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• IX. Thesis Regulations
  • 9.1 Ethical Review
  • 9.2 Preparation of Manuscript and Submission of Theses
    • 9.2.1 Preparation of Graduate Theses
    • 9.2.2 Thesis Originality and Editing
    • 9.2.3 Submission and Registration Deadlines
  • 9.3 Master's Theses
    • 9.3.1 Supervision and Examination
  • 9.4 Doctoral Theses
    • 9.4.1 Doctoral Supervisory Committees
  • 9.5 Deadline for Graduation
  • 9.6 Regulations for the Defence of a Doctoral Thesis
    • 9.6.1 Doctoral Defence Procedures
    • 9.6.2 Oral Examination
  • 9.7 Thesis Binding

IX. Thesis Regulations

9.1 Ethical Review

All thesis research involving human subjects must be approved by a Human Ethics Review Board. Reviews are coordinated through the Office of Research Services, Room 321, Henry Hicks Academic Administration Building. Application guidelines are available from the Human Research Ethics Office. Students should allow six to eight weeks for processing. To ensure proper reporting, projects which require approval by a hospital research ethics board must be accompanied by a letter which identifies the proposal as a student thesis research project. Students are required to include a copy of all ethics approvals with completed thesis and projects.

9.2 Preparation of Manuscript and Submission of Theses

Thesis manuscripts must be prepared in accordance with Faculty of Graduate Studies guidelines.

9.2.1 Preparation of Graduate Theses

All graduate theses, whether for Master's or Doctoral degrees, must be completed according to the formal Faculty regulations for thesis preparation and submission. All thesis students must obtain a copy of these regulations, and students are responsible for ensuring that their theses comply with all aspects of these regulations. Failure to do so may cause delays in completion, and may even result in the cancellation of a scheduled defence or examination.

For all graduate students: the Faculty of Graduate Studies Thesis Format Guidelines are available on the Faculty of Graduate Studies web site.

The regulations give details on: Originality; Format and Style; the Order of Contents; Mailing Costs; and other pertinent information.

9.2.2 Thesis Originality and Editing

The thesis must represent a coherent body of original work by the student. It must display a scholarly approach and thorough knowledge of the subject.

Plagiarism in any form is completely unacceptable (plagiarism.dal.ca).

In some disciplines it may be appropriate for the thesis to include published or submitted manuscripts, papers, or reports authored or co-authored by the student. Students who wish to pursue this option must have the prior consent of their supervisory committees, and must obtain appropriate copyright permission.

It is expected that the student has made a substantial contribution to any such manuscripts. Where co-authored manuscript(s) are included in the thesis, the student's contribution must be clearly indicated. (dalgrad.dal.ca/currentstudents/thesesanddefences/forms/#manuscriptcontribution). The publication or acceptance of such manuscripts before the thesis defence in no way supersedes the examination committee's evaluation of the work, including requesting revisions.

The thesis is the primary and permanent record of the student's work. As such, it is important that it both be written by the student (with appropriate editorial advice as needed) and conforms to normal academic standards. Assistance in improving writing skills is available at both the faculty and university levels (e.g., Writing Workshops). The full Dalhousie Thesis Guidelines, including details on thesis preparation and formatting can be found at dalgrad.dal.ca/currentstudents/thesesanddefences/forms/.

9.2.3 Submission and Registration Deadlines

All thesis students must refer to the Schedule of Academic Dates in this calendar for submission deadlines and registration deadlines. Students must be registered for the term in which they present their approved unbound theses to the Faculty Office, as well as for the term in which they have their defence. Students will not be permitted to submit their thesis or proceed to defence unless they are appropriately registered and all fees have been paid.

Deadlines for the submission of fully completed and approved theses (following examination and revision) are final in all cases. Failure to meet the deadlines will result in additional registration fees being applied.

It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that all regulations have been met. Failure to comply with the regulations can result in delay in graduation.

9.3 Master's Theses

Theses for the Master's degree must be presented not later than the published deadlines (see Academic Dates page 1). Five (5) unbound copies are required (original and four copies).

9.3.1 Supervision and Examination

The mode of supervision and examination of Master's theses varies somewhat from department to department. This diversity recognizes differences in the nature of theses within Master's programs (such as the differences between Engineering, Sciences and the Humanities/Social Sciences) and differences in the culture of thesis examination within different disciplines at the Master's level. The Faculty of Graduate Studies requires the following minimum arrangements for the supervision and examination of Master's theses:

A. Master's Thesis Supervisory Committee

Each Master's thesis candidate shall have a Supervisory Committee, comprising of at least two faculty members of the student's graduate department, one of whom shall be the supervisor. The supervisor may act as the Chair of the Committee, or an independent Chair may be appointed.

