JSU Dissertation Guide

Jacksonville State University Guide for Doctoral Students

Graduate Studies Jacksonville State University

1 This guide is designed to help Jacksonville State University doctoral students understand the purpose, structure, formatting, and completion process of the dissertation or culminating doctoral project. It outlines roles and responsibilities, formatting standards, content organization, and final approval procedures, serving as a roadmap from proposal to degree conferral.

What is a Dissertation?

The dissertation is the culminating scholarly project of the doctoral degree. It demonstrates the student’s ability to conduct independent research, contribute original knowledge to the field, and engage critically with existing scholarship. This guide uses “dissertation” to represent any culminating scholarly project of the doctoral degree.

Doctoral students are responsible for seeing that a quality dissertation is presented in a timely manner, not to exceed 8 years, and complies with the standards outlined in this guide.

While each department, school, or college may impose specific or additional requirements for doctoral students, this guide outlines university standards for the dissertations for doctoral students in all programs at Jacksonville State University. Ultimately, it is incumbent upon the student to learn what, if any, departmental/school/college requirements may apply outside of this guide.

This guide begins with a few assumptions: 1. The doctoral research is complete.

2. Final drafts of the dissertation have been approved by the doctoral student’s Committee Chair and Committee members.

3. Time for final formatting of the dissertation is at hand.

4. The student has a good command of the English language.

Questions about formatting that are not adequately addressed by this guide may be directed to the Dean of Graduate Studies.

Role of the Doctoral Student The doctoral student is the primary driver of the research process. Students are expected to take ownership of their topic, timeline, research design, and writing, while working collaboratively with the chair and committee. The doctoral student is responsible for: • • • • • • • •

Selecting a viable research topic Maintaining regular communication with the dissertation chair Submitting required institutional documents by posted deadlines Applying for graduation i Ensuring ethical compliance (e.g., IRB approval) Presenting complete, chair approved manuscript draft to Dissertation Committee and Graduate Studies by deadline.

Revising drafts in response to committee and external reviewer feedback Working with dissertation chair and committee to schedule a dissertation defense.

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Finalizing dissertation manuscript and sending for final approval with Doctoral Defense Approval Form.

Uploading completed thesis manuscript to JSU Digital Commons using supplied instructions.

The student should consult with the dissertation committee chair concerning departmental requirements and procedures beyond the scope of this guide. Although the chair may provide significant assistance, the doctoral student is entirely responsible for the completion of the dissertation.

Students should seek to form their committee as soon as possible after beginning doctoral work, and no later than at the end of 18 credit hours within their program.

Role of the Dissertation Committee After successful completion of the qualifying exam, students will begin to work formally with their Dissertation Committee Chair and form the full Dissertation Committee. Students will continue to enroll in their doctoral program’s dissertation courses each semester. Upon forming a dissertation committee, students must submit a Dissertation Committee Form to formally identify their chair and committee members. Each committee will have three members (a chair and two additional committee members) ii.

No member of the dissertation committee should have a relationship with the doctoral student that poses a potential conflict (e.g., relative, friend, or colleague).

The roles and responsibilities of the chair and other committee members are detailed below.

Committee Chair The chair is typically selected based on subject-matter expertise, methodological knowledge, and availability. Students should consult program guidelines and seek a chair whose research interests align with their own. The chair serves as the primary mentor, guiding the student through proposal development, research execution, and dissertation writing. The dissertation chair must be approved doctoral faculty at Jacksonville State University.

Responsibilities of the Dissertation Chair • • • •

Advising on research design and methodology Providing substantive feedback on drafts Coordinating committee communication Ensuring academic rigor and compliance with standards

Committee Members Students should work with the Committee Chair to select committee members. Committee members are chosen for their expertise and ability to contribute meaningfully to the project. Committee members must be approved doctoral faculty at Jacksonville State University. If needed, dissertation committees may have 1-2 additional external members. These members are in addition to the three JSU doctoral faculty and must be approved by the committee chair, program director, and Dean of Graduate Studies iii.

Role and Responsibilities of Committee Members • • •

Reviewing dissertation drafts Providing scholarly feedback Participating in proposal and final defenses

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Dissertation Proposal The proposal outlines the research problem, purpose, research questions or hypotheses, methodology, and significance of the study. Approval of the proposal indicates that the committee agrees the study is feasible, ethical, and academically sound. Students should follow program guidelines for dissertation proposals.

Dissertation Drafts The student and the dissertation committee will decide the appropriate timetable for the draft(s) of the dissertation. Some doctoral programs at JSU have set timetables and progress checks. The student will research and prepare a draft manuscript under the guidance of the dissertation chair. Following the initial review and approval by the chair, the student will submit a copy to the members of the Dissertation Committee, as well as Graduate Studies for external review by the deadline posted on the Graduate Studies website.

