A cumulative PhD thesis must include:
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the three published or submitted papers
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an "umbrella", which comprises a detailed introduction of the topic of the dissertation, a comprehensive discussion, a curriculum vitae with a list of publications, and a copyright declaration. For more details, see PhD Degree (old regulations) or PhD Degree (new regulations).
As written in the GHS regulations, doctoral candidates are required to submit at least three scientific papers to peer-reviewed journals. The following guidelines should be followed:
- One paper with first authorship must be accepted for publication. In case of shared first authorship, two papers with shared first authorship are required.
- Two further papers with first authorship or co-authorship must have reached the peer-review stage.
- The thesis advisor, together with the candidate, is responsible for the selection of journals.
Under special circumstances, requests to deviate from the number and types of papers needed for publication can be submitted to the Steering Board.
The publication rules apply to candidates under both the new and the old GHS regulations.
Candidates are asked to indicate the status of their publications in their Progress Report and PhD Degree form: (P) = published; (A) = accepted; (R) = in revision; (S) = submitted, as well as the type of the publications: (OA) = original article; (SM) = systematic review; (MA) = meta-analysis; (NR) = narrative review.
Recognized publications
Original articles, meta-analyses, systematic reviews and narrative reviews.
All review types with a systematic approach and an explicit description of methods are accepted.
Unrecognized publications
Letters, study protocols, reviews without an explicit methods section, or equivalent are not accepted.
