The path to a doctorate - What is the difference between a monographic and a cumulative doctorate?
For many people, a doctorate is part of the medical profession. First of all, it should be mentioned that a doctorate is definitely not necessary to work as a dentist. Think carefully about whether a doctorate really has any added value for you. Scientific work is exhausting and time-consuming, although a medical doctoral thesis is often less demanding than doctoral theses in other fields. A doctorate purely out of a sense of duty can therefore be very frustrating. It is important to know your motivation and goal. For example, if you plan to work in the scientific field or want to start a university career, it is certainly advisable to do a doctorate.
Especially at the beginning of your scientific work, you are probably asking yourself some questions.
The question: What is the difference between a monographic dissertation and a cumulative dissertation? We would like to answer it for you today by comparing them.
Monographic doctoral thesis:
A monograph is a coherent written work that may not correspond to any existing treatises.
This is still the case in medicine the most common form of doctoral thesis in Germany. It is usually very extensive and long (often reaching a three-digit page count).
The advantage of this is that you only deal with a very limited subject area and deal with your research results comprehensively in your work.
However, monographic dissertations often receive less attention in science than cumulative doctoral theses, since they are usually not found in scientific publications, or only parts of them.
It is important to clarify whether parts of your research work may be published before you have finished your dissertation. These must then be specially marked. It is worth consulting your doctoral supervisor about this.
Cumulative doctoral thesis:
A cumulative doctoral thesis means that you have submitted or published several scientific publications on a specific subject area. These usually have a very similar topic and are summarized at the end under an umbrella publication. The cumulative dissertation is also called a publication dissertation or collective dissertation.
Unlike a monographic dissertation, the regulations such as the number of published papers, first authorship, etc. for a doctoral dissertation usually differ significantly from faculty to faculty.
But don’t worry: the more precise criteria for a cumulative promotion You can read the examination regulations of your university or, if necessary, ask the examination office.
The following information is particularly relevant for you:
- How many papers do I have to publish
- Is the journal's impact factor relevant and how high does it have to be.
- Do I have to be the sole or first author
- How closely must the publications be thematically linked
- What are the requirements for the cover text
- Do the publications have to be peer-reviewed?
With the help of these questions, you can keep an eye on where you need to publish on which topic in order to meet the framework conditions while planning your paper.
At this point we would like to explain a few terms related to a cumulative promotion:
What is a paper?
A paper is a scientific publication which is published in a scientific magazine, also called a journal (print or online).
What is the impact factor?
The impact factor describes the “scientific influence” of this journal. The impact factor can be researched in constantly updated lists on the Internet. It is calculated from the citations of the last two years.
What is peer review?
Peer review means that your paper is reviewed by reviewers from the same field. There are often two independent rounds of review. This process is an important filter and serves to ensure the quality of high-ranking scientific journals. If your paper passes this review, it speaks for the quality of your work
What does first authorship mean?
You are at the top of the list of researchers who were involved in this paper and have thus compiled essential data on the research output.
Switching between monograph and cumulative dissertation
It is usually possible and sometimes sensible to change the type of dissertation if something has fundamentally changed from your original plan. Have parts of your monographic work already been published and do they meet the requirements of a cumulative dissertation? Or have you noticed that your papers are becoming too extensive to meet the requirements for journals, these could be reasons to consider together with your doctoral supervisor whether a change makes sense. Please be sure to consult with your supervisors and the relevant examination board.
As you can see, both forms of promotion are possible and it depends on your personal preference which type you choose. The monograph is the most common so far, which is why you have probably already heard many reports from your fellow students about it. But the cumulative doctorate is also a great opportunity to work scientifically in order to become a Dr.med.dent. at the end!
Sources:
Berlin University of Technology. Technical terms: Promotion AZ. Last accessed on 12.02.022 from https://www.bht-berlin.de/3823
Burkhardt, Christin/ Meyer-Heydecke, Neele/Stahlberg, Nadine. From reading to understanding: Dealing with scientific literature. (2017) Last accessed on February 13, 2022 from https://www2.tuhh.de/
Friedrich Alexander University. Graduate Center. Last accessed on January 28, 2022 from https://www.fau.de/graduiertenzentrum/promotion/monographische-und-kumulative-dissertation/
Markert, Ralf . What is a monograph?. Last accessed on 28.01.2022 from https://www.wissenschaftliches-arbeiten.org/
Reichenbach, A. University Hospital Leipzig. Lecture as part of the doctoral regulations of the Medical Faculty. (2015) Last accessed on 13.02.2022 from https://sturamed-leipzig.de/
SIWF Swiss Institute for Medical Education and Training. What does "peer-reviewed" mean in a scientific publication? Last accessed on February 13, 2022 from https://www.siwf.ch/
University Hospital Aachen AöR. Research: Information for doctoral students. Last accessed on February 7, 2022 from https://www.ukaachen.de/
