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Masters Dissertation Submission Dates

24 August 2022

Process for Summer/Autumn 2022 data collection

The Office for Students (OfS) have been conducting a review of UCL’s HESA Student Return.  As part of this, OfS have asked UCL to ensure that we collect the exact dates on which Masters dissertations are submitted.  This data is required as part of the funding data from which UCL’s teaching grant is derived.

For the Summer/Autumn 2022 data, we will be asking academic departments to provide the date on which each student’s dissertation submission was made.  This data will be collected by spreadsheet between September and November 2022, and we will load this into Portico to use in the 2022/23 HESA Student Returns.  We had a generally good response to doing this last year (thank you to everyone involved).  However, a few departments found providing the data problematic last year, so if there anything we can do to help please let us know.   This is something which OfS will follow-up on and will expect UCL to have complied with.

We had hoped to have a suitable Portico interface in place to allow academic departments to enter the data directly into Portico for the 2022 data.  However, this has not been possible, due other priorities.   We are now intending that the Portico interface be in place for 2023 data (removing the need for completing/sending spreadsheets). 

Any queries, please contact  [email protected]  

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What is different about dissertation research?

Where should i start, what is a literature review, why are literature reviews important, what is a literature search, should i conduct a ‘systematic review’, can i get help with researching my dissertation.

The research process for your dissertation requires a different approach from that you'll have used during your taught modules. Rather than being guided to relevant sources by a lecturer, you’re responsible for finding, selecting, evaluating and managing all your research sources. You'll be using many more sources than you'll have consulted for smaller pieces of assessed work, and perhaps different types of information from those you've used previously, so you need to think carefully about your approach to your information gathering and management activities.

If you're unsure where to start, then some background reading should help you get underway. Start by looking at broad themes and topics of interest, viewing sources like textbooks, subject dictionaries and encyclopaedias which examine larger fundamental concepts, before narrowing your search to look for specific research in your area of study. If you find some really useful material, such as relevant articles or books, you can mine these for all sorts of other useful related sources. For example:

• Has the author written additional material on the topic?
• Does the work have useful keywords or subject terms you can use for further research?
• Does the work have references or a bibliography you can use to explore related material?

A literature review summarises and analyses the literature you've found through your research. In a literature review, the literature itself is the subject of discussion. The aim of a literature review is to demonstrate that you’ve read, and have a good grasp of, the main published material concerning a particular topic or question in your field. A literature review isn’t a straightforward summary of everything you’ve read on a topic. It’s an evaluative analysis of what’s been discovered in your field. The review should describe, summarise, evaluate and clarify this literature. Research and Writing Skills for Dissertations and Projects  is a UCL Moodle course available to all UCL students and looks at the skills associated with researching and writing an extended piece of work. Module 4 focuses on the literature review process.

When academics and industry professionals conduct research, they usually publish the work in books, journal articles and conference proceedings. For the most part, this is the 'literature' you need to find and review. A literature review sets the scene for your work. It places your research in context and shows how it relates to and builds upon the work of others. It’s also your chance to tell people why your work matters, why it’s relevant, and how it contributes original research to your field. Importantly, a literature review helps you find out how to do research. It shows which research methods have worked in the past and which ones haven’t. This can be a big help when planning your own research strategy.

For your dissertation, you’re likely to need to perform a literature search. A literature search is a well-thought-out, organised search and evaluation of literature available on a topic. A well-structured literature search is an effective and efficient way to locate sound evidence on the subject you're researching. 'Literature' can include journal articles, newspaper articles, official publications, conference proceedings, archives, book chapters, etc. View the literature searching page on this guide for further details about planning your search, common search techniques and developing a search strategy.

Systematic reviews are a type of literature review that follow a very rigorous and systematic searching, screening and analysis process. You can find out more about the process on our guide to systematic reviews . Usually a systematic review addresses a focused, structured research question to inform understanding on a particular topic and often to support evidence-based decision-making in that area. To do a full systematic review can be an extremely time-consuming process and requires a lot of resources, but you may want to incorporate some similar methodology, such as systematic approaches to literature searching or data analysis, without necessarily carrying out a full review. This can be considered to be a systematic style review, or a “light” systematic review.

