Theses

Theses

In the UK, a thesis is a published piece of original research for the award of a higher degree from a university.  

This guide looks at various sources for finding theses.

Please note that in the UK the term dissertation generally refers to an extended piece of work for an undergraduate or taught masters degree, while a thesis is submitted for a research degree for example a PhD, MLitt, MRes. However, in many other countries the terms thesis and dissertation are used interchangeably for both undergraduate and postgraduate submissions. 

Word cloud describing research

Finding theses at Manchester Metropolitan University

MMU theses have been added to the university’s online institutional repository, e-space.  You can search the repository or select Browse, Theses and then select a level to see available examples.

Finding theses

For UK theses a good place to start is EThOS.  This is the British Library’s digital repository.  You can search over 500,000 titles including those available for immediate download.  Please note to download, you will need to register with EThOS first, this is a free service.

For both UK and international thesis you can search ProQuest Dissertations and Theses A & I or Open Dissertations.  These resources list the basic details of published theses and dissertations.  Some titles are available in full text or link to relevant institutional repositories.  For others you may need to check to see if the full text is available online via sources such as EThOS for UK titles.

If a thesis is not available online, you can use the Library’s Request it! service to see if we can source a copy.

Finding theses from different countries

  • Finding theses in Europe

    Below are some resources that list theses from different European countries:

    • Dart Europe - Lists over 1 million downloadable theses from 571 universities across 29 European Countries
    • Theses.fr - Listing of theses submitted in France since 1985 and theses in progress since 2001
    • Système Universitaire de Documentation (SUDOC) - SUDOC is a French collective catalogue covering PhDs in the sciences, humanities, social sciences, law, health sciences and veterinary medicine. 
    • Dissonline - German online theses
    • Texis Doctorals en Xarxa (TDX) - A digital repository of doctoral theses from a consortium of Spanish universities
    • TESEO - Database compiled by the Spanish Ministry of Education listing theses awarded by Spanish universities since 1976. Full text is not available.
    • Dialnet - Theses from various Spanish universities which are available online
    • DiVA Portal - Portal for research publications and theses from over 45 universities in Sweden. 

  • International theses

    These isn’t one single source for finding international theses, but these sites may give a useful starting point