Preliminary examination of the doctoral dissertation, Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies

Applying for permission to defend – submitting your dissertation for preliminary examination
Once you and your supervisors have assessed that your dissertation is ready for examination, you can apply for permission to defend and submit your dissertation for preliminary examination. Please note that before submitting your dissertation for preliminary examination, you must complete an originality check in accordance with the university and faculty guidelines. After the originality check, send your dissertation manuscript in PDF format and your application for permission to defend to [email protected]. If needed, you can request the application form from the same address. Your dissertation does not need to be formatted using the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies layout template at this stage.

If you are writing an article-based dissertation, include the following with your application:

• letters or messages from the publication series confirming that your articles have been accepted for publication or are in the review process (unpublished articles)
• a statement of your contribution to the articles
• a confirmation from your supervisor that the originality check has been passed

The statement of your contribution is an informal report in which you indicate your work input and position as author (e.g. first author or corresponding author; your approximate percentage of the work input) or describe which parts of the publication you were responsible for (e.g. methodology or data collection). Write the statement in English if one or both of the preliminary examiners do not speak Finnish.

Originality check for the doctoral dissertation

The originality of your dissertation is checked before the examination process. The scope of the check depends on the type of your dissertation.

• Monograph. The originality is always checked before submission for preliminary examination. If you make significant changes to your dissertation after the preliminary examination, it is recommended that you run the originality check again before publication.
• Article-based or essay-based dissertation. At the preliminary examination stage, the originality of any unpublished articles and the introductory section is checked.

Check originality already during the writing process.

You can check the originality of your dissertation independently during the writing process using Turnitin via Moodle. Technical instructions for using Turnitin are available in Kamu.

How the originality check proceeds before the examination process

1. Submit your dissertation to Turnitin and notify your supervisor. The Turnitin assignment may be maintained by your supervisor, your department, or your doctoral programme.
2. Review the originality report generated by Turnitin based on your submission.
3. Revise your dissertation if you receive feedback based on the report. You may resubmit a revised version to the originality check one more time.
4. Once you receive confirmation that the check has been passed, you can submit your dissertation for the examination process in accordance with your faculty’s guidelines.

If research misconduct is suspected

If the originality report raises a suspicion of misconduct, the matter will be investigated in accordance with the ethical guidelines for teaching and studying. Read more: Procedure in cases of suspected misconduct. See also the university’s research integrity guidelines.

Further information

• Process: Annikki Honkanen, Anne Korhonen
• Turnitin technical support: [email protected]

Appointment of preliminary examiners
Once your doctoral dissertation is ready for preliminary examination, your head of department and principal supervisor will propose preliminary examiners. They will send the examiners’ contact details and academic titles to [email protected].

The vice dean will appoint two preliminary examiners for your dissertation. The following requirements apply to the preliminary examiners:
• They must be outside the University of Eastern Finland.
• They must hold at least the title of docent or equivalent academic qualifications. If a preliminary examiner does not hold the title of docent, the vice dean will assess their qualifications based on their CV, list of publications, and a statement from a professor.

Who cannot serve as a preliminary examiner?
A person cannot serve as a preliminary examiner if they:
• have supervised your dissertation
• have co-authored publications related to your research topic during your doctoral studies
• have participated in the same research project as you during your doctoral studies
• are otherwise disqualified under the Administrative Procedure Act.

Read more about disqualification in the UEF guidelines on disqualification (UEF login required).

Preliminary examiners’ statements and the decision on permission to defend

The preliminary examiners will submit their statements within 30 days of receiving your dissertation. If necessary, the vice dean may grant the examiners additional time. Once the statements are ready, the faculty administration will send them to you and your supervisors. You will have the opportunity to review the statements before the process continues.

Once you have accepted the statements, the vice dean will make the decision on permission to defend. You will receive the decision and further instructions by email. If one or both of the preliminary examiners do not recommend granting permission to defend, contact your supervisors and the faculty administration at [email protected].

Discontinuation of the preliminary examination

When you receive the preliminary examiners’ statements and the proposed grade, you may choose to discontinue the assessment process for your dissertation. Note: You may discontinue the assessment process only once by notifying the faculty administration in writing at [email protected].

You may resubmit your dissertation for assessment after you have revised it based on the feedback from your supervisors and preliminary examiners. If your dissertation is not accepted for re-assessment, you will receive a decision that is subject to appeal (Education Regulations, Section 37).

Further information

Maija Nyman
Salla Lappalainen