How to Cite a PhD Dissertation in APA Style: Guide
The APA dissertation citation style is a popular style of citing adopted in the social sciences field. Although the style is largely adopted in early levels of study, students often face a major challenge in determining how to cite a dissertation in APA.
Unlike books and online sources, there is a wide range of considerations to make when citing a paper in APA. This article will discuss tips on how to cite a PhD dissertation and offer examples to help you master APA citations.
How to cite a dissertation
Dissertations are among various popular sources you can use to support various arguments within your paper. Although some topics may be poorly investigated in books, you can easily trace a dissertation discussing a specific issue of interest.
Unfortunately, many dissertations are usually unpublished, making it complicated to cite them in your papers. therefore, learning how to cite a doctoral dissertation is a skill that a learner should develop to avoid issues with their papers.
How to cite a dissertation in APA format
The format for citing an APA dissertation citation is:
Author’s surname, I.J. (Year of publication). Title of the dissertation. Name of the institution.
E.g., Margaret, P, g. (2001). How to improve the quality of education in developing countries. The University of Neverland.
Citing an unpublished dissertation in APA
When conducting your study, you can run upon unpublished useful sources from an author or the university repository. When referencing unpublished materials, append “Unpublished” to the description in square brackets and include the university’s name after the reference, outside the brackets.
As a result, references to unpublished dissertations may appear in your publication as:
Sandra. K (2020). The effect of adopting tech instruments in the teaching-learning process. [Unpublished doctoral thesis]. The University of Michigan.
Citing a published dissertation in APA
On the other hand, published work will look like this:
Author’s surname, I.J. (Year of publication). Title of the dissertation. (Document number). (Degree type, Name of the institution). Database name.
i.e., Sandra, K. (2020). The effect of adopting tech instruments in the teaching-learning process. (567684763). Ph.D. The University of Michigan. Dept theses and dissertations.
Turabian citation dissertation
MLA and Turabian are extremely similar. While using Turabian, you should format a dissertation you found online in your reference section as follows:
First name last name, “Title of the dissertation”. (Masters thesis/ Ph. D. diss, university name, year of publication), page number, URL.
Sandra Kissinger, “The effect of adopting tech instruments in the teaching-learning process”. (Ph. D. dissertation, University of Michigan, 2020), 204-256, https://www.unirepository/ Dept theses and dissertations.
MLA dissertation citation
The Modern Language Association (MLA) is well-known in the humanities and arts. The fundamental MLA reference entry will look like this:
Last name, first name. Title. Diss. Name of the institution, year of publication. Web. Date accessed
Intext: (last name)
For unpublished work, the dissertation citation should be formatted as follows:
Last name, first name, “Title of dissertation.” Diss. Place of study, year. Title of the database. Web. Date, month, and year of accessing the document.
i.e., Kissinger, Sandra. “The effect of adopting tech instruments in the teaching-learning process.” Diss. The University of Michigan. Dept theses and dissertations. Web. 19, October 2023.
However, MLA citations for works that have already been published should be formatted as follows:
Last name, first name. Title of diss. Diss. Place of study. Year. Place of publication. Publisher. Year of publication.
i.e., Kissinger, Sandra. “The effect of adopting tech instruments in the teaching-learning process.” Diss. The University of Michigan. Michigan. Dept theses and dissertations.
Chicago-style dissertation citation
With the exception of the provided database identification number, Chicago is very similar to MLA. A Chicago Dissertation citation will take the following form:
Last name, first name. “thesis/ dissertation title”. Ph.D. diss./ masters thesis, institution. Year. Database (identification number).
i.e., Kissinger, Sandra. “The effect of adopting tech instruments in the teaching-learning process.” Ph.D. diss. The University of Michigan. Dept theses and dissertations. (67897486).