Titles and middle initials in thesis

[Function]

Hello everyone

 

Writing my thesis, I was wondering certain things on mentioning myself, my supervisors, co-supervisors and advisor (I'll call them all my supervisors henceforth):

 

Situation:

• Some of my supervisors have one or multiple middle names.
• All of my supervisors are physicians.
• Some of my supervisors are a professor.
• My other supervisors are PhD candidates.
• I have to mention all of them multiple times in quite official pages:
  • Cover page
  • Myself without anyone else on a 'sec' title page, with only title and author (p. i)
  • Title page (p. iii) (identical to the cover page)
  • P. iv, giving an overview of author, supervisors, co-supervisor, advisor and commissioner of the examination board and details on the research group
  • Signature page (p. v)
• In other pages, I just mention them by name (e.g. "Professor Firstname Lastname, neurosurgeon" for the profs, "Firstname Lastname, radiologist" for the non-profs)

How should I mention these persons on the pages given above? Is it overkill to mention all of their middle initials and all of their titles everytime I mention them on these pages? Is it overkill to include all of my 3 middle initials and state BSc after my name? Is it in my place to do so? Should I omit my middle initials and BSc title in the 'sec' title page? (Btw, 'sec' refers to the French word for 'dry')

 

Perhaps influencing the choice: I've already included all of my middle initials in a manuscript for a research I participated in, filed at the Journal of Neuroscience ...

 

My university doesn't provide any guidelines on these matters and the persons in question couldn't care less so I was wondering which was appropriate ...

 

I'm aiming to write my thesis in a British English fashion, should this influence anything ...

 

If I have to include multiple middle initials, I divide them with a "hair space" (Firstname A.[hair space]A. Lastname), is this appropriate?

 

Concerning the titles: make a choice, considering British English:

• For the professors: Prof. Firstname Lastname, MD, PhD / Prof. Firstname Lastname, MD, PhD, DMSc / Prof. Dr Firstname Lastname, MBBS, DMSc / ...
• For the others: Firstname Lastname, MD, PhDc / Firstname Lastname, MD / Firstname Lastname, MBBS, PhDc / ...

So briefly: what are the correct titles in British English? Is "MD" an acceptable alternative for MBBS? When should I omit titles and middle initials? When should I include all? How (in)appropriate is it to mention both PhD and DMSc?

 

What with periods? MD vs. M.D.? PhD vs. Ph.D.? BSc vs. B.Sc.? DMSc vs. D.M.Sc.?

 

Thanks for your opinions (for I doubt there are guidelines on these kinds of matter).

 

Functionella

Edited April 30, 2017 by Function

[Xerxes]

Hi Function.

 

If you were submitting your thesis to a UK university board, there are no "rules". There are, however, conventions, not only in theses but generally.

 

1. You can refer to yourself however you like - but John Maynard Octavious Smith, Jr. would be considered pretentious

 

2. In attributions or thanks, it is usually sufficient to use the suffix title only - Prof., Dr., etc. But be careful - in a clinical context, do not refer to someone as Mr. unless they are a surgeon.

 

3. "Trailing" qualifications (MD, FRCS, PhD, BSc etc) are not normally used in this context

 

4. If in doubt, ask the people concerned what they would prefer. That seems the simplest course

[Function]

Hi Function.

 

If you were submitting your thesis to a UK university board, there are no "rules". There are, however, conventions, not only in theses but generally.

 

1. You can refer to yourself however you like - but John Maynard Octavious Smith, Jr. would be considered pretentious

 

2. In attributions or thanks, it is usually sufficient to use the suffix title only - Prof., Dr., etc. But be careful - in a clinical context, do not refer to someone as Mr. unless they are a surgeon.

 

3. "Trailing" qualifications (MD, FRCS, PhD, BSc etc) are not normally used in this context

 

4. If in doubt, ask the people concerned what they would prefer. That seems the simplest course

 

So you would call a professor in neurosurgery

 

Prof. Dr Mr Firstname A. Lastname?

[StringJunky]

 

So you would call a professor in neurosurgery

 

Prof. Dr Mr Firstname A. Lastname?

Surely,. the one with highest status would suffice, Prof., the rest would taken as given, just like putting a PhD after your name, it is given that you have the other two degrees.

Edited April 30, 2017 by StringJunky

[CharonY]

There are generally no rules but rather conventions that can be institution or even department-specific. If used as part of a title page typically Prof. is used, in some areas the specific title (e.g. Dr. rer. nat. or med, in Germany). But that is not necessarily the local rule.'

Generally, the idea is to keep things respectful, and if some insist on being called Prof. Dr. something, use that (regardless whether it is a MD or PhD for that matter. In fact, in a mixed setting I prefer to keep things equal in order to avoid any squabbles).

PhD students do not have a title, and are normally not indicated as such, unless required by some internal documents.

If the document is part of you getting a degree, you should indicate your current degree and for what degree the document is part of.

The use of periods does not matter much, just keep it consistent.

 

Note that in North America, it is often common to just use Dr. to indicate degree, rather than Prof., in case you see those examples. In short, it does not really matter. It is fine as long as you use it in a way that does not piss off your advisors.

[zapatos]

Surely,. the one with highest status would suffice, Prof., the rest would taken as given, just like putting a PhD after your name, it is given that you have the other two degrees.

 

Completely off topic, but my wife had a PhD with only one other degree. It is not necessarily a requirement to get a Masters in order to receive a Doctorate.

[StringJunky]

 

Completely off topic, but my wife had a PhD with only one other degree. It is not necessarily a requirement to get a Masters in order to receive a Doctorate.

Yes, I agree, I realised afterwards.

[Klaynos]

 

So you would call a professor in neurosurgery

 

Prof. Dr Mr Firstname A. Lastname?

People will also have their own conventions. I was not the first person to publish in the same field as my first publication with my first and sur names. I therefore used my middle initial as well, to keep consistent this is what I continue to do in my current field.

 

Check out your supervisors publications to see how they are normally presented. That might not work for clinitions as they may not have published. You can always ask them.

[CharonY]

People will also have their own conventions. I was not the first person to publish in the same field as my first publication with my first and sur names. I therefore used my middle initial as well, to keep consistent this is what I continue to do in my current field.

 

Check out your supervisors publications to see how they are normally presented. That might not work for clinitions as they may not have published. You can always ask them.

 

It depends, really. Typically for publications you generally use the full name to make identification easier. Within departments that is rarely an issue and some find it a bit on the pretentious side. But ultimately I doubt that it really matters.

[Function]

Thanks everyone! It indeed seems best to omit any middle initials.

Edited May 1, 2017 by Function