master thesis download

Open Access Theses and Dissertations

Thursday, April 18, 8:20am (EDT): Searching is temporarily offline. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to bring searching back up as quickly as possible.

Advanced research and scholarship. Theses and dissertations, free to find, free to use.

Advanced search options

Browse by author name (“Author name starts with…”).

Find ETDs with:

Written in any language English Portuguese French German Spanish Swedish Lithuanian Dutch Italian Chinese Finnish Greek Published in any country US or Canada Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Bolivia Brazil Canada Chile China Colombia Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Ireland Italy Japan Latvia Lithuania Malaysia Mexico Netherlands New Zealand Norway Peru Portugal Russia Singapore South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Thailand UK US Earliest date Latest date

Sorted by Relevance Author University Date

Only ETDs with Creative Commons licenses

Results per page: 30 60 100

October 3, 2022. OATD is dealing with a number of misbehaved crawlers and robots, and is currently taking some steps to minimize their impact on the system. This may require you to click through some security screen. Our apologies for any inconvenience.

Recent Additions

See all of this week’s new additions.

About OATD.org

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 7,218,560 theses and dissertations.

About OATD (our FAQ) .

Visual OATD.org

We’re happy to present several data visualizations to give an overall sense of the OATD.org collection by county of publication, language, and field of study.

You may also want to consult these sites to search for other theses:

• Google Scholar
• NDLTD , the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations. NDLTD provides information and a search engine for electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs), whether they are open access or not.
• Proquest Theses and Dissertations (PQDT), a database of dissertations and theses, whether they were published electronically or in print, and mostly available for purchase. Access to PQDT may be limited; consult your local library for access information.

Librarians/Admins

• EBSCOhost Collection Manager
• EBSCO Experience Manager
• EBSCO Connect
• Start your research
• EBSCO Mobile App

Clinical Decisions Users

• DynaMed Decisions
• Dynamic Health
• Waiting Rooms
• NoveList Blog

EBSCO Open Dissertations

EBSCO Open Dissertations makes electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) more accessible to researchers worldwide. The free portal is designed to benefit universities and their students and make ETDs more discoverable. 

Increasing Discovery & Usage of ETD Research

With EBSCO Open Dissertations, institutions are offered an innovative approach to driving additional traffic to ETDs in institutional repositories. Our goal is to help make their students’ theses and dissertations as widely visible and cited as possible.

EBSCO Open Dissertations 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.

How Does EBSCO Open Dissertations Work?

Libraries can add theses and dissertations to the database, making them freely available to researchers everywhere while increasing traffic to their institutional repository.  ETD metadata is harvested via OAI and integrated into EBSCO’s platform, where pointers send traffic to the institution's IR.

EBSCO integrates this data into their current subscriber environments and makes the data available on the open web via opendissertations.org .

You might also be interested in:

• Enroll & Pay

Open Access Theses and Dissertations (OATD)

OATD.org provides 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 6,654,285 theses and dissertations.

• DSpace@MIT Home
• MIT Libraries

This collection of MIT Theses in DSpace contains selected theses and dissertations from all MIT departments. Please note that this is NOT a complete collection of MIT theses. To search all MIT theses, use MIT Libraries' catalog .

MIT's DSpace contains more than 58,000 theses completed at MIT dating as far back as the mid 1800's. Theses in this collection have been scanned by the MIT Libraries or submitted in electronic format by thesis authors. Since 2004 all new Masters and Ph.D. theses are scanned and added to this collection after degrees are awarded.

MIT Theses are openly available to all readers. Please share how this access affects or benefits you. Your story matters.

If you have questions about MIT theses in DSpace, [email protected] . See also Access & Availability Questions or About MIT Theses in DSpace .

If you are a recent MIT graduate, your thesis will be added to DSpace within 3-6 months after your graduation date. Please email [email protected] with any questions.

Permissions

MIT Theses may be protected by copyright. Please refer to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy for permission information. Note that the copyright holder for most MIT theses is identified on the title page of the thesis.

Theses by Department

• Comparative Media Studies
• Computation for Design and Optimization
• Computational and Systems Biology
• Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Department of Architecture
• Department of Biological Engineering
• Department of Biology
• Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
• Department of Chemical Engineering
• Department of Chemistry
• Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
• Department of Economics
• Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
• Department of Humanities
• Department of Linguistics and Philosophy
• Department of Materials Science and Engineering
• Department of Mathematics
• Department of Mechanical Engineering
• Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering
• Department of Ocean Engineering
• Department of Physics
• Department of Political Science
• Department of Urban Studies and Planning
• Engineering Systems Division
• Harvard-MIT Program of Health Sciences and Technology
• Institute for Data, Systems, and Society
• Media Arts & Sciences
• Operations Research Center
• Program in Real Estate Development
• Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies
• Science, Technology & Society
• Science Writing
• Sloan School of Management
• Supply Chain Management
• System Design & Management
• Technology and Policy Program

Collections in this community

Doctoral theses, graduate theses, undergraduate theses, recent submissions.

The treatment of bleistein 

The smelting of native copper 

Description of the Calumet Mine 

Show Statistical Information

Open Access Theses and Dissertations

Direct Link

•   Home

Dissertations and Theses (Ph.D. and Master's)

Search within this collection:

Dissertations and theses submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for master's or doctoral degrees at the University of Michigan. This collection also includes theses written by U-M faculty.

Ph.D. dissertations at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor are awarded by the Rackham School of Graduate Studies .

Recent Deposits

Home > ETDS > etd

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Theses/dissertations from 2024 2024.

Challenging The Pedagogy Of Poverty With Free-Choice Learning: A Multiple Case Study , Sharice Adkins

Regulating Under Social Stress: Coping, Cortisol, And Cytokine Reactivity , Mona Al-Bizri

“When They Say ‘Queer,’ They Don’t Mean You”: A Foucauldian-Informed Thematic Discourse Analysis Of Bisexual+ Emerging Adults’ Use Of Fiction-Based Parasocial Relationships During Sexual Identity Construction , Melissa Lynn Allen

Children Of Empire: Whiteness And Place In American Orphan Narratives, 1911–1928 , Erna Anderson

Considering Tidal Flooding to Provide a Holistic Approach to Nutrient Input Management , Mary Beth Armstrong

Solidarity In Community Organizing: Mediation And The Production Of Memory , Julia Claire Ashworth

A Spectral Return: Non-Metaphorical Ghosts, Monsters, And Hauntology , Kit Bauserman

Improving Teachers' Assessment Literacy: The Effects Of A Professional Learning Program , Susan Bishop

Integrating Wellness With Professional Skills In The Liminal Spaces Of The Military-To-Civilian Transition Experience: A Program Evaluation , Lindsay Elise Blount

A Comparison Of The College Success Of International Baccalaureate Diploma Candidates And Course Candidates , Nikki Carroll

Experimental Studies Of Neutral Particles And The Isotope Effect In The Edge Of Tokamak Plasmas , Ryan Chaban

Projected Impacts Of Climate Change And Watershed Management On Carbonate Chemistry And Oyster Growth In A Coastal Plain Estuary , Catherine Czajka

Selected Faculty Members’ Perceptions Of Parental Involvement In The Lives Of Students At A Private, Baccalaureate Institution , Alana R. Davis

