Locations and call numbers for dissertations and masters theses can be found in SearchBox. Electronic copies of dissertations dated after 1996 are available to the Catholic University community through ProQuest Dissertations + Theses Global, formerly Dissertation Abstracts International, a subscription database searchable by title, author, school, area of study, and more. The full-text (pdf) link in a dissertation record indicates its electronic availability. Many dissertations dated after 2011 may also be found in our institutional repository in Digital Collections.
Specific Dissertations can be located in the catalog by title or author. To browse dissertations try keyword searches such as the following:
These search examples will pull up some but not all of the Catholic University dissertations held by the library.
The School of Canon Law maintains a list of JCDDdissertaions Completed 1916-present.
We do acquire many dissertations(full text and excerpts) in Theology, Philosophy and Canon Law from the following institutions: Pontificia Universita Lateranense, Pontificia Universita Urbaniana, Pontificia Universita Gregoriana, Pontificia Studiorum Universitas a Sancto Thoma Aquinate in Urbe, Pontificia Universita della Santa Croce and St. Paul University. Check our catalog for these holdings.
Some dissertations completed at other institutions are available in our library and can be found in our Catalog. Other non-Catholic University dissertations may be available through ProQuest Dissertations + Theses Global, formerly Dissertation Abstracts International or TREN. In other cases, researchers must contact the library of the institution where the dissertation was completed, and arrange to purchase it directly. Order and contact information can ususally be found somewhere on that library's website.
Licentiates in Canon Law may be purchased from TREN, provided they were published from 1984 onward. For theses published before 1984, you can purchase a copy from Catholic University by contacting our Circulation Services at lib-circulation@cua.edu. Circulation staff will inform you of the costs and procedures.
Begin by talking with your university or college librarian (or interlibrary loan department) before contacting the Religious Studies and Philosophy Library. Tracking down a dissertation will depend on what databases are available at your institution. For the doctoral theses, you should use ProQuest Dissertations + Theses Global. Theses published by Catholic University since 1996 are free and downloadable from this database provided your institution subscribes. If not, does your library subscribe to WorldCat? If another institution purchased a title, you may be able to get it through interlibrary loan. Talk with your librarian. If not, you will need to purchase from ProQuest directly. If you are looking for a licentiate in canon law, please read the heading above.