ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (PQDT) is an online database that
indexes
Index (: indexes or indices) may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities
* Index (A Certain Magical Index), Index (''A Certain Magical Index''), a character in the light novel series ''A Certain Magical Index''
* The Index, a ...
,
abstracts, and provides
full-text access to
dissertations and
theses
A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...
. The database includes over 2.4 million records and covers 1637 to the present. It is produced by
ProQuest
ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene Power.
ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for l ...
and was formerly known as ProQuest Digital Dissertations. The bibliographic database (without full-text dissertations) is known as Dissertation Abstracts or Dissertation Abstracts International.
PQDT annually publishes more than 90% of all dissertations submitted from accredited institutions of higher learning in North America as well as from colleges and universities in Europe and Asia. Over the past 60 years, PQDT has amassed more than 1.4 million titles beginning with the first U.S. dissertation accepted by a university (
Yale) in 1861. ProQuest began digitizing dissertations in 1997 from a microform archive.
In October 2015, ProQuest added the ability for authors to include an
ORCID identifier when submitting a thesis.
Abstracts
Dissertation Abstracts, Dissertation Abstracts International (DAI) is a
bibliographic database
A bibliographic database is a database of bibliographic records. This is an organised online collection of references to published written works like academic journal, journal and newspaper articles, conference proceedings, reports, government an ...
of American
dissertations published since 1938, initially by
University Microfilms International (UMI) now by
ProQuest
ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene Power.
ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for l ...
, Ann Arbor.
DAI covers doctoral dissertations accepted at accredited American institutions since 1861. Selected master's theses have been included since 1962; since 1988, the database includes citations for dissertations from 50 British universities that are available at The British Document Supply Centre.
[Dialog Bluesheet #35: http://library.dialog.com/bluesheets/html/bl0035.html] Additionally, it covers a limited number of dissertations from the rest of the world.
The print version is published monthly and cumulated annually and it is available both in softcover and on microfiche. It is divided in three sections:
* Section A, Humanities and Social Sciences ()
* Section B, Sciences and Engineering ()
* Section C (formerly ''European Dissertations'') () covers non-North American materials, most of them unavailable for purchase from ProQuest. As of 2008, ProQuest no longer offers Section C as a separate product.
Former titles and print titles: From 1969: ''Dissertations Abstract International''; from 1951: ''Dissertations Abstracts''; from ''Microfilm Abstracts'' (an annual catalog of the dissertations available for sale from UMI), ''American Doctoral Dissertations'' (ADD), (until 1964): ''Index to American Doctoral Dissertations'', (until 1956): ''Doctoral Dissertations Accepted by American Universities''. ''Masters Abstracts International'' (MAI).
There are different versions in print and online. The online version is Dissertation Abstracts Online while the print bibliography is termed Dissertation Abstracts International. Material except the abstracts themselves were issued also on CD-ROM under the title: Dissertation abstracts ondisc.
* 1997: Dissertations go digital with ProQuest Digital Dissertations
* 1998: Library of Congress recognizes UMI as offsite repository of Digital Dissertations Library
See also
*
Gray literature
*
Indexing and abstracting service
An abstracting service is a service that provides abstracts of publications, often on a subject or group of related subjects, usually on a subscription basis. An indexing service is a service that assigns descriptors and other kinds of access po ...
References
Further reading
* Davinson, D. (1977). ''Theses and Dissertations as Information Sources''. London: Clive Bingley.
* Glatthorn, A. A. & Joyner, R. L. (2005). ''Writing the Winning Thesis or Dissertation: A Step by Step Guide''. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.proquest.com/products-services/dissertations/
Bibliographic databases and indexes
Full-text scholarly online databases
Dissertations and Theses
Theses