Investigation Of The Pqse:rhlr Complex As A Target For Quorum Sensing Inhibition In Pseudomonas Aeruginosa , Jesse Derringer

Documenting Patterns Of Inequity And Harassment In Pacific Island Archaeology: Quantitative And Qualitative Analyses , Caroline Donovan

Using Professional Development As A Tool To Build Teacher Capacity For Recognizing Giftedness In African American Students , Dr. Jacqueline D. Drye

The Art Of Listening: A Phenomenological Case Study Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Alumni Donors At A Private Graduate School , Ashley Farrington

Motivations For Student Affairs Professionals Accepting An Interim Role During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Study , Terence Fassanella

The Experiences Of Rural School Counselors Seeking To Implement Antiracist Practices: A Phenomenological Investigation , Allison Tate Fears

A Methodology For The Visualization Of 3D Petroglyph Data As Applied To Rock Markings Of The Eastern United States , Matthew Owen Forcier

Linking Fish Community Dynamics And Trophic Interactions With Ecological Processes On The Northeast Us Continental Shelf , James Gartland

Ready Or Not: A Program Evaluation To Determine The Readiness Of An Urban Title I Elementary School To Implement The Multi-Tiered System Of Supports In Reading (Mtss-R) Program , Carla Marie Gibson

Strategies For Finding Inspiration , Molly Anne Goldberg

Quantification Of Poultry And Human Fecal Contamination In The Tidal Creeks Of The Virginia Eastern Shore Using A Multifaceted Edna Method , Abigail Renee Golder

From The Ground Up: Practical Gardens And Horticultural Knowledge In Early America , Holly Gruntner

Borderland Violence, An Intimate Resistance: Native Women Voice Their Survival , Kate Harrison

Voluntary Emotion Regulation And Suicidality: Associations With Latency, Preference, Frequency, And Utility In Short Minute-To-Minute Contexts , Jonah Hickman

Use-Wear Experiments And Analysis Of Quartzite Tools From Slocan Narrows, British Columbia , Emily Hull

Understanding The Role Of Confidence And Self-Efficacyin The Use Of Math Evidence-Based Practices In Middle School Inclusive Classrooms , Heather Michelle Kennedy

From Rain Drops To Rivers: Unraveling Aridification's Influence On Coastal Stream Ecosystem Dynamics , Sean Kelly Kinard

Policy recommendations for tire additive 6PPD and its derivative 6PPD-Q , Ashley E. King

A Program Evaluation For The Leadership Academy: A School-Based Program For 12Th Grade Students Who Are At Risk Of Not Graduating High School , Jason Willard King

Synthesis Of Onychine By Cycloaddition/Cycloreversion Of An Intermediate 1,2,4-Triazine , Victoria Lehman

University Brand And The Choice Of A College: Understanding The Consumer Decision Framework , Byron Wayne Lewis

Numerical Modeling Of Coastal Sea Level Anomaly, Gulf Stream Slowdown, And Cross-Shelf Mixing In South Atlantic Bight During Hurricane Matthew , Breanna Maldonado

Hours Spent Caregiving, Activities Of Daily Living, Caregiver Gender, Role Overload, And Depression Symptoms: An Examination Among Family Dementia Caregivers , Claire McDonald

Understanding The Interaction Of Intrapersonal And Interpersonal Dynamics: A Study Of Identity Development Among Highly Able College Students , Anyesha Mishra

Iron Catalyst With Tetradentate Ligand For Electro- And Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution And Modified Photosensitizer For Toxic Metal Detection In Water , Amanda Catherine Mitchell

Unraveling The Relationships Between Ptsd And Alcohol Use Among College Students: A Multi-Method Examination , Zannie L. Montgomery

Low-Rank Matrix And Tensor Models For Data Science Applications , Jeremy Moulton Myers

Accessibility and Inclusivity in Marine Science Education: A Suite of Collaborative Marine Science Lesson Plans , Amy Nicholson

The Relationship Among Race, Sense Of Belonging, And The Experiences Of Selected Black Students At A Predominately White Institution , Shené V. Owens

"Of Colonial And Historic Flavor": Food And Memory In Williamsburg, Virginia , Marie Pellissier

The Crisis Of 1637 And The Making Of Colonial New England , Anne Powell

Evaluation Of A Modification To The Tuning In To Teens Whole School Approach: A Pilot Study , Skylar Shea Raynor

From Superman To Sana Amanat: Alienation, Assimilation, And American Superhero Comics, 1938 To Present , Adrienne Resha

Patterns In The Clay: X-Ray And Gamma-Ray Geochemical Sourcing Of Middle And Late Woodland Ceramics From Mulberry Island, Virginia , Courtney Senna Roark

Student Perceptions Of On-Campus Employment: Opportunities For High-Impact Practice , Patricia Rudalf

Multi-Decadal Changes In Blue Crab Reproductive Ecology , Alexandra Kenyon Schneider

Coaching First-Grade Teachers On Differentiated Instructional Practices For Learners With Mathematical Promise: An Action Research Study , Alicia Schroeder-Schock

Early Adversity And Middle Childhood Adjustment: Prediction From Prospective And Retrospective Reports , Madison Schulte

Middle School Students' Pathways To College: An Investigation Of Middle School Math Placement And College-Going Self-Efficacy , J Scott

Exploring Collaboration: A Content Analysis Of Special And General Educator Collaboration Within The Standards Driving Initial Teacher Preparation Programs , Amelie Drake Smucker

Learning-Based Sensing For Solving Health-Related Problems , Minglong Sun

A Program Evaluation Of I-Ready Implementation In A North Carolina Middle School , Juliana Irene Owen Thompson

Social Media And Professional Learning , Tiffany Truitt

Polarization In United States Media: From Barry Goldwater's 1964 Nomination To Nbc's Parks And Recreation , Janne Elise Wagner

The Impact Of The North Carolina Promise On Student Loan Outcomes , Joseph White Wheeless

"You Can Laugh And Let Your Hair Down In This Space": A Qualitative Multiple Case Study Investigation Of The Creation Of Homeplace Between Black Adolescent Girls And Black Women School Counselors , Shontell Monique White-Zenon

Great Expectations: An Evaluation Of A Program For Foster Youth In Higher Education , Jessica Grant DiVenuti Whitten

Exploring Transient Execution Vulnerabilities, Side-Channel Attacks, And Defenses , Tao Zhang

Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023

Direct Measurements Of Interfacial Interactions Of 2D Materials , Walakulage Dona Avishi Shavindya Abeywickrama

Original Intent; Original Dissent , Joan Astridl Lasswell Albrecht

Changing Foundation Species In The Chesapeake Bay: Implications For Faunal Communities Of Two Dominant Seagrass Species , Lauren Elizabeth Alvaro

Investigation Of Reversibly Assembling Materials Using Force Spectroscopy , Samantha Ivanna Applin

Where's My Data? Geospatial Techniques For Mapping And Monitoring Administrative Boundaries , Karim Bahgat

"I Wish I Was In Dixie / Away, Away": American Emigration, Cultural Negotiations, And The Confederados / "Play Free Bird!": Southern Anthems As "New Dixies" And The Perpetuation Of The Lost Cause , Shannon Baker

Subjecting The Unruly Body: Staring, Surveillance, And The Politics Of (In)Visibility , Carly Barnhardt

