british library phd thesis search

EThOS: e-theses online service Open access EThOS: e-theses online service Open access

EThOS, provided by the British Library, is a free online service providing access to UK doctoral theses.

Access EThOS is an open access resource.

Content  EThOS, provided by the British Library, is a free online service providing access to UK doctoral theses. It does not cover MPhils or master's dissertations.

EThOS aims to provide a central listing of all doctoral theses awarded by UK higher education institutions, with the full text of as many theses as possible. 

The database includes more than 600,000 records. Around 4,000 law theses are covered, dating from the 1920s to the present day.

Searching  EThOS has basic and advanced search facilities. Searches can be limited to theses available for immediate download.

Advanced search allows users to search by author, title, awarding body, year of award and other criteria. Boolean connectors (AND, OR, AND NOT) can be selected from a drop-down menu

Downloading  Many theses are available for download; it is necessary to create a free account to do this. 

There is an option to request digitisation of a thesis if it is not yet available for download. Sometimes this is free, but sometimes there is a charge (see FAQs). 

Help A Help menu and an FAQ page are available.

Finding UK theses

The Bodleian Libraries hold copies of some UK theses. These are listed on SOLO  and may be ordered for delivery to a reading room. 

These theses are not all catalogued in a uniform way. Adding the word 'thesis' as a keyword in SOLO may help, but this is unlikely to find all theses, and may find published works based upon theses as well as unpublished theses.

Card catalogue  

Some early theses accepted for higher degrees and published before 1973 are held in the Bodleian Libraries but are not yet catalogued on SOLO. These holdings can be found in the Foreign Dissertations Catalogue card index.

To request access to material in the catalogue, speak to library staff at the Main Enquiry Desk in the Lower Reading Room of the Old Bodleian Library, or contact us via  [email protected]  or phone (01865 277162). 

Other finding aids

Proquest dissertations & theses.

You can use ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global  to locate theses accepted for higher degrees at universities in the UK and Ireland since 1716. The service also provides abstracts of these theses.

Library Hub Discover

You can use Library Hub Discover to search the online catalogues of some of the UK’s largest university research libraries to see if a thesis is held by another UK library.

EThOS is the UK’s national thesis service, managed by the British Library. It aims to provide a national aggregated record of all doctoral theses awarded by UK higher education institutions, with free access to the full text of many theses. It has around 500,000 records for theses awarded by over 120 institutions.

UTREES - University Theses in Russian, Soviet, and East European Studies 1907–

UTREES is a bibliographical database of research in the British Isles. The database has been continuously extended from the printed volume, most recently with 202 recent theses added in 2021. The database lists details of over 6,000 doctoral and selected masters’ theses from British and Irish universities. It covers research relating to Eastern and Central Europe, Russia and the area of the former USSR, including Central Asia, the Caucasus and Siberia.

Individual universities

You can also go to individual UK universities' sites for their online theses repositories.

You can purchase copies of Cambridge University theses through the Cambridge University Library's online order form . There is a standard charge of £75 (plus VAT and postage). White Rose ETheses Online is an online repository of doctoral theses from the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York. It is part of a national and international network of open access online databases which promote access to research outputs. Many theses have been digitised by the British Library as part of the EThOS. However, there have been instances where theses are available via WhiteRose eTheses Online before they reach EThOS.  

Ordering UK theses

Many theses from other UK universities are available from the British Library's EThOS service.  Unfortunately, this service is currently unavailable due to a cyber attack on the British Library.  

You can also request theses from other UK universities as an inter-library request .

Please note that it may not be possible to obtain some theses due to restrictions on lending placed by the author of the thesis or the institution at which it is held.

Theses and dissertation: Finding a UK thesis

• Finding a Sussex thesis
• Finding a UK thesis
• Finding an international thesis
• Help and Support

The Electronic Theses Online System

The Electronic Theses Online System is a service from the British Library that provides online access to the full-text of UK doctoral theses. It contains over 380,000+ records of doctoral theses from UK Higher Education Institutions. Many of these have already been digitised and are available for immediate download.

Can I request UK theses from other universities from the Library?

You no longer request theses from other universities through Sussex University's Interlibrary Requests service - you can access them directly via EThOS.

Do I need to register?

You do not need to register to search the 380,000+ records in the EThOS database, but you will need to register if you would like to download a thesis.

Are immediate downloads available?

If the thesis in which you are interested has already been digitised, you will be able to download it immediately without charge. If the thesis you need has not yet been digitised, there will be a short delay whilst digitisation takes place. You will then be notified by EThOS when the thesis is ready to be downloaded. Once the thesis has been digitised it is then available for immediate download by any other user.

