Empirical Paper
After successful completion of the qualifying examination and required courses, students must complete a sole-authored empirical paper. This paper must be judged to be of sufficiently high quality to be consistent with publication in a leading journal, as determined by the evaluation of a committee of three faculty members.
The goal of the paper requirement is to demonstrate: (1) familiarity with criminological theory and a relevant substantive literature; (2) competence in research methods; and (3) an ability to imaginatively use these skills and knowledge to address research questions of relevance for the field. Students are encouraged to seek guidance and feedback from relevant faculty and colleagues while working on the empirical paper, though it must be sole-authored, independent work.
The paper must be limited to 40 pages in length (inclusive of tables, figures, appendices, and references) and formatted in the current style of the journal Criminology. Ordinarily, the empirical paper should be submitted by the end of year three. It must be submitted within one year of the completion of all coursework.
Proposal Submission
To initiate the empirical paper, the student will submit a one-page proposal and accompanying preliminary bibliography to the Ph.D. director. The proposal may be submitted at any time during the academic year. The Ph.D. committee, chaired by the Ph.D. director, will review the proposal and appoint an Empirical Paper Committee, which will provide an assessment of the proposal. Ordinarily the proposal will be assessed within two weeks of its receipt by the committee. The proposal assessment will include suggestions and guidance for the paper, and will be graded as Pass or No Pass. When a proposal is not passed by the committee, the student must submit a revised proposal, accompanied by a copy of the original proposal. Proposals can be submitted to the committee for review up to two times. Since completion of this stage of the process is included in the one-year timeline, students are strongly encouraged to initiate their proposal review early.
