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Graduate Research Portal: Finding Theses

Library-based support for University of Lethbridge graduate students

Finding Theses

A thesis is a lengthy work written and presented in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification. It presents the author’s original research and findings on a specific topic. Some institutions use the term “thesis” for master’s level work and “dissertation” for doctoral work.  The School of Graduate Studies at the University of Lethbridge uses "thesis" for both master's and doctoral work.  Theses are considered to be a type of scholarly source.

Most theses and dissertations, especially those written recently, are available online.  For this reason, the term ETDs (electronic theses and dissertations) has become increasingly common.

University of Lethbridge Theses

You may find it useful to peruse theses in your area of research that have been completed at the University of Lethbridge. The following links let you browse U of L theses in the University's research repository, OPUS, grouped by the Faculty in which the theses were completed.

Finding Theses and Dissertations

Use the following tools and resources when searching for theses and dissertations.  See also the section on institutional repositories below.

Research Repositories

An institutional repository (IR) is a digital collection of an organization's intellectual output.  IRs centralize, preserve, and make accessible the knowledge generated by academic institutions.  Theses and dissertations authored by researchers at a university can often be found in that university’s IR.