Dissertations and Theses  

In most disciplines, theses and dissertations are considered primary sources (original materials/information on which other research is based). These works are conducted for the awarding of higher academic degrees and the research is assessed by external examiners before the degree is awarded. Sometimes, these works will also be later reported in a journal article or book.

Locating the full text of dissertations and theses was often a time-consuming task, as many were not widely available.  But in the last few years, many universities have begun to make them available electronically.  The resources on this page will help you locate the citations and/or abstracts of dissertations and theses. Use other tabs to either help find the full text online, borrow, or purchase a dissertation.

WorldCat (also known as UNC Library Express)

WorldCat covers all subjects and includes records for over 95 million items held in thousands of libraries throughout the United States and Europe. Search by keyword, author, or title.

Look for      Thesis/dissertation (355)    on the left column of results.  Click on that box to get a (usually) much smaller number of results.  (Of course, for some searches, there might not be any theses or dissertations.)

Some authors publish their dissertations as books or articles, potentially changing the original title.

Many specialized article databases index dissertations and theses and may provide abstracts; not full-text. These include (not an exhaustive list):

Kinesiology Publications (KinPubs, coverage is 1995-2006) ***most are full-text***
Provides graduate dissertations and theses in areas related to health and performance.

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