Research degrees regulations

Introduction

This procedure represents most or all British and Australian research degree programs in their procedures and requirements. The main reference point during writing was the handbook of the Open University (UK).

US institutions seldom offer the MPhil degree, and the structure of the US PhD program is very different. It usually has a Master degree prerequisite, more coursework or seminar work, a comprehensive examination, and a smaller dissertation, which is often assessed internally. The US doctoral dissertation is often more like a British Master degree by research thesis.

Some US states and accreditors prohibit some British practices, for example, California law allows no more that 25% of the doctoral program to be the dissertation. Despite the differences, however, these procedures generally reflect very good practice.

The Research Degrees Committee (RDC)

Composition

1. The RDC shall comprise
   1. appropriately qualified persons
   2. at least one student representative
2. The RDC shall meet at least four times per year
3. The RDC may appoint such sub-committees as it determines are necessary or desirable in the furtherance of its objectives.

Responsibilities

The RDC will:

1. Maintain such relationships with government as from time to time are necessary or desirable
2. Maintain a statement of its philosophy of research, for example, by specifying:
   1. Any institutional research emphases and strategic directions,
   2. Constraints on the research it will oversee, e.g. kinds of research, ethical, theological, methodological or epistemological boundaries
3. Develop new or revised polices for its programs, propose them to the Board, and oversee the implementation of approved policies.
4. Develop and implement procedures for its programs.
5. Identify program stakeholders and maintain appropriate relationships with each stakeholder group.
6. Maintain a legislation compliance register that includes:
   1. Legislation, regulations and mandatory codes of practice in Australia affecting RDC and the research of individual students
   2. Legal obligations of external and fieldwork students in other countries
7. Oversee quality assurance and continual improvement, and in particular:
   1. Ensure that its research degrees are of comparable standard to research degrees in Australian universities
   2. conduct an annual internal quality audit according to AS 3911.1-1992.
8. Maintain statements of current best practice standards for:
   1. research supervision
   2. research degree assessment
   3. research degree program management
9. Administer funding for its programs
10. Maintain a research culture among staff, and in particular:
    1. Maintain collegial staff relations as a community of scholars
    2. Monitor professional development of staff
    3. Monitor current staff research involvement
    4. Liaise with professional associations and other institutions of higher education relevant to its core fields of research.
11. Oversee the research degree program, and in particular:
    1. Oversee and approve student applications
    2. Approve and oversee supervision and assessment arrangements
    3. Monitor students' progress
    4. Ratify assessment results, and
    5. Confer qualifications

Research degrees and academic prequisites

1. The RDC offers the degrees of Master of Philosophy, (M Phil) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
2. The Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy are earned on the basis of successful completion of research and documented in a thesis.
3. The RDC does not award these degrees as honorary degrees.
4. Applicants must hold at least one of the following academic prerequisites:
   1. A recognised Master degree
   2. A recognised Bachelor with Honours (first class division) degree
   3. A recognised Bachelor with Honours (upper second class division) degree
   4. A recognised foreign qualification that is equivalent to one of the above
   5. Research of an equivalent standard to one of the above.

Applications

1. Upon application, students must specify:
   1. whether they will be full time or part time
   2. a specific area of research interest
   3. the extent they will be external students or involved in field research away form direct supervisory contact
   4. the language used for their field research if it is not English, and the extent that they expect to use it in their thesis (e.g. brief quotes, extended quotes, linguistic analysis, etc.)
   5. the language in which the thesis will be written if it not English
   6. the degree for which they intend to pursue upon candidature.
2. Research may be conducted and submitted in languages other than English subject to the following conditions:
   1. It is a recognized major world language
   2. RDC has suitably qualified supervisors and assessors
   3. The student's graduation testamur and academic records shall state that the qualification was earned in that language.
3. Masters of Philosophy who wish to progress to the PhD must apply as new applicants.
4. The officers designated by the RDC will decide up on the acceptance or rejection of applications.
5. Students who intend to submit previously published work as more than half the number of pages of the thesis are subject to the following:
   1. The academic prerequisites may not include the work to be submitted for assessment.
   2. They may apply to the RDC for a reduced minimum period of study.
   3. The thesis publication will be assessed against the current state of research in its field at the time is assessed, not at the time it was first written or first published.
   4. The assessors may conduct any investigations they deem necessary to establish whether or not the published work is fully the student's own work.