The Cost Of Curls: Discrimination, Social Stigma, And Identity Oppression Of Black Women Through Their Hair , Sydney Baylor

Empire Of Fashion: Luxury, Commerce, And Identity In The Viceroyalty Of New Granada , Laura Beltrán-Rubio

The Association Between Sociodemographic Risk, Parental Substance Use, And Child Emotion Regulation Capabilities , Lydia Fay Bierce

Appearance Driven Reflectance Modeling , James Christopher Bieron

An Unsettled History: Measuring Settlement Population And Sedentism In The Late Woodland Potomac River Valley , Matthew Anthony Borden

The Word Of The Body: Gender And The Body In The Writings Of The Bluestocking Circle, 1750-1800 / “Grass Growing Where None Grew Before”: Community, Family, And Identity For New England Seafarers’ Wives, Based On Their Diaries, 1797-1802 , Avonlea Bowthorpe

Implementing Pbis: High School Principals’ Perceptions Of The Change Process , Jaimie Clougher Brandt

Place-Based Estuary Science Education at Machicomoco State Park , Anna Caputo

Ab Initio Computations Of Structural Properties In Solids By Auxiliary Field Quantum Monte Carlo , Siyuan Chen

Self-Stigma And Problematic Alcohol Use: Risk Factor, Protective Factor, Or Both? , Victoria Olegovna Chentsova

Domain-Specific Optimization For Machine Learning System , Yu Chen

A Qualitative Investigation Into The Ethnic And Racial Identity Development Of Counseling Students , Philippa Chin

The Role Of Stereotype And Moral Values In Predicting Victim Blaming , Jihye Choi

The Faces Of Substance Use: A Reverse Correlation Analysis Of Perceptions Of Alcohol And Cannabis Use , Madison Hallie Colby

An Action Research Approach To Workplace Inclusivity For Operational Employees In Higher Education , Carrie Lynn Cooper

Intelligent Software Tooling For Improving Software Development , Nathan Allen Cooper

Ecology Of Larval Fishes Along The Western Antarctic Peninsula: Climate-Change Impact, Taxonomy, Phenology, And Thermal Tolerance , Andrew Derik Corso

Succession Of The Late Summer Phytoplankton Blooms In The York River Estuary, Va , Heather Kathleen Corson

Iron Complexes With Tetradentate Aromatic Ligands For Photocatalytic Hydrogen Generation , Jessica Danielle Cropley

Chesapeake Bay Carbonate Cycle: Past, Present, And Future , Fei Da

Spectroscopy And Dynamics Of Atmospherically And Combustion-Relevant Collision Complexes , John Patrick Davis

Investigating The Environmental And Molecular Dependence Of Single-Molecule Blinking-Based Multiplexing , Grace DeSalvo

Investigating Behavioral Responses To Lead (Pb) Exposure In A Cosmopolitan, Urban Songbird , Joseph Francis Di Liberto

Biotic And Abiotic Factors Associated With Temporal And Spatial Variability Of Constitutive Mixotroph Abundance And Proportion , Marcella Dobbertin da Costa

The Effect Of A Positive Story Intervention On Positivity, Stress, Hope, And Trauma Symptomatology: A Longitudinal Randomized Controlled Trial , Allison Dukes

Perceptions Of Giftedness And Other Factors Impacting The Gifted Identification Of Black Students In A Small, Rural School District , Christin Eileen Ashman East

Egg Vibrations In Response To Parental Calls: Scrambled Eggs Or Genuine Feedback? , Liz Rose Ellott

Convincing The Lady / The Charms Of Our Sex , Taylor Marie Garrison

Landscapes Of Silence At The First Baptist Church , Victoria R. Gum

The Enduring Mystery At Town Creek: New Interpretations At A Rural North Carolina Museum , Elizabeth Henry

In Pursuit Of Equity And Excellence: Using Value-Added Measures To Guide Educational Policy, Practice, And Parental High School Decision-Making , Lavare Henry

A Phenomenology Of Affective Engagement In Advanced Placement Courses , Matthew Wade Henry

Page 1 of 66

• Collections
• Disciplines

Advanced Search

• Notify me via email or RSS

Author Corner

• Info on submitting W&M theses and dissertations

About Scholarworks

• Honors Theses
• W&M Libraries
• VIMS Hargis Library
• W&M Law School Repository
• Research Guides

Home | About | FAQ | My Account | Accessibility Statement

Privacy Copyright

Home > ETD

Theses and Dissertations

Theses and Dissertations Available from ProQuest

Full text is available to Purdue University faculty, staff, and students on campus through this site. No login is required.

Off-campus Purdue users may download theses and dissertations by logging into the Libraries' proxy server with your Purdue Career Account. Links to log in to the proxy server directly below the download button of each thesis or dissertation page.

Non-Purdue users, may purchase copies of theses and dissertations from ProQuest or talk to your librarian about borrowing a copy through Interlibrary Loan. (Some titles may also be available free of charge in our Open Access Theses and Dissertations Series, so please check there first.)

Access to abstracts is unrestricted.

Open Access Theses

This series contains theses that students have wished to make openly available. The full content is available to all, although some theses may have embargoes. If an embargo exists the date will be listed instead of the download button. The download button will appear once a thesis is no longer embargoed. To browse a fuller listing of theses from Purdue please visit the Theses and Dissertations Available from ProQuest series.

Open Access Dissertations

This series contains open access dissertations that students have wished to make openly available. The full-text content is available to all, although some theses may have embargoes. If an embargo exists the date will be listed instead of the download button. The download button will appear once a dissertation is no longer embargoed. To browse a fuller listing of dissertations from Purdue please visit the Theses and Dissertations Available from ProQuest series.

Browse the Theses and Dissertations Collections:

Advanced Search

• Notify me via email or RSS
• Purdue Libraries
• Purdue University Press Open Access Collections

Links for Authors

• Policies and Help Documentation
• Collections
• Disciplines

Home | About | FAQ | My Account | Accessibility Statement

Privacy Copyright

• My Library Account
• Book a Room

Open Access Theses and Dissertations

Access is available to everyone, anywhere.

Indexes over 4 million graduate-level electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) freely available from over 1,100 institutions worldwide . Search for keywords from titles, author names, abstracts, subjects, university/publisher and more. Use More search options to limit searches to a particular field, language, and date range. The search results will include links to full-text theses/dissertations residing on the original hosting site, usually the institutional repository of the school that granted the degree.

Site footer links

Report an accessibility issue, service disruptions, make a suggestion, support the library, mills library, innis library, thode library, health sciences library hsl.

[email protected] (905) 525-9140 ext. 22327

Jump to navigation

• Off-Campus Login
• My Library Account
• My ILL Requests
• My Special Collections Research Account
• Collections
• Articles & Databases
• Journal Search
• Archives & Manuscripts
• Digital Collections
• Special Research Collections
• Scholarly Communication
• Awards & Fellowships
• Subject & Course Guides
• Course Reserves
• Interlibrary Loan
• Instruction
• Research Data Services
• Ask a Librarian
• Call Numbers & Floor Plans
• Study Spaces
• Computers & Printing
• Events & Exhibitions
• Directions & Parking

Open Access Theses & Dissertations (OATD)

You are here.

An index of over 1.6 million electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs). To the extent possible, the index is limited to records of graduate-level theses that are freely available online.

Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9010

UCSB Library - (805) 893-2478

Copyright © 2010-2024. The Regents of the University of California, All Rights Reserved.

Terms of Use

Service update: Some parts of the Library’s website will be down for maintenance on August 11.

Secondary menu

• Log in to your Library account
• Hours and Maps
• Connect from Off Campus
• UC Berkeley Home

Search form

Dissertations & theses: home, finding dissertations & theses.

The majority of print dissertations in the UC Berkeley Libraries are from UC Berkeley. The libraries have a nearly complete collection of Berkeley doctoral dissertations (wither online, in print, or both), and a large number of Berkeley master's theses.

UC Berkeley

UC Berkeley PhD Dissertations

Dissertations and Theses (Dissertation Abstracts)     UCB access only  1861-present 

Index and full text of graduate dissertations and theses from North American and European schools and universities, including the University of California, with full text of most doctoral dissertations from UC Berkeley and elsewhere from 1996 forward. Dissertations published prior to 2009 may not include information about the department from which the degree was granted. 

UC Berkeley Master's Theses

UC Berkeley Digital Collections   2011-present

Selected UC Berkeley master's theses freely available online. For theses published prior to 2020, check UC Library Search for print availability (see "At the Library" below). 

UC Berkeley dissertations may also be found in eScholarship , UC's online open access repository.

Please note that it may take time for a dissertation to appear in one of the above online resources. Embargoes and other issues affect the release timing.

At the Library:

Dissertations: From 2012 onwards, dissertations are only available online. See above links.

Master's theses : From 2020 onwards, theses are only available online. See above links. 

To locate older dissertations, master's theses, and master's projects in print, search UC Library Search by keyword, title or author. For publications prior to 2009 you may also include a specific UC Berkeley department in your search:  berkeley dissertations <department name> . 

Examples:  berkeley dissertations electrical engineering computer sciences  berkeley dissertations mechanical engineering

University of California - all campuses

Index and full text of graduate dissertations and theses from North American and European schools and universities, including the University of California.

WorldCatDissertations     UCB access only 

Covers all dissertations and theses cataloged in WorldCat, a catalog of materials owned by libraries worldwide. UC Berkeley faculty, staff, and students may use the interlibrary loan request form  for dissertations found in WorldCatDissertations. 

Worldwide - Open Access

Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD)

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 theses and dissertations (ETDs).

Open Access Theses and Dissertations (OATD)

An index of over 3.5 million electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs). To the extent possible, the index is limited to records of graduate-level theses that are freely available online.

• Last Updated: Mar 11, 2024 2:47 PM
• URL: https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/dissertations_theses

Dissertations and Theses

We provide open, public access to most ISU dissertations and theses. For dissertations and theses from other schools, we provide some databases.

Iowa State dissertations and theses

Anyone can access most Iowa State University dissertations and theses through our Digital Repository . This is an open access, free resource available to the public.

Students, staff, and anyone on-campus can access Iowa State University dissertations and theses on ProQuest’s Dissertations & Theses @ Iowa State University . This is a subscription service and is not available to the public off-campus.

New theses and dissertations are usually available one semester after graduation.

ISU theses and dissertations prior to 2007 may be in the library’s print collection and can be found through Quick Search.

The word “thesis” is used for both dissertations and theses, so your search should start with:

(“iowa state” AND thesis)

followed by keywords like last name, year of graduation, subject matter, or degree.

For example, the following search will return ISU theses and dissertations from 1987 about bridges.

(“iowa state” AND thesis) 1987 bridges

Dissertations and theses from other schools

Theses and dissertations from other schools can be searched for in specialized databases.

See our Dissertation and Theses databases .

We can also request digital or physical copies of theses through Interlibrary Loan .

Still searching?

Contact your librarian or ask us !

Theses and Dissertations

Cornell theses.

Check Cornell’s library catalog , which lists the dissertations available in our library collection.

The print thesis collection in Uris Library is currently shelved on Level 3B before the Q to QA regular-sized volumes. Check with the library staff for the thesis shelving locations in other libraries (Mann, Catherwood, Fine Arts, etc.).

Non-Cornell Theses

Proquest dissertations and theses.

According to ProQuest, coverage begins with 1637. With more than 2.4 million entries,  ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global  is the starting point for finding citations to doctoral dissertations and master’s theses. Dissertations published from 1980 forward include 350-word abstracts written by the author. Master’s theses published from 1988 forward include 150-word abstracts. UMI also offers over 1.8 million titles for purchase in microfilm or paper formats. The full text of more than 930,000 are available in PDF format for immediate free download. Use  Interlibrary Loan  for the titles not available as full text online.

Foreign Dissertations at the Center for Research Libraries

To search for titles and verify holdings of dissertations at the Center for Research Libraries (CRL), use the CRL catalog . CRL seeks to provide comprehensive access to doctoral dissertations submitted to institutions outside the U. S. and Canada (currently more than 750,000 titles). One hundred European universities maintain exchange or deposit agreements with CRL. Russian dissertation abstracts in the social sciences are obtained on microfiche from INION.  More detailed information about CRL’s dissertation holdings .

Additional Resources

Please see our resource guide on dissertations and theses for additional resources and support.

• Dissertations & Theses
• Collections

Browse Dissertations and Electronic Theses

Linguistics Graduate Dissertations ( Department of Linguistics )

Linguistics Undergraduate Senior Essays ( Department of Linguistics )

Masters of Environmental Design Theses ( Yale School of Architecture )

Public Health Theses ( School of Public Health )

Yale Divinity School Theses ( Yale Divinity School )

Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations

Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library ( School of Medicine )

Starting with the Yale School of Medicine (YSM) graduating class of 2002, the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library and YSM Office of Student Research have collaborated on the Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library (YMTDL) project, publishing the digitized full text of medical student theses on the web as a valuable byproduct of Yale student research efforts. The digital thesis deposit has been a graduation requirement since 2006. Starting in 2012, alumni of the Yale School of Medicine were invited to participate in the YMTDL project by granting scanning and hosting permission to the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library, which digitized the Library’s print copy of their thesis or dissertation. A grant from the Arcadia Fund in 2017 provided the means for digitizing over 1,000 additional theses. IF YOU ARE A MEMBER OF THE YALE COMMUNITY AND NEED ACCESS TO A THESIS RESTRICTED TO THE YALE NETWORK, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR VPN (VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK) IS ON.

Yale School of Medicine Physician Associate Program Theses ( School of Medicine )

Starting with the Yale Physician Associate (PA) Program’s Class of 2020, the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library and the Yale PA Research Program have collaborated to publish the digitized full text of PA student theses on the web as a valuable byproduct of Yale student research efforts. Please review the Terms & Conditions in the left-hand column in order to avoid copyright infringement.

Yale School of Nursing Digital Theses ( School of Nursing )

Advanced Search

• Notify me via email or RSS
• Disciplines
• Researcher Profiles
• Author Help
• Submit Research
• Create Researcher Profile

Copyright, Publishing and Open Access

• Terms & Conditions
• Open Access at Yale
• Yale University Library
• Yale Law School Repository

Home | About | FAQ | My Account | Accessibility Statement

Privacy Copyright

Study at Cambridge

About the university, research at cambridge.

