Information on cumulative dissertations (Dr. rer. pol.)

The doctoral degree in Political Science and Public Administration (Dr. rer. pol.) may also be awarded, in accordance with Annexes A and B of the doctoral regulations, on the basis of several independent scholarly papers that are closely related in subject matter, provided that these constitute an equivalent scholarly achievement (cumulative dissertation). A cumulative dissertation is not permitted in procedures aimed at obtaining the Dr. iur. or Dr. rer. publ. degrees.

In the case of a cumulative dissertation, the application process requires a confirmation from the supervisor, countersigned by a second member of the university authorized to participate in doctoral proceedings, stating that the provisions regarding the cumulative dissertation as set forth in the appendices to the doctoral regulations are fulfilled, as well as a description of the publication strategy for the intended papers.

With regard to the publication requirement, cumulative dissertations must be submitted in the form of an electronic and a printed version of the introduction, the concluding summary, and the complete bibliography in accordance with Appendix A or B, as well as the original publications of all the scholarly articles comprising the cumulative dissertation.

 

Appendix A: Economics/Business Informatics

Cumulative Dissertation in Economics/Business Informatics (Appendix A to the PromO)

1. Provisions Regarding the Cumulative Dissertation

A cumulative dissertation is defined as a dissertation in which the results of the doctoral research are presented not in the form of a monograph, but as a collection of several individual papers. These papers must be closely related in terms of subject matter. The quality requirements for the papers correspond overall to those applicable to a dissertation in monograph form. Responsibility for ensuring compliance with these requirements lies with the respective subject reviewers.

2. Requirements

  • The candidate must demonstrate through the comprehensive dissertation that he or she has contributed to an independent and high-quality advancement of knowledge. This shall be demonstrated by the fact that (a) at least one of the submitted, publishable, or published papers was authored solely by the candidate, (b) at least three published, submitted, or publishable papers are incorporated into the dissertation, (c) for each paper written in co-authorship, the candidate specifies the extent to which they contributed to the conception, planning, execution, and drafting of the manuscript. If co-authors are also doctoral candidates at the university, they must submit corresponding declarations upon submission of their own dissertation. The declaration, which must be submitted in writing upon submission of the dissertation, must be countersigned by all other authors.
  • The papers should be published, submitted, or eligible for submission to a peer-reviewed, standard publication outlet in the field (Economics: in particular academic journals; Business Informatics: academic journals or conference proceedings).
  • The individual papers listed above do not need to be submitted separately for publication; it is permissible for them to be incorporated into a single comprehensive scholarly article.

3. Structure

  • The pages must be consecutively numbered across all the papers.
  • The individual essays are treated (e.g., also in references within the text) as chapters of the cumulative dissertation.
  • The dissertation must include an introduction. This introduction refers to the entirety of all essays submitted as part of the dissertation. It clarifies the overarching research question that connects the individual essays and which aspects are to be covered by each essay. The introduction should also include a summary of all essays in the cumulative dissertation.
  • The following information must be provided for all essays that are part of the dissertation:
  • Full names and titles of all authors, as well as their addresses and, if applicable, employers
  • Title of the essay
  • Complete bibliographic references for published papers
  • The dissertation must include a concluding discussion. This discussion should address all papers submitted as part of the dissertation. It should synthesize the individual findings of the papers. In particular, it should clearly demonstrate how the papers contribute to answering the research question formulated in the introduction.
  • The comprehensive bibliography includes all publications cited in the dissertation.

4. Review

  • Advisors and members of the examination committee may be co-authors of papers that are part of a cumulative dissertation. At least one reviewer must not be a co-author of papers that are part of a cumulative dissertation.
  • Reviewers shall review only those parts of the dissertation to which they have not made a significant contribution.
  • The final grade of the dissertation is calculated, analogous to § 11 (1) sentence 4 PromO, as the arithmetic mean of the grades of all reviews.
Appendix B: Social Sciences

Cumulative Dissertation in the Social Sciences (Appendix B to the PromO)

1. Provisions Regarding the Cumulative Dissertation

A cumulative dissertation is defined as a dissertation in which the results of the doctoral research are presented not in the form of a monograph, but as a collection of several individual essays. These essays must be closely related in terms of subject matter. The quality requirements for the essays correspond overall to those applicable to a dissertation in monograph form. Responsibility for ensuring compliance with these requirements lies with the respective subject experts.

2. Requirements

  • The candidate must demonstrate through the comprehensive dissertation that he or she has contributed to an independent and high-quality advancement of knowledge. This shall be demonstrated by the fact that (a) at least one of the submitted or published papers was authored solely by the candidate, (b) at least three papers are incorporated into the dissertation. Of these, at least two of the articles must either have already been published or accepted for publication. One article may still be under review; (c) for each paper co-authored, the candidate must specify the extent to which they contributed to the conception, planning, execution, and drafting of the manuscript. If co-authors are also doctoral candidates at the university, they must submit corresponding declarations upon submiss
  • The essays must have been published or submitted to a peer-reviewed, established academic journal.
  • The doctoral committee decides on justified exceptions.

3. Structure

  • The pages must be consecutively numbered across all the papers.
  • The individual papers are treated as chapters of the cumulative dissertation (e.g., including when referenced within the text).
  • The dissertation must include an introduction. This introduction refers to the entirety of all papers submitted as part of the dissertation. It clarifies the overarching research question that connects the individual essays and which aspects are to be covered by each essay. The introduction should also include a summary of all essays in the cumulative dissertation.
  • The following information must be provided for all essays that are part of the dissertation: ion of their own dissertations. The declaration, which must be submitted in writing upon submission of the dissertation, must be countersigned by all other authors.
    • Full names and titles of all authors, as well as their addresses and, if applicable, employers
    • Title of the paper
    • Complete bibliographic citation for published papers
    • The dissertation must include a concluding discussion. This discussion should address the entirety of all papers submitted as part of the dissertation. It should synthesize the individual findings of the papers. In particular, it should clearly demonstrate how the essays contribute to answering the research question formulated in the introduction.
    • The comprehensive bibliography includes all publications cited in the dissertation.

4. Review

  • At least two of the articles must be published without the involvement of the reviewers; otherwise, an additional reviewer must be consulted.
  • The final grade of the dissertation is calculated in accordance with § 11(1) sentence 4 PromO as the arithmetic mean of the grades from all reviews