Dissertation-Editor.com

Citations can be tricky, especially when you are juggling hundreds of sources. Small fixes can make a big difference.

Try these 3 easy tips:
✅ Match every in-text citation to your reference list.
✅ Stick to one consistent style, like APA 7th edition.
✅ Check capitalization and punctuation.

Need help cleaning up your references before submission? We can make sure everything is formatted correctly and ready to go. 📩 Contact us today.

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The Lowdown on Citing Dissertations in Your Dissertation

You’re writing a dissertation, so it only makes sense that your reference list would be rife with citations from other dissertations, right? Not necessarily. Here are some considerations to make sure you’re citing other emerging scholars appropriately, without undercutting your own expertise.

Remember that not all dissertations are publishable.📚 One of the jobs of a dissertation is to prove that a scholar has the research skills and perseverance to contribute to the scholarly conversation. While the intention is that a dissertation contributes something new and important to the field, it’s not necessarily of the same standard as a published scholarly monograph or article in a peer-reviewed journal. It takes a lot of work to turn a dissertation into something publishable. If the same scholar has published their work as a book or article, cite that instead. 📖

Consider your ratios.⚖️ In almost all fields, the majority of your cited sources should be scholarly books and articles in peer-reviewed scholarly journals. There should be fewer dissertations than other academic sources. The main purpose of citing a dissertation is when it’s the most specialized document on a given topic (i.e., there aren’t any books or articles that convey the same information).

Timeliness is also key.⏰ While it’s sometimes appropriate to cite something that’s more that 5 years old if it’s a foundational text in your field, that’s almost never the case with a dissertation. Make sure what you’re citing is very recent and that there isn’t a published alternative that would work better. And be mindful of the university and advisor listed on the dissertation, too. Better to cite a dissertation from a top university which was supervised by a leading expert in the field.

Beware of accidental plagiarism.💡 This especially happens with the literature review chapter. It can be really helpful to consult the reference list of a recently published dissertation on a similar topic to your own. However, be very cautious that you’re not citing a lot of the same sources synthesized in the same way as they appear in someone else’s work. Even if some of your cited sources overlap, make sure you conduct your own literature review and draw your own conclusions.

Cite it right. ✍️ APA 7 distinguishes between published and unpublished dissertations in terms of how they’re presented in the reference list. Published, in this instance, means in an online database (like ProQuest). These days, most dissertations are published, and are cited as:

Lastname, F. M. (YEAR). Title in italics and sentence case (Publication No. # # ) [Doctoral dissertation, University Name]. ProQuest. (or the name of the database if it’s a different one).

Ask your advisor.🎓 Of course, the end-all-be-all in most things related to your dissertation is what your advisor thinks. When in doubt, be sure to ask about their preferences for citing other dissertations.