Finding University of Hertfordshire Theses
Finding University of Hertfordshire Theses
Please note that retrieval of physical theses from the closed stack will be available.
To access UH theses (the UHRA electronic version of doctoral level submissions and the printed copies of Masters by Research and MPhil dissertations):
- Click on Online Library on the top menu bar of StudyNet
- Type your search in the Library Search box
- To find a specific thesis, type the author's surname and keywords from the title, plus the word thesis, e.g. Williams networking business thesis
- You can search for theses on a subject by typing subject keywords, using quote marks " "to search for a phrase, and adding Hertfordshire to narrow your search down e.g. "art therapy" thesis Hertfordshire
- To narrow your search down further, look at the menu on the left of the screen: under Content Type click on Dissertation/Thesis (you may need to click on More first)
- Electronic theses are available from the UH Research Archive.
- Print theses are kept in a closed access stack at College Lane LRC and have to be requested in advance using a Stack Retrieval Form. They can be used only in the LRC and must be returned the same day as they are issued to you. Please download the form and open it in Adobe before filling it in and submitting it by email.
UHRA
The University of Hertfordshire Research Archive (UHRA) contains electronic versions of research theses completed at the University.
Students can deposit their research thesis, if completed at UH, in the UHRA. UH electronic theses are being included in the British Library EThOS service (details below) so it is important that your final PhD is deposited in the UHRA.
As more universities make theses available electronically via their own Open Access institutional archives (like UHRA) you will be able to find the full text of theses worldwide by simply searching on Google.
UK and Irish Theses
The British Library is currently digitising thousands of theses from UK Higher Education institutions to make the full-text freely available online for users to download through the Electronic Thesis Online Service (EThOS). This service was badly damaged by the BL's cyber-attack, See here for more information on EthOS. For older material, all theses in EThOS prior to October 2023 are in the British Library catalogue. You can filter your search in the catalogue by using the ‘Advanced search’ and filtering ‘Material type’ to ‘Theses’. This will show you the name of the awarding university. You can then search the university’s institutional repository or library catalogue for the thesis.
EThOS
Please note: EThOS is Currently Unavailable
EThOS (E-Theses Online Service) is the British Library’s (BL) database of UK doctoral theses. It holds records for over 600,000 theses, allowing researchers to search theses from UK universities from the 1700s to present day. However, EThOS was badly damaged by the BL's cyber-attack. Work is underway to restore an interim platform in 2026. Please see the British Library website for more information.
Theses from other countries
Many international theses are freely available digitally (see below). However, if you are unable to obtain a digital copy, contact your Academic Liaison Librarian for further advice.
Australasian Digital Theses. Access to full-text electronic theses submitted at Australasian universities is now available via the National Library of Australia's Trove service.
Caltech ETD Database. Contains electronic theses and dissertations submitted by students undertaking research in science and technology.
Dissonline. Search for German electronic dissertations and post-doctoral theses held by the German National Library. Coverage from 1998.
DIVA. Portal for research publications and student theses from 26 Scandinavian universities and colleges of higher education.
HKU Theses Online. Holds over 18,000 Hong Kong theses and dissertations submitted for higher degrees since 1941. Mostly in English, with some in Chinese. Over 16,500 are available in full-text.
NARCIS. Portal to open-access e-theses and other research publications from all Dutch universities.
National Archive of PhD Theses. Contains the PhD theses from all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Greece as well as PhD theses awarded to Greek scholars by foreign HEIs.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD). International organization which contains more than one million records of electronic theses and dissertations from universities in the USA and other countries.
Open Grey multidisciplinary repository for European grey literature.
Shodhganga. Full text digital theses from over 100 Indian universities.
SUDOC. Catalogue of materials held in French university and research libraries. Use the advanced search to limit your search to theses, many of which are available online in full-text.
Theses Canada Portal. Maintained by Library and Archives Canada and provides free access.
For more information about requesting a thesis, see Inter-Library Loans (ILLs).