• Undergraduate courses
• Events and open days
• Fees and finance
• Postgraduate courses
• How to apply
• Postgraduate events
• Fees and funding
• International students
• Continuing education
• Executive and professional education
• Courses in education
• How the University and Colleges work
• Term dates and calendars
• Visiting the University
• Annual reports
• Equality and diversity
• A global university
• Public engagement
• Give to Cambridge
• For Cambridge students
• For our researchers
• Business and enterprise
• Colleges & departments
• Email & phone search
• Museums & collections

• Open Access Resources
• Publishing Open Access overview
• Accepted for Publication: What to do next
• Self-Archiving Policy Guidance overview
• Paying for Gold Open Access overview
• Accessing the University of Cambridge's block grants
• Accessing a Transitional Deal
• Accessing the University's Central Open Access Funding
• Discounts and Offsets
• Open access agreements
• Read & publish journals
• Funder Open Access Policies overview
• UK Open Access Policies overview
• REF overview
• OA and REF reporting
• Gold open access
• Policy exceptions
• Preprint servers overview
• Preprint server decision tree
• Preprint server-specific advice overview
• Preprint servers which allow accepted manuscripts to be uploaded
• Preprint servers which DO NOT allow accepted manuscripts to be uploaded
• Research Councils
• Wellcome Trust Monograph OA Policy
• Funder requirements for theses
• Other funders' Open Access policies
• Is my journal compliant?
• Open Access Policies for Books
• REF Support overview
• Navigating Symplectic Elements
• Elements metadata requirements for research outputs
• REF Open Access Reports From Elements
• REF Open Access Policy Requirements and Exceptions overview
• Deposit exceptions
• Access exceptions
• Technical exceptions
• Further exceptions
• Preprints metadata requirements for research outputs
• Eligibility definitions for research outputs overview
• Category: Books or parts of books
• Category: Journal articles
• Category: Physical artefacts
• Category: Exhibitions and performances
• Category: Other documents
• Category: Digital artefacts
• Category: Other
• REF Support FAQs
• Theses overview
• Preparing to deposit your thesis in Apollo
• Funder Open Access Requirements
• Guidance for choosing your access levels
• Who owns the copyright in your thesis?
• Advice on sensitive material
• Advice on copyright material
• Advice on redacting material from a thesis
• Submitting the electronic thesis
• Data and your thesis
• Masters theses
• Advice for Doctoral Alumni
• Finding and accessing theses
• University policies & guidance overview
• Cambridge Open Access Publications Policy Framework overview
• Self-Archiving Policy
• Cambridge funding guidelines
• Contact us overview
• The Open Access team
• Open Access
• Publishing Open Access
• Funder Open Access Policies
• REF Support
• University policies & guidance

How do I find a Cambridge thesis?

Ph.D., M.Litt., M.Sc., and Divinity M.Phil. theses approved after 1970 are catalogued in iDiscover, as are M.D. and M.Chir. theses approved after May 2006. Earlier theses are listed in a card catalogue in the Manuscripts Reading Room and are gradually being added to iDiscover.

Since 1 October 2017, all PhD theses are being deposited in electronic form to the University repository  Apollo . Many earlier theses are also in the repository, but if they are not yet in digital form it is possible to request access to these theses. There is more information on how to request a copy of a printed thesis further down this page.

Gaining access to electronic copies of a thesis

The author of a given thesis in Apollo can choose whether their thesis is available to be downloaded, available on request or unavailable. While many of the theses in Apollo are openly available for download, some theses in the repository are not open access because they have either been embargoed by the author or because they are unable to be made openly available for copyright or other reasons.

Requesting a copy of a printed thesis

Researchers can order a copy of an unpublished thesis which was deposited in print form through the Library’s  Digital Content Unit  via the  image request form . Copies of theses may be provided to researchers in accordance with the  law  and in a manner that is common across UK libraries.The law allows us to provide whole copies of unpublished theses to individuals as long as they sign a declaration saying that it is for non-commercial research or private study. The agreement used for access to theses at Cambridge has been drafted using the guidance by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP).

Theses are not available for borrowing or inter library loan. The copyright of theses remains with the author. The law does not allow us to provide a copy for inclusion in a general library collection or for wider distribution beyond the individual receiving the copy, without the explicit permission of the author or copyright holder. Where someone approaches us asking for a copy for their library or wider distribution, they must obtain the explicit permission of the author or copyright owner.

Please note any periods of access restriction requested by the author apply to both electronic and print copies.

© 2020 Office of Scholarly Communication , University of Cambridge

This project is a joint initiative of Cambridge University Library and the Research Strategy Office .

Follow us on Twitter

Privacy policy

© 2024 University of Cambridge

• Contact the University
• Accessibility
• Freedom of information
• Privacy policy and cookies
• Statement on Modern Slavery
• Terms and conditions
• University A-Z
• Undergraduate
• Postgraduate
• Research news
• About research at Cambridge
• Spotlight on...

The Library Is Open

The Wallace building is now open to the public. More information on services available.

• RIT Libraries
• Thesis and Dissertation Resources
• Databases and Websites
• Thesis Writing Guides
• Writing in Engineering and Science

Why search this literature?

It is crucial for graduate students to search the thesis and dissertation literature to make sure that an idea or hypothesis has not already been tested, explored, and published.  An additional reason to search this literature is that it is rich with ideas and information not found elsewhere.  If graduate students do not continue on as academics or if students that came after them in their programs did not continue their research, this literature may be the end of the line for scholarship on a topic.

ProQuest has published dissertation e-learning modules covering the usefulness of using dissertations as a research source.  See link below:

• Dissertation eLearning resources from ProQuest Uncover the value of dissertations.

Library Databases

All graduate students should, at minimum, search the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global database (PQDT) to see if the research they are proposing to do has already been done by a student at another institution/university.  RIT dissertations and theses have been included in PQDT since approximately 2006.

• Proquest Dissertations & Theses Global This link opens in a new window Identifies Ph.D. dissertations from U.S. & Canadian universities since 1861. Abstracts from 1980. Master's theses from 1988. Many with full-text.

RIT Digital Institutional Repository

• Digital Institutional Repository The digital institutional repository for the Rochester Institute of Technology, managed by RIT Libraries.
• ProQuest - Most Accessed Dissertations/Theses

Each month ProQuest updates this list of the top 25 Most-Accessed Dissertations and Theses across all subjects, based upon total PDF downloads. Find out what is trending.

The web sites below should also be consulted as appropriate to perform a full and thorough review of the dissertation and thesis literature beyond your introductory search of ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global.  Consider whether a particular country or part of the world would have an interest in your potential research topic.

Only large-scale repositories of dissertations and theses are included here. You may also need to search individual university repositories directly.

