WMU Research Guides: CECP 6010: Research Methods: Dissertations

Full Text Dissertations and Theses

WMU CECP Dissertations
Dissertations produced by students in the CECP department can be found here in the ScholarWorks depository.

ScholarWorks at WMU
Search or browse a growing collection of research and scholarship produced at WMU. The collection can be browsed by Research Unit, Center, or Department.

Searching for Dissertations and Theses

Dissertations and Theses Global (ProQuest)
Indexes virtually all doctoral dissertations and many masters theses produced in the U.S. since 1861. Dissertations from other countries date back to 1637. Abstracts available from 1980. Full-text for dissertations are being added continually. Most since 1997 are full-text, though some authors choose not to make their work available. Print and microfilm copies are offered for a fee, but request the item via Interlibrary Loan before paying for a copy.

New search functionality includes metadata from Clarivate's Citation Connection. To ensure your search results take advantage of this new functionality, please add “AND ref(1)“ to your search terms.
To search only dissertations and theses completed at Western Michigan University, please use the Dissertations & Theses @ Western Michigan University database. To view digital theses and dissertations hosted in the WMU Libraries repository, please visit ScholarWorks@WMU.

The catalog at the Center for Research Libraries includes over 800,000 records for dissertations from 90 different countries.

Borrowing Materials from Other Libraries

If the dissertation or thesis you need is not available in any full text source you may request a paper or microform copy through the interlibrary loan service.

Before using WMU's interlibrary loan service, you must first register and set up an account. Click here to begin the process. You will be asked to login with your BroncoNetID and password. If you have never used the service before, follow the prompts for First Time Users. You only have to register once during your tenure at WMU.

There are several issues to be aware of when requesting dissertations through interlibrary loan:

Many institutions do not lend their dissertations and theses through interlibrary loan. Because dissertations are unique some institutions choose not to send them off campus.
Some institutions that do lend their dissertations specify that they are "in library use only". This means that you will not be allowed to take the material out of the library.
The copy of the dissertation you get through interlibrary loan may be in microfilm or microfiche format. You will have to locate a microfilm reader in the library to use the material.
Interlibrary loan takes time. It can take two to three weeks for the lending library to process the request and send it out. Please plan ahead.