The manuscript draft must be complete and approved by the chair prior to submission to Graduate Studies. Any manuscript submitted that is incomplete will be returned which may delay the student's ability to move forward with finalizing their manuscript within the identified term.

Full details for manuscript preparation can be found in Dissertation Manuscript Guidelines below.

Manuscript Review All chair approved manuscripts submitted to Graduate Studies will be assigned to an external reader for review. This review includes evaluation of manuscript formatting, style guide formatting, editing and grammatical issues, and the students' use and appropriate citation of outside sources.

The external reader’s feedback will be sent to the student within the deadlines outlined on the Graduate Studies website.

When editorial changes are so extensive that the quality of the dissertation is compromised, the manuscript will be returned for a more thorough review and edit by the student and the committee.

The student should discuss the feedback from the external reader with the Committee Chair and apply it as directed. The Dissertation Committee may recommend further work or revision of the manuscript or may indicate that it is ready for defense.

Dissertation Defense and Final Approval The Dissertation Defense is scheduled after arrangement of a mutually convenient time for committee members. The defense must be scheduled so that the student meets the Graduate Studies deadline for final submission.

At the Dissertation Defense, the dissertation will be reviewed carefully, and the student will be required to defend the work, including objectives, methodology, results, and conclusions. Based on this defense, the committee will either approve or disapprove the manuscript as submitted. The committee chair is responsible for notating the approval or disapproval on the electronic Doctoral Defense Approval Form.

All committee members must sign agreeing to the indicated outcome.

4 If the committee disapproves of the manuscript, the reasons should be communicated to the student for action. The committee will indicate further research required and/or revisions needed for approval. The committee may require another defense, or it may approve the dissertation after revisions without an additional defense. Approval of the dissertation must be by unanimous vote of the committee members.

Any student failing to successfully defend their dissertation will have one additional attempt. Failure to successfully pass the defense in the second attempt will result in the student failing to graduate.

The student has primary responsibility for writing, editing, proofing, and following the program’s required style manual for the dissertation. A template in the current edition of the APA style manual is provided by Graduate Studies.

Digital Commons Upon final approval from Graduate Studies, students will be notified via email that their final manuscript should be submitted to JSU Digital Commons. A step-by-step guide will be provided to assist with this process.

Students will not be clear to graduate until this process is complete. Failure to meet this deadline may result in delaying the student’s graduation until a subsequent semester.

All institutional deadlines are available on the Graduate Studies website.

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Dissertation Manuscript Guidelines Each doctoral program should specify its required style manual. Students should use the style manual for their program. Students should also consult with their committee chair for any programmatic or departmental requirements. Graduate Studies has provided instructions below and a template following the most current edition of the APA style manual.

The dissertation is organized in chapters. Typically, the structure is as follows: Chapter 1 Introduction (broad overview of the research) Chapter 2 Review of the literature (and conceptual framework) Chapter 3 Methodology Chapter 4 Results or Findings Chapter 5 Interpretations, Conclusions, and Recommendations References Appendices The typical dissertation proposal should include the elements found in Chapters 1, 2, 3 and the References of the dissertation.

Manuscript Organization The dissertation manuscript must be assembled in the following order: • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Final Dissertation Approval Page Title Page Copyright Page (if applicable) Abstract Acknowledgement Page (if applicable) Table of Contents List of Tables List of Figures Preface (if applicable) Text (arranged in accordance with current APA style manual) Documentation (footnotes, etc., using current APA style manual) References (using current edition of required style manual) Appendices

Prefatory Materials These pages come before the manuscript body. Each component is described below.

Doctoral Defense Approval Page The doctoral defense approval page is the first page of the dissertation. It is not numbered; however, it is understood to be page small Roman numeral one (i) when totaling the number of pages for the abstract.

6 Names and signatures of all committee members must be included. The final electronic form can be downloaded upon completion of the routing process.

Title Page The title page is not numbered; however, it is understood to be page small Roman numeral two (ii) when tabulating the total number of pages for the abstract.

The title page has three sections: the title of the dissertation, the author's name and the submission statement. If two or more lines are needed for the title, they should be double-spaced. The author's full name should be used. The submission statement should read exactly as the template example, filling in the appropriate degree and the date of graduation.

Special attention should be given to titling the paper. Modern retrieval systems use the words in the title to locate the subject of theses. For the subject to be located easily, the title must be a meaningful description of the content. Avoid oblique reference, and the use of word substitutes, formulas, symbols, superscripts, subscripts, and Greek letters.

Copyright Page This page is not required if the student does not wish to copyright their dissertation. The copyright page is blocked and double-spaced. Copyright information is typed just above the bottom margin of the page.

The copyright page is numbered small Roman numeral three (iii).

