Dissertation
The dissertation must show that the candidate has technical mastery of the field and is capable of doing independent research. This study must enlarge or modify current knowledge in a field or present a significant new interpretation of known materials. The Graduate School requires that all doctoral dissertations be written and submitted in English.
A candidate may submit the dissertation for official action only after having sustained the general examination. When the dissertation has been formally presented the department takes action on the positive recommendation of at least two principal readers to request that the dissertation advance to the final public oral examination. Qualified principal readers are those who are authorized to supervise doctoral dissertations in the University (such as, regular faculty at the rank of assistant professor or higher and certain others in senior research ranks.) External readers must be of comparable standing in another university or in the non-academic research community. Each principal reader submits a written and signed dissertation reader's report to the department. Two copies of the dissertation must be available for interested readers in the department prior to the final public oral examination. The dean's office authorizes the department to hold the final public oral examination.
If the candidate and/or the adviser want the dissertation to be reviewed for possible patentable results and subsequent patent application, either by the University or by a non-University agent, or have the dissertation reviewed by an outside sponsor for proprietary information or results, these processes must be completed before the department requests to hold the final public oral examination.
Final acceptance of the dissertation is conditional on passing the examination. The candidate must deposit two bound copies and a CD of the dissertation in Adobe PDF format in the University archives at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, not more than two weeks after successful passage of the final public oral examination. At that time the University archivist signs the final public oral examination report, which is then transmitted to the Office of Academic Affairs in the Graduate School. Only after receipt of this report is the candidate's name added to the advanced degree list for approval by the Trustees of the University, as indicated on the degree application form.
Each candidate for the degree of doctor of philosophy must submit with the dissertation five copies of an abstract of the dissertation. Abstracts should not exceed 350 words. Two copies of the abstract are to be bound with the copies of the dissertation. The other three copies are submitted separately: one copy is retained by the academic department, one copy is submitted to the Office of the Graduate School with the Request to Hold the Final Public Oral, and one copy is presented to the University archives with the copies of the dissertation.
At the time the copies of the dissertation are submitted to the department, the candidate must complete and sign the Microfilm Publication Agreement Form or present documentary evidence to the satisfaction of the Graduate School that the thesis will be published and made available in another suitable form.
The Princeton University archivist assumes responsibility for liaison with the microfilming agency. In order that certain minimum standards of uniformity be observed in the publishing process, the University archivist has established a format for the thesis and procedures for its deposition with the University archives. A brochure about this may be obtained from the archivist's office and online. When the student signs and files the Microfilm Publication Agreement Form, a microfilm of the dissertation is made and stored at Ann Arbor, Michigan, from which any interested reader can obtain a copy inexpensively. Should sales of the dissertation amount to seven copies or more in a calendar year, the writer is paid a royalty of 10 percent on total sales for that year. The abstract is printed in Dissertation Abstracts, which is widely distributed.
When a dissertation that has already been approved by the two principal readers is presented in complete form later than May 1, the department concerned is not under obligation to take action on it in time to enable the student to receive the degree at Commencement. In such cases the degree is conferred in November of the following academic year.
If a student presents a doctoral dissertation more than five years after he or she has passed the general examination, the department is not automatically obliged to receive it for consideration. In such cases the department must vote formally as a faculty whether or not to receive it for review and examination.