Evaluation Criteria of a thesis and assessment criteria for the Final
Examination by submitting a thesis and one or more relevant paper.
(February 22, 2016 the Faculty Council approved)(June 26, 2019 Partial revisions by the Faculty Council)(January 22, 2020 Partial revisions by the Faculty Council)【Doctoral Course】
The application for academic degree entails thesis submission and at least one relevant paper, for which you
are the first author, as described below. For an applicant who has obtained designated school credits and has
submitted a thesis, a thesis screening and final examination will be given.
Evaluation criteria of a thesis1) The thesis should sufficiently dissert the research background, including the documented facts, which
serve as a background of the research. The objectives and fundamental strategy of the research, detailed
experimental methodology, result of experiments and its interpretation, should also be included. Inaddition, the thesis must include a sufficient discussion of the research, including a deep discussion of
the literature and a summary of the significance of the research, etc. A copy or translation of a previous
paper will not be accepted.
2) The thesis should be prepared in accordance with the required documentation methodology.
Criteria for approving relevant papers
1) Relevant papers should be written in English and appear in one of the “Journals written in English foracademic degree application” designated by the Graduate School of Medical Sciences.
2) Relevant papers shall not be applied by co-author as a thesis through “A. Screening criteria of a thesisand assessment criteria for the final examination which is accepted as a thesis which appeared in theacademic journals written in English”, nor have not been accepted as his/her thesis.
3) Relevant papers should be related to the thesis research.
4) The applicant for an academic degree must be the first author of the relevant paper. When the paper is a
joint work between the applicant and another researcher on an equal contribution basis, it must be clearlystated in the thesis that both of them are regarded as the first co-authors (with equal contribution).
However, except in the case of the next section, only one first co-author can use the paper for academic
degree credit.
5) The applicants are exceptionally given eligibility to apply as a relevant paper even when the other cofirst-author be credited through this application following criteria as follows;-The paper is a joint work between the applicant and another researcher on an equal contribution basis,
and-The Impact Factor (IF) of the academic journal divided by the number of co-first-authors is 5.0 or
higher, or when the paper appeared in the journal which places in the top 10% of its particular field ofresearch.
Less than two applicants are allowed for a relevant paper. Information about IF and searching method ofapplicable academic journals shall be referred to guidelines for the degree review.
6) The relevant papers should state “Kumamoto University” as the degree applicants’ affiliation.
7) Co-authorship or acknowledgments in the relevant papers must include the degree applicant’s researchsupervisor from the Graduate School of Medical Sciences.
8) The degree applicants who choose a relevant paper such as short communication must submit a prepublication paper in advance to Student Affairs Office, Graduate School of Medical Sciences. The
contents of the paper should be preliminary reviewed and approved by the Graduate School’s
Educational Committee.
Criteria for registration of “Journals written in English for academic degree application”
1) For foreign academic journals written in English, they should have a peer-review system and release thenames of the editorial board members.
2) For domestic journals written in English, they should stipulate submission written in English, have apeer-review system and release the names of the editorial board members.
3) Journals must be registered in PubMed or Scopus.
4) PubMed is a registration of MEDLINE and does not include PMC (formerly PubMed Central).

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Online-format journals are acceptable so long as the conditions mentioned above are satisfied.

Evaluation System
The Faculty Council shall establish a thesis review committee; it shall be comprised of one main examiner andtwo or more sub-examiners. The thesis review committee shall conduct the thesis review, examination andconsultation.
An academic advisor, an introductory advisor and advisors who belong to the same department of the applicant
are not permitted to be examiners. An advisor who engaged in his/her thesis as co-author is not permitted neither.
Evaluation Method and Items
After the confirmation that the thesis has been written in accordance with the criteria, the thesis review committee
shall conduct a final defense by an oral examination (public presentation), based on the criteria below.
Assessment criteria for the final examination
The final defense is an oral examination (public presentation) and an assessment is made by the following
criteria:
1) The examinee fully comprehends the content of his/her research and is able to explain it in detail.
2) The examinee is able to logically analyze the issues raised in his/her research.
3) The examinee is able to dissert the future prospect of his/her research.
4) The examinee has advanced knowledge in the field of his/her research.
5) The examinee has basic knowledge about fields related to his/her research
Note：This Evaluation Criteria shall go into effect on June 26, 2019.
The previous criteria shall apply to journals in which the thesis submitted prior to June 26, 2019 are published.
Journals registered prior to June 26, 2019 but not meeting the criteria will not be accepted as registered journals for
those who were admitted in 2019 and beyond.