What is a Thesis/Dissertation ?
Most of the research carried out by students working for higher
degrees is published in the form of a thesis or
dissertation. These dissertations are examined and assessed by
one or more external examiners.
Theses are valuable sources of information partly because they
contain detailed information about the research
carried out , and also because they usually contain a "state-of-the-art"
review often as the introduction. In
connection with the review theses usually contain a comprehensive
list of references.
If you are working for a higher degree, you want to make sure
that no-one else has carried out the same work,
and you also want to compare other research on your main topic.
It is, therefore, important to check on
international theses in your subject field, at a fairly early
stage in your research work.
How to Find Theses
The most useful tool when looking for theses is:
Dissertation Abstracts International
This is divided into three series:
A. Humanities and Social Sciences
Ann Arbor, Mich., University Microfilms International, 1938 -, 12
issues per year
B. The Sciences and Engineering
Ann Arbor, Mich. University Microfilms International, 1938 -, 12
issues per year
C. Worldwide 1989 -
Ann Arbor, Mich. University Microfilms International, 1989 -, 4
issues per year.
Parts A and B cover theses from North America, providing
comprehensive abstracts. Canadian theses are
included in DAI since 1990. Part C is devoted to theses from
universities in other parts of the world. It is not as
comprehensive in coverage. Countries which have fairly good
coverage are Austria, Belgium, Finland, the
Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
The latest three months of Dissertation Abstracts is available
free on the Web.
Dissertation Abstracts Online is available on the DIALOG
information retrieval service.
Dissertation Abstracts is also available on CD-ROM: There are two
main products:
Dissertation Abstracts on Disc - Archival, covering
1861 - 1984
Dissertation Abstracts on Disc from 1985 onwards. These
are updated half-yearly.
Other guides to theses (arranged according to country) are:
France :
Catalogue des th?ses de doctorat soutenues devant les universités
fran?aises
Paris: Direction des biblioth?ques de France, 1885 -
Published annually with variable titles.
Since 1982 divided into different parts:
Inventaire des th?ses de doctorat soutenues devant les universités
fran?aises...sciences
Germany :
Jahresverzeichnis der Hochschulschriften
Leipzig: VEB, 1887 - 1990
After 1991 German theses are listed in the Deutsche
Nationalbibliographie Reihe H-
Switzerland :
Jahresverzeichnis der schweizerischen Hochschulschriften
Basel: Verlag der Universitätsbibliothek, 1898 -
United Kingdom :
Index to theses accepted for higher degrees by the universities
of Great Britain and Ireland and the Council for
national academic awards
London: Aslib, 1953 -
USA and Canada :
American Doctoral Dissertations
Ann Arbor: University Microfilms, 1934 -
How to Obtain Theses
Most of the institutions whose theses are covered in Dissertation
Abstracts, make their theses available through
University Microfilms (UMI). It is important to note that some,
for example Harvard University and the
University of Chicago, have to be asked directly.
The British Library Document Supply Centre is the best source for British doctoral theses after 1970.
In France theses are available from CNRS-INIST.
Scandinavian theses are produced in a number of copies and are
usually available from the universities, often
through the university library.
LIBRIS - union catalogue of the Swedish libraries.
If you experience problems in obtaining theses, you are
advised to contact the university and department
concerned.
Examples of thesis in local library:
1. Jakucionis L. EVP aliuminavimas. - Kaunas, 1995.-131 p.
2. Birch J. Single - chrystal superlattices. - Linkoping, 1993. -
60 p.
3 Fu Ying. Electronic properties of GaAs. - Linkoping, 1990. -
115 p.
4. Gong Sh. Thin film metallurgy for microelectrons. -Linkoping,
1990. - 112 p.
5. Hallin Ch. CVD growth. - Linkoping, 1996. - 144 p.
6. Jarrendahl K. Growth and studies of periodic superlattices.
Linkoping, 1993. - 91 p.
7. Johanson M. Properties of discrete one-dimensional linear. -
Linkoping, 1995. - 158 p.
8. Klintstrom S. Ellipsometry... - Linkoping, 1992. - 114 p.
9. Larsson M. Data acquisition - linkoping, 1992. - 138 p.
10.Li. Studies of Si-based compounds. - Linkoping, 1992. - 138 p.
11.Norberg P.Surface induced effects. - Linkoping, 1995. - 46 p.
12.Onacha A. Electrical properties and double resonant. -
Linkoping, 1995. - 185 p.
13.Soderman U. Conceptual modelling of mode switching physical
systems. - linkoping, 1995. - 219 p.
14. Turesson B. Nonlinear potential theory. - Linkoping, 1995. -
171 p.