Aalto Doctoral Programme in Electrical Engineering

A monograph is a coherent writing based on the research work of the doctoral student and written by the student. It is recommended that the author has scientific publications related to the monograph and that these publications have been published in peer-reviewed fora.

The monograph

• must contain new scientific findings
• does not include a separate list of the author´s own publications, but if the student has publications, they can be referred to in the reference list as the other references
• describes the research problem, the research goals, the methods used, the results of the research and presents a summary of the key findings.

Provided that the scope of the research question is reasonably sized and well defined, a thesis research aiming at a monograph, with the related reports, is usually faster and easier to carry out than an article-based thesis. Defining the research scope for a monograph thesis is often considered easier than for an article-based thesis. However, the evaluation of a monograph is more difficult in practice; such works require more often corrections and changes at the evaluation stage, which means that the review process becomes longer. The Committee may return an excessively long thesis to the writer obliging him or her to shorten it before it can be processed. The doctoral candidate shall concentrate on the essentials and present the material in a concise and structured manner. The Committee considers 300 pages a normal maximum limit. The doctoral thesis shall contain new scientific information in its discipline; it is inappropriate to broadly repeat generally known textbook facts.

Examination: Examining a monograph requires particular precision and carefulness, since the content is examined as something new, unlike in the case of an article-based thesis where the articles have already undergone a scientific peer-review process.

An article-based thesis contains a sufficient number of publications on a related set of problems and a summary part (compiling part).

The publications in an article-based thesis:

• are published, accepted for publication, or submitted for publication. At least one publication has been published or accepted for publication when the manuscript is submitted for pre-examination, the rest may be submitted for publication.
• are published in / submitted to acknowledged peer-reviewed international venues of the discipline (scientific journals, conference proceedings or other venues). It is recommended that at least one publication is published in / submitted to a scientific journal. The doctoral student must upon request provide proof of the peer-review process of the publications included in the thesis.
• is recommended to be 3-5 publications (depending on the field).  The number of publications required varies though, depending on the extent, scientific significance and quality of the publications, and the doctoral student’s personal contribution to them.
• are recommended to be publications where the doctoral student is a main author. Publications where the contribution of the author has not been significant are to be left out, unless the publication is necessary for the storytelling and making the thesis a whole.
• must contain new scientific findings. A literature review may be included, if it contains new scientific findings.
• can be included in several theses if the separate contribution of the doctoral student can be demonstrated.

Extended conference abstracts (1–2 page summaries), standards, and patents cannot be included in article-based theses.

The summary part of the article-based thesis:

• is an independent entity, which provides an overview of the content of the thesis, but does not go too much into the details.
• is recommended to be 30-60 pages long, starting from the introduction and including the references.
• describes the research problem, research goals and methods, and presents a summary of the key findings.
• shall contain a list of the publications included in the thesis and describe the independent contribution of the doctoral student in each publication separately.

An article-based thesis creates motivating intermediary goals and provides an opportunity for the candidate to receive feedback and critique on the research work from the academic community throughout the writing process. Writing an article-based doctoral thesis is usually found to be an efficient way to learn how to compose scientific publications. Such a doctoral thesis is also easier to evaluate because the articles have already been through an evaluation process. In an article-based thesis, the new scientific knowledge should be contained primarily in the articles.

Examination: In an article-based doctoral thesis, at least one of the articles has already undergone the peer review and been published. The examination is directed on the summary part and articles as whole.