Bridging requirements

1. The RDC may prescribe a bridging program if it is of the opinion that an applicant does not have sufficiently broad current learning in the student's intended field of research. These deficiencies may be the result of one or more of the following:
   1. the previous studies were in a different discipline from the intended research
   2. a long period has elapsed since attaining that qualification with no significant professional or research involvement in the intervening period
   3. the previous qualification had no research preparation component (e.g. coursework master degrees, studies that were primarily professional training in nature)
   4. the proposed research is interdisciplinary and the applicant has no evidence of suitable preparation in one of the relevant disciplines
   5. a foreign qualification that is not clearly equivalent to at least a recognized Bachelor with Honours (upper second class division) degree of an Australian institution.
2. Bridging will normally comprise a prescribed series of essays and annotated bibliographies, critically reviewing the current state of research in the disciplines of the identified inadequacy.
3. Student writings done in the bridging program are deemed to be part of their course of study. Consequently, if any of the written is useful for the original research of the student's thesis, a student may use or develop parts of it into his/her thesis without referencing it as a separate work.
4. The student's supervisory committee will assess student's bridging portfolio.
5. Students must be assessed as satisfactorily completing the bridging course before they may formally progress to development of a full research proposal.

Supervision

Supervisory committee

1. RDC will appoint a supervisory committee for each research student.
2. Each supervisory committee will comprise at least three persons.
   1. One of the members will be appointed as chairperson.
   2. The members may appoint a deputy chairperson to act in the temporary absence of the Chairperson.
3. Members of supervisory committees must:
   1. be admitted as a staff member
   2. hold the PhD degree or an equivalent qualification and
   3. have expertise in a field relevant to their student's research topic
4. Chairpersons of supervisory committees for research degrees must have already either:
1. supervised a PhD student to successful completion, or
2. assessed a PhD.
5. Each supervisory committee will, as a group:
   1. Evaluate the full thesis proposal, make any necessary recommendations for improvements, and decide whether or not the research may go ahead on the basis of that proposal.
   2. Review student progress at least once every semester.
   3. Make a recommendation for the student to advance or not advance to candidature
   4. Contribute expertise to resolve such problems that may time to time arise in the student's research.
   5. Decide to approve or not the final draft of the thesis for assessment
   6. Keep minutes of all its formal meetings and decisions

Supervision

1. One of the supervisory committee members will be appointed as the supervisor for routine supervision of the student.
2. All committee members will contribute their expertise to resolve such problems that may time to time arise in the student's research.
3. In the case of external students and of internal students conducting field research, the RDC will normally appoint a local liaison person.
   1. The local liaison person will facilitate communication between the student and the supervisor
   2. The local liaison person will ensure that fieldwork complies with the procedures and research ethics of the RDC
   3. The local liaison person will provide reasonable assurance to the RDC that the student's work is free from plagiarism or unauthorized collusion
   4. The local liaison person will not provide research supervision unless appointed to be a member of the supervisory committee.
4. Internal students are responsible to attend face-to-face supervision sessions with their supervisors.
5. In the case of external students, including those conducting field research, supervision may be done by email or telephone.
6. The frequency of supervision sessions may vary according to the kind of research, the stage of the student's research and whether the student is full-time or part-time. In any case, however:
   1. The frequency shall be at least once a month during semesters.
   2. The supervisor must be satisfied that the student is making satisfactory progress.
7. If the supervisory committee is not satisfied that a student is making satisfactory progress for two consecutive months during semester, he/she shall refer the matter to the RDC, who may:
   1. give a conditional extension and determine the conditions relating thereto.
   2. terminate the registration of the student forthwith
   3. require the student to transfer to another program

Changes in supervision

1. Students may apply to the RDC to change a member of their supervisory committee.
   1. In the first instance, the student should make a personal approach to the supervisory committee Chairperson at the time.
   2. If the matter is not satisfactorily resolved to the student's satisfaction, the students may then apply to RDC in writing, stating clearly the reasons for requesting the change.
   3. The RDC shall conduct any investigations that it deems necessary or desirable and shall make a decision. Its decision will be final.
2. A supervisory committee member may apply to the RDC to change a member of their committee.
   1. In the first instance, the changes must be discussed at a supervisory committee meeting, if one is held within one month of the matter arising, and forward their recommendation to the RDC.
   2. The RDC shall make a decision, which will be final.
3. If a supervisor becomes unable to continue in his/her duties, he/she must notify both the supervisory committee Chairperson at the time and the RDC stating clearly the reasons in writing.

Full proposal

1. Each student will submit to his/her advisory committee a full research proposal.
2. Full-time students must submit full proposals within six months of admission.
3. Part-time students must submit full proposals within one year of admission.
4. The format of the research proposal must follow the same rules of scholarly style and presentation as a thesis.
5. The full research proposal will normally include statements of:
   1. the research's nature and purpose
   2. its significance
   3. a review of relevant research literature at that time
   4. a proposed methodology
   5. any ethical or procedural considerations that will affect the acceptability of the proposal.
6. Students may include any part of their full research proposal in their thesis without referencing it.

