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Admission to Candidacy: Required Sequence
Empirical Paper
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  School of Criminal Justice 2021-2023 Doctoral Program Admission to Candidacy: Required Sequence Empirical Paper  

Empirical Paper

Empirical Paper
After successful completion of required coursework, 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 design and analytical methodology, 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, although the final product 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 style of a peer-review journal article, such as Criminology or Justice Quarterly. Ordinarily, the empirical paper should be submitted by the end of the second year in the program. It must be submitted within one year of the completion of all coursework.

To initiate the empirical paper, the student will form an Empirical Paper Committee comprised of a Chair and two faculty readers. Committee members must be tenured or tenure-track SCJ faculty members. Deviation is allowed only in exceptional circumstances, and when prior approval has been obtained by the Ph.D. Director in consultation with the Dean. The student will submit a one-page proposal to the committee, who will provide an assessment of the proposed study. Ordinarily the proposal will be assessed within approximately two weeks of its receipt by the committee. When a proposal is not approved by the Empirical Paper 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. The proposal may be submitted at any time during the academic year.

Empirical papers will be accepted for submission at any time during the academic year. The paper must be submitted via email to the members of the Empirical Paper Committee. It will be evaluated based on the substantive knowledge reflected in the paper, the application of relevant theory, the use of appropriate data and research methods, the clarity of communication, and its innovative contribution to the field. Each committee member will receive a copy of the paper for the purpose of conducting an independent evaluation, and will grade the paper as a 'Pass', 'Revise-and-Resubmit', or 'No-Pass'.
 
Once independent assessment is completed, the Chair of the Empirical Paper Committee will prepare a decision letter, submitted to the Ph.D. Director as well as to the student, which includes an assessment of the paper's strengths and limitations and the committee's grading decision. Ordinarily, grading of the empirical paper will be completed and students notified of their results within approximately four weeks of the paper's submission.

For a 'Revise-and-Resubmit', the student is advised to meet with the Chair of the Empirical Paper Committee to discuss reviewer comments and revision plans. The student should submit to the committee, via email, a revised paper with a revision memo. The revision memo should reflect the style used for peer-review journals, which provides a narrative description of the response to reviewer concerns. It is generally expected that the student will submit the revised empirical paper and revision memo within three months.
 
If after review of a revised empirical paper, the Empirical Paper Committee feels there are still deficiencies that compromise the quality of the work, the student may receive a decision of 'No-Pass'. Upon this decision, the Ph.D. Director will convene a meeting of the SCJ faculty to deliberate about the student's performance in the program, and whether further revisions of the empirical paper are to be allowed or disallowed. Students who are dismissed from the doctoral program may appeal the decision.
 
For additional information, contact RU-info at 848-445-info (4636) or colonelhenry.rutgers.edu.
Comments and corrections to: One Stop Student Services Center.

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