Master's and doctoral theses in the faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Free State: Publication success and problems

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the publication success and problems of
postgraduate studies in the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Free State
(UFS). The sample consisted of students who obtained a postgraduate qualification
based on a Master's or doctoral thesis in the faculty from March 2001 to April
2004. Information was mainly collected through personal interviews with the
students or study leaders. In most cases publications plans were discussed during
the study, and for very few studies no publication was planned. However, less than a
quarter of the studies had led to a publication by the time of graduation and less
than half by the time of the followup interview. Various suggestions were made to
improve the publication success.

South African Journal of Higher Education Vol. 19 (4) 2005: pp.770-776