Confidentiality

1. At any time prior to the submission of their theses, students may apply to the RDC for their research to be kept confidential.
2. The application must state the reasons for confidentiality or restriction. Valid reasons include
   1. ownership of patentable intellectual property that must be kept confidential by law
   2. risk of endangering research subjects or other stakeholders, and
   3. risk of malicious use of research.
   :
3. Confidentiality may take one or more of the following forms:
   1. Withheld from general circulation for up to two years
   2. Access to the thesis to be restricted to persons whom the RDC identifies as not posing a risk.
   3. The use of a pseudonym by the author.

Probationary period

1. Students will not be candidates for a particular degree during the probationary period.
2. For full-time students, the first year will be the probationary period.
3. For part-time students, the first two years will be the probationary period.

Admission to candidature

1. At the end of the probationary period, the supervisory committee will review the student's progress for progression to candidature.
2. The onus is on the student to provide evidence of satisfactory progress.
3. If the supervisory committee is satisfied that the student has made satisfactory progress toward the degree for which he/she applied, they shall recommend to the RDC that the student be admitted to candidature.
4. Candidature will be to either an M Phil or a PhD.
5. The granting of candidature is at the discretion of the RDC.
6. If a student is not admitted to candidature, their period of probation is extended a further six months, and the supervisory committee shall again review the student's progress for progression to candidature.
7. At any time of a student's candidature prior to submission of the thesis, the student may apply to be transferred to a lower qualification.

Minimum and maximum periods

1. Students must be enrolled for a period between the minimum and maximum times before they may present their research for assessment:

Transfer between part-time and full-time status

1. Part-time students may apply to the RDC to become full-time students.
2. Full-time students may apply to the RDC to become part-time students.
3. Students may apply at any time during their enrolment.
4. Applications must be in writing, stating clearly the reasons for the request.
5. Periods of probation and minimum and maximum enrolment times shall be counted pro rata.

Suspension and extension

1. In exceptional circumstances such as serious illness or fieldwork circumstances out of the student's control, the RDC may suspend students' enrolment or extend their enrolment beyond the maximum period.
2. Students must apply in writing to the RDC stating clearly their reasons for the application.
3. The granting of suspensions and extensions is at the discretion of the RDC.
4. The onus is on the student to provide evidence of need for suspension or extension.
5. Extensions and suspensions will only be granted in increments of three months.
6. The RDC reserves the right to attach conditions to any suspensions or extensions.
7. For full-time-time students, suspensions and extensions shall not exceed a total of one year.
8. For part-time-time students, suspensions and extensions shall not exceed a total of two years.

Submission of theses

1. Students must notify the RDC in writing three months before the submission of their theses. This notification must be approved by the supervisory committee before it is submitted to the RDC.
2. For the thesis to progress to assessment, the supervisory committee must be satisfied that it is of an adequate standard.
3. To be eligible to submit a thesis and abstract, the student must:
   1. be registered for the research degree for which they intend to submit a thesis
   2. have satisfactorily completed the minimum period of study specified for the degree
   3. not have exceeded the maximum period of study specified for the degree without prior permission
   4. have the approval of the supervisory committee
   5. have paid all fees due
   6. authorize the RDC in writing to:
      1. make any photocopies that it sees desirable
      2. publish the abstract in any way it sees desirable
      3. make the thesis available to be read by other parties, subject only to any prior restrictions or confidentiality provisions approved by the RDC.
4. A Master of Philosophy thesis must evidence:
   1. a critical appreciation of a topic in a research context that make a significant contribution to the scholarly discussion in its field of knowledge
   2. initiative and independent thought.
   3. scholarly style and presentation appropriate to a publishable manuscript
   4. proficiency in research methods and techniques.
5. A Doctor of Philosophy thesis must evidence:
   1. a significant, original contribution to scholarly research knowledge in its field
   2. ability to conduct further research without supervision
   3. scholarly style and presentation appropriate to a publishable manuscript
   4. contain a significant amount of material worthy of publication as scholarship.
6. The maximum length of a thesis, including all footnotes and appendices, is as follows:
   1. Master of Philosophy: 60,000 words
   2. Doctor of Philosophy: 100,000 words.
7. A student intending to exceed the maximum lengths of a thesis must apply to the RDC for permission to do so at least six months before submission of the thesis. The application must state the reasons for exceeding the maximum length.
8. Research conducted before acceptance of the student's research proposal may be included in the thesis if it is referred to a separate, independent work.
9. Students must submit three identical copies of their theses for assessment within the applicable minimum and maximum periods of study, bound according to the requirements at the time.
10. A student intending to include other media as part of a thesis must apply to the RDC for permission to do so before or when notifying the RDC of submission of his/her thesis. The application must state the kind of media and any relevant interoperability specifications.
11. Students shall retain ownership of the copyright of their theses.

