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• Doctoral Dissertations
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What is ProQuest Dissertations & Theses?

With more than 2.9 million entries, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT) is the most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses in the world.

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses allows:

• Graduate students to consult the database to make sure their proposed thesis or dissertation topics have not already been written about
• S tudents, faculty, and other researchers to search for titles related to their scholarly interests
• Instant access to high-quality, peer-reviewed and multidisciplinary research materials
• Building your ebooks collection – with each dissertation including an ISBN, ProQuest is the world’s largest publisher of ISBNs
• Cross-searching with journal and other content types on the ProQuest platform

The database includes bibliographic citations for materials ranging from the first U.S. dissertation, accepted in 1861 as well as European dissertations back from the 17 th century, to those accepted as recently as last semester.

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses is the official dissertations repository for the Library of Congress and the publishing partner of the National Library of Canada.

The full text of more than 2 million of these titles is available in paper, microform, and electronic (if subscription allows) formats. Institutional subscribers to ProQuest Dissertation & Theses Full-Text receive online access to the complete file of dissertations in digital format for hundreds of thousands of titles published before 1997, as well as every title from 1997 forward. 

PQDT offers access to the first 10% of the dissertation (up to 24 pages) for those dissertations and theses available in electronic form.

PQDT is updated weekly and features 24 indexed and searchable fields, including full text searchability.

Selection Policy

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses is the official digital dissertations archive for the Library of Congress and the collection includes work by authors from more than 1,700 graduate schools and universities the world over, and covers every conceivable subject. 

Every major research university in the United States and Canada is represented in the database and there is also a decent and growing international coverage.

Publication Coverage

PQDT offers access to 2.9 million citations to dissertations and theses from around the world from 1861 to the present day together with over a million full text dissertations that are available for download in PDF format. Over 2.1 million titles are available for purchase as printed copies. The database offers full text for most of the dissertations added since 1997 and strong retrospective full text coverage for older graduate works. Over 80,000 new dissertations and theses are added to the database each year.

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• Last Updated: Nov 8, 2023 1:49 PM
• URL: https://libguides.jsu.edu/dissertations

University Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

How to Find Dissertations and Theses

• Finding Dissertations and Theses
• University of Illinois Dissertations

Google Scholar

Proquest dissertations and theses, non-u.s. dissertations.

• Dissertation Tracking

Ask a Librarian

Google Scholar searches specifically for scholarly materials, including Open Access (freely available) dissertations and theses. Many institutions make their dissertations publicly available, making Google Scholar a great place to search.

See the Library's guide on Google for Academic Research for more information.

If the Library does not have a copy of a dissertation or a theses, use ProQuest Dissertations and Theses to obtain a citation for the dissertation. Most American and Canadian universities are represented in this database, as well as selected British and European universities. Dissertations completed at many major U.S. universities during the past 10 years (and sometimes earlier) are available as full-text downloads.

If full text is not available, you can request a dissertation through interlibrary loan.

• ProQuest Dissertations and Theses This link opens in a new window PQDT is a collection of citations to dissertations and theses worldwide from 1861 to the present day. Full-text is available for most of the dissertations added since 1997 and some of the older graduate works. PQDT is also the official digital dissertations archive for the Library of Congress. Also included are the citations to British and Irish dissertations and theses (PQDT: UK & Ireland) since 1761 and abstracts for content since 1986. Note: UIUC masters theses are not in PQDT. They are only found in IDEALS or in the library catalog .

A note on terminology for dissertations and theses: these words are used differently depending on the country (at least in the English speaking world). In the US, dissertations are for doctoral work while a thesis can be a for a bachelor’s or master’s degree. However, it’s often flipped in Europe, e.g., a master’s dissertation and a doctoral thesis.