Additional full or adjunct members of the Faculty of Graduate Studies may be appointed as appropriate. Additional members of the Committee who are not members of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, including members of the non-university community (such as a practicing profession), may be appointed to the Supervisory Committee where their particular expertise makes it appropriate. See B.) 3. below.

B. Master's Thesis Examining Committee

Each Master's thesis shall be examined by an Examining Committee, which shall consist of:

1. A Chair, who shall be a department representative (either the Graduate Coordinator or designate) who was not a regular member of the Supervisory Committee. If the Supervisory Committee had an independent Chair, that person may also Chair the Examining Committee. The main role of the Chair is to organise the examination of the thesis, inform the Faculty Office of the membership of the Examining Committee, ensure that the procedures are carried out in an appropriate manner, record the examiners' written comments and the results of the examination for inclusion in the student's file, and inform the Faculty of the outcome of the examination;
2. The Supervisory Committee or at least two members of the graduate faculty appointed by the department at least one of whom shall have not been involved with the supervision or direction of the thesis;
3. Where the Supervisory Committee is part of the Examining Committee, at least one additional member of the graduate faculty shall be appointed who may be from the candidate's graduate program or department, but preferably should be from outside the involved program or department. The additional examiner must not have been involved with the supervision and direction of the thesis and must be in a position to render an objective and impartial assessment of the quality of the work. Where appropriate, the additional examiner may be from a graduate faculty of another university. With permission of the Dean, the additional examiner may be a non-faculty member (such as a practising professional who does not hold an Adjunct appointment with the Faculty) where it is deemed that they have the appropriate professional and academic qualifications and expertise to assess a graduate thesis. Departments may also use an External Examiner in a manner similar to that used for the examination of Doctoral defences (i.e., the thesis cannot be approved without the agreement of the External Examiner).
4. The Dean of Graduate Studies (or his/her designate) may appoint a Faculty representative if it is deemed necessary, or at the request of the student or the Chair of the Examining Committee.
5. The examination of a Master's thesis may be conducted either by use of an oral defence or by written submission of the thesis to the Examining Committee.
   1. Oral Defence: In the case of an oral defence, it shall be public at least to the extent of being open to the faculty members and students of the home department and any other departments that would be interested. Where appropriate, interested members of the academic and non-academic communities beyond Dalhousie University should also be invited. A written description of the outcome of the defence, including written reports of the readers and any changes required, shall be included as part of the candidate's departmental file. The oral defence shall be carried out according to standard procedures, usually involving: a short presentation by the student; questions from the thesis committee (one or more rounds); in camera deliberation by the committee and agreement on the evaluation; presentation of the results of the exam to the student. Questions from the audience may be permitted before the in camera session if desirable.
   2. Written Defence: Examination by written submission must provide for the candidate to be able to respond to the comments, criticisms and recommendations of the Examining Committee through the exchange of written commentary, and be required to make revisions as deemed appropriate by the Examining Committee. In the case of programs that do not normally require an oral defence, the Dean of Graduate Studies may require such a defence if the circumstances warrant or if the Examining Committee or candidate requests it.
6. All theses are either approved or not approved. The categories are:
   1. approved as submitted;
   2. approved upon specific corrections being made (a clear timetable for completion of the revisions must be presented to the student, normally with a maximum of one month to complete the revisions);
   3. rejected but with permission to re-submit a revised thesis for re-examination (a clear timetable for completion must be presented, normally with a maximum of one year to re-submit); and
   4. rejected outright. In all cases, all members of the Examining Committee must submit written examination reports, dated and signed, which shall become part of the candidate's departmental file. The Chair's written report shall summarize the outcome of the examination process, the final decision and any conditions attached. In the case of an outright failure or failure with a right to submit by a specific date, the Graduate Coordinator must send a written notification of failure to the Faculty.

The above regulations are the minimum requirements of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, and some departments or programs may have specific regulations which exceed these requirements. Students must check with their Graduate Coordinator for details on how their department handles Master's thesis supervision and examination.

9.4 Doctoral Theses

Doctoral theses must display original scholarship expressed in satisfactory literary form consistent with the discipline concerned and be of such value as to merit publication.

9.4.1 Doctoral Supervisory Committees

All Doctoral candidates must have a formally constituted Supervisory Committee, consisting of the Thesis Supervisor and at least two other members of the Faculty of Graduate Studies who are knowledgeable in the field of research. Membership of all Doctoral Supervisory Committees must be approved formally by the Faculty.

9.5 Deadline for Graduation

For thesis students the published deadlines for the submission of the copies of the thesis to the Faculty Office in order to be eligible to graduate in May or October are final in all cases.

