FAQ: Dissertations, Theses and Honors Theses

Honors Theses
Undergraduate Honors Theses are archived in Special Collections. While Special Collections has a few print copies of undergraduate honor theses from the 1980s, the majority of the theses are available on microfilm.

Please contact Special Collections department for assistance in locating a theses. You may email Joyce Dewsbury at joydews@uflib.ufl.edu or call 392-9075.

Finding a Dissertation
Dissertations written by doctoral students at UF are listed in the UF Libraries Catalog, available at: http://uf.aleph.fcla.edu/F. Search the catalog by the author or title of the dissertation, or by department name. Complete details for finding dissertations are given on this page: http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/jgs/diss.html.

E-Dissertations
The University of Florida began putting dissertations online in 1998, on a voluntary basis. However, since the fall of 2001, all graduate students entering have been required to submit electronic disserations. The turnaround time for electronic dissertations to become available online is roughly 3-4 months after the student submits the electronic copy of the dissertation to the Graduate School and all necessary paperwork and quality control have been completed. The dissertation goes though various Departments and is ultimately loaded into the UF Libraries Catalog in a batch load with other dissertations submitted that term.

The process is as follows, beginning at the Graduate School where the disseration is accepted. Then the dissertation moves to the Graduate School Editorial Office to ensure that the Copyright and other forms have been submitted. Incidentally, students have the option to release their dissertation or master’s paper immediately (i.e. within 3-4 months) or to restrict access for up to 10 years from the date of completion. Access ranges during the period set by the author from being openly available on the Internet, to restricted viewing from UF computers, to no access at all. The dissertation then goes to the UF Libraries, where the Preservation Department catalogs the paper. Then Preservation sends it to the Florida Center for Library Automation, which processes the digital dissertation to ensure links and associated files are present and working, with the aid of the Graduate School. Once this quality control is complete, the dissertations are loaded on the computer servers and are released to public viewing within the limitations set by the author.