Are all theses digitised?

Some theses cannot be digitised for copyright reasons. If this is the case with the thesis you need, please inform the Interlibrary Requests team who will investigate whether a hard copy can be borrowed directly from the relevant university.

Does this service cost me anything?

On rare occasions you may be asked by EThOS to pay for the digitisation of a thesis. This is because, although the majority of institutions participating in EThOS have agreed to pay for the digitisation of their own theses on request, some institutions have not.

In such cases, the Library will pay the cost of digitisation provided that funding is available. Please contact the Research Support team on Tel: 01273 877941 (int 7941) or Email: [email protected] with the full details of your request.

image copyright: The British Library

Useful Links

Library Search

• Browse SRO theses Browse theses added to Sussex Research Online
• EThOS A service from the British Library that provides online access to the fulltext of UK doctoral theses. The EThOS database contains over 300,000+ records of doctoral theses from UK Higher Education Institutions.
• Copyright guide A practical guide on copyright issues in your thesis.
• << Previous: Finding a Sussex thesis
• Next: Finding an international thesis >>
• Last Updated: Feb 9, 2022 1:24 PM
• URL: https://guides.lib.sussex.ac.uk/theses

• Cambridge Libraries

Physical & Digital Collections

Theses & dissertations: home, access to theses and dissertations from other institutions and from the university of cambridge.

This guide provides information on searching for theses of Cambridge PhDs and for theses of UK universities and universities abroad. 

For information and guidance on depositing your thesis as a cambridge phd, visit the cambridge office of scholarly communication pages on theses here ., this guide gives essential information on how to obtain theses using the british library's ethos service. .

On the last weekend of October, the British Library became the victim of a major cyber-attack. Essential digital services including the BL catalogue, website and online learning resources went dark, with research services like the EThOS collection of more than 600,000 doctoral theses suddenly unavailable. The BL state that they anticipate restoring more services in the next few weeks, but disruption to certain services is now expected to persist for several months. For the latest news on the attack and information on the restoration of services, please follow the BL blog here:  Knowledge Matters blog  and access the LibGuide page here:  British Library Outage Update - Electronic Legal Deposit - LibGuides at University of Cambridge Subject Libraries

A full list of resources for searching theses online is provided by the Cambridge A-Z, available here .

University of Cambridge theses

Finding a cambridge phd thesis online via the institutional repository.

The University's institutional repository, Apollo , holds full-text digital versions of over 11,000 Cambridge PhD theses and is a rapidly growing collection deposited by Cambridge Ph.D. graduates. Theses in Apollo can be browsed via this link . More information on how to access theses by University of Cambridge students can be found on the access to Cambridge theses webpage.   The requirement for impending PhD graduates to deposit a digital version in order to graduate means the repository will be increasing at a rate of approximately 1,000 per year from this source.   About 200 theses are added annually through requests to make theses Open Access or via requests to digitize a thesis in printed format.

Locating and obtaining a copy of a Cambridge PhD thesis (not yet available via the repository)

Theses can be searched in iDiscover .  Guidance on searching for theses in iDiscover can be found here .   Requests for consultation of printed theses, not available online, should be made at the Manuscripts Reading Room (Email:  [email protected] Telephone: +44 (0)1223 333143).   Further information on the University Library's theses, dissertations and prize essays collections can be consulted at this link .

Researchers can order a copy of an unpublished thesis which was deposited in print form either through the Library’s  Digital Content Unit via the image request form , or, if the thesis has been digitised, it may be available in the Apollo repository. Copies of theses may be provided to researchers in accordance with the  law  and in a manner that is common across UK libraries.  The law allows us to provide whole copies of unpublished theses to individuals as long as they sign a declaration saying that it is for non-commercial research or private study.

How to make your thesis available online through Cambridge's institutional repository

Are you a Cambridge alumni and wish to make your Ph.D. thesis available online? You can do this by depositing it in Apollo the University's institutional repository. Click here for further information on how to proceed.    Current Ph.D students at the University of Cambridge can find further information about the requirements to deposit theses on the Office of Scholarly Communication theses webpages.

UK Theses and Dissertations

Electronic copies of Ph.D. theses submitted at over 100 UK universities are obtainable from EThOS , a service set up to provide access to all theses from participating institutions. It achieves this by harvesting e-theses from Institutional Repositories and by digitising print theses as they are ordered by researchers using the system. Over 250,000 theses are already available in this way. Please note that it does not supply theses submitted at the universities of Cambridge or Oxford although they are listed on EThOS.

