After the Comprehensive Exam, students will complete their research. At least 6 months before initial thesis submission, the AC will confirm that the student has sufficient data to begin writing the thesis.
A thesis can be written and organized either in the traditional monograph style or the manuscript (article) based style.
Students should be sure that their PhD thesis:
- represents original scholarship and a distinct contribution to knowledge.
- shows familiarity with previous work in the field and demonstrates the ability to plan and carry out research, organize results, and defend the approach and conclusions in a scholarly manner.
- meets current standards of the discipline and demonstrates how the research advances knowledge in the field.
- is written in compliance with norms for academic and scholarly expression and for publication in the public domain (see withholding a thesis from circulation temporarily).
The nature of academic research requires adherence to McGill’s policies on research ethics and intellectual property.
For general regulations on preparing and writing their thesis, doctoral students should consult the GPS website, and more particularly the GPS’s Thesis website. GPS and the Writing Centre also offer resources and support for thesis writing, including Graphos courses and workshops.
Please note that the faculty deadline for thesis submission is a week prior to the university deadline.