OBJECTIVE: To analyze doctoral dissertation abstracts of a graduate program in nursing. METHODS: This exploratory study was conducted in December, 2005. The doctoral dissertation abstracts were evaluated using criteria set by the NBR 6028/1990 of the Brazilian Association of Technical Norms on a 12-item scale. The analysis was conducted with the GraphPad Prism software. RESULTS: Sixty five doctoral dissertations were defended between February 2001 and December 2005. Among these dissertations, 38.98% consisted of topics in public health. Abstracts published in 2005 had higher score in the ABNT scale (c²=6.84, p=0.008). Scores were transformed into grades, which led to 61% of approval. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study might contribute to faculty and student's reflections on the quality of doctoral dissertation abstracts, which must meet established NBR/ABNT criteria.
Nursing research; Dissertations; academic
