Page 4 - Tallinn University Guidelines for Formatting a Doctoral Thesis

2. NATURE AND STRUCTURE OF A DOCTORAL THESIS
The general principles and requirements for a doctoral thesis (including an analytical overview) are established in Chapter 4 of the TU Regulations for Doctoral Studies and Defence of Doctoral Theses. In order to achieve consistency within these existing guidelines, this present chapter further reviews the requirements in regard to the nature and structure of a doctoral thesis.
2.1. A doctoral thesis is an independent work of research that offers a novel solution to a significant problem in a discipline related to the field of the study programme. In specialities falling within the field of Arts, a doctoral thesis can be a work of art of international stature that is presented together with scholarly analysis or research.
2.2. A doctoral thesis is written in one of the languages widely used in the respective research area.
2.3. A doctoral thesis can be realised as:
 A monograph that is published as part of the series of dissertations of the university;
 A monograph that is published outside the series of dissertations of the university and is annexed an analytical overview;
 An article-based dissertation.
2.4. A monograph is a scholarly research work that constitutes a systematic and comprehensive treatment of a clearly defined research topic or problem. A monograph published in the university dissertation series includes the following:
 A pre-title page (see Annexes 1 and 2);
 A title page (see Annex 3);
 The reverse side of the title page, which is completed after the decision
to allow the doctoral thesis to be submitted for defence. This page records the decision of the doctoral studies council, the names of the supervisor(s), reviewers, the time and place of the defence (see Annexes 4-6):
 Contents (see Annexes 7-9);
 The list of the author’s articles in which the principal results of the
doctoral thesis have been published (in the case of an article-based
dissertation, see Annexes 10 and 11);
 An abstract (optional);
 A preface (optional);
 Acknowledgements (optional);
 List of abbreviations (optional);
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