[General qualifying exams: a report of experience at the doctorate level]

This is a report of experience obtained on the occasion of General Qualifying Exams taken by candidates to the Doctoral degree in the Graduate Program of the School of Nursing at São Paulo and Ribeirão Preto, of the University of São Paulo. Documents concerning legal rules were consulted, along with relevant literature that permitted us to obtain in-depth information about the research lines, methods and activities used by nursing researcher, as a way of facilitating the collection of information about authors. We trust that this experience will help clarify the subject for colleagues who intend to take these exams.