“At Least One Peer Reviewed Paper by Graduation”: An Analysis of Pre-Graduation Publication by Post-Baccalaureate Graduate Students

Abstract

This study examines the prevailing debates surrounding pre-graduation publishing and investigates the frequency of graduates including previously published material in a thesis or dissertation at one university. The goal of the study was to ascertain where library services outreach could best be targeted to help thesis and dissertation writing graduates with information on author rights and copyright. The results indicate that less than 15% of departments have a degree program that requires scholarly publishing prior to graduation. A quantitative analysis showed that 45% of submitted theses and dissertations included wording that indicated the presence of previously published material.