ASU Dissertations and Theses

At ASU, "thesis" refers to documents produced by masters and undergraduate honors programs; documents from the doctoral level are called "dissertations". Not all Masters programs at ASU require a thesis; instead, some programs require an applied, capstone or research project or a different type of documentation more suitable to the program, such as a portfolio. The ASU Library only collects the master's theses. Documentation from the non-thesis master's programs is not available from the ASU Library; individuals wanting non-thesis documents from a Master's program should contact the academic unit that granted the degree and/or the author to see if the documents are available.

The availability, location, and format of theses depend on the time period in which the student completed the master's degree:

• Fall 2011 to the present
• 1999-Spring 2011
• 1938-1998

Starting with the 2011/2012 academic year, the Graduate College requires students in masters programs with thesis requirements to submit an electronic copy of their thesis to ProQuest; ProQuest waits for approval from the Graduate College before the theses are released into the ProQuest databases. ProQuest sends a digital copy of the bibliographic information and full text of these documents to the ASU Library for inclusion in several different databases. 

Note: Not all theses are available soon after graduation. The ASU Graduate College currently allows students to request an embargo of up to 2 years before their thesis is made public; students may choose this option to protect their intellectual property rights or to preserve commercial publication opportunities among other issues. The full text of an embargoed thesis will not be available for viewing in the following databases until the embargo period has ended. Information about which theses are embargoed and for how long is not made public.  

The theses from this time period are available as follows:

• ASU Digitial Repository: ASU Electronic Dissertations and Theses Collection
  Has the full text of the theses, except for cases where a thesis is within a requested embargo period; the full text is in PDF and is available for all to view, print, and/or download.
   
• ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (PQDT) and Dissertations and Theses @ ASU databases contain the full text, except for cases where a thesis is within a requested embargo period; full text is in PDF.
  
  Access to these databases requires a subscription.
  • ASU faculty, staff, and currently enrolled students may access these databases from both on- and off-campus
  • ASU Alumni and community members who live in the Phoenix area may access these databases from within an ASU Library; ProQuest does not permit us to offer off-campus access to alumni and community members.
  • Alumni and individuals outside of the Phoenix area should check with their local libraries, particularly libraries at publicly funded colleges and universities, for the availability of the "ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (PQDT) database.
     
• ASU Library's Catalog
  Contains bibliographic records for the theses and each record has a link to the full text in the ASU Digital Repository.
   
• The ASU Library does not retain or accept print copies of theses available in the ASU Digital Repository.
   

The Graduate College required master's students in thesis programs to submit two printed copies of their thesis to the ASU Library and one printed copy to their academic unit. The College gave students the option to submit an electronic copy to ProQuest but did not require it. Very few students took the option so almost all masters theses from this time are only available in print.   

The theses from this time period are available as follows:

• ASU Digitial Repository: ASU Electronic Dissertations and Theses Collection
  Only those 2010/2011 theses chosen for the electronic submission trial are available in full text; no full text is available for the 1999-2009 theses. 
   
• ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (PQDT) and Dissertations and Theses @ ASU databases contain the full text for about 32% of the 2010 theses (approx. 240 out of 755) and about 1.5% (approx. 125 out of almost 8600) from 1999-2009; full text is in PDF.
  
  Access to these databases requires a subscription.
  • ASU faculty, staff, and currently enrolled students may access these databases from both on- and off-campus
  • ASU Alumni and community members who live in the Phoenix area may access these databases from within an ASU Library; ProQuest does not permit us to offer off-campus access to alumni and community members.
  • Alumni and individuals outside of the Phoenix area should check with their local libraries, particularly libraries at publicly funded colleges and universities, for the availability of the "ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (PQDT) database.
     
• ASU Library's Catalog
  Contains a bibliographic record for the theses and each record has the location for the print copies. Catalog records for the 2010 items available in the depository will link to the depository, otherwise, the catalog record does not contain information about full-text availability.
   
  • The first copy, aka the archival copy, is kept in storage and the user must contact the Wurzburger Reading Room (480-965-4932 or archives@asu.edu) in advance to set an appointment to view a thesis. The copy may only be viewed in the Reading Room and is not available for checkout or interlibrary loan.
     
  • The second copy, aka the circulating copy, is kept in Hayden Library and may be checked out or loaned to other libraries. Note: not every thesis has a second copy and some of these copies may be shelved in libraries other than Hayden; see the catalog record for availability. ASU theses are given call number: LD179.15 [year] [cuttered by author]

The theses from this time period are available as follows:

• ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (PQDT) and Dissertations and Theses @ ASU databases
  Very few master's students took the ProQuest (formerly UMI) option to put their theses in the database.  Approx 110 theses ranging from 1982-1998 are available in full text.
  
  Access to these databases requires a subscription.
  • ASU faculty, staff, and currently enrolled students may access these databases from both on- and off-campus
  • ASU Alumni and community members who live in the Phoenix area may access these databases from within an ASU Library; ProQuest does not permit us to offer off-campus access to alumni and community members
  • Alumni and individuals outside of the Phoenix area should check with their local libraries, particularly libraries at publicly funded colleges and universities, for the availability of the "ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (PQDT) database.
     
• ASU Library's Catalog
  Contains a bibliographic record for the theses and each record has the location for the print copies.  The catalog record does not contain information about online availability.
   
  • The first copy, aka the archival copy, is kept in storage and the user must contact the Wurzburger Reading Room (480-965-4932 or archives@asu.edu) in advance to set an appointment to view a thesis. The copy may only be viewed in the Reading Room in Hayden Library and is not available for checkout or interlibrary loan.
     
  • The second copy, aka the circulating copy, is kept in the Library's high-density storage and must be retrieved in advance of a visit. These second copies may be checked out or used for interlibrary loan. Some theses during this time do not have a second copy. ASU theses are given call number: LD179.15 [year] [cuttered by author]