Presentation format and outline

1. The text of the thesis must be double spaced (with the exception of extended quotations), and typed or printed on one side of good quality international A4 paper in an 11 or 12 point Roman font. The minimum widths of margins are:
   1. inside margin 35 mm
   2. top, outside and bottom margins 20 mm
2. The exception to these presentation guidelines is that students may, with their supervisory committee's permission, include articles in their published presentation format.
3. The preferred system of referencing is Harvard in-text references. However, due to the requirements of different areas of study, supervisory committees may approve other systems (e.g. footnotes, endnotes, etc.) Students must be consistent in applying the system they use.
4. In some circumstances, students may need to innovate their referencing system, and they may do so with the approval of their supervisory committee.
5. Unless approved otherwise, theses will follow the outline below:
   • Front cover
   • A blank page inside the cover
   • The title page (Page i, but not numbered)
   • Table of Contents (Starting with page ii, but not numbered)
   • Lists of tables, maps, graphs, diagrams or abbreviations (as appropriate) If these lists are short enough and there are more than one, they may be put on the same page. (These pages continue the numbering in lower case Roman numerals)
   • A Preface or Acknowledgments, if necessary, continuing the numbering in lower case Roman numerals.
   • Introduction (Chapter 1, starting with page 1)
   • Intermediate chapters
   • Conclusion (Final chapter)
   • Appendices (if necessary)
   • Bibliography (continuing the numbering with Arabic numerals.)
   • Blank page inside rear cover.
   • Rear cover
6. Students may apply to their supervisory committee for variations of the above if their research is already published.
7. Students may only include indexes if the whole of the thesis is already published.
8. The contents of the intermediate chapters will vary according the student's research methods and approach.
9. Pages must be clean and neat with no mutilation of any kind.
10. Students may submit copies of their theses for assessment in temporary, firm binding that permits the thesis to be opened easily.

Abstracts

1. Students are required to submit separately an Abstract of their research. It must not exceed 300 words and must also include the student's name, thesis title, thesis length, the year, the award for which it is submitted, and the name of the institution.
2. Departments are entitled to issue template for the Abstract. In these cases, Abstracts must comply with the template..

Assessment

1. The RDC will appoint at least two persons as assessors.
2. There may be more than two assessors if necessary (e.g., if the research is interdisciplinary or uses specialized research methods using expertise separate from that of the subject matter specialists)
3. The qualifications for assessors are as follows:
   1. The assessors shall not be supervisors for thesis being assessed.
   2. They must hold the PhD degree or an equivalent qualification.
   3. They must have expertise in a field relevant to the student's research topic.
   4. At least one assessor must have either supervised a PhD student to successful completion or assessed a PhD thesis.
   5. External examiners may be academic staff members of another institution of higher education who teach in the field in which the thesis is to be assessed.
4. The RDC shall determine with assessors a timeframe for the assessment, not normally more than two months.
5. Assessors may co-opt other advice.
6. Assessors may consult with the student's supervisors.
7. Students may not have contact with assessors before or during the assessment.
8. In the first instance, assessment will comprise:
   1. the independent reading of the thesis by the assessors
   2. conferral on the opinions of assessment result
   3. jointly issuing to the chairperson of the RDC a statement of their assessment result and the reason for it.
9. The assessors must jointly sign and lodge a written assessment report with the RDC after the assessment.
10. Assessment results will be one of the following:
    1. Passed unconditionally.
    2. Passed subject to viva voce examination.
    3. Passed subject to viva voce examination and specified minor corrections to be completed satisfactorily within a specified time for which reassessment is not required.
    4. Passed subject to specified corrections or alterations to be completed satisfactorily within a specified time and for which reassessment is not required.
    5. The student is required to resubmit the thesis with major alterations to be completed satisfactorily within a specified time and for which full reassessment is required.
    6. The student is recommended for a lower award, subject to an accepted application, or
    7. The student is not passed.
11. The assessors will do any further assessment (i.e. viva voce, corrections/alterations).
12. If a viva voce assessment is held, then members of the student's supervisory committee may attend as observers.
13. At the end of the further assessment, assessment results will be one of the following:
    1. The student is passed.
    2. The student is recommended for a lower qualification, subject to an accepted application, or
    3. The student is not passed.
14. When the thesis is passed, the student is responsible for binding theses in permanent form.
15. Students must provide one copy of the thesis in its final form each for:
    1. RDC's library
    2. Each supervisor supervising the program
    3. Each assessor
16. The volumes should bear on the spine, in lettering running from the top to the bottom:
    1. the full or abbreviated title
    2. the student's name
    3. the name of the degree
    4. the year of submission
    5. the name of the awarding institution
17. For a qualification to be conferred, the student must:
    1. be still registered for that qualification
    2. not be under suspension or have a suspendable offense in process.
    3. have satisfactorily completed the assessment
    4. have satisfactorily completed any other required procedures
    5. have paid all debts