Your Subject Liaison Librarian or Site Library can provide support for your dissertation through their subject guides which offer guidance on accessing quality academic resources. Send them an email for personalised support or book a one-to-one appointment .

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• Last Updated: Apr 18, 2024 6:08 PM
• URL: https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/dissertations

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How can i find a masters' dissertation.

We don't generally hold Masters' Dissertations, and see our guide to dissertations and research projects for more information, but your department may have some hard copies, or they may make some available in their Moodle modules.

• Finding Resources
• Last Updated Oct 03, 2023
• Answered By Debs Furness

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We're here to help. See below our e-mail address for enquiries generally, as well as a link to find contact details for specific libraries

Open@UCL Blog

Open Access theses

By Kirsty, on 31 March 2021

Among the many things that can be made Open Access; publications, data, software, and so many more, it is now increasingly more common for PhD theses to be made Open Access. This can be a great resource when you are undertaking your own PhD to get an idea of scope, structure and can be a great source of ideas.

Finding Open Access theses

UCL Library Services manages the DART-Europe service, the premier European portal for the discovery of open access research theses.  At the time of writing, this service provides access to over one million research theses from 564 Universities in 29 European countries.  It was founded in 2005 as a partnership of national and university libraries and consortia to improve global access to European research theses.  It does this by harvesting data from thesis repositories at contributing institutions, including from UCL Discovery (see below), and providing a link to at least one open access electronic copy of each thesis.  The theses themselves are located on the websites of the contributing institutions.

Users of the DART-Europe portal can search this vast database by keyword, or browse by country or institution, and view the research theses in full, without charge.  New theses are added every day, from doctoral and research masters programmes in every academic discipline.  For more information about the service, please contact the DART-Europe team .  Institutions not currently represented in the portal can view information on how to contribute to DART-Europe .

In normal times, the digitisation of doctoral theses can also be requested on an individual basis through the British Library’s e-theses online service (EThOS) .  This is a database of all UK doctoral theses held in university library collections, with links to open access copies in institutional repositories, and hosted directly in EThOS, where available.  If an electronic copy is not available, you can create an account with the service to request digitisation of the print copy: this prompts the institution where the thesis is held to find and check the print thesis, and then send it to the British Library’s facility at Boston Spa for digitisation.  Please note that this process incurs a charge (which is indicated during the requesting process) and is currently suspended due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Your thesis – UCL Discovery

Since the 2008-09 academic year, UCL students studying for doctoral and research master’s degrees have been required to submit an electronic copy of their thesis to the Library as a mandatory condition of the award of their degree.  Students are encouraged to make their theses openly available in UCL Discovery , our open access institutional repository, although in practice access can be restricted for a number of reasons if necessary.  A citation of the thesis appears in UCL Discovery even if access to the full text is restricted.

Older theses have also been digitised and added to UCL Discovery retrospectively.  The bulk of this work has been carried out as part of a specific project covering over 10,000 theses from 1990 to 2008.  This project is ongoing but mostly complete: over 7,000 digitised theses have been added to UCL Discovery during the last twelve months alone by Library Services staff who have not been able to carry out their normal work due to COVID-19 restrictions.

If you cannot access a UCL thesis which is listed online through these methods, please contact the Open Access Team , who will be able to provide advice on options for obtaining access.

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Tags: Doctoral theses , open access , Thesis

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Theses and dissertations

The library holds a large number of Bristol theses and dissertations, including many PhD and doctoral theses. Read our advice about how to locate theses from other institutions, both in the UK and internationally .

University of Bristol theses and dissertations

To find a University of Bristol thesis:

• If the thesis is held in the Research Reserve, it can be requested using the 'reserve a copy' button.
• If the thesis is held in the Research Reserve, use the online request form to request it.
• See below for details of how to access theses held in our other library sites.
• Recently submitted theses may be listed on Explore Bristol Research  though information about these is regularly added to Library Search.

Arts and Social Sciences

The collection includes theses from Arts Faculty, Social Sciences and Law Faculty, Physics, Mathematics, Biological Sciences, Geographical Sciences, Agricultural Science and the School for Policy Studies.

MA, MSc, MPhil and MLitts do not have to be deposited with the library under the Regulations, so our collections of these are incomplete. 