• Ebsco Open Dissertations Search thousands of open dissertations and theses from over 50 participating libraries.
• EThOS (from the British Library) EThOS offers a 'single point of access' where researchers the world over can access ALL theses produced by UK Higher Education.
• Indian Institute of Science Dissertations and theses from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.
• Indian Theses and Dissertations (Shodhganga) Over 130 participating Indian universities and over 8800 ETD documents.
• National ETD Portal (South Africa) South African theses and dissertations.
• Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations 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 theses and dissertations (ETDs). The NDLTD Union Catalog contains more than one million records of electronic theses and dissertations. Search the Union Catalog from here: http://thumper.vtls.com:6090/?theme=NDLTD
• OhioLINK ETD Center Electronic theses and dissertations from colleges and universities in the state of Ohio.
• Open Access Theses and Dissertations OATD 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 600 colleges, universities, and research institutions. OATD currently indexes over 1.5 million theses and dissertations. RIT is included.
• Theses Canada Canadian universities voluntarily participate by submitting approved theses and dissertation to Theses Canada. Click on "Search Theses Canada" under the Introduction on the left hand side of the page to begin your search.
• TROVE From the National Library of Australia - Search Trove to explore amazing collections from Australian libraries, universities, museums, galleries and archives.
• Next: Thesis Writing Guides >>

Edit this Guide

Log into Dashboard

Use of RIT resources is reserved for current RIT students, faculty and staff for academic and teaching purposes only. Please contact your librarian with any questions.

Help is Available

Email a Librarian

A librarian is available by e-mail at [email protected]

Meet with a Librarian

Call reference desk voicemail.

A librarian is available by phone at (585) 475-2563 or on Skype at llll

Or, call (585) 475-2563 to leave a voicemail with the reference desk during normal business hours .

Chat with a Librarian

Thesis and dissertation resources infoguide url.

https://infoguides.rit.edu/dissertationsandtheses

Use the box below to email yourself a link to this guide

Office of Scholarly Communication

University of California

• Campus Resources
• Why Publish Open Access?
• Deposit Your Scholarly Articles
• Open Access Policies FAQ
• OA Policy Waivers
• OA Publishing Agreements and Discounts
• OA Thesis & Dissertation Policies
• Publish Your Book OA
• Transition Your Journal to OA
• Collect and share your older publications
• Publishing Funds
• eScholarship Publishing
• University of California Press
• Copyright & Publication Contracts
• Data Sharing Policies & Tools

Home » For Authors & Researchers » Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Theses and dissertations produced by students as part of the completion of their degree requirements often represent unique and interesting scholarship. Universities are increasingly making this work available online, and UC is no exception. Find information related to open access theses and dissertations below.

UC has an open access policy for theses and dissertations, but procedures and specifics vary by campus

Several UC campuses have established policies requiring open access to the electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) written by their graduate students. As of March 25, 2020, there is now a systemwide Policy on Open Access for Theses and Dissertations , indicating that UC “requires theses or dissertations prepared at the University to be (1) deposited into an open access repository, and (2) freely and openly available to the public, subject to a requested delay of access (’embargo’) obtained by the student.”

In accordance with these policies, campuses must ensure that student ETDs are available open access via eScholarship (UC’s open access repository and publishing platform), at no cost to students. By contrast, ProQuest, the world’s largest commercial publisher of ETDs, charges a $95 fee to make an ETD open access. Institutions worldwide have moved toward open access ETD publication because it dramatically increases the visibility and reach of their graduate research.

Policies and procedures for ETD filing, including how to delay public release of an ETD and how long such a delay can last, vary by campus. Learn more about the requirements and procedures for ETDs at each UC campus:

• UC Berkeley: Dissertation Filing Guidelines (for Doctoral Students) and Thesis Filing Guidelines (for Master’s Students)
• UC Davis: Preparing and Filing Your Thesis or Dissertation
• UC Irvine: Thesis/Dissertation Electronic Submission
• UCLA: File Your Thesis or Dissertation
• UC Merced: Dissertation/Thesis Submission
• UC Riverside: Dissertation and Thesis Submission
• UC San Diego:  Preparing to Graduate
• UCSF: Dissertation and Thesis Guidelines
• UC Santa Barbara:  Filing Your Thesis, Dissertation, or DMA Supporting Document
• UC Santa Cruz: Dissertation and Thesis Guidelines (PDF) from the Graduate Division’s Accessing Forms Online page

Open access can be delayed in certain circumstances

Some campuses allow students to elect an embargo period before the public release of their thesis/dissertation; others require approval from graduate advisors or administrators. Visit your local graduate division’s website (linked above) for more information.

Common copyright concerns of students writing theses and dissertations

Students writing theses/dissertations most commonly have questions about their own copyright ownership or the use of other people’s copyrighted materials in their own work.

You automatically own the copyright in your thesis/dissertation  as soon as you create it, regardless of whether you register it or include a copyright page or copyright notice (see this FAQ from the U.S. Copyright Office for more information). Most students choose not to register their copyrights, though some choose to do so because they value having their copyright ownership officially and publicly recorded. Getting a copyright registered is required before you can sue someone for infringement.

If you decide to register your copyright, you can do so

• directly, through the Copyright Office website , for $35
• by having ProQuest/UMI contact the Copyright Office on your behalf, for $65.

It is common to incorporate 1) writing you have done for journal articles as part of your dissertation, and 2) parts of your dissertation into articles or books . See, for example, these articles from Wiley and Taylor & Francis giving authors tips on how to successfully turn dissertations into articles, or these pages at Sage , Springer , and Elsevier listing reuse in a thesis or dissertation as a common right of authors. Because this is a well-known practice, and often explicitly allowed in publishers’ contracts with authors, it rarely raises copyright concerns. eScholarship , which hosts over 55,000 UC ETDs, has never received a takedown notice from a publisher based on a complaint that the author’s ETD was too similar to the author’s published work.

Incorporating the works of others in your thesis/dissertation – such as quotations or illustrative images – is often allowed by copyright law. This is the case when the original work isn’t protected by copyright, or if the way you’re using the work would be considered fair use. In some circumstances, however, you will need permission from the copyright holder.  For more information, please consult the Berkeley Library’s guide to Copyright and Publishing Your Dissertation .

How to find UC Dissertations and Theses online

All ten UC campuses make their electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) openly accessible to readers around the world. You can view over 55,000 UC ETDs in eScholarship , UC’s open access repository. View ETDs from each campus:

• Santa Barbara

Sign up to receive OSC blog post updates

Email address:

Recent Posts

• UC leaders remain steadfast in advancing open scholarship and protecting the rights of scholars and readers
• Next Generation Library Publishing + Big Ten Academic Alliance Announce the Launch of a Pilot Project
• Follow up from The Right to Deposit webinar: statement and early signatories
• Better together: BTAA Libraries, CDL, and Lyrasis commit to strengthen Diamond Open Access in the United States
• Upcoming webinar: “The Right To Deposit – Uniform Guidance to Ensure Author Compliance and Public Access”

WordPress Theme by WPZOOM

Harvard University Theses, Dissertations, and Prize Papers

The Harvard University Archives ’ collection of theses, dissertations, and prize papers document the wide range of academic research undertaken by Harvard students over the course of the University’s history.

Beyond their value as pieces of original research, these collections document the history of American higher education, chronicling both the growth of Harvard as a major research institution as well as the development of numerous academic fields. They are also an important source of biographical information, offering insight into the academic careers of the authors.

Spanning from the ‘theses and quaestiones’ of the 17th and 18th centuries to the current yearly output of student research, they include both the first Harvard Ph.D. dissertation (by William Byerly, Ph.D . 1873) and the dissertation of the first woman to earn a doctorate from Harvard ( Lorna Myrtle Hodgkinson , Ed.D. 1922).

