Finding University Theses and Projects from SFU

To locate theses and projects from universities other than SFU, see Finding Theses and Projects from Other (non-SFU) Universities.

Introduction

• The Library keeps copies of all SFU Masters theses, essays or projects and all Ph.D theses.
• Most SFU theses written prior to 1997 and since 2002 are available online via SUMMIT - SFU Library's Institutional Repository and are linked in the SFU catalogue.
• Many SFU theses produced since 1998 are available in full text from the Library and Archive Canada's Canadian Theses Portal.
• Theses that have not yet been approved for inclusion in the Library collection are available through the Current thesis submissions tool.
• All Master's and PhD theses from 1997 to the present are also available free for current SFU faculty, students and staff in electronic format via Digital Dissertations.
• Print theses are shelved by topic with other library items and can be borrowed.
• Additional copies of each thesis may also be available as microfiche held in the Microforms collection of the Bennett Library.
• SFU Archives have print copies but they cannot be checked out or photocopied, only read on site.

To find an SFU thesis:

• Use one of the methods outlined below to identify a thesis in the SFU library catalogue
• Link from the catalogue record to the online read-only version in the Institutional Repository
• If the thesis is not available online or if you want to borrow a print copy, note the location and call number of the thesis to find it on the library shelves.
• If the thesis has a location of "In Process," click on "Request Item" to have it rush catalogued and held for you.
• Microform theses are filed by the author's last name. They can be copied using the copiers attached to the microform readers.
• Archival copies of theses cannot be signed out from the Archives.  They are shelved in order by author so the archives staff will require the author's name in order to retrieve a copy from closed stacks.
• In January 2010, the Library has launched a Current thesis submissions tool, which allows the students to upload their thesis online. These thesis have not yet been approved for inclusion in the Library collection, but a short description (including abstract) is available online.

If you are preparing a thesis at Simon Fraser University, see Preparing and Submitting Your Thesis: Information Resources.

If you are looking for an SFU MBA thesis or project, see Finding Simon Fraser University MBA Research Projects by Topic.  

The SFU Library Catalogue has records for all theses and projects. Records list the author, the title, the call number, the assigned subject headings, a series note identifying the faculty (eg. Simon Fraser University. Theses (Faculty of Business Administration)), and a note indicating type of thesis (eg. Thesis (M.A.))  

NOTE: Most of the theses records do not include the name of the thesis supervisor.

To find SFU theses with the Library catalogue, use one of the methods below:

Find theses by Author's name

1. Click on Books, Journals, Media on the SFU Library Home Page.
2. Select Author from the drop down list.
3. Enter the author's name, last name first.

Find theses by Title

1. Click on Book, Journals, Media on the SFU Library Home Page.
2. Select Title from the drop down list .
3. Enter the first few words of the title and select from the list that appears.

Find theses by Department or Faculty

Tips for finding theses by Department or Faculty:

• The plural theses is used, rather than thesis.
• The abbreviation Dept is used, rather than Department.
• Faculty is used in the series title for faculties without departments (eg. Business Administration, Education).  When you look up the theses using the series title, Faculty of (Faculty name) you will likely get a very large result list.

Method 1: Use this when you want a list of all theses in a Department or Faculty:

1. Click on Books, Journals, Media on the SFU Library Home Page.
2. Select Title from the drop down list.
3. All SFU theses have a series title. Type in your search according to the examples below:

Theses Dept of [Department name]  e.g. Theses Dept of Communication
Theses Faculty of [Faculty name] e.g. Theses Faculty of Education

Method 2: Use this when you want all theses of a particular degree in a Department or Faculty

1. Click on Books, Journals, Media on the SFU Library Home Page.
2. Search by Keyword (default setting for the catalogue).
3. Type your search according to one of the following examples:

theses Dept of Geography and thesis m a
theses Dept of Biological Sciences and thesis m sc
theses Faculty of Education and thesis ph d
theses Dept of English and essay m a

Find theses by Topic

Tips for finding theses by Topic

• Use the asterix (*) to search for all forms of a word.
  • femini* will find feminist, feminism and any other word that has femini as a root

Method 1:  Use this when you want to find all theses of a particular degree on a topic in a Department or Faculty

1. Click on Books, Journals, Media on the SFU Library Home Page.
2. Search by Keyword (default setting for the catalogue).
3. Type your search according to one of the following models:

theses Dept of Geography and thesis m a
theses Dept of Biological Sciences and thesis m sc
theses Faculty of Education and thesis ph d
theses Dept of English and essay m a

4. Add a topic word  to restrict to theses on a particular topic. 
Here is an example of a search for all MA theses from the Department of Geography on the topic of tourism: theses dept of geography and thesis m a and tourism

NOTE: If the search phrase is too long to fit in the search box, as in this example, that's OK. Even though you can't see the last part of the phrase you typed (m a and tourism), the catalogue will search for it all.

Method 2: Use this method when you want to find all theses of a particular degree on a topic from any Department or Faculty

1. Click on Books, Journals, Media on the SFU Library Home Page.
2. Under Other Types of Searches, select Advanced Keyword Search.
3. Type your search according to one of the following models:

essay m a
thesis m a
thesis m sc
thesis ph d and simon fraser

NOTE: It is necessary to add the words simon fraser to searches for Ph.D theses when you do not restrict by department or faculty).

4. Add a topic word to restrict to theses on a particular topic.  Here is an example of a search for either an MA thesis or an MA essay from any department on Feminism.  This search also limits to theses produced after the year 1990.

Results display

The results of your search will be displayed as brief records as shown below.  This is the results display for the search for the MA theses/essays on Feminism:

Full record display

To see the full record for an item, click on the Title.

If there is a URL in the full record, as below, click on the link to view the thesis in SFU's Institutional Repository. The thesis will be presented to you as a read-only pdf, but you may make a special request to obtain a printable copy of the thesis. Theses from SFU scholars may be available to read via the Institutional Repository before they are accessible in print or via Theses Canada Portal or Digital Dissertations.

Records with In Process in the LOCATION box may be requested. Click on the Request Item button in the full record and fill out the form. The item will usually be ready in 3-5 days. Here is a sample record of a Ph D thesis from the Faculty of Education which is still In Process:

For more help, please Ask a librarian.