How to consult a thesis

• Arts and Social Sciences theses are now held in the Library's Research Reserve.  See 'to find a University of Bristol thesis' section above for details of how to request.
• We will notify you when the thesis arrives at the library.
• Thesis loans are for use in the Arts and Social Sciences Library only.

School of Chemistry PhD, MSc and DSc theses from 1910 to date.

Thesis loans are for use in the Chemistry Library only, though postgraduates with seats may keep a thesis at their desk. You may ask if a particular thesis can be kept behind the Issue desk if you will be using it repeatedly for a period of time. Other theses are kept in a Library Staff room and are not available during the evenings.

School of Education EdD, PhD, MPhil, and a selection of Masters theses. Many theses written before 2005 are located in the Research Reserve.

• The MSc and Masters theses are located in the Quiet Study Area;
• The MPhil, PhD and EdDs are located in Research Reserve.  See 'to find a University of Bristol thesis' section above for details of how to request.

The thesis collection from the Medical Library has been relocated to the library's Research Reserve. The collection includes: PhD, MD, MSc, ChM and DSc theses of staff and postgraduate students of the Health Sciences Faculty, from 1910 to date.

A card catalogue in the Medical Library contains details of the earlier theses, or you may check the  Card Catalogue Online .

• See 'to find a University of Bristol thesis' section above for details of how to request.
• We will notify you when the thesis arrives at the library;
• Theses are for use in the Medical Library only and you will be asked to sign a register.

School of Physics PhD, MSc and DSc theses from 1950 to date, with a few earlier ones. BSc and MSci projects are also held.

A card catalogue in the Physics Library contains details of the earlier ones.

• Ask at the Issue Desk to borrow a thesis, quoting author, year and category;
• Theses may be borrowed by staff and postgraduates as standard loans;
• Undergraduates may use theses in the library only;
• BSc and MSci projects may be borrowed by undergraduates: for the standard loan period.

Queens (Engineering, Mathematics, Computer science)

Engineering and Mathematics PhD theses are held in the Research Reserve, including Computer Science theses before the Department transferred to the Faculty of Engineering.  See 'to find a University of Bristol thesis' section above for details of how to request these.

A card catalogue, on the right beyond the Issue desk, contains details of pre-1978 theses.

• It can take 2-3 working days for a thesis to arrive and you will be notified when they are available;
• PhD theses may not be borrowed by undergraduates; taught postgraduates or external members but may be consulted in the library.

MSc Projects

• Some early Engineering MSc projects (1914-1950) are available from the Research Reserve - please contact your  Subject Librarian

Undergraduate projects

• Individual and group projects from 2015/16 - 2019/20 academic years for Civil and Mechanical Engineering are available on the open shelves in the Gallery.
• Early projects from 1920 to 1949 have been moved to  Special Collections  in the  Arts and Social Sciences Library

Veterinary Sciences

MSc Meat Science theses from 1979 to date and a small number of PhD theses. The majority of veterinary sciences PhD theses are housed in the Research Reserve.  See 'to find a University of Bristol thesis' section above for details of how to request.

Theses are shelved in the Computer Room and are for use in the library only.

Wills Memorial (Law, Earth Sciences)

Collections of both Law and Earth Sciences theses.

Theses are confined to the library; please ask at the information desk if you wish to borrow one.

UK and international theses

Information about many UK and international theses can be found via  Library Search . If the thesis you are interested in is not available online, you can use our  inter-Library Loan service . Non-UK theses can be difficult to obtain: in some countries, universities are working together to make full text electronic collections available:

• Electronic Theses Online Service (EThOS)  - a service provided by the British Library
• DART - Europe e-theses Portal
• Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD)
• PQDT Open  - open access dissertations and theses
• PQDT Global  -  a collection of dissertations and theses from around the world

Submit a thesis

Advice on how to submit a thesis for a higher degree can be found on the  Presenting and submitting your dissertation for examination  page. Information on how to submit a thesis to the library can be found on the Library's own Thesis Guidance  pages.

How to find resources by format

Why use a dissertation or a thesis.

A dissertation is the final large research paper, based on original research, for many disciplines to be able to complete a PhD degree. The thesis is the same idea but for a masters degree.

