Research Help: Dissertations and Theses

Options for locating Washington University dissertations and theses:

• Search OpenScholarship.wustl.edu
• Search in Dissertations & Theses @ Washington University in St. Louis - More info
  Perform an Advanced search to locate material by Advisor, Author, Title, Department, etc. This database displays full text (.pdf) of WU dissertations for on-campus users only, 1996-present.
• Records for WU dissertations and theses can be found in the Catalog
• The search strategies used in the Classic Catalog (below) do not work as well in the Catalog.
• One possible search strategy: type any combination of words from title, author and/or department in the search box without punctuation and enter; then using REFINE on the right side of the screen, find Washington University (Saint Louis, MO) in the Author/Creator column and click on it.
• Records for WU dissertations and theses can be found in the Classic Catalog
• Search by Author - Example: Olson, Paul David
• Search by Word - Example: phenotype plasticity and manihot or theses and manihot
• Search by Department - You must perform Title search beginning with the word "Theses"
  Examples:
  Theses. Bio, Theses. Engineering, Theses. English, Theses. Political
  Note: This approach can be useful, but specific dissertations may not be where you expect. This indexing is based on what the author put on the title page, so entries are not always consistent. For example, a dissertation done in the Program in Developmental Biology may be under "Theses. Developmental Biology" or may be under "Theses.Biology and Biomedical Sciences."

Searching and requesting non-WU dissertations:

• Dissertations & Theses (ProQuest) - More info
  The complete range of academic subjects appearing in dissertations accepted at accredited institutions since 1861. Abstracts included from July 1980; abstracts for masters theses beginning Spring 1988. To request via ILLiad, log in to ILLiad, click on Request a Thesis, and fill out the form.
• Although Dissertations & Theses (Proquest) is the most comprehensive source, some schools do not use this Proquest source. Consider other search tools also.
• Additional online sources:
• Worldcat.org or WorldCat on FirstSearch
• Some databases include information about dissertations in their particular subject areas.
• Center for Research Libraries
• Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
• OAISTER | OAister via Worldcat.org
• Scirus
• Australasian Digital Theses Program (ADT)
• Theses Canada Portal
• Online Access to full-text of German dissertations
• EThOS Electronic Theses Online (British Library - UK)
• Swedish University Essays
• Many universities have electronic theses searches now, for example: M.I.T. Theses and E-Theses Online, CalTech's Electronic Theses, OhioLink ETD Electronic Theses and Dissertations
• DART-Europe E-theses Portal
• Google or your favorite web search tool

Preparing WU dissertations and theses:

• WU Libraries Thesis Preparation Guidelines
• The Dissertation page for the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences includes a link to the current Doctoral Dissertation Guide
• Masters Thesis Guide - WU Arts & Sciences (2011)