Doctor of Commerce

The Doctor of Commerce (DCom) is a doctoral degree in commerce-, accounting-, economics-, and management-related subjects, awarded by universities in the Commonwealth. The degree is offered both as a higher doctorate, and as a research doctorate.

The higher doctorate is awarded for published work of the candidate, demonstrating original contributions of "special excellence" in some branch of commerce. The candidate will be a graduate of the university in question.

The research doctorate is largely comparable to a PhD; in fact "Doctor of Commerce" may refer to a commerce-related PhD. At some universities, relatedly, the degree-title conferred will be a function of the candidate's background: for example, in operations research, the degree may be a PhD or a DCom, depending on whether the candidate held a Master of Science or Master of Commerce respectively. Further, in some cases, the degree title may also depend on the area of the research: a thesis focused on a more theoretical area (e.g. "finance") will be awarded a PhD, while one focused on a specific area or function (e.g. financial management) will be awarded a DCom. Finally, in some cases the distinction will be whether the degree includes coursework or is entirely thesis based.

The research doctorate is usually accessed following a related master's degree, often the Master of Commerce. Here, there is generally a requirement that the master's degree in question must include a research component, either comprising coursework with research, or being solely thesis-based.