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Theses and dissertations

Guide to resources for finding theses and dissertations. Developed in response to OCLC cancellation of Dissertation Abstracts.

OSU Theses and Dissertations

Here are two ways to search for OSU theses and dissertations.

1. The library search engine, 1Search. One of the best ways to get started is to read a completed thesis or dissertation from your department.

  • Find a thesis or dissertation using 1Search
  • Use a keyword search, enter your department name and theses ("theses" will find either a thesis or dissertation).  For example, Biochemistry and Biophysics and theses, or Public Health and theses.
  • Refine your results on the right-hand side of the results page. Narrow by finding the Topic heading then clicking the OSU-Theses box. (Tip- you may need to select "Show More" to see the OSU-Theses option.)
  • Use the Sort by option on the right-hand side of the page to see the results in Date-newest rather than Relevance order.
  • Choose a recent thesis. 
  • Next click view full text. This will take you to the ScholarsArchive where you can click on the link for the PDF of the thesis or dissertation you are interested in.

2. ScholarsArchive@OSU: Electronic Theses and Disserations and then filter by academic affiliation, degree, etc.

Other sources of theses & dissertations

  1. ProQuest Dissertation Express: find citations here, then request it from OSU Libraries' Interlibrary Loan.
  2. American Doctoral Dissertations 1902-present This free research database indexes thousands of theses and dissertations accepted by American universities from 1902 to the present and, when available, provides links to full text.
  3. PQDT Open Searches open access theses and dissertations from the ProQuest database. It is a small subset of Dissertation Abstracts (includes full text).
  4. Google indexes many open access theses and dissertations from institutions and authors that have published them as open access.
  5. Check the database list to see if they index dissertations (many do) or ask your subject librarian for help selecting the best option.
  6. Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) Recommends several search engines for access to dissertations and theses.
  7. Foreign dissertations from CRL The Center for Research Libraries (CRL) has cataloged over 800,000 dissertations from countries outside the US and Canada. (note OSU faculty and students can request materials from the CRL through Interlibrary Loan).

Where is Dissertation Abstracts?

Dissertation Abstracts (a ProQuest database) is no longer available at Oregon State University.  For many years OSU Libraries were able to provide access to this database through a provider that charged a set price on a per search basis. That access is no longer being offered.  Subscribing to Dissertation Abstracts through ProQuest is not possible due to the increased price.  However, we have developed this guide in order to direct the OSU community to other useful resources for finding theses and dissertations.

Please contact your subject librarian if you have questions about finding dissertations and theses in your field.