Registration with EThOS is not required to search for a thesis but is necessary to download or order one unless it is stored in the university repository rather than the British Library (in which case a link to the repository will be displayed). Many theses are available without charge on an Open Access basis but in all other cases, if you are requesting a thesis that has not yet been digitised you will be asked to meet the cost. Once a thesis has been digitised it is available for free download thereafter.

When you order a thesis it will either be immediately available for download or writing to hard copy or it will need to be digitised. If you order a thesis for digitisation, the system will manage the process and you will be informed when the thesis is available for download/preparation to hard copy.

See the Search results section of the  help page for full information on interpreting search results in EThOS.

EThOS is managed by the British Library and can be found at http://ethos.bl.uk . For more information see About EThOS .

World-wide (incl. UK) theses and dissertations

Electronic versions of non-UK theses may be available from the institution at which they were submitted, sometimes on an open access basis from the institutional repository. A good starting point for discovering freely available electronic theses and dissertations beyond the UK is the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) , which facilitates searching across institutions. Information can also usually be found on the library web pages of the relevant institution.

The DART Europe etheses portal lists several thousand full-text theses from a group of European universities.

The University Library subscribes to the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses  (PQDT) database which from August 31 2023 is accessed on the Web of Science platform.  To search this index select it from the Web of Science "Search in" drop-down list of databases (available on the Documents tab on WoS home page)

PQDT includes 2.4 million dissertation and theses citations, representing 700 leading academic institutions worldwide from 1861 to the present day. The database offers full text for most of the dissertations added since 1997 and strong retrospective full text coverage for older graduate works. Each dissertation published since July 1980 includes a 350-word abstract written by the author. Master's theses published since 1988 include 150-word abstracts.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The University Library only subscribes to the abstracting & indexing version of the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database and NOT the full text version.  A fee is payable for ordering a dissertation from this source.   To obtain the full text of a dissertation as a downloadable PDF you can submit your request via the University Library Inter-Library Loans department (see contact details below). NB this service is only available to full and current members of the University of Cambridge.

Alternatively you can pay yourself for the dissertation PDF on the PQDT platform. Link from Web of Science record display of any thesis to PQDT by clicking on "View Details on ProQuest".  On the "Preview" page you will see an option "Order a copy" top right.  This will allow you to order your own copy from ProQuest directly.

Dissertations and theses submitted at non-UK universities may also be requested on Inter-Library Loan through the Inter-Library Loans department (01223 333039 or 333080, [email protected] )

• Last Updated: Dec 20, 2023 9:47 AM
• URL: https://libguides.cam.ac.uk/theses

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Theses and Dissertations: UK PhD Theses

• UK PhD Theses
• Overseas PhD Theses
• BU Theses & Dissertations This link opens in a new window

For Library Enquiries: tel. +44 (0) 1202 965959 Available 9am - 5pm Mon to Fri

For IT Support: tel. +44 (0) 1202 965515 Available 24/7

Using UK PhD Theses in EThOS

Obtaining Theses

• Thesis and Dissertation databases can be accessed via this BU Library webpage .
• If a thesis is not available full text online then it may be possible to obtain via the Inter-Library Loan service . The clarity of your request is enhanced if you attach a printout of the source details e.g. a record from one of the databases .
• Electronic Theses Online Service (EThOS) is the British Library service which provides full text open access to digital copies of UK PhD theses. The EThOS database contains records of over 250,000 UK theses, with the added functionality of being able to request access to digital copies of selected theses that have not already been digitised.
• Personal registration on EThOS is required to be able to download theses. Bournemouth University is an Open Access Sponsor of EThOS, so all BU theses are indexed.
• Theses which are already available to download have a pdf attached to the record. For those theses that do not have a pdf attached, you should select the record to check Availability of Full Text – there are 3 possible scenarios:
• The home institution will pay the digitisation cost and access will be free.
• The home institution will digitise the thesis, but you will be charged.  In these cases you should consult your supervisor as to how important the thesis is to your research and consider requesting payment via the Inter-Library Request Service.
• The thesis is not available via EThOS service. Please contact the current institution's library directly if you wish to view the thesis.

Doing a thesis at BU

This guide is to help with searching for theses from other institutions.

If you are doing a thesis at BU and want guidance to help with writing and completing your research see our PGR Guide

Subject Guide

• Next: Overseas PhD Theses >>
• Last Updated: Oct 18, 2023 11:46 AM
• URL: https://libguides.bournemouth.ac.uk/theses-dissertations

A-Z Databases: EThOS: Welcome

Content, coverage & description.

EThOS is a UK wide repository of digitized doctoral theses. It provides full text access to 250,000 theses published in the UK as well as bibliographic records of non digitized theses. A quick and free  registration is required to access the full text content.  