9.6 Regulations for the Defence of a Doctoral Thesis

All Doctoral theses must be examined in a public oral defence, to be conducted by an examining committee recommended by the department and approved by the Faculty of Graduate Studies. A candidate shall not be permitted to proceed with the oral defence and examination until all of the following requirements have been met: (i) all required classwork completed successfully; (ii) comprehensive examination passed; (iii) thesis title approved; (iv) Examining Committee established; (v) the style and format of the thesis meets the requirements of the University and appropriate copies of the thesis have been submitted as per regulations and deadlines in paragraphs 1-10 below. Normally a candidate proceeds to oral defence with the approval of the supervisor and Supervisory Committee. A candidate may proceed without the consent of the supervisor and committee but a signed declaration included on the Thesis Submission Form is required by the Faculty.

9.6.1 Doctoral Defence Procedures

1. Registration of Thesis Title: The candidate shall register the proposed title of the thesis with the Faculty of Graduate Studies.
2. Appointment of External Examiner: The Chairperson of the Department (or Graduate Coordinator where appropriate) shall recommend to the Associate Dean three names (with C.V.s) listed in order of preference as submitted by the thesis supervisor (and approved by the Supervisory Committee) for the appointment of an external examiner at least three months before the anticipated date of completion of the thesis. The persons suggested should be acknowledged experts in the field or discipline of the research being examined in the thesis, must not have been directly involved in the student's research in any way, and should possess a Doctoral degree or equivalent, and should normally have demonstrated experience of Doctoral supervision and/or examination. Brief C.V.s should be submitted along with the names. The choice of the external examiner must be approved by the Faculty of Graduate Studies. If the first choice is unacceptable to the Faculty or if that person is unavailable, then the other names will be considered in order of identified priority. the Graduate Coordinator may then confirm the availability of the External Examination and proposed dated and time for the defence. The formal invitation to the external examiner is issued by the Faculty (see para. 7. below).
3. Copies of Thesis Required for Examination: A minimum of five copies of the thesis are required, more if the Examining Committee is larger than the minimum Faculty requirements. The candidate shall submit one unbound copy of the completed thesis to the Faculty of Graduate Studies Office, together with the Thesis Submission Form and a C.V. The thesis will be given a preliminary check by the Faculty for formatting and style. The deadlines for submitting unbound PhD theses to departments (see the Schedule of Academic Dates in the Faculty of Graduate Studies calendar under August, November and February) are also the deadlines for submission of the one unbound copy (with completed PhD Thesis Submission Form) to the Faculty of Graduate Studies (see also para. 5. and 6. below). The copy is then sent to the External Examiner by the Graduate Studies office once a date and time of defence is determined. At that time the candidate shall provide a copy of the abstract page from their thesis and a brief biographical sketch for publication in a public notice of the defence (this material must be submitted in Word compatible format and emailed to the Faculty Office).
4. Committee and Department Copies: The other four (or more as required) copies of the thesis will be submitted by the candidate to the departmental graduate coordinator, who will distribute them immediately to local members of the examining committee. One copy is held in the departmental secretary's office for use by other interested faculty and students.
5. No arrangements will be made for the oral examination until all these requirements are fulfilled. The examination will be held no earlier than four weeks after submission of the thesis, thereby allowing adequate time for the thesis to be read by the external examiner.
6. In consultation with the Chairperson of the Department, the Graduate Coordinator, and the research supervisor, the Faculty will establish a time and place for the examination.
7. The Associate Dean of Graduate Studies will issue a formal invitation to the external examiner and will send a copy of the thesis (see para. 3 above) to him/her at least four weeks before the examination, with a request to submit a written appraisal (the Examiner's Report - see para. 8) of the thesis with a recommendation for the defence to either proceed or not proceed, no later than one week prior to the date of the defence.
8. The external examiner will submit by mail, fax, or email, a constructively critical and analytical report (the Examiner's Report) to the Faculty of Graduate Studies Office at least one week prior to the scheduled date of the defence. A copy will be sent to the department Chair or Graduate Coordinator. The Examiner's Report must include a recommendation on whether or not the thesis should proceed to defence. Where the recommendation is not to proceed, the report should indicate what, if anything, would be required to make the thesis acceptable. Note that a decision to proceed to defence does not imply that the thesis is approved, only that it is acceptable for defence. The external examiner (and the examining committee) will have questions which must be answered to their satisfaction, and a thesis can be rejected as a result of the defence. The Examiner's Report must not be disclosed to the candidate or the Supervisory Committee prior to the defence (however, see para. 9. below). Normally the external examiner will attend the defence. The department will make every effort to arrange for alternative facilities (such as video- or teleconferencing) if they are appropriate to provide for the external examiner to participate in the defence even though he/she cannot be there in person. In the rare event of the external examiner not attending, a written report, accompanied by detailed questions to be read at the defence on the examiner's behalf should be submitted to the Faculty one week before the defence.
9. The defence will only occur if the External Examiner states that the thesis may proceed. If the External Examiner states that the thesis should not proceed, then the department Chair or Graduate Coordinator may, after consultation with the Supervisory Committee, request that the Faculty approach the next external examiner from their original list to get a second opinion (the candidate may have to provide another copy of the thesis for this purpose). The Associate Dean of Graduate Studies may request additional suggestions for external examiners if necessary. If the second external does not feel the thesis should proceed to defence, then the entire defence procedure will be canceled and the candidate must meet with the Supervisory Committee to determine a course of action to revise and re-submit the thesis at a later date. Within 12 months, a revised and re-submitted thesis may be sent to the original external examiner(s) or an alternative examiner as deemed appropriate by the Faculty of Graduate Studies.
10. If the external examiner recommends that the thesis proceed to defence, notice of the public defence of the thesis will be published and sent to all relevant departments by the Faculty of Graduate Studies. All interested faculty, students, and members of the public will be welcome to attend.
11. Variation of the regulations outlined above may be permitted only with the written permission of the Dean of Graduate Studies.

