In July 2024, amendments and additions were made to the rules for awarding scientific degrees in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Today we will analyse the rules for awarding PhD and Doctor of the Profile by profile.
In July 2024, the Order of the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan №352 made additions and amendments to the order “On Approval of the Rules for Awarding Degrees”. In this article we will analyse the rules and procedure for awarding degrees in Kazakhstan, taking into account the changes made.
The procedure for awarding a PhD and a Doctor of the Profile
Dissertation
Scientific supervisors of the dissertation
The dissertation is carried out under the supervision of domestic and foreign academic advisors who have scientific or academic degrees and are recognised specialists in the doctoral student's field of research.
If the dissertation contains state secrets, it is carried out under the supervision of two domestic academic advisors who also hold scientific or academic degrees and are specialists in the relevant field. Additionally, the advisors may be persons with a military (special) rank not lower than colonel, who have at least 5 years of experience in scientific and pedagogical work and are actively engaged in scientific and pedagogical research.
The topic of the thesis, at the time of its approval, should correspond to the priority directions of science development, defined by the Higher Scientific and Technical Commission under the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Principles of the thesis
The dissertation is carried out in compliance with the following basic principles: independence, internal unity, scientific novelty, reliability, practical value and academic honesty.
- The principle of independence means that the dissertation should be written independently, demonstrating the author's personal contribution to the scientific field, as well as the development of techniques and technologies.
- The principle of internal unity provides a logical connection between all sections and provisions of the thesis. All scientific provisions, results and recommendations should correspond to the goals and objectives set in the thesis.
- The principle of scientific novelty requires that the results of the thesis should be new, and the work itself should contain new scientifically substantiated theoretical or experimental results. These results should be important for the development of certain scientific directions.
- The principle of reliability ensures that all the results obtained are based on modern methods of research and data processing, with the possible use of computer technology. In natural, technical, medical and agrarian sciences, the conclusions should be confirmed by experiments. In the group of specialities ‘Education’ the conclusions are based on pedagogical sciences and research.
- The principle of practical value is that in applied research it is necessary to provide evidence of practical application of the results obtained (e.g., patents, certificates, acts of implementation). In theoretical research, recommendations on how to utilise the scientific findings are important.
- The principle of academic honesty requires the observance of ethical standards, in particular the avoidance of plagiarism, autoplagiarism, fabrication and falsification of results. The author must respect the rights of other researchers and properly cite sources to avoid misappropriation of others' ideas or results.
Coincidence in the names of legal acts, documents or commonly used terms is not considered plagiarism if it does not undermine the independence of the work. The use of technical means to conceal plagiarism is also strictly prohibited.
Form of the thesis
The dissertation may be presented in one of two forms. Firstly, it may be an individual thesis. Second, it may be a series of at least two articles and one review or three articles published in publications in the first or second quartile (Q1-Q2) of the impact factor according to Journal Citation Reports (JCR) by Clarivate Analytics. These publications must be relevant to the research area covered by the thesis. The doctoral student must be first author or corresponding author on one of the articles.
Scientific publications for the thesis
The main scientific results of the dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) or Doctor in the profile must be published before defence in scientific editions included in the List of scientific editions recommended for publication of the main results of scientific activity, or in international peer-reviewed scientific journals.
International peer-reviewed scientific journal must have an impact factor according to JCR or be indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection database (including Arts and Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index). In addition, the journal may have a certain percentile in the CiteScore in the Scopus database in one of the scientific fields relevant to the thesis topic.
Publication requirements for admission to the thesis defence
Option 1
At least 1 article in an international peer-reviewed scientific journal that:
- has an impact factor according to the JCR, or
- is indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection database (Arts and Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index), or
- has a CiteScore percentile of at least 25 in the Scopus database.
- 3 articles in journals included in the List of Publications.
Option 2
At least 2 articles in international peer-reviewed scientific journals that:
- indexed in Web of Science Core Collection (Arts and Humanities Citation Index), or
- are in the first three quartiles (Q1-Q3) of the JCR impact factor, or
- have a CiteScore percentile of at least 35 in the Scopus database.
Option 3
A section in a monograph published by a trusted publisher such as:
- Elsevier, Brill, CRC Press, DeGruyter, Edward Elgar Publishing, John Wiley & Sons, McGraw Hill, Palgrave Macmillan, Peter Lang, Prentice Hall, Routledge, Sage Publications, Springer Nature, Taylor and Francis, Wolters Kluwer.