• EThOS e-Theses Online Service This link opens in a new window The British Library digital repository for UK research theses offering a central access point to UK doctoral theses. The majority of universities in the UK are members. You can cross-search over 500,000 theses including those available for immediate download. more... less... Not Searchable via One Search. You must first register on an individual basis with Ethos in order to make requests through the Ethos website. The Ethos site provides further information.

When to use

EThOS is an excellent resource for finding highly specialised and original research. S tudents embarking on a doctoral programme may wish to see examples of successful theses in their own discipline and identify areas of research that have not already been covered.  

Video guide: Using Ethos to find UK theses

University of Kent (2019) Using Ethos to find UK theses.  28 August. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_c3ZRC5tG0 (Accessed: 13 July 2021).

Basic search

Keep search terms simple, e.g. 'organisational culture', 'business ethics' , ' eosinophilic inflammation', ' diabetes management'. 

Full text availability is indicated by a green open padlock symbol next to the search results.  You can restrict the search results to full text only by checking the box  ' limit search to items available for immediate download' below the search bar.

Search results are listed in order of relevance. You can change the order of results to A to Z by author or year (most recent to oldest and vice versa) by using the 'sort by" option above the search results. 

Click the relevant search result to view the abstract and download the thesis (if applicable). The full text can be accessed via the 'Immediate download'   link when this is available. You will be prompted for the username and password you chose when you registered with EThOS. 

Advanced Search

The advanced search tool enables you to search for a specific thesis by author and title. Use  the drop-down menus next to the search boxes to select your desired search criteria. 

You can also combine search terms using the Boolean operators 'AND', 'OR', 'NOT' (drop-down menu to the left of the search boxes). Example:

'higher education' (box one) AND  'social inequality' (box two)  will instruct  the database to look for theses which contain both search terms in the thesis abstracts or titles. 

'social inequality' (box one) OR  'poverty' (box two) will instruct the database to search for each search term separately. 

'higher education' (box one) AND  'social inequality' (box two) OR  'poverty' (box three) will instruct the database to search for articles which contain the first search term 'higher education' and either the second 'social inequality' or the third 'poverty'. 

Try to keep your search terms simple especially when combining search terms.  EThOS is a highly specialised database and over complicating searches may lead to a zero result outcome. 

Help and Support

Library staff are available to help you to use all of our online databases and electronic journal services. 

Contact us at  [email protected]  or via the  Self Service Port al . 

Copyright Statement

• Last Updated: Mar 24, 2022 1:40 PM
• URL: https://uws-uk.libguides.com/EThOS

Library Guides

Theses and dissertations

Introduction to ethos, about ethos, benefits of using phds, further information.

Benefits to researchers

• Easy access to UK research theses.
• Centralised access to new and retrospectively digitised theses.
• Raised profile for individual authors from wider circulation of their work.
• Support for the principle of Open Access and increased use of publicly-funded research outputs.

Ethos is the British Library digital repository for UK research theses offering a central access point to UK doctoral theses. The majority of universities in the UK are members. You can cross-search over 500,000 theses including those available for immediate download.

Requesting doctoral theses

You must first register on an individual basis with Ethos in order to make requests through the Ethos website. The  Ethos site provides further information .

In some cases the first person (or their institution) to request a thesis is required to pay for the cost of digitisation. In the first instance researchers should refer to the Director of Research and Enterprise or their supervisor in the school about recovering costs from school research funds.

How long will it take?

Immediate download for theses already digitised. For theses not yet digitised you will need to contact the library of the university where the paper thesis is held to request access.

University of Greenwich theses are uploaded to  GALA  and harvested into Ethos allowing you to search and download from from either source.

Visit our theses and dissertations page to find out more about  finding PhD theses  within and beyond the university.

List of institutions taking part in Ethos .

Frequently asked questions about Ethos .

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• Last Updated: Aug 8, 2023 9:35 AM
• URL: https://libguides.gre.ac.uk/theses

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Tracing Theses

Introduction to theses, finding university of birmingham theses, finding uk theses, finding theses from other countries.

A thesis is a published piece of written work embodying the results of original research for the award of a higher degree from an academic institution. 

Reasons for consulting a thesis include:

• For use as an information resource relevant to your research topic, i.e. you may like to refer to and cite a thesis;
• To ensure that your proposed topic of research has not already been substantially covered by somebody else;
• To become acquainted with recent trends, methodologies and approaches in your subject;
• To gain understanding about what is expected of you if you are undertaking a research degree, and to gain ideas for structure, tone, language, layout etc.

Theses for the higher research degrees (PhD, M Litt,  M Phil or MRes) of the University of Birmingham are deposited with Library Services. Since 2009, University of Birmingham research theses have been deposited in electronic format in the University of Birmingham eTheses Repository .

