Use the following strategies to streamline locating theses and dissertations for research, including evidence synthesis.

Theses and dissertations can be found in a variety of places, including subject or discipline-specific databases and university-hosted institutional repositories. 

Find a specific, known thesis

Databases and Google

Search a discipline or subject-specific database, or Google. 

 For searching open access theses, Google is better than Google Scholar.

Institutional repositories

If you know the name of the institution or university for the author of the thesis, search the institution's institutional repository. Institutional repositories (IRs) contain articles, theses, dissertations, and other projects generated by researchers at a university.

To find a university's IR, search OpenDoar, a directory or list of academic repositories, or search an individual university repository via the university's website.

SFU's institutional repository Summit houses the scholarship of SFU students, faculty, and staff. Search Summit by subject or keyword.

There are several databases dedicated to searching across multiple IRs. While their coverage is comparable, to ensure that your search is exhaustive it may still be a good idea to search all of them:

CORE 
Open access research papers with global coverage. After searching, use "type" filter to narrow results to theses.

BASE 
Open access research papers with global coverage, particularly suitable for science and math. Use advanced search to filter by thesis/dissertation.

OAIster 
Open access research papers with global coverage, though more limited than CORE and BASE. After searching, use "format" filter to narrow results to theses.

Find theses by topic or subject

To find theses by subject or research area, search discipline or subject-specific databases.

Some databases may provide citations only without the full text while others, such as PsycINFO, provide the full text of theses and dissertations in addition to citations.

Find theses using databases, websites, or search engines that originate from a geographic area

This is not an exhaustive list of available websites, but rather a sample of noteworthy national and international initiatives. 

Canadian theses and dissertations

Theses Canada  
References to citations, abstracts, and full text (where available) for theses and dissertations from Canadian universities. 

Note: Another alternative to finding theses and dissertations in Canada is via Canadian institutional repositories.

Global theses and dissertations databases

Open Access Theses and Dissertations search 
Index of citations for open access theses and dissertations.

Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD)  
Full text theses and dissertations (limited African and South American coverage).

Center for Research Libraries  
Research outputs from universities, colleges, and independent research libraries. Access materials via digitized collections or interlibrary loans.

Worldcat  
Global coverage. After searching, use "format" filter to narrow results to theses.

North America

ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Abstracts and Index  
Historic and ongoing coverage of theses and dissertations, including indexes, abstracts, and full text. Does not index SFU theses after 2013 (see Summit) and has limited coverage of Canadian theses in general after 2010. For Canadian theses, see Theses Canada.

Note: Full text of theses and dissertations not available on ProQuest can be requested through interlibrary loans.

TESIUNAM 
Full text theses and projects from the National University of Mexico.

South America and Central America 

Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations  
Theses and dissertations from Brazilian universities (can filter by language).

LA Referencia 
Catalogue of scientific research outputs from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. Filter by "tesis doctoral" for dissertations or "tesis de maestría" for theses (can filter by language).

LILACS 
Index of technical and scientific literature from Latin America and the Caribbean with some full text availability. Enter search, click "add filter" in left column and select "document type" for option to limit search to theses and dissertations (can filter by language).

Europe

Ethos and Theses  
Index and full text of doctoral theses from UK universities.

DART-Europe  
Open access theses from over 500 universities across Europe (can filter by language).

Africa 

African Digital Research Repositories  
Comprehensive list of African institutional repositories sorted by country.

Database of African theses and dissertations and research (DATAD-R) 
Citations and abstracts for theses and dissertations completed in African universities.

Asia

CKNI 
Full text theses and dissertations from Chinese universities. 

CiNii 
Dissertations from Japanese institutional repositories and the National Diet Library with some full text.

Shodhganga 
Full text theses and dissertations from Indian universities (can filter by language).

HKU Scholars Hub Theses  
Theses and dissertations from the University of Hong Kong.

National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan 
Index, abstracts, and reference information for theses and dissertations in the National Central Library of Taiwan.

Australia and New Zealand

Trove 
National Library of Australia's catalogue. Limit search to "research and reports".

NZ Research  
Research outputs from New Zealand universities, polytechnics, and research organizations.

Finding full citation information for a thesis

To locate a thesis or dissertation, you may need:

• author 
• thesis title
• degree
• date
• issuing institution

To find full citation information for a thesis or dissertation, search:

• ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Abstracts and Index
• Journal databases, which may also include full text or citation information for theses, such as: 
  • MLA Bibliography 
  • Sociological Abstracts 
  • PsycINFO

Obtaining a copy of a thesis when unavailable

Can't find a non-SFU thesis online? Request it via Interlibrary Loans.

If you cannot find the full text of a thesis, please place a request with the Library's Interlibrary Loans Division and they will attempt to obtain the thesis.

If you have a list of theses to obtain for an evidence synthesis project, Interlibrary Loans may be able to accommodate a list submission. Please note, however, that due to the costs of purchasing these theses/dissertations, the number that can be requested via ILL will be limited. Please email sfuill@sfu.ca or call 778.782.3625 to inquire. 

There is no cost to using the interlibrary loan service. 

Other university libraries

Other academic libraries may have access to the full-text version of ProQuest's Dissertations and Theses database. Most academic libraries allow outside researchers to access their databases on-site (that is, when visiting the physical library in-person) with a guest log in. This may be an option for you if you are in proximity to one of these libraries, and could be especially helpful if you require full-text access to a large number of theses or dissertations.