Publication Process for the M.P.H. Thesis

The following are publication guidelines that are intended to avoid miscommunication and differential expectations of authorship between students and thesis advisers.

  1. When the prospectus is submitted, thesis advisers will discuss publication with students, including desire for publication, description of the publication process, possible venues, authors, determination of authorship order, and logistics.
  2. If the thesis adviser provides the data, then the adviser should create a written publication/data sharing agreement. The agreement should be signed by both the adviser and the student before work on the thesis is started. The agreement should include at the minimum:
    Process for order of authorship,
    Timeline for publication and process if timeline is not met, and
    Process and expectations of revisions
  3. If the thesis adviser does not provide the data, then the thesis adviser should work with the student to draft a similar document to be completed and signed by the student and the primary data source. Guidelines should be consistent with any established policies of the primary data source. This should be done whether or not the thesis adviser is included as an author on the publication.
  4. In general, if the manuscript has not been submitted for publication within a year after graduation, the thesis adviser will have the right to prepare the manuscript for publication.