University of Birmingham theses are indexed and discoverable on FindIt@Bham . Carry out a search on FindIt@Bham using your topic, or search for your school or department directly (for best results, use the dropdown menu in the FindIt@Bham search bar to switch the scope of the search from an "Everything" search to a "UoB Research & Publications" search). Once you have generated some results, use the "Resource Type" filters in the “Tweak my results” menu on right-hand side of the page and select "Dissertations" (you may need to click "Show more" to get this option).

Theses listed in the  eTheses Repository will be available electronically, unless embargoes are in place. Click on “View Online…” to access the full text. 

To access the older, printed theses, click "Check for current availability at Research Reserve..." and then click “Request this item from the Research Reserve…”. Complete the form, selecting your delivery site. You will receive an email notification when the thesis is ready for collection. 

Please note the following:

• Theses may not be removed from the Library;
• You must sign the copyright declaration in each thesis used;
• Since theses are under copyright, you must consult Library Services staff if you wish to photocopy more than a short extract;
• Occasionally an author may place an embargo on a thesis if any of its content is commercially valuable or confidential.

To search for research theses across the UK, the British Library's  EThOS  service is highly recommended. EThOS is the British Library’s e-theses service and provides access to over 500,000 doctoral theses.  Many are available for immediate download (registration is required, but this is free and straightforward to do), and for others you can request that the printed version be digitised. If you are requesting digitisation of a thesis, a scan fee may apply depending on whether the institution is a participating Higher Education Institution (HEI) – see the list of Participating Institutions  for details of members.

To search widely across theses from many countries, the  ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global  database is highly recommended (theses from the UK and Ireland are included here too). It includes millions of searchable citations to theses from 1861 to the present day, together with over a million full-text theses that are available for PDF download. The database offers full text for most of the theses added since 1997 and strong retrospective full-text coverage for older graduate works. Each thesis published since July 1980 includes a 350-word abstract. Simple bibliographic citations are available for dissertations dating from 1637. 24-page previews of theses are provided where possible.

Another option when searching for theses globally is to consult e-theses repositories available from other countries. The Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations  contains a breakdown of e-theses repositories by country.

• Last Updated: Jul 14, 2021 4:31 PM
• URL: https://libguides.bham.ac.uk/rst/theses

• Researchers
• Finding PhD Thesis

Researchers: Finding PhD Thesis

• Supporting your research
• Copyright and your PhD
• Book recommendations and inter-library loans
• Grey literature
• Referencing
• Social media for academic purposes

A thesis is a published piece of written work embodying the results of original research for the award of a higher degree from an academic institution. 

Reasons for consulting a thesis include:

• For use as an information resource relevant to your research topic, i.e. you may like to refer to and cite a thesis;
• To ensure that your proposed topic of research has not already been substantially covered by somebody else;
• To become acquainted with recent trends, methodologies and approaches in your subject;
• To gain understanding about what is expected of you if you are undertaking a research degree, and to gain ideas for structure, tone, language, layout etc.

Aston University research theses have been deposited in electronic format in the University repository called Aston Publications Explorer .

Finding Thesis at Aston University

Aston University theses are indexed and discoverable on  S martSearch . Carry out a search on SmartSearch using your topic, or search for your school or department directly. Once you have generated some results, use the "Refine Results" filters in the left-hand side of the page and scroll down to "Material Type".  Select "Dissertations/Thesis" (you may need to click "Show more" to get this option).

SmartSearch will link you to British Library's  EThOS  service

Please note the following:

• Occasionally an author may place an embargo on a thesis if any of its content is commercially valuable or confidential.

Finding UK Thesis

To search for research theses across the UK, the British Library's  EThOS  service is highly recommended.  EThOS  is the British Library’s e-theses service and provides access to over 500,000 doctoral theses.  Many are available for immediate download (registration is required, but this is free and straightforward to do), and for others you can request that the printed version be digitised. If you are requesting digitisation of a thesis, a scan fee may apply depending on whether the institution is a participating Higher Education Institution (HEI) – see the list of  Participating Institutions  for details of members.

Finding International Thesis

The business journal database, Proquest , provides access to dissertations that have been published as open access sources.  You can search by topic, author or University.  Once you have results, you can use the "Refine Results" option on the left-hand side to filter by "Source Type".  Then choose "Dissertations/Thesis" you may need to select the "Show More" option.  The database includes millions of searchable citations to theses from 1861 to the present day.  Each thesis published since July 1980 includes a 350-word abstract. Simple bibliographic citations are available for dissertations dating from 1637. 24-page previews of theses are provided where possible.

