Thesis work

Your doctoral programme consists largely of work on your thesis. This page provides information that you need to know before, during and after your thesis work.

What is a thesis?

To be awarded a doctoral degree, you must write a thesis. Education at doctoral level may also lead to a licentiate thesis, which is either a single scholarly essay or a stage on the way to a doctoral thesis.

A thesis for a doctoral degree can either be a monograph or a compilation thesis. A monograph covers one coherent subject. A compilation thesis is a collection of works on a coherent theme.

Your general syllabus may have additional information about theses in your subject, such as how many credits your thesis must cover.

Research data

As a doctoral student, you may be collecting empirical data for your thesis work. This must be managed during the project and stored afterwards. You can read more about research data and how it should be managed and stored via the link below.

Research data management

If your project includes personal data

It is important that you are aware of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) if you are handling personal data in your project. The link below provides information about how to manage any personal data that is processed in your research.

Personal data in research

Research ethics and ethical review

A part of your research, you must ensure that your project is conducted in accordance with good research practice. You are obliged to follow various regulations and, before starting your research, you will need to decide whether your project is covered by the Ethical Review Act. Information about research ethics and ethical review is available via the link below.

Research ethics

Courses in research ethics and ethical review

Want to learn more about research ethics and research misconduct? Are you planning to conduct research that requires an ethical review? If so, you are welcome to participate in a short course on basic issues in research ethics. It is organised by the Council for Research Ethics and addresses a number of issues related to an ethical approach to research. It is offered every autumn and you will need to register in advance. There is also a hands-on workshop available if you want more specific information about ethical review. Keep an eye out for “Research ethics - an introduction” in the calendar.

Calender

Thesis seminars

One important part of your studies is presenting sections or chapters from your thesis at seminars. Your subject decides the seminar structure for doctoral students. They are sometimes called stage seminars and are often included in your subject’s higher seminar series. In addition to presenting thesis work at normal subject seminars, it is also common to have a planning seminar during your first year and then to present a draft of your thesis at a 50% or 60% seminar, as well as a more complete manuscript at a final seminar. At these, a reviewer and other seminar participants provide feedback so your thesis can be completed in an optimal manner.

Presenting various parts of your work during your studies is important, so that you can benefit as many opinions as possible about the work on your thesis. Add all the planned and completed thesis seminars to your individual study plan to help you plan your studies.

Publish your doctoral thesis

When you are nearing the end of the work on your doctoral thesis, you will need to decide where to publish it, either at the university or an external publisher.

All dissertations from Södertörn University are published open access (OA) and in full text in DiVA External link., an institutional repository for research publications, increasing their circulation and visibility.

Overview of the process

In addition to the information in the section The publication process below, please also read:
Preparing for your public defence on the page Public defence and degree certificate, External link.
the Checklist for procedures relating to the public defence of a thesis (see link below),
the instruction Prepare your dissertation manuscript for publication (see link below).

Prepare your dissertation manuscript for publication

Checklist for procedures relating to the public defence of a thesis

Once the decision on the date of the public defence has been made or at least six months (within the academic term) before your planned defense date, contact the library for a schedule for the production, publishing, and the notification of the defense, including the notification ceremony, of your thesis. Please share any schedule with your lead supervisor and education administrator (officer).

All doctoral dissertations are published in the Södertörn Doctoral Dissertations External link, opens in new window. (SDD) series, regardless of whether you choose to publish at Södertörn University or an external publisher. The library is responsible for issuing ISBN and series numbering for the SDD-series.

Choose a suitable Creative Commons license External link, opens in new window. for your dissertation. The license allows you as an author to inform readers how the contents of your dissertation may be used. The CC-BY license is the most common in publishing, but you can choose another license to suit your needs.

Your dissertation should have a title and abstract in English and Swedish. You should also make sure to mention any financiers for your research in your dissertation.

Before the publication of your dissertation you will need to sign a publishing contracts with the university for the digital publishing. Download the Template Agreement E-publishing at the page Avtal (agreements).

Publish at Södertörn University

The library can provide you with information about the production of your dissertation, including the format, and help make sure it meets the university’s design requirements. Before your dissertation is issued an ISBN and series number, you must have decided on a final title.

At least seven semester weeks before your defense date, you should hand in a proofread and ready-to-lay-out manuscript.

Before the publication of your dissertation you will need to sign a publishing contracts with the university for the printed publishing. Download the Template Agreement Printed Publishing at the page Avtal (agreements).

Publish at an external publisher

If you choose to publish at an external publisher, you are responsible for all contact and negotiations. External publishers may require you to co-finance publishing and that usually means you will need to apply for funding from foundations and trusts etcetera. It is important that you give yourself plenty of time to apply for funding and for correspondence with publishers.

You will need to contact the library to be issued an ISBN and a number in the Södertörn Doctoral Dissertation-series. There should be no embargo on publishing open access when publishing at an external publisher according to Guidelines for the format, publication, announcement and distribution of doctoral and licentiate theses at the page for Research Governing Documents.

Contact

Publications Department at the library: publications@sh.se

Archiving

The thesis is archived via the library after being published in the university’s publication series. However, during or after your doctoral programme, you must contact an archivist to agree on the best way of archiving the materials collected for use in your thesis. Read more on the page on Information management or email arkivarie@sh.se.

Information management (page in Swedish)

Communicating your research results

Communicating research results, new projects and leading doctoral students is an important part of Södertörn University’s communication work. The link below provides information about the support that is offered to help doctoral students communicate their research. You will also find information about how to create a staff card and researcher profile.

Communicating your research

How long does it take to write a thesis?

If you are studying full time, your thesis is should be completed within the four years of your doctoral studentship. This means it is important you consult your principal supervisor when planning your work, so you always include work on your thesis. Work on your thesis must be conducted in parallel with studying courses. You can use the planning example for four-year doctoral studies that is on the page for Study plans, qualitative targets and outcomes.

Your supervisor can provide you with more detailed information about the best format for your thesis.

What kind of support is available while I am working on my thesis?

You should primarily turn to your supervisors for support with thesis work. Their tasks including providing advice, guidance and regular follow-ups. The principal supervisor is also responsible for advice on the focus, scope and execution of work on the thesis.

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Last updated: 2026-06-29 by Dejana Burazor