They are often considered scholarly sources since they are closely supervised by a committee, are directed at an academic audience, are extensively researched, follow research methodology, and are cited in other scholarly work. Often the research is newer or answering questions that are more recent, and can help push scholarship in new directions. 

Search for dissertations and theses

Locating dissertations and theses.

The Proquest Dissertations and Theses Global database includes doctoral dissertations and selected masters theses from major universities worldwide.

• Searchable by subject, author, advisor, title, school, date, etc.
• More information about full text access and requesting through Interlibrary Loan

NDLTD – Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations provides free online access to a over a million theses and dissertations from all over the world.

WorldCat Dissertations and Theses searches library catalogs from across the U.S. and worldwide.

Locating University of Minnesota Dissertations and Theses

Use  Libraries search  and search by title or author and add the word "thesis" in the search box. Write down the library and call number and find it on the shelf. They can be checked out.

Check the  University Digital Conservancy  for online access to dissertations and theses from 2007 to present as well as historic, scanned theses from 1887-1923.

Other Sources for Dissertations and Theses

• Center for Research Libraries
• DART-Europe E-Thesis Portal
• Theses Canada
• Ethos (Great Britain)
• Australasian Digital Theses in Trove
• DiVA (Sweden)
• E-Thesis at the University of Helsinki
• DissOnline (Germany)
• List of libraries worldwide - to search for a thesis when you know the institution and cannot find in the larger collections

University of Minnesota Dissertations and Theses FAQs

What dissertations and theses are available.

With minor exceptions, all doctoral dissertations and all "Plan A" master's theses accepted by the University of Minnesota are available in the University Libraries system. In some cases (see below) only a non-circulating copy in University Archives exists, but for doctoral dissertations from 1940 to date, and for master's theses from 1925 to date, a circulating copy should almost always be available.

"Plan B" papers, accepted in the place of a thesis in many master's degree programs, are not received by the University Libraries and are generally not available. (The only real exceptions are a number of old library school Plan B papers on publishing history, which have been separately cataloged.) In a few cases individual departments may have maintained files of such papers.

In what libraries are U of M dissertations and theses located?

Circulating copies of doctoral dissertations:.

• Use Libraries Search to look for the author or title of the work desired to determine location and call number of a specific dissertation. Circulating copies of U of M doctoral dissertations can be in one of several locations in the library system, depending upon the date and the department for which the dissertation was done. The following are the general rules:
• Dissertations prior to 1940 Circulating copies of U of M dissertations prior to 1940 do not exist (with rare exceptions): for these, only the archival copy (see below) is available. Also, most dissertations prior to 1940 are not cataloged in MNCAT and can only be identified by the departmental listings described below.  
• Dissertations from 1940-1979 Circulating copies of U of M dissertations from 1940 to 1979 will in most cases be held within the Elmer L. Andersen Library, with three major classes of exceptions: dissertations accepted by biological, medical, and related departments are housed in the Health Science Library; science/engineering dissertations from 1970 to date will be located in the Science and Engineering Library (in Walter); and dissertations accepted by agricultural and related departments are available at the Magrath Library or one of the other libraries on the St. Paul campus (the Magrath Library maintains records of locations for such dissertations).  
• Dissertations from 1980-date Circulating copies of U of M dissertations from 1980 to date at present may be located either in Wilson Library (see below) or in storage; consult Libraries Search for location of specific items. Again, exceptions noted above apply here also; dissertations in their respective departments will instead be in Health Science Library or in one of the St. Paul campus libraries.

Circulating copies of master's theses:

• Theses prior to 1925 Circulating copies of U of M master's theses prior to 1925 do not exist (with rare exceptions); for these, only the archival copy (see below) is available.  
• Theses from 1925-1996 Circulating copies of U of M master's theses from 1925 to 1996 may be held in storage; consult Libraries search in specific instances. Once again, there are exceptions and theses in their respective departments will be housed in the Health Science Library or in one of the St. Paul campus libraries.  
• Theses from 1997-date Circulating copies of U of M master's theses from 1997 to date will be located in Wilson Library (see below), except for the same exceptions for Health Science  and St. Paul theses. There is also an exception to the exception: MHA (Masters in Health Administration) theses through 1998 are in the Health Science Library, but those from 1999 on are in Wilson Library.

