Detailed Program Requirements (Section 5)

5. Research Paper Requirement

All students must complete a Research Paper Requirement by the end of the 2nd year of graduate study (i.e., before the 1st day of class for fall term of the 3rd year). The intent of this requirement is for students to provide written evidence of their ability to properly design, execute, analyze and interpret an original experimental investigation conducted at OHSU or one of its associated facilities.  The student will conduct an experimental project under the supervision of his/her faculty mentor and one other Behavioral Neuroscience faculty member, who will serve as Co-advisor for the Research Paper. The student will prepare a manuscript in a specific peer-reviewed journal format.  The journal guidelines for manuscript preparation will be followed and a copy of these guidelines will be submitted along with a submission cover letter and the manuscript.  It is expected that the written document submitted for evaluation will be the student's work.  Specific details of any technical assistance, together with acknowledgement of the individual(s) who provided the assistance, must be included in the research methods or acknowledgements section of the paper.  Similarly, the source of any special materials used in the research project (e.g., mouse lines/strains, antisera, probes, reagents) must be specifically acknowledged.  Faculty advisors may offer general advice and comments on preliminary drafts, but must not engage in extensive copy-editing or re-writing of the document.   

To allow sufficient time for review and any required revisions, students should submit their papers and journal guidelines in triplicate (in hardcopy, not electronically) to the Graduate Program Director by no later than July 15th of the 2nd year of training. At this time, the advisor and co-advisor of the student for this requirement must submit a paper memo or electronic memo to the Graduate Program Director confirming that they have read and approved the manuscript for submission. The Graduate Program Director will then solicit written reviews from at least two Behavioral Neuroscience faculty members (excluding the faculty advisors). Additional reviews may be solicited from faculty with appropriate expertise in other programs or institutions when necessary.    

Reviewers will be asked to prepare their reviews and make recommendations to the Graduate Program Director concerning the acceptability of the paper within 2 weeks. Failure to obtain publishable results will not be considered sufficient reason for rejecting a manuscript. However, one or more revisions may be required by the Graduate Program Director before the final recommendation for approval is forwarded to the Department Chair, if the paper is submitted in fulfillment of this requirement.  Once the manuscript is approved, each student shall present a public seminar describing the results of the research project before or during the fall term of their 3rd year.   

There are two alternative ways of completing the Research Paper Requirement. First, students may provide evidence that an original research paper on which the student is sole author and which describes research conducted at OHSU or one of its associated facilities has been accepted for publication in a reputable peer-reviewed journal. Documentation must include a copy of the final version of the paper, written reviews, and all correspondence with the editor, including the letter of acceptance for publication. As a second alternative to the Research Paper Requirement, student may complete the requirements for the M.S. degree as described in the Graduate Council By-Laws. In both cases, the alternative must be approved by the Graduate Program Director and Department Chair.   

Failure to complete the Research Paper Requirement (or one of the alternatives) by the end of the 2nd year of graduate study may be considered grounds for recommendation of dismissal from the graduate program.