The dissertation should be a book-length manuscript or a series of related articles of equivalent intellectual ambition and scope.

Doctor of Juridical Science students must spend at least one academic year (two semesters) in residence in the S.J.D. program at the College of Law. The course of study in that year differs depending on whether a student already has an LL.M. or an equivalent master?s-level degree.

Students who already have an LL.M. or equivalent master?s-level degree must complete 18 s.h. of credit during their first year of residency. They must enroll in the S.J.D. tutorial (5 s.h. each semester; 10 s.h. total) to conduct research and writing under the supervision of their S.J.D. dissertation committee. The work in the S.J.D. tutorial focuses on formulating a detailed dissertation proposal, beginning research for and writing of portions of the dissertation, and completing one or more chapters.

S.J.D. students are expected to write a dissertation of publishable quality making a significant and original contribution to legal scholarship. The dissertation should be a book-length manuscript or a series of related articles of equivalent intellectual ambition and scope.