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Grey literature

Finding theses and dissertations

Theses are in-depth research projects typically completed as part of advanced academic degrees, such as a PhD. They can support your understanding of the research landscape through a deep focus on a single topic and original contribution to knowledge. They allow you to review past research and find ideas for your own work.  

Unlike journal articles or books, theses delve deeper into topics and are not widely available, but they provide insights into the research landscape and can help identify potential collaborators. 

They assist in identifying research methodologies, theoretical approaches, and writing expectations specific to your field or institution, and include comprehensive literature reviews, guiding you to seminal works in your area of study.


Finding Deakin theses

Deakin’s research repository, Deakin Research Online (DRO) contains records of all Deakin graduate theses (Doctoral and Masters by Research). You can use Search for Deakin theses and add broad keywords to ‘Search Content’ to focus your results on your discipline area. 

The Library holds full text copies of Deakin theses, either digitally or in print. Some theses will be unavailable under an embargo period. If the full text thesis is not available via the DRO record, conduct a title search in the Library Catalogue for the location of the physical copy.


Finding non-Deakin theses

There are various resources that can assist you in locating theses from Australia and internationally.  

Researching international theses provides a comprehensive understanding of global research, examples of thesis styles that are less common in Australia, and potential international collaborators. 

When searching for theses, look for format limits for thesis or dissertation. 

Key databases are:


Finding a specific thesis

You might want to find a specific thesis from another institution. Most universities will hold their own theses in their institutional repository in electronic or print format. It's important to understand that each university has theses with different policies, which can make it challenging to find them. 

To locate a specific thesis you'll need to: 

  • know the university that that the thesis came from 
  • locate the thesis from the university's institutional repository or library catalogue. 

If the thesis is not available digitally, you can fill out a interlibrary loan request form. The Library will request a loan or copy of the thesis on your behalf.

Alert

The difference between Australian and international theses is due to recent changes in how the Copyright Act is interpreted. Generally, a copy of an Australian thesis will be yours to keep, and a copy of an international thesis will be added to the Deakin Library collection and available for borrowing.