Archival copies (non-circulating)

Archival (non-circulating) copies of virtually all U of M doctoral dissertations from 1888-1952, and of U of M master's theses from all years up to the present, are maintained by University Archives (located in the Elmer L. Andersen Library). These copies must be consulted on the premises, and it is highly recommended for the present that users make an appointment in advance to ensure that the desired works can be retrieved for them from storage. For dissertations accepted prior to 1940 and for master's theses accepted prior to 1925, University Archives is generally the only option (e.g., there usually will be no circulating copy). Archival copies of U of M doctoral dissertations from 1953 to the present are maintained by Bell and Howell Corporation (formerly University Microfilms Inc.), which produces print or filmed copies from our originals upon request. (There are a very few post-1952 U of M dissertations not available from Bell and Howell; these include such things as music manuscripts and works with color illustrations or extremely large pages that will not photocopy well; in these few cases, our archival copy is retained in University Archives.)

Where is a specific dissertation of thesis located?

To locate a specific dissertation or thesis it is necessary to have its call number. Use Libraries Search for the author or title of the item, just as you would for any other book. Depending on date of acceptance and cataloging, a typical call number for such materials should look something like one of the following:

Dissertations: Plan"A" Theses MnU-D or 378.7M66 MnU-M or 378.7M66 78-342 ODR7617 83-67 OL6156 Libraries Search will also tell the library location (MLAC, Health Science Library, Magrath or another St. Paul campus library, Science and Engineering, Business Reference, Wilson Annex or Wilson Library). Those doctoral dissertations still in Wilson Library (which in all cases should be 1980 or later and will have "MnU-D" numbers) are located in the central section of the third floor. Those master's theses in Wilson (which in all cases will be 1997 or later and will have "MnU-M" numbers) are also located in the central section of the third floor. Both dissertations and theses circulate and can be checked out, like any other books, at the Wilson Circulation desk on the first floor.

How can dissertations and theses accepted by a specific department be located?

Wilson Library contains a series of bound and loose-leaf notebooks, arranged by department and within each department by date, listing dissertations and theses. Information given for each entry includes name of author, title, and date (but not call number, which must be looked up individually). These notebooks are no longer current, but they do cover listings by department from the nineteenth century up to approximately 1992. Many pre-1940 U of M dissertations and pre-1925 U of M master's theses are not cataloged (and exist only as archival copies). Such dissertations can be identified only with these volumes. The books and notebooks are shelved in the general collection under these call numbers: Wilson Ref LD3337 .A5 and Wilson Ref quarto LD3337 .U9x. Major departments of individual degree candidates are also listed under their names in the GRADUATE SCHOOL COMMENCEMENT programs of the U of M, available in University Archives and (for recent years) also in Wilson stacks (LD3361 .U55x).

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Thesis / dissertation formatting manual (2024).

• Filing Fees and Student Status
• Submission Process Overview
• Electronic Thesis Submission
• Paper Thesis Submission
• Formatting Overview
• Fonts/Typeface
• Pagination, Margins, Spacing
• Paper Thesis Formatting
• Preliminary Pages Overview
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures (etc.)
• Acknowledgements
• Text and References Overview
• Figures and Illustrations
• Using Your Own Previously Published Materials
• Using Copyrighted Materials by Another Author
• Open Access and Embargoes
• Copyright and Creative Commons
• Ordering Print (Bound) Copies
• Tutorials and Assistance
• FAQ This link opens in a new window

UCI Libraries maintains the following  templates to assist in formatting your graduate manuscript. If you are formatting your manuscript in Microsoft Word, feel free to download and use the template. If you would like to see what your manuscript should look like, PDFs have been provided. If you are formatting your manuscript using LaTex, UCI maintains a template on OverLeaf.

• Annotated Template (Dissertation) 2024 PDF of a template with annotations of what to look out for
• Word: Thesis Template 2024 Editable template of the Master's thesis formatting.
• PDF Thesis Template 2024
• Word: Dissertation Template 2024 Editable template of the PhD Dissertation formatting.
• PDF: Dissertation Template 2024
• Overleaf (LaTex) Template
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• Last Updated: Feb 20, 2024 2:09 PM
• URL: https://guides.lib.uci.edu/gradmanual

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