EThOS - Open Access to UK theses

EThOS is the UK’s national thesis service which aims to maximise the visibility and availability of the UK’s doctoral research theses.

EThOS aims to provide:

• A national aggregated record of all doctoral theses awarded by UK Higher Education institutions 
• Free access to the full text of as many theses as possible for use by all researchers to further their own research. 

There are approximately 350,000 records relating to theses awarded by over 120 institutions. Around 120,000 of these also provide access to the full text thesis, either via download from the EThOS database or via links to the institution’s own repository. Of the remaining 250,000 records dating back to at least 1800, three quarters are available to be ordered for scanning through the EThOS digitisation-on-demand facility.

Records are held for all UK PhD-awarding institutions, but we do not (yet) hold all records for all institutions. Every month around 3000 new records are added and an additional 2000 full text theses become accessible. Access routes to the full text are determined by the individual institution and may depend on:

• Mandatory electronic deposit of newly awarded theses by its students 
• Availability of its theses in the institutional repository
• Its level of repository development 
• Digitisation priorities for its print theses 

To access the freely available online theses click 'Limit search to items available for immediate download from EThOS or the Institution' otherwise there maybe a charge for the scanning process (currently £44.37 + VAT £8.87 = Total £53.24). Details are provided within each record.