Marketing Department

Admission to Candidacy

Before admission to candidacy, the student is required to

1. Complete the course requirements as described in the Marketing Doctoral Program.
2. Take and pass the Marketing preliminary examination offered at the end of the first year.
3. Complete a faculty-supervised first year research paper.
4. Complete all forms required by the University. Link to forms.

First Year Paper

Each student is required to complete a faculty-supervised first year paper that is due approximately September 1st, before the start of classes of the Fall semester of the second year. The purpose of the paper is for each student to get first-hand experience in the research process by:

• identifying an interesting and important problem
• reviewing and synthesizing previous research in the area
• conducting original and primary research on the topic which could take the form of:
• an experiment to test some hypotheses
• derivation of an analytic model which generates testable propositions
• development of a model and testing of it on an existing dataset
• writing a +/- 30-page paper summarizing the research in accepted journal format.

Students should begin thinking about this project no later than the first summer in the program and should begin working with a faculty member whose role is to provide guidance and counsel along the way. The paper can use as its starting point work previously completed for another class, but must demonstrate substantial incremental work and improvement. For additional information, students should talk to the marketing doctoral program advisor and/or other faculty members.

Additional Details:

Deadline	The paper is due no later than September 1st, at the beginning of the 2nd year. (The actual date is determined on a yearly basis.) If the paper is not received by the deadline, all funding will be suspended until the paper is turned in, the paper has been evaluated by the designated reviewers, and the doctoral committee meets and makes a determination as to whether the student's funding should be reinstated. The expectation is that all papers will be turned in on time; if, however, a student anticipates that meeting the deadline is impossible, he/she should inform the doctoral program advisor well in advance of the deadline.
Review Process	The paper will be evaluated by three reviewers in a manner consistent with normal academic journals. The student is welcome to suggest appropriate readers. Each student will receive feedback on their paper. Once the feedback has been received, students are required to respond to that feedback. This response should include how the student will revise the paper in order to address the comments and criticism. Ideally, all students will ultimately publish their first year papers. Comments to the reviewers can serve as a useful roadmap for these revisions. Comments to the reviewers will be due 2 weeks after students have received the reviews.
Oral Presentation	During January of the second year, each student will make a ½-hour presentation of his/her paper to the Marketing faculty and the other doctoral students. The presentation will take place during one of the regularly-scheduled colloquium time slots after the student has received reviewer feedback. Students should endeavor to revise their research based upon comments from the reviewers before making this presentation.