Research Degrees in Linguistics, Philology & Phonetics
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1. Admission as a Probationer Research Student
Candidates may apply for admission as Probationer Research Student, or directly to DPhil status, on a full-time or part-time basis.
2. Transfer to M.Litt. and D.Phil. status
Candidates must submit the documents detailed in the Divisional regulations, above.
3. Confirmation of D.Phil. status
Candidates must submit the documents detailed in the Divisional regulations, above.
4. Theses
Theses submitted for the Degree of M.Litt. in Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics should not exceed 50,000 words. The word limit excludes the bibliography, appendices consisting of a catalogue of data, any extensive text which is specifically the object of a commentary or linguistic analysis, and any translation of that text, but includes quotations and footnotes.
Theses submitted for the Degree of D.Phil. in Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics should not exceed 100,000 words. The word limit excludes the bibliography, appendices consisting of a catalogue of data, any extensive text which is specifically the object of a commentary or linguistic analysis, and any translation of that text, but includes quotations and footnotes.
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Integrated Thesis
An integrated thesis may constitute an acceptable thesis for students registered on the DPhil in Linguistics, Philology & Phonetics.
An integrated thesis may either be a hybrid of conventional chapters and high-quality papers, or be fully paper-based. Regardless of the format, the content of the thesis should reflect the amount, originality and level of work expected for a conventional thesis. It should not be assumed that the act of publication (in whatever form) means the work is of suitable academic quality and content for inclusion in a thesis, and students should discuss all papers in detail with their supervisor before inclusion. It would be anticipated that the candidate would be a lead contributor, rather than a minor author, on at least some of the papers in order to consider this format. There is no minimum, or maximum, number of papers a candidate is expected/allowed to include as part of such a thesis and it will remain a matter for the examiners to conclude whether the contributions are equivalent to that which would be expected of a standard DPhil.
Any papers utilised must concern a common subject, constitute a continuous theme and conform to the following guidelines:
- a) If a candidate for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy wishes to be examined through an integrated thesis, they should apply for permission to be examined in this way when they apply for confirmation of status, as detailed in the Faculty handbook. A candidate for the Degree of Master of Letters should normally apply for permission to be examined in this way six months before submitting their papers for examination. To revert to being examined by a conventional thesis rather than an integrated thesis, the candidate must inform the faculty of the change as detailed in the faculty graduate handbook.
- b) Work can be included regardless of its acceptance status for publication but candidates may be questioned on the publication status of their work by the examiners.
- c) Any submitted/published papers should relate directly to the candidate’s approved field of study, and should have been written whilst holding the status of PRS or a student for the DPhil or MLitt. in Linguistics, Philology & Phonetics. It is not permitted for articles published prior to the start of the DPhil to be used as part of an integrated thesis.
- d) The collection of papers must include a separate introduction, a full literature review, discussion and a conclusion, so that the integrated thesis can be read as a single, coherent document.
- e) The candidate must ensure all matters of copyright are addressed before a paper’s inclusion. A pre-print version of any published papers should be included as standard, as an appendix.
- f) Joint/multi-authored papers are acceptable if the candidate can both defend the paper in full and provide a written statement of authorship, agreed by all authors, that certifies the extent of the candidate’s own contribution.
