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Dissertation / Thesis

This guide provides instructions for submitting your thesis or dissertation, locating dissertations and theses written by St. Mary’s students, and tools for locating other dissertations and theses.

Dissertation Handbook

Sharing Your Research

The Blume Library would like to make sure that your thesis or dissertation is available to a wide audience. The ProQuest Thesis and Dissertation Global database provides an index and abstract so that others can find your work. The Blume Library  will also catalog and place your work in the St. Mary's University Digital Commons so that your entire manuscript is available for anyone to read.

Students wishing to opt out of making a digital copy freely available through the University will need to indicate their preference by completing the Open Access Restriction form. Read the instructions below.

Submitting a Digital Copy of a Dissertation or Thesis

Directions to Graduate Students in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS) for Submitting a Digital Copy of a Dissertation or Thesis

These steps outline the process for submitting a digital copy of your dissertation for publication once the ETD (Electronic Theses and Dissertations) Graduate Administrator, Dr. Bonita Pfleiger (formerly Dattner-Garza) approves it.

1.  Follow the steps listed on Submitting Your Dissertation/Thesis on the ProQuest site. You will need to create an account to submit your digital copy.

2.  Your dissertation/thesis must be in PDF format. Read ProQuest’s Preparing Your Manuscript for Submission for additional guidance.

3.  The ETD Graduate Administrator will verify your submission and make the final submission to ProQuest.

General information about submitting your dissertation/thesis electronically:

  • There are various fees depending on what you decide. However, TR-1 Traditional Publishing is free. Unless you want ProQuest to make your manuscript freely available on their database, you do not need to select the Open Access publishing option. St. Mary’s will provide open access through our library catalog and through the St. Mary’s University Digital Commons. Students wishing to opt out of making a digital copy freely available through the University will need to indicate their preference by completing the Open Access Restriction form.
  • Your signed signature pages are not required as part of your online submission. However, you may submit your blank signature page with your electronic copy.
  • If you submit a revision, do NOT create another ID submission. The revised version should be submitted to the original ID.
  • Your dissertation or thesis will NOT be available via ProQuest until 30-40 days after submission.

Thesis and Dissertation Binding

The Blume Library is no longer able to offer binding services for students. Below is a list of companies that bind theses and dissertations. The Blume Library does not endorse any particular company. These are simply provided as a courtesy.

HF Group, Thesis-On-Demand: https://www.thesisondemand.com/

Proquest:  https://about.proquest.com/products-services/dissertations/Dissertation-Copies-for-Researchers.html   
*Students who submit their theses or dissertations through Proquest have the option to order bound copies.

PHD Book Binding: https://phdbookbinding.com/

Wert Bookbinding: https://wertbookbinding.com/index.php/thesis-printing-and-binding

Databases

  • Dissertations & Theses @ St Mary's University
    Dissertations written by St. Mary's University doctoral students. Graduating doctoral students must upload an electronic copy of their dissertations to Proquest after graduate school approval and before the graduation deadline. May also include master's theses.

Find St. Mary's Dissertations & Theses

Dissertations

St. Mary's dissertations (blue binding) are listed in the Library Catalog and are shelved on the 3rd Floor.  Dissertations from 2016 to the present are available in electronic format only. 

To find all dissertations written by students in our PhD program, search the keyword phrase: St. Marys dissertation*

Many Ph.D. dissertations written after 1996 can also be downloaded for free by currently enrolled St. Mary's students, faculty, or staff.  Use the Dissertations & Theses @ St. Mary's University database to download St. Mary's dissertations.  Most dissertations  from 2017-present are also available open access through the catalog.

Theses

Search the Library Catalog to find Master's theses. Masters degree theses (red binding) are are shelved on the 3rd Floor.  Theses from 2017-present are available in electronic format only.  

Use this format to find theses via the Library Catalog keyword search: St. Marys University "department name" thesis

Example searches

Theses have been written in several academic areas including ones not listed in the example searches section above.

Honor's Program Theses

Search the Library Catalog to find Honor's Program theses. Honor's Program theses (blue binding) are shelved on the 3rd Floor.

To find a list of Honor's Program theses available in the library, use the following subject heading:

St. Mary's University (San Antonio, Tex.). Honors Program -- Thesis.

Beginning in 2021, digital Honor's Program theses are available at the Digital Commons. 

Find Dissertations and Theses from Other Institutions

Start with these databases when searching for dissertations and theses written at other universities. If you know the university or institution where the dissertation or thesis was submitted, check their library resources or digital or institutional repository. You can request dissertations using Interlibrary Loan.