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Dissertations and Theses: Advanced Search

Basic Search Tips

Perform a more detailed search using the pull-down menu with supported field codes as well as the limit to section to apply additional limits.

1. Advanced Search Form and Pull-down Menus

Boolean, proximity, and field codes are supported. The default is to search for ALL terms entered. Separate terms with OR to find any of the terms.  To search for an exact phrase, use "quotation marks" around your search.

2. Limit to: Full text

Full text is the first limit that appear in the Advanced Search.Checking the Full text limit will restrict your search to only search and retrieve records containing full text from ProQuest.

3. Date Range

The Date range limit defaults to search all dates. Other options include Last 7 days, Last 30 days, Last 3 months, Last 12 months, Last 3 years, On this date, After this date, Before this date, and Specific date range.

4. Database Specific Limits and Fields

Each of these search options in the Advanced Search page also includes a look up link to the browsable index for this field.

  • Advisor is used to search for dissertations completed under the supervision of a specific academic advisor.
  • School name is used to search for dissertations granted by a specific school.
  • The Manuscript type limit is used to refer to the format of the graduate work. This includes master’s theses and doctoral dissertations.
  • The Language limit is used to restrict your search to documents published in one or more languages.

5. Display Options

The Sort results by menu controls the sort order of the records that appear in the results page. Sort by relevance, date (oldest first), or date (most recent first).

Items per page is used to select how many results will display on the results page.

Duplicates can appear in ProQuest if the item is indexed in more than one database or collection. The default behavior is to suppress the duplicate, however, if you would like the duplicate items to appear in the results, select to include duplicate documents.

Basic Search

ProQuest Tutorial - Basic Search