Tell me more ×
Academia Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for academics and those enrolled in higher education. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 10 down vote favorite
1

I know a student in a linguistics master's program (in East Asia). He told me that in his country, most master's programs require students to publish a certain number of papers in academic journals in order to graduate. I want to study a linguistics-related degree in the US. Is such a requirement common there as well?

  • In the US, does "thesis-option" generally imply that one "must publish a thesis to graduate" or does it just mean "must write a thesis"?
  • Are such publishing requirements common enough in graduate programs in the US that it should be a question I ask schools when I apply?
share|improve this question
Not sure what you're trying to assess here, as answers can really only be either a "yes" or a "no", and will only reflect the experience/knowledge of the answerer. I'm tempted to close this question as "not a real question", but I want to see if the community agrees with my take. – eykanal♦ Dec 24 '12 at 15:04
3  
I think it's a reasonable question. Unlike many questions here, this one has a correct, factual answer, which can be defended with data. An ideal answer should have the form "Out of the top twenty linguistics programs in the US, only five have such a requirement: (list with links)." – JeffE Dec 24 '12 at 18:42
1  
Some clarification should also be provided on what is meant by"publishing the thesis." if the original document is meant, the answer is almost always "no." – aeismail♦ Dec 24 '12 at 21:53

1 Answer

up vote 3 down vote accepted

I've never heard of a publication requirement for a masters degree in the USA or UK. There is not even a novelty requirement for a masters dissertation, that's what makes it different from a PhD. Obviously publishing is a good idea if you want to continue on to a PhD, it makes your CV look much stronger and shows your promise as a researcher. But frankly, in the UK at least there is no time to publish before you finish your dissertation (Masters degrees are very compressed one year degrees) and most publications follow the formal completion of the degree.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.