9.6.2 Oral Examination

The oral examination of a Doctoral thesis is the culmination of the candidate's research program. It exposes the work to scholarly criticism and gives to the candidate the opportunity to defend the thesis in public.

1. Chair of the Defence: The Examination is chaired by the Dean, the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, or a member of the Panel of PhD Defence Chairs.
2. Examining Committee: The examining committee consists of, the research supervisor or co-supervisors, at least two additional members (who shall normally have been members of the Supervisory Committee), and the external examiner who shall be from outside the University. A departmental representative (the chairperson of the department or a designate) is included as a non-voting member of the committee.
3. Order of Examination Proceedings: (i) the Chairperson opens the defence with a brief description of the proceedings; (ii) the candidate is questioned on the thesis following a summary presentation no longer than 20 minutes; (iii) the Chairperson will give priority to questions from the external examiner and then from the other members of the examining committee in some pre-arranged order; (iv) the audience will then be invited to ask questions; (v) the Chairperson adjourns the examination when the examining committee decides that further questioning is unnecessary, and the candidate and all members of the audience are required to leave the room; (vi) the Chair then presides over the examining committee during its deliberations in camera; (vii) following the in camera session, the candidate is invited back into the room and is informed of the decision of the committee; (viii) the Chair oversees the completion of the signature sheet as appropriate and completes the Defence Report and returns it immediately to the Faculty of Graduate Studies Office.
4. In camera Deliberations and Grading: The decision of the Examining Committee is based both on the thesis and on the candidate's ability to defend it. No thesis shall be approved without the agreement of an external examiner, except that a negative opinion of an external examiner who does not attend the examination should not prevail over the unanimous opinion of the other examiners present and voting. The thesis is graded "approved" or "not approved". A thesis can be accepted by the Examining Committee as submitted; accepted on condition that specific corrections are made; rejected with permission to submit a revised thesis; or rejected outright with no possibility of re-submission. It should be stressed that theses can be rejected on grounds of form as well as content. If specific corrections are required, the thesis will be returned to the candidate and a time limit during which the corrections must be completed will be decided upon by the Examining Committee. Specific corrections will normally be left to the satisfaction of the local committee and research supervisor.
5. Proceedings in the Case of Rejection: If the thesis is rejected with permission to submit a revised thesis (within 12 months of the first defence), the revised thesis will be re-read by an Examining Committee, at least two of whose members were on the original committee. The thesis shall be submitted to an external examiner who may be the original external examiner if the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies considers this to be desirable. The candidate shall defend the thesis before an Examining Committee in the usual way. If rejected again, there are no third chances.
6. In all cases, the recommendation for degree must be approved by the Faculty of Graduate Studies and by the Senate.
7. Variation of the procedures stipulated above may be permitted only with the written permission of the Dean of Graduate Studies.

9.7 Thesis Binding

At the time of submitting their unbound, approved thesis (original and a minimum of four copies) to the Graduate Studies Office, a binding fee (currently $100, subject to change without notice) (plus $20 for every copy over the initial five) will be charged to the student's account and must be paid before convocation. This sum will cover the cost of binding. An additional charge will be made (where appropriate) to cover mailing costs, pockets, and use of glossy paper.

The Faculty of Graduate Studies will arrange for the binding and subsequent distribution of theses as follows:

1. One (1) copy is sent to the author.
2. Two (2) copies are sent to the student's Department.
3. Two (2) copies are sent to the University Library which arranges for the production of microform copy to be retained in the National Library, Ottawa and listed in Dissertation Abstracts International or Masters Abstracts International. The National Library can then circulate such copy according to the International Inter-Library Loan Code, with full copyright protection; it also guarantees a permanent record of the thesis. The University Library retains one (1) bound copy in the University Archives.