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ED 620: Research and Evaluation

Find OSU Theses & Dissertations

 

One of the best ways to see what other people in your discipline are reading is to see what they're referencing in their publications. OSU keeps a copy of every thesis and dissertation on ScholarsArchive@OSU. To see what's available in your discipline:

1. Find an OSU thesis or dissertation using ScholarsArchive@OSU

  • In the Advanced Search, enter your department or college name in the "Degree Field" search box.  For example, Biochemistry, Biophysics, or Public Health. Double-check the search recognizes your field using the Degree Field menu on the left side of the results page.
  • Refine your results to theses or dissertations on the left side of the results page. Click the Resource Type heading, then choose the Masters Thesis or Dissertation link.
  • To find recent theses or dissertations, next refine your results on the left-hand side of the results page using the Commencement Year heading.
  • You can also refine searches based on Advisor and a number of other potentially useful factors.
  • From this focused list of results, click on a thesis or dissertation title. 
  • To view the full text, select the Download PDF link on the left side of the page.

2. Focus on the document's literature review section, if it has one.

  • Use the table of contents to find the literature review. Sometimes there are multiple literature reviews in a single thesis or dissertation if your department uses the article format.
  • Ask yourself questions about how the literature review is structured and how sources are used. For example:
    • How old are the sources?
    • Do sources come from multiple format types (e.g., journal articles, government websites, books, conference proceedings)?
    • Do the same names or concepts appear across multiple articles?

Find Non-OSU Theses & Dissertations

Finding Dissertations
Use a subject-specific database (ERIC, PsychInfo) to search for theses and dissertations related to your to research. Look for the field or option to refine your search to just dissertations.


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Many dissertations are now digitized, so try entering the title in Google to see if the manuscript is online.  If not, you can request the item through interlibrary loan although not all institutions will lend their theses or dissertations.

Another option is to us PQDT Open. PQDT Open provides the full text of open access dissertations and theses free of charge.