Another option when searching for theses globally is to consult e-theses repositories available from other countries. The  Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations  contains a breakdown of e-theses repositories by country.

• << Previous: Book recommendations and inter-library loans
• Next: Grey literature >>

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Finding SOAS PhD Theses in the Library Catalogue

All SOAS PhD theses can be found through the  Library catalogue and this will tell you if there is a digital copy which can be viewed online.

• Search by author or title if you know the details of the particular thesis you would like to see
• To browse our PhD thesis collection enter ‘Thesis’ in the search box and select ‘Classmark’ in the drop-down menu
• To limit your search of theses to a particular subject then click on ‘Advanced’ select ‘Add Search Field’ and enter keywords into the new search box
• If a digital copy of the PhD thesis is available for you to view online there will either be a note in the catalogue record or a separate entry for the digital copy

Using Printed Copies of SOAS PhD Theses

• SOAS keeps printed copies of all PhD Theses and they can be consulted in our Special Collections Reading Room on Level F
• All printed PhD theses need to be ordered before you visit the Reading Room. Once you have found the PhD thesis you need you can fill in an online order form through the ‘Order archive material’ link from the catalogue record of the PhD thesis. Alternatively you can fill in an order form available from the Library Enquiry Desk or Special Collections Reading Room
• Before you consult any SOAS PhD thesis in the Special Collections Reading Room you will be asked to fill in a Data Protection Declaration
• You are permitted to photograph a maximum of 5% of a PhD thesis or one complete chapter (whichever is the greatest) for personal research purposes only
• Please note that some of our printed PhD theses are currently unavailable to consult in Special Collections because they are being digitized. If this is a case you will find a note on the Library Catalogue record for the PhD thesis
• If the printed thesis you need is affected please write to [email protected] for further assistance

Using Digital Copies of SOAS PhD Theses

• A significant number of SOAS PhD theses have been made available freely online (with permission from the author) through SOAS Research Online since 2011
• You can browse the latest PhD theses via SOAS Research Online or you can search by author or title if you know the details of the thesis you need
• Some PhD theses in SOAS Research Online are restricted for a period of time at the request of the author. They will only become available digitally once this restriction period has expired
• A number of our PhD theses (dated before 2011) are available via the British Library EThOS service. You can search the EThOS database to check if a PhD thesis is available
• SOAS will be making a significant proportion of our PhD thesis collection available online in 2018 due to our work with Proquest who are digitizing our backrun of PhD Theses. If you cannot find a digital copy through the SOAS Library catalogue then please check ProQuest’s Dissertations and Theses database

Finding PhD theses from Other Institutions

To find PhD theses produced at other institutions we recommend you use the following resources

• British Library EThOS Service
• ProQuest Dissertations & Theses: The Humanities and Social Sciences Collection
• EBSCO Open Dissertations
• DART - Europe E-Theses Portal
• Shodhganga - Indian Theses
• Theses Canada Portal
• SOAS Interlibrary Loan Service
• Other Library Catalogues

SOAS PhD Digitization Project

SOAS is currently working with  Proquest to digitize our entire collection of PhD theses. The results of this project will mean that theses will be made available to anyone to read, without charge, via SOAS Research Online . In addition, a copy will be added to ProQuest’s Dissertations and Theses online database, a very well established database used by students and researchers internationally.

Please note that this may affect access to the printed library copy of some theses in 2018, if this is the case there will be a note in the catalogue records of the individual thesis. Once a PhD thesis is added to SOAS Research Online you will be able to find a link to the digital copy via the SOAS Library Catalogue.

We have written to our SOAS PhD graduates by letter and email to ask authors to opt-out of the project if they do not want their thesis to be digitized. If you are an author of a SOAS PhD thesis and did not receive this communication and do not want your thesis to be included in the project please let us know by writing to [email protected] Please note any thesis submitted from 2011 onwards is not included in this project as authors have already selected whether they wish to have their thesis digitized and these existing agreements will stand.

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The Library has a full set of Imperial PhD theses.

The majority of Imperial PhD theses are available on open access, while some are restricted to 'Imperial users only', in  Spiral .

We also provide access, to Imperial students and staff, to some Imperial Master's dissertations and online theses from other universities in the UK and worldwide.

Access to theses

Imperial phd theses.

• Check if an electronic copy of the thesis is available in the Spiral repository . If the thesis has been digitised you can access and download it.

Imperial College London PhD theses

Information for imperial students and staff.

• If the thesis has not been digitised, you can visit the Abdus Salam Library to consult it - complete a  Thesis request form prior to your visit.
• You can also place a Document Delivery request for an electronic copy of the thesis using “ORDER A BOOK OR ARTICLE” tab in  Library Search . The time scale for digitisation is 4 weeks.

