Open Access Theses & DissertationsThe number of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) openly available via institutional repositories has grown dramatically in recent years, increasing the need for a centralized service to search for this unique material. Open Access Theses and Dissertations (OATD), launched in early 2013, is on the path to fulfill that need. Not as large as the commercial subscription service ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Database, OATD distinguishes itself by providing access to more than 1.6 million open-access theses and dissertations freely available from over 800 institutions worldwide. The simplified interface allows searching across all fields or, in advanced search, by specific field (Title, Author Name, Abstract, University/Publisher, or Subject/Keywords). In addition, users may limit searches to a specific language or date range. Search results may be sorted by relevance, author, university, or date.
Depending on the search, results may be further limited by date, university, department, degree, level (e.g., doctoral vs. master's), or language. The number of hits for entries under each limit is conveniently displayed in the left column. Links to the full text residing on the home institution's site are provided for each record. In many instances, several pages of the thesis or dissertation are available for viewing. Though other sites cover similar material, e.g., PQDT Open http://pqdtopen.proquest.com and Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations, OATD focuses exclusively on open-access ETDs, and serves as an excellent resource for students and researchers. Its usefulness will continue to increase as more ETDs are made freely available.
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