So, you've poured your heart and soul into a thesis or dissertation, and now it's time to share your groundbreaking work. But before you hit publish or submit, there's that one crucial step: citing it correctly. It might seem a bit daunting, especially with academic styles like APA, but think of it as giving credit where credit is due, ensuring your research stands on solid ground.
Let's break down how to tackle this, drawing from the guidelines of the 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual. It's not just about listing a title and author; it's about providing enough information for someone else to find your work, whether it's tucked away in a university library or accessible online.
When Your Work is Unpublished
Imagine your thesis is like a precious manuscript, only available in print from your university's library. In this case, the university itself acts as the publisher. So, the structure looks something like this: Author's last name, followed by their initials. Then, the year it was published. Next, the title of your work, presented in sentence case, and crucially, you'll add a descriptor like '[Unpublished bachelor’s thesis]' or '[Unpublished doctoral dissertation]'. Finally, you'll name the institution.
For instance, if J. H. Ames and L. H. Doughty published their plans for an athletic field in 1911, it would be cited as: Ames, J. H., & Doughty, L. H. (1911). The proposed plans for the Iowa State College athletic field including the design of a reinforced concrete grandstand and wall [Unpublished bachelor’s thesis]. Iowa State University.
And when you mention it in your text? It's straightforward: (Ames & Doughty, 1911) or Ames & Doughty (1911) explained their designs.
Published Through a Database: The Digital Trail
Now, what if your thesis or dissertation has been published and you found it through a database like ProQuest? This is where things get a little more detailed, but it's still manageable. The core structure remains similar, but we add a few more pieces of information. After the title, you'll include any publication or document number in parentheses. Then, in brackets, you'll specify the degree type and the name of the institution. The key difference here is that you'll name the database where you found it.
Take K. A. Knight's 2011 work on "Media epidemics." If it was a doctoral dissertation from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and found in ProQuest, it might look like this: Knight, K. A. (2011). Media epidemics: Viral structures in literature and new media (Accession No. 2013420395) [Doctoral dissertation, University of California, Santa Barbara]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
Notice that "Accession No." or "Document No." is that unique identifier from the database. It's like a digital fingerprint for your work within that system. In-text, it's (Knight, 2011) or Knight (2011) explored...
Found Online, But Not Through a Standard Database
Sometimes, a thesis or dissertation might be available online through an institutional repository or a specific archive, but not a general academic database. Here, you'll follow a similar pattern, but instead of the database name, you'll provide the name of the archive or collection, followed by a direct URL.
For example, O. Kim's 2019 doctoral dissertation from the University of Pittsburgh, found in their Institutional Repository, would be cited as: Kim, O. (2019). Soviet tableau: cinema and history under late socialism [Doctoral dissertation, University of Pittsburgh]. Institutional Repository at the University of Pittsburgh. https://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/37669/7/Olga%20Kim%20Final%20ETD.pdf
And in your text: (Kim, 2019) or Kim (2019) argued that...
It's worth remembering that not every online thesis will have a specific archive listed. If it's just on a personal website, you'd simply provide the URL as the source. The goal, always, is to make it as easy as possible for your readers to track down the original source. It’s a small but vital part of academic integrity, ensuring your own work is properly contextualized and your contributions are clearly acknowledged.
