PhD Courses in Denmark

The objective of this course is to introduce and build experience with scientific literature reviewing for a defined scientific topic.

A student who has met the objectives of the course will be able to:

• Search for relevant scientific literature by using search tools and databases
• Formulate search strings based on a scientific topic
• Work with reference management
• Identify the most important publications within a defined scientific topic
• Identify pioneering/original work within the defined topic
• Cite the literature in a correct manner
• Avoid plagiarism, including self-plagiarism
• Summarize the main findings described by science for a defined topic
• Present scientific literature in a balanced manner, so that consensus is highlighted, but deviating findings are not ignored.
• Present a scientific literature review in a clear and concise format

A part of a PhD education is to learn to review and cite the scientific literature of relevance to a scientific topic. In this course, the PhD student will be introduced to and will develop experience with reviewing the scientific literature for a defined topic. The topic can be the topic of the PhD project. The PhD student will work independently with reviewing the literature for a scientific topic defined initially by the student. The PhD supervisor (main or co-) will be responsible for supervising the work of the PhD student throughout the course. A timeframe for regular meetings will be agreed on between the PhD supervisor and the PhD student when signing up for the course; this is to make sure that the supervisor allocates sufficient time for discussing the progress of the literature review. Mandatory elements are introduction to the use of search tools, literature databases and reference management. These elements can be covered by (a) completing the courses Search, cite, publish and Introduction to Mendeley – webinar offered by DTU Library, (b) completing a similar external course, e.g. Academic Information Seeking, or (c) an introduction by the PhD supervisor. It is the responsibility of the PhD supervisor to make sure that the PhD student learns to cite the literature correctly, learns to avoid plagiarism, and learns to present literature in a balanced manner so that consensus in state of the art is emphasized without ignoring reported discrepancies. The PhD student and the PhD supervisor will agree on the time for the exam, for example as part of a supervisor meeting. The main PhD supervisor and at least one co-supervisor must participate in the exam. The literature review is presented in oral form at the exam. The course is passed if both PhD supervisors agree that the learning objectives have been met. When the exam has been passed, the PhD supervisor must inform the course responsible by email, so that the course completion can be registered. NB. A written form of the literature review can be part of the PhD thesis to be evaluated by the assessment committee. Therefore, a written form of the literature review should not be evaluated in this course. In this course, it is the PhD student’s ability to perform a scientific literature review that is evaluated. The e-mail should include course number, name of student and the student’s study number.