Why theses are valuable for research
When conducting research, theses collection is valuable because it:
| Contributes original research | It provides new insights, data, or perspectives that advance knowledge in a particular field. |
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| Addresses research gaps | It often explores areas that have not been extensively studied, filling gaps in existing literature. |
| Includes comprehensive analysis | It offers detailed analysis and interpretation of data, contributing to a deeper understanding of the topic. |
| Supports future research | It serves as a valuable resource for other researchers, providing a foundation for further studies. |
| Includes comprehensive literature reviews | Theses typically include thorough literature reviews, which can help you understand the current state of research in a particular area and identify gaps that your research could address. |
| Includes detailed methodologies | The methodologies described in theses are often detailed and well documented, offering valuable guidance for designing your own research projects. |
| Covers specialised topics | Theses often cover niche or emerging topics that may not yet be widely covered in journals or books, giving you access to cutting-edge research. |
| Represents academic rigor | The rigorous academic standards required for theses ensure that the research is of high quality, making them reliable sources of information. |
How to find ECU theses on Research Online
The search box offers two options:
- Search the ECU repository only or
- Search the Digital Commons: Access content from over 550 institutional repositories worldwide by selecting "Across All Repositories"
Note: Additionally, searching Google and Google Scholar will also find outputs in Research Online
Browse the ECU theses collections on Research Online by:
| Type: | There are two theses collections: PhDs & Masters and Honours. Theses are listed by year, then alphabetically by the author's last name |
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| Topic: | Enter your keywords in the search box. Use the refine panel on the results page to limit by Publication Type "thesis." |
| Author: | Scroll down the author list and click on the author's name. On the results page, use the refine panel on the left to limit by Publication Type "thesis." |
| School: |
Click on the Advanced Search button. |
| Enter the current School's name in the search box. | Click on the green + sign to add another search line and in the second search box, select Document Type from the drop-down menu. Type in thesis and click on Search |
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| Accessing the Full Text of ECU Theses on Research Online: |
Most ECU theses are now available in full text. Some authors have restricted the full text of their theses to current ECU staff and students. You will need to create an account in Research Online to access theses of this type. Please follow instruction below: |
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| How to create an account? |
Click on My Account in the top-right corner of the page, then select Sign Up to create a new account. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the account registration process. |
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Finding theses from other institutions
| ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global | It is the world's most comprehensive collection of multidisciplinary dissertations and theses, featuring 6 million records from more than 70 countries and over 4,100 institutions, of which 3.6 million are full-text titles. More than 300,000 new full text dissertations is added each year and has metadata from 1606-current and full text from 1997-current, with select older titles. |
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| Research Online@ECU |
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| Trove (National Library of Australia) |
Trove (National Library of Australia) can be used to find all Australian theses.
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| Australian Education Research Theses Database | The Australian Education Research Theses database contains more than 20,000 entries of doctoral and masters research theses in the field of education that have been accepted by Australian universities. Entries date back to the early 20th century. Links to the full text are provided for more than 8000 theses and the database is updated regularly with recent theses. |
| BASE | BASE academic search engine provides access to the repositories of 8,000 institutions. 60% of the full-text documents are open access. |
| Ebsco Open Dissertations | Includes the content from American Doctoral Dissertations in addition to theses and dissertations from around the world. Coverage from 1955. |
| EThOS e-theses online service (British Library) | The datasets in this collection comprise snapshots in time of metadata descriptions of hundreds of thousands of PhD theses awarded by UK Higher Education institutions aggregated by the British Library's EThOS service. The data is estimated to cover around 98% of all PhDs ever awarded by UK Higher Education institutions, dating back to 1787. |
| New Zealand Theses | This is a database of New Zealand’s most comprehensive selection of research papers and related resources - the site includes peer-reviewed and other research Tip: Search by topic than refine your results by thesis type |
| Open Access Theses and Dissertations (OATD) | An index of over 7.3 million electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs). To the extent possible, the index is limited to records of graduate-level theses that are freely available online. |