The thesis may be published independently, or it may be published under joint or multiple authorship if others have contributed to the final product in accordance with widely accepted authorship guidelines (for example, the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors authorship guidelines, https://www.icmje.org/recommendations). When students work on sponsored research, the thesis adviser and the student should sign a letter of agreement on funding, use of database or materials, deadlines, publication rights, and authorship before work on the thesis begins.