• The DART-Europe E-theses Portal DART-Europe is a partnership of research libraries in Europe who are working together to improve access to European theses. Several hundred universities link their digital repositories to DART-Europe and link to full text theses.
• EThOS: e-theses online service A project by the British Library Board to provide access to all dissertations from institutions in the UK. This website indexes the dissertations and provides links to full text where available and provide assistance to institutions digitizing dissertations. If available, full text dissertations are free to download.
• Foreign Dissertations at the Center for Research Libraries Try here when looking for a dissertation outside of the United States and Canada. CRL acquires hundreds of non-US, non-Canadian doctoral dissertations a year to add to its 800,000+ collection of dissertations. Acquisitions are primarily through the demand purchase program . Because the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a member of CRL, loans to the U of I community are provided free of charge - just fill out a standard interlibrary loan request and put "Item held by CRL" in the notes field.
• Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations This directory provides links to country-specific and international online libraries of electronic theses and dissertations. Many items, including those dating back to the early 1900s, are available in full text for free. For those not available in full text, fill out an interlibrary loan request.
• Theses Canada Portal A searchable catalog of all Canadian theses published since 1965, many of which are available in full-text electronic versions which can be downloaded free by students, scholars, and the public. You can also access and search for free full text electronic versions of Canadian theses and dissertations that were published from the beginning of 1998 to August 31, 2002.
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• Last Updated: Aug 2, 2023 2:14 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.illinois.edu/finddissertationstheses

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Dissertations and Theses Full Text

A comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses. The official digital dissertations archive for the Library of Congress and the database of record for graduate research. PQDT — Full Text includes millions of searchable citations to dissertation and theses from around the world from 1861 to the present day together with over a million full text dissertations that are available for download in PDF format. Over 2.1 million titles are available for purchase as printed copies. The database offers full text for most of the dissertations added since 1997 and strong retrospective full text coverage for older graduate works.

More than 70,000 new full text dissertations and theses are added to the database each year through dissertations publishing partnerships with 700 leading academic institutions worldwide and collaborative retrospective digitization of dissertations through UMI's Digital Archiving and Access Program. Full Text dissertations are archived as submitted by the degree-granting institution. Some will be native PDF, some PDF image.

Each dissertation published since July 1980 includes a 350-word abstract written by the author. Master's theses published since 1988 include 150-word abstracts. Simple bibliographic citations are available for dissertations dating from 1637. Where available, PQDT — Full Text provides 24-page previews of dissertations and theses.

• Dissertations & Theses Global Fulltext and citations. Contains 1.2 million full-text dissertations, including most dissertations added since 1997 and strong retrospective full text coverage for older graduate works. Includes 2.7 million citations to dissertation and theses from around the world from 1861 to the present day.

Dissertations @ Stony Brook

• Dissertations & Theses @ SUNY Stony Brook Fulltext. PDF versions of Stony Brook University dissertations, plus 24-page previews.

If a dissertation is NOT available in ProQuest's Dissertations and These Full Text database, you can search for print copies in WorldCat.  Be advised, however, that in many cases there is only one copy held at the institution the produced the dissertation, and that it may not be avaialbe for loan.

You can also search WorldCat to search for dissertations that were later published as a monograph.

• WorldCat Search Pre-1000 BC to present. Licensed WorldCat product. A catalog of books and a wide variety of other materials in libraries worldwide.

Purchasing Dissertations

Older dissertations may not be available through InterLibrary Loan and may have to be purchased from ProQuest.  If you find a title in Dissertations and Theses Full Text that is not available in the database as a PDF, there is an option to purchase a copy. A Custom PDF (delivered within 3-5 days) costs $37.  Print copies range from $39 (unbound) to $70 (hardcover).

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Finding Dissertations and Theses: Steps

New video on finding dissertations and theses.

• How to Find Dissertations and Theses Four Minute Video on How to Find Dissertations and Theses

LSU Dissertations and Theses 

1. Search the LSU Librares Online   Catalog in Advanced Search and limit Material Type to Dissertation or Theses . Print copies up to 2002 can be found on the second floor of LSU Library under the call number 378.76 L930D Year Name (dissertations) or 378.76 L930 Year Name (theses) .

