Thesis including published works*: Faculty of Business and Economics
| Number of Papers | A minimum of one paper. There is no maximum number of papers. The material presented for examination must equate to that which would be presented in the traditional thesis format. This remains a matter of professional judgement for the supervisors and students. A typical Thesis including Published Works in Business and Economics contains 2-4 papers, with 3 being most common. The quality of the research is the most important consideration rather than the specific number of papers. |
| Status of Paper | To be included in the thesis papers must have at least been submitted for publication by the time of thesis submission; they do not need to be accepted for publication and/or published to be included in the thesis. |
| Quality of papers | A Thesis including Published Works is expected to contain articles published (or publishable) in reputable, peer-reviewed, journals and/or book publishers, relevant to the overall theme of the thesis and clearly tied to a distinct research project. For guidance on quality publications, consult the Faculty of Business and Economics Quality Journals List, and for quality publishers, consult the Faculty of Business and Economics Quality Publishers List. Ultimately it is the examiners who make a determination of the quality of research presented in a thesis. |
| Co-authored papers | Co-authored papers can be included in the thesis. It is expected that multi-authored papers submitted in a thesis would have a substantial and significant contribution by the student (at least 50%). Papers where the student has less than 50% contribution may be included if significant to the thesis, but a case will need to be made. For co-authored papers, contributions of all authors must be described. Refer to the 'Authorship' information in the generic thesis with publication guidelines for further details about the extent to which a student must contribute to the paper in order for it to be included in the body of the thesis. |
| Framing material | A Thesis Including Published Works must include an integrative discussion that works to bring together the various elements presented in the thesis. The format and placement of this discussion will depend on the content and number of papers/works included in the thesis. The format and placement of framing material in the thesis should be collaboratively determined by the student and their supervisory team as appropriate to the overall work. Refer to the ‘Text framing the publications’ information in the Monash University Guidelines for a Thesis including Published Works for further details. |
| Process | A student considering a Thesis Including Published Works format should discuss with their supervisory team as early as possible during candidature. Students can also seek guidance from their relevant PhD Program Director. Students opting for this format must complete the ‘Thesis including published works declaration’ contained within the ‘Thesis Preliminary Pages Template’ (see https://www.monash.edu/graduate-research/support-and-resources/examination/publication). It is recommended that a final decision on the thesis format be made not later than three months prior to thesis submission in order to facilitate timely completion. |