Requirements for all
By November 30th of their first year, each student must submit to the Program office a brief outline of their proposed research that has been reviewed and approved by the members of their supervisory committee.
The work must be original – it must contain your own argument, supported by research carried out by the student.
A declaration of the ethical issues around the underlying research must be made early in the student’s first year. An ethics review will be required without exception for all students who are interacting with outside individuals in any manner (interviews, questionnaires, consultations, observations, et c.).
The work must be prepared in accordance with the Faculty of Graduate Studies thesis and dissertation guidelines [http://www.yorku.ca/grads/thesis/index.htm]. This includes both stylistic requirements and requirements for handling copyrighted materials.
Thesis (LLM) requirements
The thesis must be an extended piece of writing reflecting the original research conducted by the student. It should be:
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125-150 pages long (about 40,00 words) |
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of publishable quality, as one or two articles or book chapters |
The thesis will be examined by an examining committee. The student will present and defend the thesis in an oral examination before the committee.
Major Research Paper (LLM-MRP) requirements
The Major Research Paper (MRP) must be an original piece of scholarly work. It should be:
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prepared according to the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation, 7th ed. (the McGill Guide) |
The MRP will be examined and graded by two graduate program faculty members which will normally be the student’s supervisor and another member who will serve as an examiner.
Dissertation (PhD) requirements
The dissertation is an extended piece of scholarly writing that reflects both a substantial contribution to the existing literature and original research done by the student. It should be:
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300 pages long (about 100,000 words) | |
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publishable: | |
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as a monograph by a reputable publisher | |
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in several articles appearing in reputable journals | |
Before the dissertation is written, an extended dissertation proposal outline must be submitted by April 30th of the student’s first year (in addition to the brief outline required earlier in the year).
Both the extended dissertation proposal outline and the final dissertation will be examined by examining committees. The student will present and defend them orally before the committees.
For more information:
| Graduate Program in Law Handbook | |
| Faculty of Graduate Studies – Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines |