Minor Thesis 1 (DENT90019)

The completion of a piece of original research and the submission of a research thesis of approximately 25,000 words is required is required by the end of the third year of the Doctor of Clinical Dentistry. Students enrol in four consecutive minor thesis subjects over year 2 and year 3 of this course. This is the first of the four subjects. The thesis represents approximately nine months of full-time effort including project development, conduct of the experimental work, data analysis and thesis writing.

As a general guideline, the thesis is expected to be of sufficient standard and content to be potentially publishable in a peer-reviewed journal. In some instances a manuscript will already have been submitted to a journal, or the thesis may be in a format that will require very little change before such submission. In other instances a more traditional thesis format may be used. For either format, a more substantial literature review than is normally encountered in a published paper is included, either as a separate section of the thesis or as a separate manuscript for publication. It is recognised that not all research projects work out as well as might be hoped, often for reasons beyond the control of the student. Hence the guideline of potentially publishable work will be interpreted generously in some instances, and the thesis viewed as representing an appropriate level of effort. The thesis will be examined by two examiners, who are requested to read the thesis critically with regard to rationale, experimental design, data analysis and validity of conclusions, as well as citation and interpretation of literature, writing style and grammar, punctuation, etc. In circumstances where the students is required to resubmit their thesis for a second examination, they must enrol for the period of the re-write.