Abstract The abstract is limited to 250 words, is page numbered with a small Roman numeral, and is headed ABSTRACT. It is a concise summary that is separate from and independent of the text. It should be constructed with the purpose of reporting only the essential characteristics of the study. Regardless of the field, the abstract should describe the problem, procedure or method, results, and conclusions. Abstracts of experimental research studies should contain statements of the problem, methods, and results. In behavioral research the numbers and kinds of subjects should be indicated. References should not be included in the abstract.

After the main text of the abstract, the author should note the total number of typed pages. This includes both the small Roman (prefatory) and Arabic (text) numerals.

Acknowledgements This section is optional. Any acknowledgment should be expressed simply and tactfully. Only persons and institutions that have rendered non-routine aid should be recognized. It is appropriate to acknowledge the help of the Dissertation Committee as well as selected others. If included, this page is numbered in small Roman numerals.

Table of Contents The Table of Contents must accurately reflect the outline and organization of the dissertation. It continues the small Roman numeral page numbering sequence. Each title is followed by a row of periods

7 leading to a column close to the right-hand margin containing each page number. The Table of Contents should show all major and at least primary subheadings exactly as they appear in the text.

Lists of tables, lists of figures, section headings, references and appendix are written in title case. If an entry is longer than one line, it should be single spaced, with double spacing between entries.

List of Tables The List of Tables should immediately follow the Table of Contents and continue the small Roman numeral sequence. The word "Page" should appear as the heading to the column of page numbers on the right side of the page. Tables should be numbered consecutively throughout the text in Arabic numerals.

List of Figures All illustrative materials other than tables are considered figures, including charts, graphs, drawings, photographs, or formulas. The List of Figures follows the List of Tables, and the page should follow the same format. Figures should be numbered consecutively throughout the text in Arabic numerals.

Text The first page of the manuscript is numbered with Arabic numeral 1 and all subsequent pages, including the reference and appendices, are numbered with Arabic numerals.

Each major section of the text is numbered consecutively with a Roman numeral.

The main text should be double spaced with each section beginning on a new page. Subsections within a section do not begin on a new page unless the preceding page is filled.

Aspects of the internal organization of the manuscript not covered in this Guide (including headings, subheadings, tables, figures, footnotes, references, and appendices) should be consistent with APA style.

Illustrative Materials Drawings, figures, tables, graphs, photographs, maps, and all other illustrative materials may be included only if they are high quality and the author holds copyright permission. Proof of copyright permission must be provided to Graduate Studies for protected images or content prior to final approval.

References The dissertation must include references to sources used within the text. The page of the manuscript which lists sources cited in the dissertation should be headed as References. Only works cited within the body of the manuscript should appear in the reference list.

Appendices Appendices consist of material related to the text but not suitable for inclusion in it, such as lengthy tables, figures, documents, computer printouts, etc. Appendices should be labeled alphabetically (Appendix A) and each should have a descriptive title. Each appendix with its title should be listed in the

8 Table of Contents. Reference to each appendix should be found in an appropriate place in the dissertation text.

Photographic reduction of material to conform to margin requirements is permitted if the material remains clear and legible.

Formatting and Pagination Margins One-inch margins are used for the entirety of the manuscript.

Line Spacing Double: The text of the dissertation is to be double-spaced and should not include additional spacing between lines and paragraphs.

Single: Single spacing should be used for block indented quotations of at least four lines. Additional guidance for block quotes can be found in the most recent APA style guide.

Page Numbers Prefatory Pages The approval page and title page are not numbered but are understood to be pages i and ii. Thus, numbering begins with the copyright page (if applicable) or abstract (iii). All following prefatory pages are numbered consecutively in small Roman numerals on the upper right corner of the page.

Text The body of the manuscript should be numbered in Arabic numerals. Page numbers must be placed as defined by required style manual. Pages for tables and figures are treated just as the regular text.

Preparing the Final Manuscript Submission to Digital Commons As a graduation requirement, all JSU graduate students completing a dissertation must submit the final version of their manuscript to the Houston Cole Library for archiving. Submission is in digital format through an online system, Digital Commons. This digital version of the student’s dissertation will be the official version of record, made publicly accessible, and permanently retained by the library. The step-bystep submission guide will be provided via email upon Graduate Studies receiving the signed Doctoral Defense Approval Form. Students must complete the JSU Digital Commons submission process to be cleared to graduate.

A $50 non-refundable degree fee is charged each time a student submits the Application for Graduation.

If a student fails to graduate in the semester stated on the Application for Graduation, then the student i

9 will be required to submit a new Application for Graduation by the due dates for a future semester and pay the additional degree fee.

In addition to 3 faculty from their program, students may have up to 2 outside committee members who must be approved by the committee chair, program director, and Dean of Graduate Studies. Outside committee members may be from outside the doctoral student’s program or outside of the university.

These outside members serve on a voluntary basis, will not sign the dissertation approvals, and are not eligible for compensation.

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See note ii