Regulations for the degree of Doctor Philosophiae (Dr.Philos.) at the University of Oslo contain overarching rules on the thesis.
The thesis
The thesis must be an independent, scientific work that meets international standards with regard to ethical requirements, academic standards, methods and documentation. It shall contribute to the development of new scientific knowledge and be of an academic standard appropriate for publication as part of the scientific literature in the field.
Since there is no requirement for an educational component equivalent to one semester for the Dr.Philos., the thesis shall be more extensive than what is required for the PhD degree. Requirements for the PhD thesis can be found in the faculties' PhD programme pages.
The faculty that is responsible for the evaluation determines the requirements for the scope of the thesis, which languages can be used and any other requirements for the thesis.
Several minor works (article-based theses) can be accepted as a thesis if there is a relationship between these works and this relationship is explained. See the University’s guidelines and the faculties’ own guidelines for such theses.
Joint work can be submitted for evaluation if the individual contributions can be identified and the scope of each of the contributions corresponds to a thesis.
If you have co-authors in parts of the thesis, you must follow the norms for co-authorship that are generally accepted in the relevant academic community and enshrined in the University of Oslo's guidelines for co-authorship. A co-author statement should be included with your submission, describing your contribution to each piece of work.
When can you not submit your thesis?
You cannot submit work or parts thereof that are under evaluation as part of a doctoral degree at another institution.
You cannot submit work or parts thereof that have previously been evaluated as part of a doctoral degree at another Norwegian or foreign institution, even if it is submitted in a revised form.
You cannot leave an organized doctoral programme to present yourself for a Dr.Philos. degree.
Publication
If the thesis is approved, it shall be printed and made publicly available no later than four weeks before the public defence is held. No restrictions can be placed on the public release of the thesis.