Doctoral Thesis

A doctoral thesis is a significant body of original work produced by a student during the course of their doctoral study. Please note that PhD students in the Department of Criminology must be continuously registered in THD9999 up until such time as the thesis is submitted to the evaluators for review.

An acceptable thesis is thoroughly researched, demonstrates rigorous critical thinking and analysis, is supported by theory, presents a detailed methodology and accurate results and includes solid verification of any knowledge claims. A doctoral thesis must make a significant contribution to knowledge in the field of study, embody the results of original investigation and analysis and be of such quality as to merit publication, in whole or part¹.

Formats

In the Department of Criminology, doctoral students may present their thesis as a monograph or thesis by articles. The same ethical and scholarly standards apply regardless of thesis format.

Deadlines

Students are expected to complete their doctoral studies in four (4) years, however, they must submit their completed thesis (approved by their supervisor and committee) for external evaluation within six years of the date of initial registration in the doctoral program. Those unable to complete their thesis within this timeframe may request an exceptional extension from the FGPS.

Submission of thesis

Prior to final submission students are expected to distribute the completed thesis (which has been approved by the supervisor) to their committee for review in a timely manner and arrange a meeting with all committee members and the supervisor. At this meeting all committee members will determine outstanding issues and (ideally) agree that the thesis is (pending agreed upon changes) ready for defence². Note to students: supervisors will only complete the “Statement of Thesis Supervisor” form (required for the evaluation process to commence) when they (and the members of the committee) are satisfied that the thesis merits submission.

The supervisor will identify and contact one internal-external examiner (a professor at the University of Ottawa – including criminology professors – who are members of the School of Graduate Studies) and confirm that they are willing to evaluate the thesis. The supervisor will also identify and contact eligible external examiners (professors from outside the University of Ottawa who are not in conflict of interest due to an association with the student, supervisor, or the University of Ottawa). These names (and accompanying documentation) must be given to the Secretariat of the Department of Criminology at least one month prior to the submission of the thesis. For reasons of conflict of interest, the internal-external and external examiners cannot be a co-author in the submitted or published articles or expected to be an author on subsequent publications of a thesis as a monograph.

Components

A monograph thesis completed in the Department of Criminology must include the following components:

1. Preface: specifies the approvals obtained to conduct the research, and distinguishes it from those of collaborators, co-authors or other researchers, if any.
2. Abstract (limit = 350 words)
3. Acknowledgements
4. Table of Contents
5. Introduction: clearly stating the rationale, the problem statement, key concepts, and the objectives of the study. As well, a description is provided outlining the function of each chapter and how the different parts of the thesis will be presented to make sure chapters flow logically into one another.
6. Literature review (note: the description of the theoretical framework[s] may be included in this chapter or included in a separate chapter)
7. Methodology
8. Results and analysis
9. Discussion with conclusions: integrates study findings with extant literature, as well as discuss its contributions to criminological knowledge (e.g. research area, theory, methodology, policy, practice, etc.) and limitations.
10. References (included before the appendices using a consistent referencing format)
11. Tables, figures and charts (included in each relevant chapter).
12. Appendices: inclusion of pertinent documents and/or data not included in previous chapters (e.g. consent forms, questionnaires, supplementary tables, details about the methodology, the ethics approval certificate, letters of permission).

Departmental Regulations Unique to the PhD Thesis by Articles Option

Doctoral students in the Department of Criminology at the University of Ottawa have the option of submitting a traditional monograph thesis or a thesis by articles. The conditions for theses by articles are:

1. The plan to write a thesis by articles must be approved by the supervisor and by the PhD Program Coordinator.  The request must be submitted in writing no less than six months prior to the final submission of the thesis.
2. The articles replace the chapters of a traditional thesis.  The thesis by articles must include all of the information normally found in a traditional thesis, namely a unifying criminological problem or question, a detailed presentation of relevant literature, social theory and methods, discussion and analysis of findings, as well as a general discussion and conclusion that articulates the criminological impact and limitations of the whole thesis. Thesis supervisors and supervisory committee members may require that doctoral students include one or more additional chapters in their theses should they deem that the literature review, theory and/or methodology sections across the three articles included in a given thesis need to be supplemented with further details.
3. The articles must have been written for publication in peer-reviewed scholarly journals in criminology or adjacent fields of study that publish criminological studies. At a minimum, the articles must have been submitted to eligible journals with the approval of the candidate’s doctoral thesis supervisor and committee at the moment of submitting the thesis.
4. To be included in the thesis, articles must represent original work, have been written in the course of the student’s doctoral program, and not have been accepted for publication prior to approval of the research proposal (CRM 9997).
5. The thesis must comprise of at least 3 articles that are under review and/or published.
6. Of these, the student must be the sole author of at least two articles, and the first author of an article written collaboratively (where applicable).
7. The articles in the thesis are to be evaluated by the Thesis Committee in the same manner as other parts of the thesis, regardless of their publication status.  The Committee may require modification even if the articles have been accepted or already appear in print.

Components

A thesis by articles completed in the Department of Criminology must include the following components:

1. Preface: specifies the approvals obtained to conduct the research, and distinguishes it from those of collaborators, co-authors or other researchers, if any.
2. Abstract (limit = 350 words)
3. Acknowledgements
4. Table of Contents
5. Introduction: clearly stating the rationale, the problem statement, key concepts, and the objectives of the study. As well, a description is provided outlining the function of each chapter and how the different parts of the thesis will be presented to make sure chapters flow logically into one another.
6. A series of articles: the number required is at least three.
   • Articles are written on one or more part(s) of the thesis (e.g. literature review, theoretical framework, methodology, findings and analysis).
   • The version of each article is the most recent (either submitted for peer-review or published).
   • Articles are written in French or English.
   • Each article has a title paper outlining the article title, listed author(s), and the academic peer-reviewed journal targeted for published or where published.
7. Integrated discussion with conclusions: integrates study findings across articles with extant literature, as well as discuss its contributions to criminological knowledge (e.g. research area, theory, methodology, policy, practice, etc.) and limitations. An integrated discussion is an explicit weaving together of the content across the articles / other sections of the thesis.
8. References (included before the appendices using a consistent referencing format)
9. Tables, figures and charts (included in each relevant chapter/article).
10. Appendices: inclusion of pertinent documents and/or data not included in previous chapters (e.g. consent forms, questionnaires, supplementary tables, details about the methodology, the ethics approval certificate, letters of permission).

Methodolog(y/ies) and Literature

In articles formatted for publication, the details on the literature review, theoretical framework(s), and methodolog(y/ies) may be limited by the word count for the journal. To provide adequate detail for examiners of the thesis. Supervisors and committee members can require students to include one or more additional chapters to enhance the details included in the version of articles formatted for publication or request additional details in an appendix. For example, content pertaining to methodolog(y/ies) should include data collection and analysis methods, rationales for their use, and supporting references.

Copyright

If the article is already published, the student must follow the journal requirements for obtaining permission to include it in the thesis. This release is needed so the University can then reproduce the thesis according to the Academic Regulations for thesis. If the article included in the thesis is not published, the graduate student may consider placing an embargo on that chapter in the thesis when submitting the thesis for publication. 

Examiners

A defence will only be organized after the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies has received favourable reports from the examiners. Prior to the defence the supervisor will receive a file (that will be shared with the student) containing the examiners' reports, (from which identifying information will have been removed).

Defence process

The defence begins with introductions and a 15-20 minute presentation by the student.  This is then followed by two rounds of questions from the examiners (the usual order is for questions to be posed first by the external examiner, then by the internal-external examiner and finally by the other committee members). The thesis supervisor is given the opportunity to comment or ask questions at the conclusion of the formal rounds of questioning. There may also be a period of more informal discussion. Student and audience members are then asked to leave the room while the jury deliberates its verdict.

Decision

The jury can render one of four verdicts:

1. Thesis is accepted: Although corrections may be required, these are limited to occasional grammatical or spelling errors, formatting problems, minor redundancies or omissions (e.g. transitional paragraphs, notes).
2. Thesis must be revised: Revisions (i.e. correction of numerous grammatical or spelling errors; clarification of concepts or methodology, addition of sections) are required.
3. Thesis must be revised extensively and undergo the evaluation and the defence process again: Major revisions (involving rewriting large sections of the thesis due to problems related to the theoretical or methodological approach or interpretation of the results) are required.
4. Thesis is unacceptable and the candidate must withdraw from the program: This verdict is given only when the thesis requires major revisions and when the thesis defence makes it clear that the candidate is incapable of making such major revisions.