- Or the monograph is published by a university publishing house in the top 100 of the ranking:
- US News Best Global Universities Rankings,
- Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), or the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
- Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
Option 4
At least 1 article in an international peer-reviewed scientific journal with an impact factor according to JCR data in the first two quartiles (Q1-Q2).
For doctoral students who studied on educational programmes (specialties) of such groups of educational programmes as “8D017 – Preparation of teachers of Kazakh language and literature”, “D016 – Preparation of teachers of history”, “8D060 – Philology”, “D050 – Philosophy and Ethics” and “D053 – History” in the directions “8D01 – Pedagogical Sciences” and “8D02 – Arts and Humanities”, who have prepared a thesis on Kazakh language and literature, Kazakh philology, history of Kazakhstan, Kazakh philosophy, publications may be as follows:
Option 1
- At least 1 article in an international peer-reviewed scientific journal indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection (Arts and Humanities Citation Index) database or with a CiteScore percentile of at least 25 in Scopus.
- 3 articles in journals from the Publications List.
Option 2
- At least 5 articles in journals from the Publications List (one of them in English).
- 2 oral presentations at international scientific conferences.
In case of one scientific article in a journal included in the first quartile (Q1) of the JCR impact factor, no other publications are required.
Publications in international peer-reviewed scientific journals, conference proceedings correspond to the content of the thesis and the thematic focus of the journal and conference, declared in the specified bases, published on the official website of the journal. It is allowed to publish in international peer-reviewed scientific journals with interdisciplinary orientation.
The journal's quartile in the Web of Science database and/or percentile by CiteScore in the Scopus database are taken into account for the year of publication or for the year preceding the year of publication, or at the time of the thesis defence.
For dissertations with state secrets or proprietary information:
- The main results must be published in at least 7 publications on the topic of the thesis.
- Among them there should be at least 4 articles in scientific editions included in the List of editions.
For theses defended abroad:
- Scientific works published before the submission of the attestation file to the Committee are taken into account.
- There must be at least 1 article in an international peer-reviewed scientific journal.
- Articles in foreign periodical scientific publications included in the List of publications are also taken into account.
If there are scientific articles in international peer-reviewed scientific journals according to paragraph on scientific publications for the thesis, 1 article in such journal shall be counted as 2 articles in the publications recommended by the authorised body.
Articles from the List of editions are taken into account according to the Requirements to scientific editions for their inclusion in the list of editions recommended for publication of the results of scientific activity, approved by the Order of the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan from 12 January 2016 № 20.
Establishment of requirements to the dissertation design
Organisations of higher and/or postgraduate education (OHPE) independently establish requirements for the design of dissertation works, including international citation styles used in dissertation works (Harvard style, APA, Style, MLA Style, Chicago Style, ACS Style or others depending on the field of study).
It is allowed to establish additional requirements for publications in the OHPE having a special status.
Requirements for references in the thesis
References in the thesis must contain:
- Sources of cited materials or individual results with full source data.
- Protection documents for the developments obtained by the doctoral student independently or in co-authorship.
- Scientific works on the topic of the thesis, performed by the doctoral student independently or in co-authorship.
If plagiarism is detected by a specialised academic council or committee, a negative decision is taken without the right to re-defence.
Awarding the degrees of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Doctor on the profile, to persons who have defended a dissertation in specialised specialised scientific councils at HEIs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which do not have a special status
Term of consideration of attestation cases
1. Main term:
Consideration of attestation cases submitted to the Committee by a specialised scientific council lasts 4 months from the date of registration with the Committee.
2. Extension of the deadline:
- If the doctoral student is invited to a meeting of the Expert Council, the review period is extended by 1 month.
- The Committee informs the Specialised Academic Council about the extension of the deadline within 7 working days from the date of the extension.
The attestation file is removed from the Committee's consideration within 1 month from the moment of its receipt in the presence of a personal statement (in free form) of the doctoral student or a petition of the dissertation council (in free form). In case of withdrawal from consideration, the attestation case is submitted to the Committee after the repeated defence.
Expert Council
Criteria for the members of the council:
1. Specialists with a scientific degree (candidate of sciences, doctor of sciences, doctor of philosophy (PhD), doctor by profile).
2. At least 1/3 of the members must have:
- Hirsch index of 2 or more in Web of Science or Scopus;
- Publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals indexed in Web of Science Core Collection (Arts and Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index) or have a CiteScore percentile of at least 35 in Scopus;
- International Patents;
- At least 10 publications in publications from the Publications List;
- Or 10 scholarly and creative works in the arts.
3. Monographs:
- A monograph published by trusted publishers or universities from the top 100 ranking will count as 2 scholarly articles if it has at least 3 printed pages.
