Q. How do I find a dissertation or thesis?

UofM Theses & Dissertations:

• Some theses and dissertations prior to 2010 are available in the stacks and are available to check out. Use the Classic Catalog to find those records and call numbers. University Libraries does not have print copies of UofM dissertations and theses published since 2010 unless the author donated it.
• The Libraries' Digital Commons Electronic Theses & Dissertations houses UofM dissertations and theses as authorized by their authors. Some titles are restricted to authorized UofM users, some are embargoed, and some have only their abstract available. More information below.
• ProQuest's Dissertations & Theses @ the University of Memphis holds citations and abstracts of dissertations and theses published through the University since 1996. 
• UofM Libraries' Preservation and Special Collections Department houses an archival print set of UofM theses and dissertations prior to 2010.

Other Electronic Dissertations & Theses:

• The database ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global includes citations and full text of dissertations and theses from around the world, ranging from 1861 to those accepted last semester. Digital dissertations and theses are archived as submitted by the degree-granting institution.
• If you are a UofM student or employee looking for a dissertation or thesis in print at another library, request a scanned version through Interlibrary Loan.
• For researchers seeking access to unpublished dissertations & theses, you can contact the author directly to request access.

Browse by Department

To search for dissertations and theses by a department or program, use our Classic Catalog.

Once in the Classic Catalog, select Advanced Search:

In the Advanced Search screen, there are two things to do to find theses or dissertations from a program:

• The graduate major and concentration will be listed in the Notes for the thesis/dissertation record. To search that, change the dropdown field before the first search bar to "Note:" then enter the program into the search bar.
• To limit to theses and dissertations, scroll down to the heading "Add Limits (option)" and change the "Material Type" dropdown menu to "Thesis/Dissertation."
  

All of your results should not be theses and dissertations, and if you look at the Notes section of each record you should see your search terms. 

More on UofM's Digital Commons theses & dissertations:

Dissertations are submitted to the Digital Commons site after the final defense and after corrections & necessary edits have been made. This can take several months from the time of the final defense.

Access to the document through the University of Memphis Digital Commons is determined by the student author and may fall into the following categories:

• Open Access - open to anyone with internet access.
• Embargoed - The author has chosen to prevent online access for 3 or 5 years from the date of creation to protect their creative rights.
• No Access - Due to patents included or other intellectual properties, the author has chosen not to make their work available online.

This page has additional information about the dissertation/thesis submission/publishing process.

Students are not required to submit their work to the ProQuest Dissertation database. If they do, publication is usually completed within 8 to 10 weeks of receipt of the manuscript and the author may limit access.