Guidelines and checklist for licentiate thesis preparation and the licentiate seminar

Once you have agreed on a preferred date and time for the licentiate seminar, the supervisor shall inform the study and research administration thereof. The study and research administration will book a lecture hall and a meeting room. According to ”Guidelines on venues and refreshments in connection with doctoral programme activities” (2025/07289), this will be in Örebro University’s own facilities.

A proposal for public defence of a licentiate thesis, complete with all appendices, must be submitted to the study and research administration 15 weeks – at the latest – prior to the planned date of the licentiate seminar. Please note that the external reviewer, examining committee including substitute and the chair of the seminar must have agreed to the request before the proposal for the licentiate seminar is submitted.

• Form for proposal for public defence of a licentiate thesis

When preparing the licentiate thesis, the university template for thesis should be used (please note however that it is specifically designed for the preparation of doctoral theses). The licentiate thesis should be written in English. A licentiate thesis should consist of an introductory chapter based on at least two substudies, of which at least one has been published or accepted for publication in a refereed journal at the time of submission of the proposal for the public defence of a licentiate thesis. The doctoral student must be the lead author of at least one of the substudies. Co-lead authorship is accepted but what is key for the examining committee’s assessment of the thesis is the contribution made by the doctoral student and how it corresponds to the intended learning outcomes for the award of the degree. A systematic overview paper or meta-analysis may be included in the thesis. A licentiate thesis at Örebro University may in certain cases take the format of a monograph. 

 Journal(s) must be contacted prior to the licentiate seminar for permission to publish the paper and pictures/tables in the thesis (feel free to use this template for this purpose).

 In accordance with the faculty publication policy, the doctoral student needs to have Örebro University as affiliation for all substudies included in the thesis.

Language editing

The introductory chapter should be submitted for language editing.

Plagiarism check of the introductory chapter

A plagiarism check must be done on the introductory chapter. According to ”Guidelines for plagiarism check of introductory chapters prior to the public defence of doctoral theses and licentiate seminar for the subject areas of medical science and disability science” (ORU 1.2.1-06334/2017), the doctoral student is responsible for sending the introductory chapter excluding the list of references to the study and research administration. The study and research administration in turn submits it to the plagiarism detection system Urkund.

The specialisation coordinator/head of subject informs the study and research administration about the result of the plagiarism check. The administration informs the printing office that the thesis is OK to print and informs the doctoral student and the principal supervisor thereof.

In the event that possible plagiarism is detected, the specialisation coordinator/head of subject will contact the principal supervisor and the doctoral student immediately. The printing office is also contacted, to stop the printing of the thesis.

Printing the licentiate thesis

Printing is to be done after the licentiate seminar and after a passing grade has been awarded for the thesis. The school meets the cost of two copies, one for archiving and one for the cabinet in which doctoral and licentiate theses are displayed. The cost of any further copies is met by the doctoral student (or supervisor).The doctoral student shall contact the Printing Office (Repro) at Örebro University concerning the printing and will at the same time submit the necessary details for invoicing and delivery arrangements. These details can be obtained from the study and research administrator.

Generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini, and similar services, may be used as support in various parts of the work involved in preparing a doctoral thesis. The use of such tools, however, entails specific requirements regarding transparency, academic integrity, and individual responsibility.

The doctoral candidate is always fully responsible for the content of the thesis, including scientific reasoning, factual information, references, analyses, conclusions, and linguistic presentation, regardless of whether generative AI has been used as a support tool.

When finalising the thesis, the doctoral candidate should therefore include a brief declaration stating whether and how generative AI has been used in the preparation of the thesis summary (“kappa”) or monograph. The declaration should be included in the thesis, for example under a separate heading such as “Declaration of Generative AI Use”.

The declaration should describe:

• which generative AI tools have been used,
• the purposes for which the tools have been used,
• the parts of the thesis summary (kappa) or monograph in which they have been used,
• and, where relevant, how the doctoral candidate has reviewed and verified the AI-generated material.

It is not necessary to report every individual prompt or uses limited solely to basic language or grammar checking or standardised digital functions. However, the declaration should provide an accurate account of any use of generative AI that has contributed to the text, structure, analysis, code, figures, or other scientific content of the thesis.

