The terms ‘dissertation’ and ‘thesis’ are used interchangeably around the world, but dissertation usually (but not always) refers to a research project produced for an undergraduate or Masters level award (e.g.MA, MSc, MBA), whilst ‘thesis’ usually refers to a doctoral level text produced toward the end of doctoral studies (e.g. for a PhD or other doctoral class award eg. M.Phil).
Masters dissertations are regarded as student work, and are not regarded as peer-reviewed, academic research publications. You should generally avoid citing Masters-level dissertations in your work, but clarify with your instructor or supervisor if in doubt. MA dissertations are held within individual schools and departments. A database called Dissertations in Education, which can be searched on StarPlus and accessed like any other database by clicking View It (see screenshot below). Please note that the individual dissertations are not searchable in StarPlus, but they are within the database itself. More info on this landing page
Hard copies
The library holds hard copies full text of PhD theses at Western Bank Library. You can search for these via StarPlus advanced search and limiting the search to dissertations (as shown below).
Theses are reference only items and must not be loaned or taken out of the library. They should be used only on levels 5 & 6. You can request these by filling out this form, or in from the Information desk at Western Bank on Level 5.
Please note that we do recommend requesting a thesis in advance of your visit where possible, as you may need to wait if requesting on the day while the item has been retrieved.
Digital copies
You can also search dissertation & theses information through databases such as ProQuest in StarPlus. However please note the search results give access to the full text of the abstract only, as to view the complete dissertation incurs a charge. You can request the full text via our Interlibrary Request service if you are a staff of student member of the University.
You can also search for digital copies of theses through the EThOS database. Many of these are freely available for immediate download.