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Electronic Theses & Dissertations Center

This guide is a tutorial on how to use OhioLINK's Electronic Theses & Dissertations center.

The ETD

The ETD is a collection of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral theses and dissertations written by students of OhioLINK member schools.  The collection covers several disciplines and new items are added on a regular basis.  Unlike many other databases in the library, the items in the ETD are perpetual access items that will be retained by Pfeiffer Library as long as it is an OhioLINK member.

It's important to remember that the ETD is one of the few databases that does not carry an article index within DragonQuest. Therefore, when researching, it may be worthwhile to search the ETD and DragonQuest to locate materials. When searching the ETD, remember these 2 key aspects:

  • It is full-text searching the documents as well as the detailed record of the item.
  • Subject terms in the ETD are referred to as keywords - not to be confused with keyword searching!

You can search the ETD by title, author, or keyword; so the search process may differ depending on the information you need.  The main features of the ETD are basic search and advanced search.  Visit the other parts of this guide for details on these features!

Publishing to the ETD

The OhioLINK EJC is a full-text searchable database with electronic journal articles covering several disciplines.  If you are looking to publish an original work to the EJC or ETD, it is recommended that you review Tiffin University's ETD submitter manual before proceeding.  It contains instructions on creating an account and completing the submission process.  You can also review the OhioLINK ETD Council Policy Decisions Guide, which outlines the following:

  • Embargoes
  • Take down requests
  • Submission deadlines
  • Document review processes
  • Submission processes
  • Corrections of published ETDs
  • Digital/institutional repository submissions
  • Library and graduate school relationships
  • Information on non-traditional ETDs and supplemental files
  • ETD resources for students

Embargoes

In academic publishing, an embargo is when the full-text of a work is not accessible to specific patrons for a set period of time.  It is meant to protect the publisher's work and any revenue that work may generate.  OhioLINK's ETD Council Policy Decisions Guide outlines the embargo policies for large universities in Ohio, such as the University of Toledo, The Ohio State University, Miami University, and Bowling Green State University.