Each candidate for the doctorate shall pursue, under faculty direction, an original investigation of a problem or problems in a field of concentration and present the results of this investigation in a dissertation. The dissertation must be approved by a faculty committee of at least four members. The dissertation committee must be approved by the Ph.D. committee before the dissertation writing begins. One member of the committee should be from outside the program in which the degree is sought. The chairperson of the committee, who supervises the investigation, must be a member of the graduate faculty approved for the supervision of doctoral research. The student is advised to consult with the members of his or her committee as work on the dissertation progresses.

Once the student has developed, with the advice of the dissertation director, preliminary guidelines for a dissertation, a meeting of the committee, including the outside member whenever possible, and the candidate, is held to discuss the candidate's dissertation prospectus. Subsequently, the committee must be kept informed of the candidate's work and assist in its development. The committee agrees to give ample and early warning of any reservations concerning the student's progress and must specify in writing the changes required for dissertation acceptance.

The final draft of the dissertation should be prepared in strict accordance with the instructions given in the pamphlet Thesis and Dissertation Form, available at the Office of the Dean of the Graduate School-Newark. After the dissertation has been accepted by the committee, the original and one copy are to be filed with the Office of the Dean of the Graduate School no later than the announced deadlines for completion of degree requirements.

With the dissertation, the candidate is required to submit an abstract not exceeding 350 words, embodying the principal finding of his or her research. As in the case of the dissertation, the abstract must be approved by the professor in charge of the work for the dissertation and accepted by the other members of the student's committee.