• LSU Libraries Online Catalog

2. Search the 

• LSU Scholarly Repository This link opens in a new window Online versions of various theses and dissertations from LSU graduate students. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to access them. Part of the LSU Digital Commons, our institutional repository which "collects, preserves, publishes, and makes openly accessible the research and scholarship contributed by LSU faculty, staff, students, and units."

3. Search 

• Dissertations & Theses @ Louisiana State University This link opens in a new window This database gives access to the dissertations and theses produced by students at your institution.

Dissertations and Theses from LSU and Other Institutions

1. Search 

• ProQuest Dissertations and Theses: Global This link opens in a new window Include LSU theses back to 1916 and dissertations back to 1935. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses: Global (PQDTGlobal) is the world's most comprehensive collection of full-text dissertations and theses. As the official digital dissertations archive for the Library of Congress and as the database of record for graduate research, PQDTGlobal includes millions of searchable citations to dissertations and theses from 1861 to the present day together with over a million full-text dissertations that are available for download in PDF format.
• ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I This link opens in a new window Contains citations to 1.2 million dissertations and masters theses. Coverage begins in 1861, with abstracts available since 1980, and thesis abstracts since 1988.

2. Search the following open access databases

• EBSCO Open Dissertations "OpenDissertations.org is a collaboration between EBSCO and BiblioLabs that brings an innovative approach to increasing traffic and discoverability of ETD research. This new collaboration extends the work started in 2014, when EBSCO and the H.W. Wilson Foundation created American Doctoral Dissertations which contained indexing from the H.W. Wilson print publication, Doctoral Dissertations Accepted by American Universities, 1933-1955. In 2015, the H.W. Wilson Foundation agreed to support the expansion of the scope of the American Doctoral Dissertations database to include records for dissertations and theses from 1955 to the present."
• Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations Search the 4,958,320 electronic theses and dissertations contained in the NDLTD archive.
• Open Access Theses and Dissertations (OATD) OATD.org aims to be the best possible resource for finding open access graduate theses and dissertations published around the world. Metadata (information about the theses) comes from over 1100 colleges, universities, and research institutions. OATD currently indexes 4,444,117 theses and dissertations.
• PQDT Open PQDT Open provides the full text of open access dissertations and theses free of charge.

• Last Updated: Apr 23, 2024 8:18 AM
• URL: https://guides.lib.lsu.edu/dt

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Dissertations & theses databases.

• Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) This link opens in a new window The Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) is an international organization dedicated to promoting the adoption, creation, use, dissemination and preservation of electronic analogues to the traditional paper-based theses and dissertations. This website contains information about the initiative, how to set up Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) programmes, how to create and locate ETDs, and current research in digital libraries related to NDLTD and ETDs.
• Open Access Theses and Dissertations This link opens in a new window OATD.org aims to be the best possible resource for finding open access graduate theses and dissertations published around the world. Metadata (information about the theses) comes from over 1000 colleges, universities, and research institutions. OATD currently indexes 2,311,795 theses and dissertations.
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Oxford Bibliographies      (Oxford University Press) A series of articles on a wide range of academic subjects across all disciplines. Each article identifies, describes, and evaluates important books and journals for a specific subject. "Every article in our database is an authoritative guide to the current scholarship, written and reviewed by academic experts, with original commentary and annotations." (from publishers description)

Dissertations

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global  "The world's most comprehensive collection of full-text dissertations and theses. As the official digital dissertations archive for the Library of Congress and as the database of record for graduate research, PQDTGlobal includes millions of searchable citations to dissertations and theses from 1861 to the present day together with over a million full-text dissertations that are available for download in PDF format. . . . The database offers full text for most of the dissertations added since 1997 and strong retrospective full-text coverage for older graduate works."

EThOS : e-theses online service (British Library) "EThOS is the UK’s national thesis service which aims to maximise the visibility and availability of the UK’s doctoral research theses. . . . EThOS aims to provide:     • A national aggregated record of all doctoral theses awarded by UK Higher Education institutions     • Free access to the full text of as many theses as possible for use by all researchers to further their own research." EThOS includes records for theses from all UK PhD-awarding institutions, but  does not yet hold all records for all institutions.

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