Dissertation (thesis): how to cite in Chicago Style – author-date (17th ed.)?

Create a spot-on reference in Chicago 18, 17 and 16

Select a source type:

Book Website Journal article Video (online)

Archival document Blog post Book Book chapter Complete reference Conference paper Copyright certificate Court case Dictionary Dictionary entry Disc Dissertation / Thesis Encyclopedia Encyclopedia article Extended abstract of dissertation Image Journal article Law / Act Newspaper article Patent Podcast Preprint Press release Religious text Report Social media post Software Standard Video (online) Video game Website

General rules

A reference to a dissertation, a master's thesis, etc. should include the following elements: name of the author, title and type of the work, university, and year of publication (defence). Use the following reference template:

Author. Year. "Work Title." Work type, University.

In addition, a reference to a dissertation may include elements such as the URL address where the text of the dissertation is available or the name of the database, publication number, and date of access (if the date of the source is unknown). The work type element may include the academic degree (PhD thesis, etc.).

Examples in a list of references

Bolton, Emma Victoria. 2020. "The barriers and facilitators to stopping inappropriate medicines ('deprescribing') for older people living in care homes." PhD thesis, University of Leeds. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/27649/.

Alotaibi, Sarah. 2019. "A Biophysically-Based Skin Reflectance Model for Face Analysis." PhD thesis, University of York. White Rose eTheses Online.