Thesis vs Dissertation — What Is the Difference?
The terminology varies between countries, so check what the source actually is before you cite it:
| Country | "Thesis" | "Dissertation" |
|---|
| United States / Canada | Master's level work | Doctoral (PhD) level work |
| United Kingdom / Australia | Doctoral (PhD) level work | Can refer to either level |
| Many European systems | Final-year undergraduate project | Doctoral research |
In your citation, use whatever label the awarding institution uses on the document itself — "PhD thesis," "doctoral dissertation," "Master's thesis," etc. Most citation styles accept either term as long as you specify the degree level.
What Information Do You Need?
- Author: the student's full name as listed on the thesis
- Title: exact title as it appears on the thesis
- Degree level: PhD dissertation, Master's thesis, undergraduate thesis
- Institution: full name of the university
- Year: year the degree was awarded (not the submission year if different)
- Database or repository: ProQuest, EThOS, institutional repository — include if accessed online
- URL or DOI: for online access
APA 7th Edition
APA distinguishes between published theses (in a database like ProQuest) and unpublished theses. Both include the institution name; the database version also includes the database name and accession/item number.
Published thesis — ProQuest Dissertations
Almeida, S. M. (2022). Transformational leadership practices and nurse retention in acute care hospitals [PhD dissertation, University of Michigan]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. https://www.proquest.com/docview/123456789
Published thesis — institutional repository
Park, J. Y. (2023). Mentorship structures and early-career teacher attrition in urban school districts [Master's thesis, Seoul National University]. Seoul National University Repository. https://doi.org/10.17863/SNU.12345
Unpublished thesis
Chen, J. K. (2022). Servant leadership and staff retention in long-term care facilities [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Stanford University.
In-text — APA
(Almeida, 2022, p. 34) or Almeida (2022) found that…
IEEE
IEEE thesis formatting is mainly used for engineering and computer science dissertations. Most other disciplines should use APA or Harvard — see our IEEE guide for full mechanics.
PhD dissertation (engineering example)
[1] S. M. Almeida, "Optimizing fault detection in distributed sensor networks," Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. Elect. Eng., MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA, 2022.
[2] J. Y. Park, "Computational methods for protein folding prediction," M.S. thesis, Dept. Biochem., Univ. Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.12345. [Accessed: Jan. 10, 2024].
IEEE thesis format: include the abbreviated department name (Dept. Comput. Sci.) and the full city/country. Use "Ph.D. dissertation" or "M.S. thesis" — IEEE uses these abbreviations, not "doctoral dissertation."
Harvard
Thesis in a repository
Almeida, S.M. (2022) Transformational leadership practices and nurse retention in acute care hospitals. PhD thesis. University of Michigan. Available at: https://www.proquest.com/docview/123456789 (Accessed: 10 January 2024).
Unpublished thesis
Park, J.Y. (2023) Mentorship structures and early-career teacher attrition in urban school districts. Master's thesis. Seoul National University. Unpublished.
In-text
(Almeida, 2022, p. 34)
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Vancouver
Thesis
1. Almeida SM. Transformational leadership practices and nurse retention in acute care hospitals [PhD dissertation]. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan; 2022.
2. Park JY. Mentorship structures and early-career teacher attrition in urban school districts [master's thesis on the Internet]. Seoul: Seoul National University; 2023 [cited 2024 Jan 10]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.17863/SNU.12345
Chicago Author-Date
Reference list
Almeida, Sofia M. 2022. "Transformational Leadership Practices and Nurse Retention in Acute Care Hospitals." PhD diss., University of Michigan. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.
Park, Ji-Yeon. 2023. "Mentorship Structures and Early-Career Teacher Attrition in Urban School Districts." Master's thesis, Seoul National University. https://doi.org/10.17863/SNU.12345.
In-text
(Almeida 2022, 34)
Chicago Notes-Bibliography
Footnote
¹ Sofia M. Almeida, "Transformational Leadership Practices and Nurse Retention in Acute Care Hospitals" (PhD diss., University of Michigan, 2022), 34.
Bibliography
Almeida, Sofia M. "Transformational Leadership Practices and Nurse Retention in Acute Care Hospitals." PhD diss., University of Michigan, 2022.
MLA 9th Edition
Works Cited
Almeida, Sofia M. Transformational Leadership Practices and Nurse Retention in Acute Care Hospitals. 2022. University of Michigan, PhD dissertation. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.
Park, Ji-Yeon. Mentorship Structures and Early-Career Teacher Attrition in Urban School Districts. 2023. Seoul National University, Master's thesis. https://doi.org/10.17863/SNU.12345.
In-text — MLA
(Almeida 34)
Quick Reference — Thesis Citation Elements by Style
| Element | APA 7th | IEEE | Harvard | Vancouver | Chicago |
|---|
| Title format | Italics | "Quoted" | Italics | Plain | "Quoted" |
| Degree label | [PhD dissertation] | Ph.D. dissertation | PhD thesis | [PhD dissertation] | PhD diss. |
| Institution | After label, in period | Dept., Univ., City | After degree | City: Institution | In parentheses |
| Database/repo | Yes — name + URL | Optional + URL | Available at: | [Internet] + URL | Optional |
Common Mistakes
- Calling a Master's thesis a "PhD dissertation": the degree level must be stated correctly — check the document
- Omitting the institution name: always name the awarding university — it establishes the academic context
- Using a ProQuest URL instead of DOI: if a DOI is available, always prefer it over a database-specific URL
- Treating an unpublished thesis as "unpublished" in APA when it IS in ProQuest: APA distinguishes published (database) vs truly unpublished — specify which
- Missing the access date for online theses: include an accessed date for theses found in online repositories