Talk:Doctorate

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[edit] Research Doctorates

The article says that research doctorates are awarded (obviously as the name suggests) on the basis of completion of original research that is publishable in a peer-reviewed vehicle and represents "at least a modest contribution" to knowledge in the area to which the research is related. I believe the use of the term "modest" understates somewhat the requirements for a research doctorate. Most universities in the US require an extensive body of original research that makes a so-called substantial or significant contribution to existing knowledge. The contribution can be narrow, but should not be modest as suggested by the article.

Also, it should be emphasized that, contrary to higher doctorates like the LL.D or the Litt.D, a research doctorate like the Ph.D is always awarded by examination. In the US, that takes the form of one or more preliminary/qualifying exams in addition to the final oral exam. 161.24.19.112 (talk) 20:33, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Article overhaul

Hello. This article has borne edit tags for sometime and I'd like to get it up to par. I've archived a couple years' worth of talk, and I created a new List of doctoral degrees awarded by country to help get some of the lists off this page. If you notice weird things in the next couple weeks, bear with me or simply comment on the talk page here. Any help appreciated. Thanks! --Eustress (talk) 01:36, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

Okay, I made the bold decision to hide all Country-specific programs that had absolutely zero citations. Most of it has been uncited for a long time and no one has done anything about it. So, if you want the text to return, feel free to do so when you have located the appropriate citations to support the text. For the programs that have remained, there is still much to do, but now section specific tags can be used instead of ones over the entire article. Thank you! --Eustress (talk) 22:09, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Argentina info

I recently removed the following phrase because it doesn't make sense, I'm guess due to translation issues. If the original poster (User:Carau) would please present the text here in Spanish (or Castilian), I would be happy to offer translation so it makes sense in English. Thanks. (Text to follow:)

Regarding the recognition of the PhDs programs, the 46 section of the Higher Education Act N° 24.521, sets out that the National Commission for University Evaluation and Accreditation must provide the PhD validation prior completion of a Major or Master degree[1], in Castilan: Especialización o Maestría, all of them by stating a fully agree with the standards set forth by the Department of Education, Science and Technology together with the Universities Council.

--Eustress (talk) 01:54, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] 'Grand PhDs' - diploma mills?

Should this be included in some way? [1] which is a diploma mill [2] but some unexpected people have their 'degrees'. (Unsigned comment by User:Dougweller)

From my research, it does not appear this "degree" is yet notable, so I would be against its inclusion. --Eustress (talk) 20:14, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Germany

"There are no first degree doctorates but medical students can obtain a "Dr.med" after one semester of mostly undergraduate research or data evaluation. The "Dr med" is not equivalent to a PhD but to a masters degree. Medical Students going into research can obtain a genuine doctorate (PhD) in some subjects, such as molecular medicine or human biology."
That's technically incorrect. Although German med students can complete the doctoral thesis during undergraduate studies, the Dr. med. is legally not equivalent to a masters degree, but to any other kind of German doctorate. The masters-level professional degree in medicine is the State Examination - taken after 6 to 7 years of undergraduate studies - which must be completed before the doctoral degree can be officially awarded. Also, it is true med students can take a second "genuine" research doctorate, i.e., a Dr. rer. nat., however it is rather uncommon to do so. Most medical researchers and professors did not take a second doctorate, but prefered to proceed to habilitation. Hope this helps. Fred Plotz (talk) 14:35, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. As you can tell, the section is very poorly sourced, so any sourced contributions are welcome. --Eustress (talk) 14:51, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
I can provide sources, but they are all German. Don't know if this is very helpful in this respect. Fred Plotz (talk) 14:57, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
I can't find any policy on that, but it would be better than what we currently have. The WP:Cite web template has a field to indicate the language (|language= ). Thanks. --Eustress (talk) 15:13, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
Ok, I'm going to change that and expand the Germany section a little. But it might take a day or two. So long! Fred Plotz (talk) 16:43, 20 May 2008 (UTC)