A Doctor of Science in Physical Therapy degree is awarded to a student who has completed the program of study and:
- Successful completion of 65 credits
- Achieved a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
- Completed all courses with a grade of C (77%) or higher.
- Successfully completed the research comprehensive examination.
- Successfully completed the educational track comprehensive capstone.
- Successfully completed the Doctoral Project.
- Submitted Intent to Graduate Form (available on the College web site).
- The maximum time of completion is 5 years for the fellowship certificate and/or 5 years for the DSc degree.
- Has submitted for publication the research project and systematic review (see below for details)
Publication: With the assistance of the research chair/committee and scoping/systematic review advisors, it is the responsibility of every DSc student to publish their scoping/systematic review and research project manuscript in a peer-reviewed journal. The expectation is that the scoping/systematic review will have been submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for initial consideration no later than the end of July after DSC904 Research Methodologies and Doctoral Project IV. The expectation by the end of DSC905 Research Methodologies and Doctoral Project V is that both the scoping/systematic review and research project manuscript will be 1) submitted and under full review with a peer-reviewed journal, or 2) accepted for publication or published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Desk Rejection: Often times a journal will immediately reject a publication upon receipt. This is termed a desk rejection and that paper does not end up going through the full peer review process. A desk rejection does not meet the graduation requirements for publication and another manuscript submission to another peer-reviewed journal will need to be made. The research project and scoping/systematic review will need to receive a “full review status” to meet the requirements for graduation.
Post-Graduation Review: A paper that is in review meets the graduation requirements, but the journal is likely to request revisions that will need to be completed post-graduation. Students must meet those requirements, or if a paper is ultimately rejected pursue successful publication in another peer-reviewed journal no later than 4 months post-graduation. If this timeline is not met, the student will waiver authorship rights.
Waiver of Authorship: In the unlikely event that a DSc student does not wish to further pursue publication of the research project or scoping/systematic review by four months post-graduation, that student waives authorship rights and will turn authorship of that paper over to the remaining students, chair/committee members, scoping/systematic review advisors and research directors.