Other highlights include:

• The collection of Mathematical theses, 1782-1839
• The 1895 Ph.D. dissertation of W.E.B. Du Bois, The suppression of the African slave trade in the United States, 1638-1871
• Ph.D. dissertations of astronomer Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (Ph.D. 1925) and physicist John Hasbrouck Van Vleck (Ph.D. 1922)
• Undergraduate honors theses of novelist John Updike (A.B. 1954), filmmaker Terrence Malick (A.B. 1966),  and U.S. poet laureate Tracy Smith (A.B. 1994)
• Undergraduate prize papers and dissertations of philosophers Ralph Waldo Emerson (A.B. 1821), George Santayana (Ph.D. 1889), and W.V. Quine (Ph.D. 1932)
• Undergraduate honors theses of U.S. President John F. Kennedy (A.B. 1940) and Chief Justice John Roberts (A.B. 1976)

What does a prize-winning thesis look like?

If you're a Harvard undergraduate writing your own thesis, it can be helpful to review recent prize-winning theses. The Harvard University Archives has made available for digital lending all of the Thomas Hoopes Prize winners from the 2019-2021 academic years.

Accessing These Materials

How to access materials at the Harvard University Archives

How to find and request dissertations, in person or virtually

How to find and request undergraduate honors theses

How to find and request Thomas Temple Hoopes Prize papers

How to find and request Bowdoin Prize papers

• email: Email
• Phone number 617-495-2461

Related Collections

Harvard faculty personal and professional archives, harvard student life collections: arts, sports, politics and social life, access materials at the harvard university archives.

About Us arrow_drop_down expand_more

• News Releases

Our Values arrow_drop_down expand_more

• Diversity & Inclusion
• Accessibility
• Slavery Act Statement

Product Families arrow_drop_down expand_more

Content Solutions expand_more

• Books and Ebooks
• Dissertations
• News & Newspapers
• Primary Sources
• Streaming Video

Products by Subject expand_more

• Health & Medicine
• History & Social Change
• Interdisciplinary
• Science & Technology
• Social Sciences

Popular Products expand_more

Proquest one academic.

• ProQuest One Business
• ProQuest One Education
• ProQuest One Psychology
• ProQuest Black Studies
• Ebooks Offers for Libraries

Library Management expand_more

Discovery services expand_more, resource sharing expand_more, course resource lists expand_more, research management expand_more, mobile solutions expand_more.

• Innovative Mobile

Libraries We Serve expand_more

• Academic Solutions for universities, colleges, and community colleges of all sizes.
• Public Solutions for librarians supporting patrons of public libraries.
• K-12 Solutions for elementary schools, primary schools and high schools.
• Community College Solutions for community colleges, trade schools and two year programs.
• Government Solutions for governmental affairs offices, patent examiners, and grants administrators.
• Corporate Solutions for professionals in the pharmaceutical, legal industries and more.

Solutions For expand_more

• DEI E-Resources
• Print to Electronic
• Reclaiming Your Space
• Library Management
• Library Management – Public Libraries
• Community Engagement
• Content Discovery
• Research Repository
• Digital Preservation
• Resource Sharing
• Document Delivery
• Course Resources

Account Support expand_more

• Setup and Support
• Access Questions
• Renewing a Product
• Paying an Invoice
• Get Usage Data: ProQuest
• Get Usage Data: Alexander Street
• Submitting Dissertations

Idea Exchange

• ProQuest Status Page

Tools & Resources expand_more

• Find a Title List
• Accessibility Documentation
• Open Access

Browse Collections by Subject expand_more

I want to expand_more.

• Start my Research
• Start Text & Data Mining
• Find Research Funding
• Keep up with Research News
• Showcase Research
• See Upcoming Webinars
• Contact Support

I’m Interested In expand_more

• Submitting a Dissertation
• Purchasing a Dissertation
• Assembling Course Materials
• Implementing a Mobile Campus App

Insights expand_more

How text and data mining enables digital literacy in the classroom.

Read about the University of Sydney’s journey to integrate text and data mining (TDM) into its undergraduate courses and incorporate it across disciplines

Meeting Your Needs expand_more

• Graduate Students
• Graduate Administrators

Products & Services expand_more

• ETD Dissemination
• Dissertation & Theses Global
• ETD Dashboard

Resources expand_more

• eLearning Modules
• Expert Advice Articles

Dissertations News expand_more

• Top 25 Most-Accessed Dissertations
• Dissertations Award Winners

Are you a researcher looking for scholarly content? Try searching our platform here...

Language preference

Do you want set this as your default language ?

Connect with ProQuest

Dissertations & theses, proquest: the world leader in dissertation access and dissemination.

Over the last 80 years, ProQuest has built the world’s most comprehensive and renowned dissertations program. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global (PQDT Global), continues to grow its repository of 5 million graduate works each year, thanks to the continued contribution from the world’s universities, creating an ever-growing resource of emerging research to fuel innovation and new insights.

PQDT Global provides researchers with quality and equitable search results across all institutions, as well as rich citation data that delivers insights into the connections building around the world.

Amplify your Research

Include research with ProQuest to amplify its reach to a vast community of scholars. Submitting is free!

Accelerate your discovery

Subscribe to ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global to accelerate and focus your discovery journey, resulting in more efficient and effective research.

Analyze your Influence

Analyze the influence and impact of your dissertations and theses globally by monitoring retrieval data from the ProQuest Platform.

Have questions? We've gathered these frequently asked questions about ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.

Free online learning support to inspire and guide

ProQuest has developed on-demand instructional resources for students to use in a virtual learning environment. eLearning Companions are available to support the graduate student during their research and writing process as well as the undergraduate student who is developing their information literacy skills.

Access the Learning Modules

Spotlight on Research

Distinguished Dissertation and Thesis Award Winners

ProQuest sponsors our Graduate students and their ambitions. Click to see detailed author profiles and previous winners

Top 25 Dissertations

See what titles and topics are trending around the globe. Each month ProQuest posts the top 25 Most-Accessed Dissertations and Theses across all subjects, based upon total PDF downloads.

Have an idea for ProQuest? Share, vote and get feedback on ideas in our forums.

Subject Indexing Partners Enhancing Discoverability

Related Products

ProQuest Dissertation & Theses Global

ProQuest Dissertation & Theses Global is the world's most comprehensive curated collection of multi-disciplinary dissertations and theses from around the world.

Empower researchers to uncover new connections and make new discoveries using TDM Studio, a new solution for text and data mining (TDM). From the initial idea to the final output, TDM Studio puts the power of text and data mining directly in the researcher’s hands.

ProQuest One Academic brings together four core multi-disciplinary products, allowing access to the world’s largest curated collection of journals, ebooks, dissertations, news and video.

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Dissertation
• Dissertation & Thesis Outline | Example & Free Templates

Dissertation & Thesis Outline | Example & Free Templates

Published on June 7, 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on November 21, 2023.

A thesis or dissertation outline is one of the most critical early steps in your writing process . It helps you to lay out and organize your ideas and can provide you with a roadmap for deciding the specifics of your dissertation topic and showcasing its relevance to your field.

Generally, an outline contains information on the different sections included in your thesis or dissertation , such as:

• Your anticipated title
• Your abstract
• Your chapters (sometimes subdivided into further topics like literature review, research methods, avenues for future research, etc.)

In the final product, you can also provide a chapter outline for your readers. This is a short paragraph at the end of your introduction to inform readers about the organizational structure of your thesis or dissertation. This chapter outline is also known as a reading guide or summary outline.

