How do I find dissertations and theses?

Most of our recent dissertations (Autumn 2015- ) are open access works, available in Knowledge@UChicago, our open access digital repository. All current dissertations (Summer 2024- ) have records in Knowledge@UChicago.

Print copies of most older dissertations (1893-Spring 2009) are held in the Library and have records in the Library Catalog. Since Summer 2009, only digital copies are available, with links included in the catalog record.

ProQuest databases provide a fairly comprehensive record for our dissertations from 1893-Spring 2024, with full text for nearly 70% of the titles. Participation in ProQuest is now optional for dissertation authors, and their records will no longer be comprehensive.

For a more comprehensive record, see our convocation programs. For information on dissertations from June 1893 to April 1931, see our guide to Early Dissertations. 

If the Library holds a paper copy of a dissertation or thesis from another institution, a record will appear in the Library Catalog.

The full text of many dissertations is available in ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.  Dissertations from outside the U.S. may be available from the Center for Research Libraries.

If you have current borrowing privileges at the University of Chicago Library, you may place an interlibrary loan request to borrow dissertations that are not available through the Library.

If you are not affiliated with the University of Chicago, check with your local library to determine what databases and borrowing options are available to you. 

Knowledge@UChicago provides open access to all of our dissertations published after Summer 2024 and most published from Autumn 2015 to Summer 2024.

Many college and university libraries subscribe to ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. If you have access, connect to the dissertation database from your library's website and then go to the Advanced Search page. You can search for University of Chicago dissertations by entering 0330 in the University/institution field. 

You might also search WorldCat to see if the dissertation you need is held by a nearby library.

The University of Chicago Library will lend most University of Chicago dissertations and theses deposited before Summer 2009. See the Library's Interlibrary Loan lending policies to learn more about borrowing material. The Library will provide researchers with a digital file if a digital copy is available.

Copies of most University of Chicago dissertations and some early theses may be purchased through ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. Call 1-800-521-3042 or order a dissertation online.

If ProQuest does not have a copy of one of our doctoral dissertations, please contact the University of Chicago Dissertation Office.