Information for external users and alumni

• Most of the electronic copies of Imperial PhD theses are available on open access in the Spiral repository . Some theses are closed access, for copyright reasons, and are unavailable to external users.
• You can visit the Abdus Salam Library to consult any print theses, including theses unavailable in Spiral - complete a  Thesis request form and, if you do not have a current membership card, complete the online library membership application form prior to your visit.
• If you are unable to visit the library or wish to receive an electronic copy of a thesis, please contact the Document Delivery Service by email at [email protected] . Full details will be given upon application.

Imperial Master's dissertations

Library Services provides access to the Master's dissertations of some departments - check the table below for details. If your department is not listed there are no Master's dissertations available. 

Please contact Your librarian if you would like to deposit your department's Master's dissertations in Spiral.

Master's dissertations

Theses from other universities.

UK theses are available online via the British Library EThOS service . To obtain a copy of a thesis:

• first register for the service
• if a thesis has already been digitised it will be available for immediate download
• if a thesis has not been digitised and there is no charge , place your order to digitise it. You will receive a notification from EThOS by email when the thesis is ready to download.
• if a thesis has not been digitised and there is a charge , make a request through the Document Delivery Service via Library Search . You will either receive a copy on loan or, if this is not possible, the Library will order a digital copy and notify you when it is available for download - this will take 4-5 weeks.

Overseas theses

Most overseas theses are now available online via Library Search . If the thesis you are interested in is not available request it using Document Delivery.

Library Services

Here we explain how to access copies of research theses that UCL Library Services holds. There is also an increasing number of open access thesis repositories available online.

Theses held in UCL Library

Open access repositories containing the full text of selected research theses.

• Indexes of completed theses

Obtaining copies of research theses

• Open Access for Thesis: how to deposit

University of London theses

The Library holds a copy of most research degree theses completed by students registered at UCL and awarded by the UoL, including many from students at Schools and Institutes prior to merger with UCL. Theses are listed by author on the Library catalogue, Explore : they are shelved in our off-campus Store and may be retrieved for consultation (24-hour notice required) by completing the store request form or via the request link on Explore. Theses are not available for loan, either to individuals or via interlibrary loan.

Some UoL research degree theses submitted by UCL students in the areas of classical, Germanic, Latin American studies; history and law are not held: check the UoL School of Advanced Study catalogue for availability.

UCL started to award its own degrees to students registering from 2007/2008. Print copies of research theses are catalogued by author in Explore and shelved in Store; electronic versions are in many cases available on open access in UCL Discovery .

If you wish to access a thesis recorded in UCL Discovery for which the full text is subject to an access restriction or not present, it is best to contact the author directly to request a copy privately.  If this is not possible, please contact the UCL Open Access Team .

If a thesis is not available via UCL Discovery or EThOS (see below) then it might be possible to obtain a copy from our interlibrary loan service via your home university interlibrary loan department. Please contact your university library and ask them to enquire about this service with UCL's Interlibrary Loan service; e-mail [email protected] for more information.

The Library does not normally hold print copies of any theses in the following categories:

• MA, MSc, MRes, LLM theses.
• Diploma theses.
• Undergraduate dissertations.
• Theses submitted at other universities or colleges.

Further information is available in the Support for dissertations and research projects LibGuide .

A growing number of open access thesis repositories is becoming available including:

• ProQuest , holds many full text theses. You can search for dissertations and theses there.
• UCL Discovery , UCL's open access research repository, includes theses alongside other UCL publications. You can search for theses, or browse a list.
• EThOS , a database run by the British Library that aims to record all UK doctoral theses, with links to access an electronic version of the full text where available. The digitisation of theses that only exist in print form can often be requested, depending on the awarding institution and for a fee: UCL supports this process for UCL-held theses.
• The DART-Europe E-theses Portal , holds details of open access electronic theses stored in repositories across Europe.
• Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations , includes links to a number of international search tools and portals.

Video - Using PhD theses in research: EThOS 

YouTube Widget Placeholder http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8X8ai6xN-4

Indexes of completed theses (access available to members of UCL only)

Proquest dissertations & theses global (pqdt global).

PQDT Global contains over a million full-text dissertations and theses from 1861 onwards that are available for download in PDF format. The collection includes PQDT UK and Ireland content.

Many UK universities now decline to lend research theses. You may visit the awarding university or, increasingly, obtain an electronic version either from the university itself or from EThOS (see above).

