Theses & Dissertations: Resources for Locating

Proquest Dissertations & Theses

The world’s most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses. 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.  All materials in full text are available to currently-registered students, faculty and staff for free.

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.

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.

EThOS (Electronic Theses Online Service)

The aim of EThOS is to offer a ‘single point of access’ where researchers the world over can access ALL theses produced by UK Higher Education

Many UK institutions support Open Access to their theses, so download of their digital and digitized theses is free to the researcher. A small number of participating institutions may not be able to offer Open Access and in this case the researcher may have to pay for the digitization.

EThOS can only offer the theses of participating institutions. While we expect a large number of institutions to take part, we cannot supply from an institution which chooses not to. In this case, you should approach the institution’s library directly to gain access to a thesis.
http://ethos.bl.uk/

Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations

The Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) is an international organization that promotes the adoption, creation, use, dissemination and preservation of electronic theses and dissertations. The NDLTD Union Catalog contains more than one million records.
http://www.ndltd.org/resources/find-etds

Theses Canada

The mission of Theses Canada is to acquire and preserve a comprehensive collection of Canadian theses at Library and Archives Canada (LAC), to provide access to this valuable research within Canada and throughout the world. Its mission to preserve this portion of Canada’s bibliographic heritage is achieved through collaboration with the many Canadian universities who participate in the program.
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/thesescanada

Please consult the Research Guide:  Guide for Writers of Theses & Dissertations for information about how to submit your thesis or dissertation to Boston University Libraries.

theses@bu.edu