Graduate School of Social SciencesWaseda University

１．Completion of the course “Introduction to Academic and Research Integrity”

Students must pass the course “Introduction to Research Ethics”* or “Introduction to Academic and Research Integrity”** before Applying for implementation of the “Joint Seminar of Graduate Students and Academic Staff”. Therefore, you will be registered automatically for the course until you pass it. If you have already passed the course in the Master’s program at this graduate school, or have completed a similar program at other graduate school or university, etc., please notify the office of the Graduate School of Social Sciences before you take the course.

※If the applicant has completed the “Introduction to Research Ethics” or “Introduction to Academic and Research Integrity” course when he or she was enrolled in the GSSS Master’s program, the applicant is exempt from taking the course as a GSSS Doctoral student.

*  for AY 2015 Enrollees and after

** for AY 2022 Enrollees and after

２．Qualification Requirements

An applicant for submission of a doctoral dissertation (hereinafter, the “applicant”) shall satisfy the following conditions.

(1) The applicant must be enrolled at the doctoral program at the Graduate School of Social Sciences, must have attended for at least three years when earning a degree, and must have received the required research supervision; alternatively, the applicant must have withdrawn from the doctoral program at the Graduate School of Social Sciences after receiving the required research supervision and less than three years since the date of withdrawal must have passed by the time of application.

(2) The applicant’s report to the joint seminar of graduate students and academic staff of the Graduate School of Social Sciences (hereinafter, the “seminar”) and published papers related to the dissertation (hereinafter, “published papers”) must comply with standards indicated in the appendix. It should be noted that the term “published papers” refers to papers for which the applicant was the principal author; furthermore, one of said papers shall satisfy both of the following conditions.

• (a) Examination regulations allowing for confirmation that the paper is peer-reviewed must be clearly indicated, and publication thereof must have been permitted in line with said examination.
• (b) The paper must have been published in an academic magazine, collection of academic papers, journal, or the like as issued by a university, research institute, or academic society, etc.
  * Papers published under the heading “Research Paper” in the Waseda Review of Socio-Science as issued by the Graduate School of Social Sciences shall be deemed to have satisfied the above two conditions. However, condition (a) shall not be satisfied in the case of papers exempted from peer review due to factors such as joint authorship with a member of academic staff.

(3) The applicant must have reported the subject matter of his or her degree dissertation at the Final Presentation before Submission during the school year of submission, and said subject matter must have been approved by the graduate school steering committee.

３．Documents for Submission

(1) Doctoral dissertation x 5 (simply bound)
* In the case of successful submissions, three fully-bound copies must be submitted.

(2) Doctoral Dissertation Summary form x 5

(3) Doctoral Application form (designated form) x 1

(4) Published papers (As for the required number, see appendix below) x 3
* Upon submission, reference materials such as the contribution regulations, the table of contents, and the colophon, etc. from the journals in which the papers were published must also be included.

(5) Research Achievements form x 1

(6) Curriculum Vitae (designated form) x 1
* In the case of (1), (2), and (4) above, photocopies shall be accepted under the precondition that one original version is included.

４．Application

(1) Application for Examination

A student wishing to have his or her doctoral dissertation examined shall apply for a Doctoral Dissertation Examination form to the member of academic staff supervising his or her research. If no supervising member of academic staff is available, the application shall be received by the graduate school steering committee, and said committee shall assign a deputy from academic staff teaching related courses.

(2) Screening

Upon the receipt of an application, the supervising member of academic staff or deputy shall carry out a preliminary examination to determine whether or not the content of the submitted documents satisfies the conditions for doctoral degree application and shall report his or her findings to the dean of the graduate school.

(3) Preliminary Examination

Upon receipt of the results of screening, the dean of the graduate school shall conduct an examination with the supervising member of academic staff or deputy in question to determine whether or not to accept the request for examination of the degree dissertation. The associate dean of the graduate school and the assistant to the dean shall also be permitted to participate in this preliminary examination. Furthermore, consultation with academic staff teaching related courses shall be permitted if so required.

５．Submission Deadlines for Degree Dissertations

• (1) Any enrolled student wishing to apply for examination of his or her doctoral dissertation shall submit said dissertation by the applicable deadline as follows. Students intending to complete studies (degree) in March: Last day of July Students intending to complete studies (degree) in September: Last day of January
• (2) Final deadlines for submission of applications for doctoral dissertation examinations by former students having withdrawn from the University are, in principle, identical to those from (1) above. However, it should be noted that the final deadline for submission of dissertations by former students after a lapse of full 2 years since the date of withdrawing is as follows.
  • Former students withdrawing in March: mid-January after a lapse of 2 full years
  • Former students withdrawing in September: late May after a lapse of 2 full years

６．Dissertation Examination & Scholarly Attainment Committees

The graduate school steering committee shall decide whether or not submitted dissertations are to be accepted. If a submission is accepted, the steering committee shall setup a Doctoral Dissertation Examination Committee. Said committee shall comprise at least three examiners, including vice supervisors.

７．Dissertation Hearings

Dissertation hearings shall be convened by the dean of the Graduate School of Social Sciences. It should be noted that notification of any dissertation hearing shall be posted on notice boards in the School of Social Sciences and the Graduate School of Social Sciences at least ten days prior thereto.

８．Interview Examinations

Interview examinations shall be carried out by the examination committee in accordance with the provisions of Article 14 of the Degree Regulations.

Waseda University Degree Regulations Article 14 (Interview Examination)

• (1) In addition to the screening of the dissertation, a graduate school shall conduct an interview examination with individuals who request conferral of a degree under the provision of Article 8. The procedure for this interview examination shall be prescribed by the Graduate School Steering Committee.
• (2) Notwithstanding the provision of the preceding paragraph, the Graduate School Steering Committee may forego an interview examination when it recognizes there is a particular reason.

９．Publishing of Doctoral Dissertations

(1) Publishing of Dissertation Examination Abstracts

Upon the conferral of a doctoral degree, an examination abstract of the doctoral dissertation thereof shall be published through inclusion in Doctoral Dissertation Examination Abstracts as issued by Waseda University and in the Waseda Review of Socio-Science as issued by the Graduate School of Social Sciences.

(2) Publishing of Doctoral Dissertations

Doctoral degree dissertations shall be published in accordance with the provisions of Article 21 of the Degree Regulations.

Waseda University Degree Regulations – Article 21 (Public Release of Theses for a Degree)

• (1) Individuals on whom the University has conferred a Doctoral Degree shall publicly release the doctoral dissertation by book, academic journal or similar publication, within one year from the date their degree was conferred. However, this shall not apply when an individual has printed and made his or her dissertation publicly available before the degree was conferred.
• (2) Notwithstanding the provision of the preceding paragraph, when there is an unavoidable reason, an individual on whom a Doctoral Degree has been conferred may publicly release a summary of the contents of the dissertation, in lieu of the full text, after receiving the approval of the Graduate School Steering Committee. In this case, the University shall supply the full text of the dissertation for review in accordance with the request.
• (2) When publicly releasing a dissertation under the provision of paragraph (1), individuals shall clearly stipulate the words “Waseda University Examination Dissertation (Doctoral)” on the dissertation, or when publicly releasing a theses summary under the provision of the preceding paragraph, individuals shall clearly stipulate the words “Waseda University Examination Dissertation (Doctoral) Abstract” on the summary of the dissertation.

Appendix