Grey Literature

Theses and dissertations are original research documents submitted in requirement of obtaining an academic degree.

• Written by emerging scholars rather than established experts in the field.
• While not formally peer-reviewed, they are reviewed by a dissertation committee who generally are experts in the field.

• Typically considered quality resources with much background research and references.
• Generally address narrow, focused, localized topics, specific populations, emerging phenomena, etc. and so can be an excellent source when there is very little published literature.
• Published regardless of negative results thus helping to reduce a potential publication bias

Note: You can also use Google Scholar to find thesis and dissertations, and some bibliographic databases will include select dissertations, you can find these using the document type filter. For help selecting appropriate databases contact your subject librarian. 

Not all institutions contribute theses and dissertations to the above databases. A follow-up search of other repositories will help make your search comprehensive as well as capture other publications by faculty and staff housed in the IR. 

Bonato, S. (2018). Searching for Dissertations/Theses. In Searching the Grey Literature. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.