What You Need
| Element | Notes |
|---|
| Author surname and initials/first name | From the title page |
| Year of submission/award | From the title page or institutional record |
| Title of the dissertation/thesis | Italicised in most styles |
| Degree type | Doctoral dissertation, Master's thesis, etc. |
| Institution | Awarding university |
| Database or repository name | ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, EThOS, etc. |
| URL or DOI | From the database record |
APA 7th Edition
Doctoral Dissertation from ProQuest
Harris, L. D. (2014).
Epistemology, identity and the professional learning of teachers [Doctoral dissertation, University of Edinburgh]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. https://www.proquest.com/docview/xxxxxxx
Doctoral Dissertation from Institutional Repository
Patel, R. (2023).
Cognitive load in asynchronous online learning environments [Doctoral dissertation, University of Birmingham]. UBIRA ETheses. https://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/xxxxxxx
Master's Thesis — Unpublished
Williams, K. L. (2022).
The representation of marginalised communities in British television drama 2010–2020 [Unpublished master's thesis]. King's College London.
Key APA rules: Dissertation/thesis type in square brackets immediately after the italicised title; name the database if published online; "Unpublished" in the brackets if not in a database.
MLA 9th Edition
Published (ProQuest)
Harris, L. D. "Epistemology, Identity and the Professional Learning of Teachers." Doctoral dissertation, University of Edinburgh, 2014.
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, www.proquest.com/docview/xxxxxxx.
Unpublished
Williams, K. L. "The Representation of Marginalised Communities in British Television Drama 2010–2020." Master's thesis, King's College London, 2022.
Harvard
Dissertation from Repository
Harris, L.D. (2014)
Epistemology, identity and the professional learning of teachers. Doctoral dissertation. University of Edinburgh. Available at: https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/xxxxxxx (Accessed: 14 January 2025).
Unpublished Dissertation
Williams, K.L. (2022)
The representation of marginalised communities in British television drama 2010–2020. Unpublished MA thesis. King's College London.
Chicago (Notes-Bibliography)
Chicago NB — Footnote
Laura D. Harris, "Epistemology, Identity and the Professional Learning of Teachers" (PhD diss., University of Edinburgh, 2014), 47.
Chicago NB — Bibliography Entry
Harris, Laura D. "Epistemology, Identity and the Professional Learning of Teachers." PhD diss., University of Edinburgh, 2014. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.615543.
Vancouver
Dissertation (Vancouver)
1. Patel R. Cognitive load in asynchronous online learning environments [doctoral dissertation]. Birmingham (UK): University of Birmingham; 2023. Available from: https://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/xxxxxxx
UK: British Library EThOS
EThOS (Electronic Theses Online Service) is the British Library's national database of UK doctoral theses. Most are freely downloadable. Use the EThOS URL as the repository URL in your citation.
EThOS URL format
EThOS URLs follow this pattern: https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.XXXXXX — use this as the stable URL in your reference. The EThOS record also lists the institution and award year.
Unpublished Dissertations
An unpublished dissertation is one that is not held in any public database or repository — typically a physical copy held by the institution's library or only accessible on request. The key differences in citation:
- APA: Write [Unpublished doctoral dissertation] in square brackets.
- MLA: No database name, no URL.
- Harvard: Write "Unpublished" before the thesis type.
- Chicago: Include the institution but no URL; note "unpublished" if needed for clarity.