Degree Review Criteria for
Graduate School of Horticulture (GSH) Master’s Programs
Pertaining to a topic relating to environmental horticulture, a masterʼs thesis must embody
academic merit in terms of for example universality, strength of its arguments and ethicalconsiderations, and must be composed logically in a manner expected for an academic paper.
A student who applies for a review of his/her thesis must in addition have fulfilled thefollowing criteria by the completion of the review:1 )The student can expect to earn the requisite number of GSH coursework credits needed tocomplete his/her masterʼs program;
2 )The student must have absorbed the ability to independently develop an understanding of
the background to and the significance of the research topic, and to conduct a systematic
analysis that moves towards a resolution of the issues, as stipulated in the GSHʼs policy on
the conferment of degrees.
In addition to the holding of an open meeting for the presentation of the thesis, theDepartment Meeting and the GSH Faculty Council will each need to judge if the thesis isworthy of a masterʼs degree.

Degree Review Criteria forGraduate School of Horticulture (GSH) Doctoral Programs(For a degree earned by completing a doctoral program)
Pertaining to a topic relating to environmental horticulture, a doctoral dissertationmust embody academic merit in terms of a high level of for example originality, novelty,
universality, the strength of its arguments and ethical considerations, and possess a highdegree of completeness for having been composed logically in a manner expected for an
academic paper.
A student who applies for a review of his/her dissertation must in addition have fulfilled thefollowing criteria by the completion of the review:1 )The student can expect to earn the requisite number of GSH coursework credits needed tocomplete his/her doctoral program; and2 )The student can produce objective literature (in the form of publications), as stipulated inthe GSHʼs policy on the conferment of degrees, that demonstrates the studentʼs ability toconduct research activity independently as well as his/her learning that forms the basis forthat ability.
The objective literature (publications) in 2) must fulfill the following requirements:① A publication included in the dissertation has appeared, or has received definite
approval to appear, as a general rule in at least two peer-reviewed academic journals;② The student must be the primary author of the publication appearing in one of those
two journals. Although this requirement does not apply to the publication(s) appearing
in the other journal(s), the student will be required to have made a very considerable
contribution to the paper(s) in question;③ These publications must be published as a general rule while the student is enrolled in
his/her doctoral program.
This number of publications is an essential requirement for a dissertation review. For thatreason, for the purpose of a dissertation review an overall evaluation will be made of all
relevant factors including the nature and content of the publications and the details of theirauthorship, and their connection to the dissertation. In addition the dissertation itself will berequired to demonstrate a high level of completeness, as well as academic merit. In addition
to the holding of an open meeting for the presentation of the dissertation, the Degree Review
Committee, Department Meeting, and the GSH Faculty Council will each need to judge if thedissertation is worthy of the degree of doctor of philosophy.

Doctoral Degree Review Criteria for
Graduate School of Horticulture (GSH)(For a degree earned by Doctoral Dissertation)
Pertaining to a topic relating to environmental horticulture, a doctoral dissertationmust embody academic merit in terms of a high level of for example originality, novelty,universality, the strength of its arguments and ethical considerations, and possess ahigh degree of completeness for having been composed logically in a manner expected
for an academic paper.
An applicant who applies for a review of his/her dissertation must in addition havefulfilled the following criteria by the completion of the review:
1 ) The applicant can produce objective literature (in the form of publications), as

stipulated in the GSH’s policy on the conferment of degrees, that demonstrates theapplicant’s ability to conduct research activity independently as well as his/her learningthat forms the basis for that ability.
The objective literature (publications) must fulfill the following requirements:① A publication included in the dissertation has appeared, or has received definite

approval to appear, as a first author in at least 3 peer-reviewed academic journals.
② In addition, the publication has appeared, or has received definite approval toappear in at least 2 peer-reviewed academic journals. Or the rule can be replacedby equivalent achievement if it is accepted in consideration of each course’sspecialization.
This number of publications is an essential requirement for a dissertation review. For
that reason, for the purpose of a dissertation review an overall evaluation will be madeof all relevant factors including the nature and content of the publications and thedetails of their authorship, and their connection to the dissertation. In addition thedissertation itself will be required to demonstrate a high level of completeness, as wellas academic merit. In addition to the holding of an open meeting for the presentation of
the dissertation, the Degree Review Committee, Department Meeting, and the GSH
Faculty Council will each need to judge if the dissertation is worthy of the degree ofdoctor of philosophy.