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- Authorship Guidelines
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- Thesis
Definitions of Authorship
The FHS RC has decided to adopt the following criteria for assigning authorship credit:
“Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content. Authorship credit should be based only on substantial contributions to:
a. Conception and design, or analysis and interpretation of data; and
b. Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and
c. Final approval of the version to be published. ”
Authors should meet conditions a, b and c, and anyone who does not meet all three of these criteria should be credited for their contribution in the acknowledgements. While the criteria are copied from those specified in the Reproductive Health Matters Journal, almost all other journals and web sites concur with these guidelines. For example, the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) in their latest version of recommendations (in 2001) provides similar guidelines. Additionally, the ICMJE states that “Acquisition of funding, the collection of data, or general supervision of the research group, by themselves, do not justify authorship”.
Authorship Criteria
All co-authors should meet the criteria set out above in the definition of authorship. The following statements are made to encourage a culture of ethical authorship within FHS with guidelines made aware to all.
- Students: Undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students should be credited authorship for publications arising from their theses/projects work, even if the paper is developed/finalized post-graduation.
- Advisors: Advisors, co-advisors and members of committees for undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students’ theses/projects should be credited authorship for publications arising from their students’ work, even if the paper is developed/finalized post-graduation.
- A general principle concerning faculty-student research (1 and 2 above) is that it is the responsibility of the person who initiates the publication process — whenever that occurs — to inform all individuals involved in-depth in the research project (student or advisors) about the intent to publish and to determine their interest in co-authorship.
- Graduate and Research Assistants/Associates: GAs and RAs may be granted authorship credit depending on the quality of and their extent of contribution. The Principal author(s) 5 will be the person to judge whether their contribution warrants authorship credit.
- Other collaborators (field worker, interviewers, etc.): Upon the discretion of the principal investigator(s) and/or principal author(s), other collaborators or people facilitating the research should be mentioned in the acknowledgements section of the publication, depending on the quality of and their level of contribution.
Authorship Order
The order of potential co-authors should be a joint decision of all co-authors. It is highly recommended that such discussions take place at the beginning of the project/research and that written minutes are kept.
In the case of publications that come out of student theses/projects, both the student and the advisor should be credited as principal authors.
Suggestions for Good Authorship Practice
These are some tips to prevent disputes arising from authorship issues as set in the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) report, 2003 :
a. Discuss authorship in the planning stage of research: raise the subject at the start, make a list of all possible publications and gather views of all team members.
b. Decide on authorship credit and order before you start writing an article: decide with your team on who will do what and credit that with authorship order for each article.
c. Continue discussion as the project evolves and new members get Keep written records of all discussions and decisions.
The policies and procedures relating to production and assessment of the doctoral thesis defense are aligned with the policies and procedures of AUB as well as the Lebanese MEHE.
The MEHE has the following requirements for all doctoral students:
The PhD student should publish, as a first author, at least two papers emanating from the thesis work submitted to high tier peer-reviewed journals or presented at an international conference prior to final thesis defense. In order to ensure that a PhD student has fulfilled the minimum requirement for graduation with regards to journal publications and conference proceedings/abstracts, kindly check the following link:
https://www.aub.edu.lb/graduatecouncil/Documents/phdpublicationsform.pdf
The jury of a doctoral thesis defense should be composed of at least five members; two of them should be from outside the institution; and headed by a full-Professor.
The Thesis Committee normally should be composed of at least five members, two of whom should be from outside the university. The thesis advisor and at least three of the Thesis Committee members must be of professorial rank. All members of the Thesis Committee must hold a doctoral degree in a relevant field.
The chair of the Thesis Committee must be a full professor who is not the PhD thesis advisor. Members of the doctoral Thesis Committee are recommended by the student’s thesis advisor and approved by the department, the Faculty Graduate Studies Committee and the Graduate Council.
The doctoral Thesis Committee approves the thesis topic and research plan, conducts the thesis proposal defense (Part II of the Qualifying Exam) and conducts the thesis defense.
The PhD student is expected to maximize the engagement of committee members in order to best serve his/her work, and help generate an improved version of the PhD student’s thesis work, incorporating the selective expert input of the committee members.
More information can be found in the AUB catalogue under Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
All AUB PhD programs require that PhD students pass a qualifying exam. The PhD qualifying exam has two parts. Qualifying Exam Part I is a written comprehensive exam administered by the department/program.
The Qualifying Exam Part II is an oral thesis proposal defense exam administered by the Thesis Committee.
The comprehensive exam (PhD Qualifying Exam I) is set as pre-requisite to Thesis Proposal Defense (PhD Qualifying Exam II), which is a pre-requisite for the final thesis defense.
Qualifying Exam Part I: Comprehensive Exam
All PhD programs require that PhD students register and pass a 0-credit comprehensive examination course. Comprehensive examinations are written exams taken after completing a minimum of 16 credits of core PhD epidemiology course requirements. Timing of the examination is set by the department/program typically no later than the fourth semester of the PhD student’s enrollment in the regular PhD program.
