Theses supply and author invitation

Theses Supply

The Library holds doctorate level (e.g. PhD) theses submitted to this University and these are listed on WebCat. Access to theses differs depending on the age of the thesis.

2008- Doctoral Theses

Since the 2008/2009 session, University of Southampton theses have been submitted electronically and are available to readers from the ePrints repository, subject to embargo. Please check ePrints to discover if the thesis is available online.

Pre-2008 Doctoral Theses

University of Southampton requesters
Theses are held in a closed store (stack). To request a thesis, log in to WebCat and select Requests: Inter-library loan & Stack; select the Stack option and enter the Author, Title and Call Number, or Year of Submission (e.g. for a thesis: stack S.U. Theses 2008). Click on the Place Request button to submit your request.

Unless you receive an email from the Library stating otherwise, the thesis can be collected from the Hartley Library Loans Desk from noon the following working day. All theses retrieved from the stack are reference only but will be held at the Hartley Library Loans Desk for consultation for 3 weeks.

External requesters
External requesters will be supplied with a CD-ROM copy of a thesis. Requesters should complete a thesis request form and submit it to the Inter-Library Loans section of their own library, who will request the thesis on their behalf.

A searchable PDF of the thesis will be sent on a non-returnable CD-ROM to the requester. Please note that this may take up to six weeks if there is no existing digital copy, as the original has to be scanned. There is currently no charge for the provision of a CD-ROM.

Master and undergraduate dissertations

The Library does not normally hold undergraduate or taught masters dissertations, with a few exceptions detailed below. University of Southampton students should enquire at their faculty students office regarding any local arrangements for access to previous students' dissertations or final year projects.

Exceptions include, but are not limited to:

  • Nursing final year projects are kept in Course Collections
  • Examples of Geography dissertations are kept in Course Collections under Geog 3018
  • Faculty of Engineering and the Environment undergraduate and masters dissertations are held in the EJ Richards Library in Tizzard.

Author invitation

The University of Southampton is digitising all pre-2008 theses for preservation purposes. Digitised theses are not publically available on ePrints Soton unless the author grants permission.

Evidence shows that alumni who allow their theses to be digitised and put into Southampton’s Institutional Repository, will see a dramatic improvement in their Google rankings. This visibility is good for your research and good for the University. Start by signing the supplementary release form and send it back to the University Library.