a university would not fulfill the requirements to be
the first author.
4b: For MS degrees
that involve coursework and a research report for MS, honors and undergraduate
research projects, the student may or may not be the primary author; this
depends on the relative intellectual contribution to the final product. It would be possible for a student,
particularly an undergraduate student to collect data, but not be able to meet
2a(i) and 2a(ii) and hence lose their entitlement to authorship.
4c: Usually, the results of research
undertaken by a student (graduate or undergraduate) are not submitted for
publication until there has been interaction with the students advisor.
4d: If the students advisor fulfils the
criteria of 2a(i) and 2a(ii) above (with respect to a students research
project) and the student fails to publish within a reasonable time period
(usually 2 years since graduation), then the advisor will have the right to
publish the findings as first author.
5.
Multi-institution involvement in publication
5a: If multiple institutions (universities,
government research organizations, institutes in other countries) pay careful
attention to 2e.
5b: Most, if not all reputable institutions
and universities subscribe to the Vancouver Protocol, therefore it should be
unlikely that disagreements arise as to qualification or order of authorship. If disagreements do arise, then the
guidelines of the institution of the first author usually apply. If disagreements cannot be amiably
settled, then these are referred to the Vice-Chancellor for Research (Provost)
for discussion with their counterpart(s) at the other institutions.
6 Author obligations
6a: Each author has the obligation to
ensure the authenticity and accuracy of the research output and publication
content, at least in their area of expertise.
6b: Should a research product or
publication prove to be fraudulent (which brings the university into
disrepute), the university considers all authors to be liable, until shown
otherwise. Primary or first
authors are under a greater obligation and will carry a greater burden of
responsibility.
6c: Selection of research publication. Be aware that copyright usually passes
to the publisher of a research output and that the publisher may have their own
set of rules (e.g., all author lists are alphabetical) which may override the
wishes of you and your co-authors.
APPENDIX: Examples of Research Skills
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