Theses awarded by universities worldwide may be requested via UCL Library Services Interlending and Document Supply service . The normal charge for this service applies. Please note that theses are never available for loan: they must be consulted on Library premises only.

Open access for theses: how to deposit

Candidates for UCL research degrees are required to deposit an electronic copy of their final thesis in UCL's Research Publications Service (RPS), to be made open access in UCL's institutional repository, UCL Discovery . Theses are amongst the most highly-downloaded items in UCL Discovery . Making your thesis open access will mean that it is accessible worldwide, to anyone who wants to read it.

It is also possible, but not mandatory, to submit a print copy of your thesis to the Library for storage and preservation if you wish. We recommend submitting the print copy in cases where the electronic copy cannot be made openly available online in UCL Discovery, but you wish the print copy to be accessible to members of the Library.

Please refer to our guidance on how to deposit  for further information on the submission procedures.

PhD theses: Home

You can search for records of LBS theses via LBS Research Online, our library catalogue and EThOS. NB: LBS doctoral theses are subject to a ten year embargo .

LBS Research Online

LBS Research Online is the London Business School institutional repository. As well as theses, it contains research produced by our faculty.

Search LBS Research Online

Library catalogue

In the advanced search mode, select type = thesis from the first drop-down box. For print copies of theses, you will need to request access by email.

Search the catalogue

EThOS is the UK's online national thesis service, run by the British Library. It contains approximately 500,000 records.

Search EThOS

Need help? Please email [email protected]

• Last Updated: Feb 5, 2024 11:12 AM
• URL: https://library.london.edu/theses

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• The University of Manchester Library
• Search theses

Postgraduate research theses contain ‘a wealth of data… which can shed light on very interesting areas’ (The British Library, 2014).

You can find theses submitted by University of Manchester postgraduate research students from the late 19th Century to the present day using the Library Search box above. Or try the Advanced Search for more options (select 'Theses' from the drop-down list for ‘Material type’).

Follow the links below for more information about accessing theses submitted by Manchester researchers, as well as theses from authors all over the world.

Access to British Library EThOS - March 2024

Access to British Library EThOS  is currently unavailable due to a major technical outage affecting several of their online services.

View news and updates on the British Library website

Manchester eTheses

Doctoral theses submitted from 2010 onwards which are currently Open Access are available to view via the University’s Research Explorer.

eTheses submission

Supporting Postgraduate Research Students, Supervisors and Administrators with the submission of electronic theses.

Search ProQuest for digitised pre-2010 Manchester theses, as well as over four million theses and dissertations from institutions around the world.

Theses Library Guide

Consult our Theses Library Guide for guidance on how to locate and access theses from UK and International institutions.

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Search within the TIB website or find specialist literature and information in the TIB Portal.

The TIB Portal allows you to search the library's own holdings and other data sources simultaneously. By restricting the search to the TIB catalogue, you can search exclusively for printed and digital publications in the entire stock of the TIB library.

Nanostructure of interlayers in different Nicalon fibre/glass matrix composites and their effect on mechanical properties (English)

• New search for: HÄHNEL, A.
• New search for: PIPPEL, E.
• New search for: WOLTERSDORF, J.
• ISSN: 1365-2818 , 0022-2720
• Article (Journal)  /  Electronic Resource

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Interlayer phenomena, revealed by high‐voltage electron microscopy (HVEM) and high‐resolution electron microscopy (HREM), are presented as they occur in various SiC(Nicalon) fibre‐reinforced Duran glass composites (differing in the specific sol‐gel supported production processes). Their dependence on the production parameters and their influence on the materials properties are discussed, taking into account the results of scanning electron microscope (SEM) in situ tensile tests.

Besides graphitic carbon, textured to a variable degree and influencing the tensile behaviour, oxycarbide formation is indicated.

A reactive matrix additive, such as, e.g. TiO 2 , resulted in a decrease in strength and a brittle behaviour, while the addition of ZrO 2 markedly improves the mechanical properties.

More details on this result

• Title: Nanostructure of interlayers in different Nicalon fibre/glass matrix composites and their effect on mechanical properties
• Contributors: HÄHNEL, A. ( author ) / PIPPEL, E. ( author ) / WOLTERSDORF, J. ( author )
• Published in: Journal of Microscopy ; 177, 3 ; 264-271
• Publisher: Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• New search for: Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Publication date: 1995-03-01
• Size: 8 pages
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2818.1995.tb03557.x
• Type of media: Article (Journal)
• Type of material: Electronic Resource
• Language: English
• Keywords: transmission electron microscopy , Nicalon fibre‐reinforced borosilicate glass , in situ deformation , interlayer structure
• Source: Wiley

Table of contents

Table of contents – volume 177, issue 3.

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