In general, a comprehensive examination provides assurance that all PhD candidates have acquired sufficient knowledge/background in their major field of study. The department/program administers the comprehensive exam. A student who does not pass the comprehensive exam may take it a second time in the following semester. Students who are unable to pass a program’s comprehensive exam twice are dropped from the PhD program. Students who pass the comprehensive exam after one failure will have their initial failure reported as “PR” for progress in the first semester the course was registered, and the grade of “P” for passing the comprehensive exam will show on their transcript in the second semester the course was registered.
Qualifying Exam Part II: Defense of Thesis Proposal
All students must successfully complete a qualifying examination defending their PhD thesis proposal. According to the timeline, the proposal defense, conducted by the student Thesis Committee, typically takes place one semester after the first qualifying exam (comprehensive exam) and at least two semesters prior to the final thesis defense. The project topic proposal, and selection of project committee members should be approved by the FHS Graduate Studies Committee (GSC) before the thesis proposal defense. The thesis proposal submission to the GSC occurs via the online petition and forms portal.
Upon successful completion of the proposal defense and approval of the thesis, the chair of the doctoral thesis committee will send her/his assessment (Pass or Fail) of the 0-credit course “preparation for thesis proposal” along with a signed copy of the thesis proposal by all members of the committee to the department chair. The department chair then informs the FHS GSC, who then forwards the decision to the Graduate Council. The Graduate Council informs the Registrar, Dean of the Faculty, Chair of the Department, and Advisor of the approval decision. The student, upon approval, can arrange for the thesis proposal defense date and time as applicable. The PhD program coordinator chair will enter the P/F grade on the SIS.
During the thesis proposal defense, the student must demonstrate that the research topic is innovative, original, clear in its contribution to existing scientific knowledge and will employ a robust epidemiological and biostatistical methodology.
Should the student fail the thesis proposal defense (Part II of Qualifying Exam), s/he will be asked to retake the exam after having addressed the comments of the Thesis Committee (compiled by the chair of the thesis committee in the examination report).
In summary, the technical procedure to follow in order to defend the Thesis Proposal is as follows:
- Submit a petition on Online Petition and Forms System. For more information, please contact the SSO.
- The SSO will contact you to let you know about a GSC meeting date. You will be asked to be present in the meeting, and be ready to answer any of the GFSC committee members questions about your proposal. This is NOT your proposal defense. The GSC presentation is informal, with the aim of briefing the GSC committee about the student’s rationale, objectives and methods.
- SSO will then email your thesis advisor the GSC’s feedback/approval.
- Following GSC approval, you must set a date for your proposal defense (Qualifying exam part II). This occurs in coordination with your thesis advisor, to find a time that is convenient for all doctoral thesis committee members.
- The final step is defending your proposal before your doctoral thesis committee. This is your formal thesis proposal defense (EPHD481) which you will need to pass to be able to begin working on your thesis.
The program completion time frame for the regular track is 3 to 5years (or 10 regular semesters) based on AUB residency requirements (being registered at AUB). Students need to complete their course and teaching requirements if they wish to work on the thesis remotely. Extension requires Graduate Council approval upon recommendation by the FGSC. Authorized leaves of absence, approved by the PhD Program Committee/Department are the only means of waiving the residency and registration requirements. Policies concerning statute of limitations (for program completion) and leaves of absence are identified in the General Policies and Procedures section of the AUB Graduate Studies catalogue.
Core courses of the program should be taken at AUB, while further required or elective courses could be taken at a recognized institution of higher learning, preferably CEPH accredited, amounting to at most 12 credits that are transferable upon departmental approval. Courses are eligible for transfer only if they are taken beyond master’s degree requirements and fulfill the criteria for type of eligible courses as outlined in the General University Academic Information section of the catalogue for PhD transfer of credits.
Students will be encouraged and guided to spend a full semester or a shorter duration in a School of Public Health in the US, Canada or Europe to take courses or engage in research.
To fulfill the minimum residence requirements for the PhD degree, a student must register for at least six semesters beyond the completion of the master’s degree. Extension requires Graduate Council (this council facilitates and coordinates graduate affairs) approval upon recommendation by the FGSC.
One of the competencies of the PhD program is for doctoral students to develop experience in teaching. This is accomplished by: (a) serving as a Teaching Assistant in one or more courses (minimum of 3 credits in total) taught by departmental faculty, and (b) attending and successfully completing the requirements of two zero-credit courses at the EDUC department organized by the Center for Teaching and Learning at AUB (CTL).
In order to obtain a teaching certificate, it is mandatory (by the Graduate Council) to register for two zero credit (P/F) courses EDUC 401 in the Fall of the second year, and EDUC 402 in the Spring of the second year, as per the Graduate Council.
A PhD is awarded to students who complete an original thesis offering a significant new contribution to knowledge in their subject of study. Accordingly, the student is expected to meet with faculty members in the department to discuss with them possible thesis topics and arrange to have a thesis advisor in collaboration with his/her academic advisor and the Coordinator of the PhD Program. The student is expected to select a research topic in consultation with the thesis advisor and prepare a thesis proposal. The student should indicate if the proposed research involves human subject research and/ or animal related research and seek approval/confirmation or exemption of the Institutional Review Board and/or the Animal Care Committee. For all other details see the AUB Graduate Catalogue. Additionally, to check relevant thesis deadline please click on the following link: aub.edu.lb/graduatecouncil/Pages/thesisdeadlines.aspx . The thesis formatting guidelines are found on this link.
