How to cite a thesis or dissertation (APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago, Harvard)
Theses and dissertations look simple until you have to name the degree, university, database, and publication status. A doctoral dissertation in ProQuest is not formatted exactly like an unpublished master's thesis in a university archive. The citation has to identify both the student author and the awarding institution, because that institution is what makes the work a thesis rather than a report.
When to use this source type
Use this source type when you cite a master's thesis, doctoral dissertation, PhD thesis, or similar awarded research project. You might find it in ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, EThOS, an institutional repository, or a university library catalogue. The record usually tells you the degree type, awarding institution, year, and whether the text is openly available.
Do not cite a thesis as a book unless it has been revised and published as a book. Do not cite it as a journal article if you read only the thesis. If a chapter from the thesis later became an article, cite the version you actually used. For this guide, the example uses a fictitious author, Jane M. Howell, to avoid attributing an invented thesis to a real person.
Quick reference table
The same source facts appear in each style, but they move around. Check the author role, date detail, title formatting, container, locator, and the one style-specific rule before you paste a citation into your reference list.
| Style | Author | Date | Title | Container | URL or locator | Style note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| APA 7 | Student author surname and initials. | Award or publication year in parentheses. | Title in italics, sentence case. | Degree type in square brackets after title. | University, repository, database, URL. | Use Master's thesis or Doctoral dissertation labels. |
| MLA 9 | Student author full name, first inverted. | Year near end of entry. | Title in quotation marks or italics depending on local guidance. | Thesis type and university after title. | Database or repository and URL. | Identify MA thesis, PhD dissertation, or similar. |
| Chicago | Student author in reference-list order. | Year after author in author-date. | Title in quotation marks for unpublished theses. | Degree type and institution in source note. | Repository URL if available. | Published dissertations can be treated more like books. |
| Harvard | Student author surname and initials. | Year in parentheses. | Title italicized. | Qualification type and awarding institution. | Repository and Available at URL. | Cite Them Right asks for thesis type plainly. |
APA 7 walkthrough
APA 7 starts with the same basic question: who is responsible for this thesis or dissertation? For a thesis or dissertation, uses the student author, not the university. The date element uses the year the thesis was awarded or published in the repository. The title element italicizes the title in sentence case. The source element adds the degree type in square brackets, then the university or repository details. Finally, the locator element ends with the repository name and URL when the thesis is online. Work through those fields in order and the punctuation becomes much easier to control.
APA 7 wants [Doctoral dissertation] or [Master's thesis] after the title, which is the detail students most often miss. In text, use (Howell, 2021). If you quote directly, add the page, paragraph, timestamp, or legal pin cite required by the style. If your source is online, prefer a stable URL or DOI over a search-result link, and remove tracking parameters before you submit the reference.
Howell, J. M. (2021). Machine reading strategies for historical archives [Doctoral dissertation, Stanford University]. Stanford Digital Repository. https://purl.stanford.edu/example-howell-2021
MLA 9 walkthrough
MLA 9 starts with the same basic question: who is responsible for this thesis or dissertation? For a thesis or dissertation, starts with the student's name, first name inverted. The date element places the year after the university or at the end, depending on the repository pattern. The title element usually puts the thesis title in quotation marks in MLA database-style entries. The source element names the thesis type and university before the repository. Finally, the locator element adds the database or institutional repository and the URL. Work through those fields in order and the punctuation becomes much easier to control.
MLA needs the work type because a thesis, dissertation, and published monograph have different scholarly status. In text, use (Howell). If you quote directly, add the page, paragraph, timestamp, or legal pin cite required by the style. If your source is online, prefer a stable URL or DOI over a search-result link, and remove tracking parameters before you submit the reference.
Howell, Jane M. "Machine Reading Strategies for Historical Archives." PhD dissertation, Stanford University, 2021. Stanford Digital Repository, purl.stanford.edu/example-howell-2021.
Chicago walkthrough
Chicago starts with the same basic question: who is responsible for this thesis or dissertation? For a thesis or dissertation, uses the student author in surname-first order. The date element places the year after the author for author-date references. The title element puts an unpublished thesis title in quotation marks. The source element states the degree type and university after the title. Finally, the locator element adds the repository URL when the thesis is retrievable online. Work through those fields in order and the punctuation becomes much easier to control.
Use Chicago author-date in reference lists for most research papers; notes-bibliography gives the same facts in footnote form. In text, use (Howell 2021). If you quote directly, add the page, paragraph, timestamp, or legal pin cite required by the style. If your source is online, prefer a stable URL or DOI over a search-result link, and remove tracking parameters before you submit the reference.
Howell, Jane M. 2021. "Machine Reading Strategies for Historical Archives." PhD diss., Stanford University. https://purl.stanford.edu/example-howell-2021.
Harvard walkthrough
Harvard starts with the same basic question: who is responsible for this thesis or dissertation? For a thesis or dissertation, uses student surname and initials. The date element places the year in parentheses directly after the author. The title element italicizes the thesis title. The source element states the qualification type and awarding institution after the title. Finally, the locator element uses Available at and an access date for online repository copies. Work through those fields in order and the punctuation becomes much easier to control.
Cite Them Right 12th edition is the common UK standard, and it expects the qualification label to be visible. In text, use (Howell, 2021). If you quote directly, add the page, paragraph, timestamp, or legal pin cite required by the style. If your source is online, prefer a stable URL or DOI over a search-result link, and remove tracking parameters before you submit the reference.
Howell, J.M. (2021) Machine reading strategies for historical archives. PhD thesis. Stanford University. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/example-howell-2021 (Accessed: 15 January 2025).
Common mistakes for this source type
Most errors come from forcing a thesis or dissertation into the wrong template. Before submitting, check these details against the source itself, not against a database preview or a copied citation.
- Using the university as the author instead of the student.
- Leaving out the thesis type, especially Master's thesis versus doctoral dissertation.
- Citing a thesis as a book because it has a repository record.
- Using the access year instead of the award or publication year.
- Forgetting the repository or database name when the thesis is online.