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Doctoral Degree

A doctoral degree or doctorate is an academic degree of the highest level. Traditionally, the award of a doctorate implies recognition of the candidate as an equal by the university faculty under which he or she has studied. There are essentially three types of doctorates:first-professional (USA only), research, and honorary. Research doctorates are nearly always awarded in recognition of academic research that is of a publishable standard (even if not actually published) and represents at least a modest contribution to human knowledge. It is usually assessed by submission and defense of a doctoral thesis or dissertation, though in some cases a coherent body of published literature can be accepted instead. Honorary doctorates are awarded for a substantial contribution to a field but this need not be academic in character.

The title of Doctor is used both by and of those holding research doctorates or some professional (usually medical) degrees, but according to convention is not used by or of those holding honorary doctorates. Additionally, in the United States while a person with a research doctorate would use the title "Doctor" in an academic or research/development setting, and in publication, he would generally not use the title if working in a corporate setting.

General information

In the United States, first-professional doctoral degrees are first degrees in a given field and include: Chiropractic, Dentistry, Law, Medicine, Optometry, Osteopathy, Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, Podiatry, Psychology and Veterinary medicine. There are many others. Although these degrees may be both the initial and terminal degree in their field, students seeking to enter degree programs for them must have already completed a Bachelors degree, usually in a related field.First-professional doctoral degrees such as the M.D. and J.D. do not require completion of a thesis/dissertation or publication of a coherent body of literature. The normal minimum term for a first-professional doctorate can be as little as 3 years past secondary education. These "first-professional" doctoral degrees therefore lack the status of the research doctorates. Actual practice within the field requires that the degree holder become licensed by the appropriate body (an organization not affiliated with the schools granting the degrees) and registration can require a certain amount of work experience.The most common type of research doctorate is a Ph.D. (Philosophiae Doctor or Doctor of Philosophy), though there are many other designations, listed below. Minimum periods for research doctorates vary considerably: In the UK and USA the minimum time for completing a Ph.D. is usually 3 years from time of enrollment (which usually takes place after the award of a bachelor's or master's degree). Although completions within this period are possible, most candidates take considerably longer, with a common average of roughly 7.5 years often seen in the USA for the 'hard' sciences, such as physics, engineering, and chemistry. A shorter span of time in the USA is often seen in the 'soft' sciences such as sociology and anthropology.Although the Ph.D. is almost universally accepted currently as the standard qualification for an academic career, it is a relatively new invention. The older-style doctorates (now usually called "Higher Doctorates" in the United Kingdom) take much longer to complete, since candidates must show themselves to be leading experts in their subjects. These doctorates are now becoming rare, and are usually only awarded as Honorary degrees. In France, the higher doctorate was suppressed and replaced for academic recruitment purposes by the much lighter "habilitation to direct theses".

List of Doctorates

First-Degree (or First-professional) Doctorates

Research oriented doctorates

While the Ph.D. is the most common doctoral degree, and even often (mis)understood to be synonymous with the term "doctorate", the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) recognize numerous doctoral degrees as equivalent, and do not discriminate between them:

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