If generative AI has been used to support methodological development, data analysis, programming, statistical analyses, or the preparation of scientific figures, its use should also be described in the relevant section of the thesis where necessary to enable the work to be understood and assessed.

For compilation theses, the constituent papers are subject to the rules and guidelines concerning the disclosure of generative AI use that applied at the time each paper was published or submitted.

Generative AI may not be listed as an author or co-author and cannot assume responsibility for the content of a thesis. The doctoral candidate is responsible for ensuring that its use is consistent with good research practice, research ethics requirements, data protection, confidentiality, and any applicable rules established by journals, research funders, or other relevant parties.

If generative AI has not been used in any manner covered by the above, this may also be stated briefly.

Examples of statements on the use of generative AI

Example 1 – No use of generative AI

Use of generative AI

Generative AI tools were not used to generate, revise, analyse, or otherwise contribute to the scientific content of this thesis.

Example 2 – Use for language editing only

Use of generative AI

Generative AI (ChatGPT, OpenAI) was used to a limited extent to support language editing of parts of the thesis summary, for example by suggesting alternative wording and improving readability and clarity of the English text.

The tool was not used to generate scientific results, analyses, interpretations, or conclusions. All AI-assisted text was reviewed and, where necessary, revised by the author, who takes full responsibility for the final content of the thesis.

Example 3 – Use for language and structure

Use of generative AI

Generative AI (ChatGPT, OpenAI) was used as a support tool for language editing and structuring of selected parts of the thesis summary. This included suggestions for alternative wording, improvements in text structure, and increased clarity and readability.

The AI tool was not used independently to formulate scientific conclusions or to assess research findings. All AI-assisted material was critically reviewed, verified, and, where necessary, revised by the author. The author takes full responsibility for the final content of the thesis.

Example 4 – Use for programming or data analysis support

Use of generative AI

Generative AI tools (ChatGPT, OpenAI, and GitHub Copilot) were used as support during parts of the work presented in this thesis. The tools were used for language editing of the thesis summary and for assistance with the development, troubleshooting, and refinement of code used for data processing and statistical analyses.

All AI-assisted analyses and code suggestions were critically reviewed, tested, and verified before use. Generative AI was not used to independently interpret research findings or generate the scientific conclusions of the thesis.

The author takes full responsibility for all analyses, results, interpretations, and conclusions presented in the thesis.

The study and research administrator will send an e-mail with practical information before and in connection with the licentiate seminar to the external reviewer, examining committee including substitute and chair of the seminar.  

Review prior to the licentiate seminar

A review of the substudies included in the licentiate thesis is to be done by the members of the examining committee prior to the licentiate seminar. The committee is tasked with assessing whether the quality and quantity of the substudies meet the intended learning outcomes for the award of the licentiate degree. The study and research administrator is responsible for sending relevant documentation. Each member submits their assessment to the school separately and in writing, either recommending or advising against holding the licentiate seminar. At the licentiate seminar, the committee makes a new and collective assessment of the licentiate thesis as a whole. The examining committee also review applications for and decisions on ethics approval.

Distribution of the licentiate thesis

The study and research administrator will send the licentiate thesis as a pdf via email to the external reviewer, examining committee including substitute and the chair about three weeks before the licentiate seminar.

The doctoral student distributes the licentiate thesis to other persons concerned.

The doctoral student begins by presenting their work.

The external reviewer is tasked with critically reviewing the licentiate thesis and discussing the content with the author of the thesis.

After the seminar, the examining committee are to ask questions relating to the content of the thesis with the purpose of assessing whether the intended learning outcomes for the award of the licentiate degree have been met. Other attendees in the seminar will also be given the opportunity to ask questions.

The examinig committee meeting

The examining committee will convene immediately after the part of the seminar that is public. The committee will appoint a chair from among its members and will grade the thesis using either of the grades Pass or Fail.

The chair, principal supervisor, and assistant supervisor may be present and take part in the discussions at the meeting but not in the decision. Minutes must be taken, which are to be signed by the chair of the examining committee.

According to the “Guidelines on venues and refreshments in connection with doctoral programme activities” (2025/07289) the school will order and meet the costs incurred for coffee and lunch for the persons who have an official role at the licentiate seminar. If the seminar takes place in the morning and a decision has been made before lunch, the doctoral student may also attend the lunch.

The doctoral student is responsible for organising and meeting any costs incurred for refreshments after the seminar.