- A chapter in a monograph (at least 1 printed page) counts as 1 article.
Restrictions for board members
1. Not included:
- Heads of OHPEs and government officials (except national security officials);
- Chairpersons and members of dissertation councils without special status.
2. Term and conditions of work:
- The composition of the Expert Councils shall be approved for 3 years.
- There should be at least 6 members of the council.
- Members cannot serve more than 2 consecutive terms.
- Members who miss more than 3 meetings in a year or inappropriately fulfil their duties are subject to expulsion.
3. Structure of the council:
A chair, vice-chair and academic secretary (not from the same organisation) shall be appointed.
Meetings of the Expert Council
1. Management:
- The chairman of the Expert Council conducts the meeting.
- In the absence of the chairperson, the vice-chairperson shall conduct the meeting.
2. Eligibility:
A meeting is competent if at least 2/3 of the approved membership is present.
3. Form of holding:
It is possible to hold the meeting in the form of videoconference by decision of the Committee.
4. Provided:
- Visual identification of participants;
- Continuous video and audio broadcasting of speeches.
5. Confirmation of participation:
The attendance of members is confirmed by the attendance sheet of the meeting.
6. Storage of materials:
Working materials shall be kept at the Committee.
7. Decision of the Expert Council:
- Award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in the subject area;
- Sending the dissertation for revision (except for dissertations in the form of a series of articles);
- Sending the thesis for re-defence;
- Refusal to award the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) or Doctor of Philosophy.
Decision-making procedure of the Thesis Committee
1. Issuance of an order by the Committee:
Within 10 working days from the date of acceptance of the conclusion by the Expert Council, the Committee shall issue an order on:
- sending the thesis for revision, or
- sending the thesis for repeated defence, or
- award or refusal to award the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) or doctoral degree in the profile.
2. Notification of the decision:
In case of a decision on revision, re-defence or refusal to award the degree, the Committee sends the conclusion of the expert council to the specialised academic council and the doctoral student within 10 working days from the date of issuing the relevant order.
3. Deadlines for finalising the thesis:
- The finalised dissertation must be submitted to the expert council within three months.
- If necessary, this period may be extended for another three months. The decision on the extension is made by the Expert Council on the basis of an application of the doctoral student in an arbitrary form.
- If the finalised work is not submitted in time, the doctoral student must undergo a repeated defence.
4. Discussion of the finalised work
The Expert Council reviews the finalised thesis in order to assess the elimination of previous remarks. After discussion, a relative majority of votes is taken to decide whether to:
- awarding the degree, or
- referral for re-defence.
5. Repeat defence:
The repeated defence may take place no earlier than 6 months after the previous defence.
6. Issuance of diplomas and disclosure of information:
- Persons who have been awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) or doctoral degree in the profile, are issued diplomas according to the form approved by the order of the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan from 10 February 2023 № 47.
- Information on the awarding of the degree shall be published on the Committee's Internet resources within 3 working days after the decision is made.
7. Consideration of dissertations:
- Timeline for review. Dissertations and publications submitted to the Expert Council within the framework of the state service “Recognition of educational documents” approved by the Order of the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 12 June 2023, No. 268, are reviewed for compliance with the provisions of these Rules within 48 working days.
- Negative conclusion. In case of a negative conclusion of the Expert Council due to non-compliance with the provisions on the principles of the thesis and requirements for references, the thesis of the applicant is not subject to reconsideration.
Awarding the degrees of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Doctor by profile, to persons who have defended a dissertation in specialised scientific councils at HEIs of the Republic of Kazakhstan having a special status
Procedure of awarding the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) or doctor on a profile in HEIs with a special status:
- Issuance of an order. The higher education institution having a special status, on the basis of the decision of the specialised scientific council issues an order on awarding or refusal in awarding the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) or doctor on a profile within 10 working days from the day of decision making.
- Issuance of diplomas. Persons who have been awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) or Doctor by profile shall be issued diplomas of their own sample within 10 working days from the date of issuance of the order.
- Disclosure of information. Information on the awarding of the degree is posted on the Internet resources of the HEI with special status within 3 working days from the date of the decision of the Dissertation Council.
- Procedure for issuing diplomas. The procedure for issuing a diploma on the award of a degree is determined by the HEI with special status independently.
- Procedure of repeated defence. In case of refusal to award the degree, the dissertation is submitted for repeated defence, but not earlier than 6 months after the previous defence in the HEI with special status.
The adopted rules and requirements are the foundation for the completion of studies, obtaining scientific degrees and continuing scientific activity.
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