Table of contents

How to outline your thesis or dissertation, dissertation and thesis outline templates, chapter outline example, sample sentences for your chapter outline, sample verbs for variation in your chapter outline, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about thesis and dissertation outlines.

While there are some inter-institutional differences, many outlines proceed in a fairly similar fashion.

• Working Title
• “Elevator pitch” of your work (often written last).
• Introduce your area of study, sharing details about your research question, problem statement , and hypotheses . Situate your research within an existing paradigm or conceptual or theoretical framework .
• Subdivide as you see fit into main topics and sub-topics.
• Describe your research methods (e.g., your scope , population , and data collection ).
• Present your research findings and share about your data analysis methods.
• Answer the research question in a concise way.
• Interpret your findings, discuss potential limitations of your own research and speculate about future implications or related opportunities.

For a more detailed overview of chapters and other elements, be sure to check out our article on the structure of a dissertation or download our template .

To help you get started, we’ve created a full thesis or dissertation template in Word or Google Docs format. It’s easy adapt it to your own requirements.

 Download Word template    Download Google Docs template

It can be easy to fall into a pattern of overusing the same words or sentence constructions, which can make your work monotonous and repetitive for your readers. Consider utilizing some of the alternative constructions presented below.

Example 1: Passive construction

The passive voice is a common choice for outlines and overviews because the context makes it clear who is carrying out the action (e.g., you are conducting the research ). However, overuse of the passive voice can make your text vague and imprecise.

Example 2: IS-AV construction

You can also present your information using the “IS-AV” (inanimate subject with an active verb ) construction.

A chapter is an inanimate object, so it is not capable of taking an action itself (e.g., presenting or discussing). However, the meaning of the sentence is still easily understandable, so the IS-AV construction can be a good way to add variety to your text.

Example 3: The “I” construction

Another option is to use the “I” construction, which is often recommended by style manuals (e.g., APA Style and Chicago style ). However, depending on your field of study, this construction is not always considered professional or academic. Ask your supervisor if you’re not sure.

Example 4: Mix-and-match

To truly make the most of these options, consider mixing and matching the passive voice , IS-AV construction , and “I” construction .This can help the flow of your argument and improve the readability of your text.

As you draft the chapter outline, you may also find yourself frequently repeating the same words, such as “discuss,” “present,” “prove,” or “show.” Consider branching out to add richness and nuance to your writing. Here are some examples of synonyms you can use.

If you want to know more about AI for academic writing, AI tools, or research bias, make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

Research bias

• Anchoring bias
• Halo effect
• The Baader–Meinhof phenomenon
• The placebo effect
• Nonresponse bias
• Deep learning
• Generative AI
• Machine learning
• Reinforcement learning
• Supervised vs. unsupervised learning

 (AI) Tools

• Grammar Checker
• Paraphrasing Tool
• Text Summarizer
• AI Detector
• Plagiarism Checker
• Citation Generator

When you mention different chapters within your text, it’s considered best to use Roman numerals for most citation styles. However, the most important thing here is to remain consistent whenever using numbers in your dissertation .

The title page of your thesis or dissertation goes first, before all other content or lists that you may choose to include.

A thesis or dissertation outline is one of the most critical first steps in your writing process. It helps you to lay out and organize your ideas and can provide you with a roadmap for deciding what kind of research you’d like to undertake.

• Your chapters (sometimes subdivided into further topics like literature review , research methods , avenues for future research, etc.)

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

George, T. (2023, November 21). Dissertation & Thesis Outline | Example & Free Templates. Scribbr. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/dissertation-thesis-outline/

Is this article helpful?

Tegan George

Other students also liked, dissertation table of contents in word | instructions & examples, figure and table lists | word instructions, template & examples, thesis & dissertation acknowledgements | tips & examples, get unlimited documents corrected.

✔ Free APA citation check included ✔ Unlimited document corrections ✔ Specialized in correcting academic texts

Free Download

Dissertation/Thesis Template

The fastest (and smartest) way to craft a winning dissertation that showcases your study and earns you marks. 

Available in Google Doc, Word & PDF format 4.9 star rating, 5000 + downloads

Step-by-step instructions

Tried & tested academic format

Fill-in-the-blanks simplicity

Pro tips, tricks and resources

What’s Covered In The Template?

This dissertation template is based on the tried and trusted best-practice format for formal academic research projects. The template structure reflects the overall research process, ensuring your document has a smooth, logical flow. Here’s how it’s structured:

• The title page/cover page
• Abstract (sometimes also called the executive summary)
• Table of contents
• List of figures /list of tables
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Literature review
• Chapter 3: Methodology
• Chapter 4: Research findings /results 
• Chapter 5: Discussion /analysis of findings
• Chapter 6: Conclusion
• Reference list

Each section is explained in plain, straightforward language , followed by an overview of the key elements that you need to cover within each section. We’ve also included practical examples to help you understand exactly what’s required in each section.

Download The Template

100% Free. Instant Access.

I agree to receive the free template and other useful resources.

Download Now (Instant Access)

FAQs: Dissertation & Thesis Template

Faqs: dissertation template, what format is the template (doc, pdf, ppt, etc.).

The dissertation template is provided as a Google Doc. You can download it in MS Word format or make a copy to your Google Drive. You’re also welcome to convert it to whatever format works best for you, such as LaTeX or PDF.

What types of dissertations/theses can this template be used for?

The template follows the standard best-practice structure for formal academic research projects such as dissertations or theses, so it is suitable for the vast majority of degrees, particularly those within the sciences.

Some universities may have some additional requirements, but these are typically minor, with the core structure remaining the same. Therefore, it’s always a good idea to double-check your university’s requirements before you finalise your structure.

Will this work for a research paper?

A research paper follows a similar format, but there are a few differences. You can find our research paper template here .

Is this template for an undergrad, Masters or PhD-level thesis?

This template can be used for a dissertation, thesis or research project at any level of study. It may be slight overkill for an undergraduate-level study, but it certainly won’t be missing anything.

How long should my dissertation/thesis be?

This depends entirely on your university’s specific requirements, so it’s best to check with them. As a general ballpark, Masters-level projects are usually 15,000 – 20,000 words in length, while Doctoral-level projects are often in excess of 60,000 words.

What about the research proposal?

If you’re still working on your research proposal, we’ve got a template for that here .

We’ve also got loads of proposal-related guides and videos over on the Grad Coach blog .

How do I write a literature review?

We have a wealth of free resources on the Grad Coach Blog that unpack how to write a literature review from scratch. You can check out the literature review section of the blog here.

How do I create a research methodology?

We have a wealth of free resources on the Grad Coach Blog that unpack research methodology, both qualitative and quantitative. You can check out the methodology section of the blog here.

Can I share this dissertation template with my friends/colleagues?

Yes, you’re welcome to share this template. If you want to post about it on your blog or social media, all we ask is that you reference this page as your source.

Can Grad Coach help me with my dissertation/thesis?

Within the template, you’ll find plain-language explanations of each section, which should give you a fair amount of guidance. However, you’re also welcome to consider our dissertation and thesis coaching services .

Additional Resources

If you’re working on a dissertation or thesis, be sure to also check these resources out…

1-On-1 Private Coaching

The Grad Coach Resource Center

The Grad Coach YouTube Channel

The Grad Coach Podcast