ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text Database
Dissertations written and submitted in the US and Canada, plus a few international theses:
Assess the Dissertation as a form of publication:
- what should a dissertation look like?
- What forms do dissertations in your field typically take?
- Is there a literature review?
- Where does it appear?
- How is it typically structured?
- How long and involved is the introduction (sometimes called the statement of purpose), methods (or research design), and analysis sections? Are they present?
Search
The basic search box searches full text, which will bring back a HUGE set of results. Try the advanced search function for much greater control.
Once you've got some results:
For recent dissertations, in the "citation" screen, check for references and other documents with shared references and cataloging terms. This is NOT available for all dissertations, only for recent dissertations submitted electronically.
Cornell's Grad School has produced some literature to help you through the writing phase of the dissertation. This is by Jan Allen, Associate Dean.
- The Productive Graduate Student Writer byCall Number: Mann LB2369 .A45 2019ISBN: 9781620368909Publication Date: 2019-06-24This book is for graduate students--and others--who want to become more productive writers.
The process or craft of sustained writing is not a matter that's taught to undergraduate or graduate students as part of their studies, leaving most at sea about how to start a practice that is central to a career in academe and vital in many other professional occupations. This book grew out of conversations Cornell Grad School's Associate Dean Jan Allen has held with her graduate students for over 30 years and reflects the fruit of the writing workshops and boot camps she has conducted at three universities, her own and numerous colleagues' experiences with writing and advising, as well as the feedback she receives from her popular Productive Writer listserv. While Jan Allen recognizes that writing is not an innate talent for most of us, she demonstrates that it is a process based on skills which we can identify, learn, practice and refine. She focuses both on the process and habits of writing as well as on helping you uncover what kind of writer are you, and reflect on your challenges and successes.
Using ProQuest?
- Whose Dissertation Is It, Anyway? (Article published in Inside Higher Ed)Balking at a requirement to upload a copy of his doctoral thesis to an online database run by library services company ProQuest, one student pushes back.
By Lindsay McKenzie
Published May 23, 2019
Complete guide to finding dissertations at Cornell
- Dissertations & Thesesa thorough research guide compiled by Olin & Uris Reference Bibliographer, Michael Engle.
Order international dissertations
- via CRL (Center for Research Libraries)Emphasis on European Dissertations. CRL holds 800,000 doctoral dissertations, but will also acquire dissertations on request, which the Cornell Library can help negotiate. Their collection of dissertations is reflected in both the CRL library catalog AND the Borrow Direct catalog.
- via other European research portalsas outlined in Michael Engle's research guide to finding dissertations & theses
Other databases:
- EBSCO Open DissertationsOpen Access Dissertations submitted by the authors
- Theses CanadaTheses Canada provides access to all Canadian dissertations and theses deposited at the National Library of Canada since 1998. Full text for each thesis or dissertation is available four years after publication.
Publishing your dissertation
- Submitting your thesis (Grad School)* What Cornell requires
* What ProQuest requires - Cornell's Institutional Repository: eCommonsThe Cornell Electronic Thesis Collection
Ulrich's
- Ulrich's Periodicals DirectoryContains information on currently published as well as discontinued periodicals. Includes magazines, journals, newsletters, newspapers, conference proceedings, and electronic publications, together with search and browse indexes. It also contains complete names and addresses of journal publishers.
- MLA directory of periodicalsPresents detailed information on more than 7,100 periodicals in the areas of literature, language, linguistics, and folklore, with 4,400 currently indexed in the MLA International Bibliography. The entries list editorial addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers, e-mail addresses, frequency of publication, descriptions of the periodicals' scopes, circulation figures, subscription prices and addresses, advertising information, and submission guidelines.
- Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)Aims to be comprehensive and cover all open access scientific and scholarly journals that use a quality control system to guarantee the content. Aims to cover all subject areas and languages.