Use the following template or our APA Citation Generator to cite a dissertation. For help with other source types, like books, PDFs, or websites, check out our other guides. To have your reference list or bibliography automatically made for you, try our free citation generator.
Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.
Author Surname, Author Initial. (Year Published). Title (Level). Institution Name.
Mahmudur Rahman, K. (2013). GOVERNING THROUGH COERCION AND CONSENT: THE CASE OF THE READY-MADE GARMENTS INDUSTRY IN BANGLADESH (PhD). University of Queensland.
Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.
(Author Surname, Year Published)
The Government will not tolerate any anarchy and destructive activities in the garment sector (Mahmudur Rahman, 2013)
The in-text citation for a dissertation in APA style is similar to citing a journal or a report. The type of publication (book, journal, report, thesis, etc.) is not an essential element in in-text citations in APA. APA recommends using only the authors’ names and the year in in-text citations.
The dissertation can be published or unpublished. In any case, include the year, which can be the date of publication if the dissertation is published, or the date the degree was awarded if the dissertation is unpublished.
Therefore, to in-text cite a dissertation in APA style, write the author’s name or the authors’ names of the dissertation and the year. You need not add the details of the university awarding the degree in in-text citations.
The in-text citation for a dissertation written by a single author will appear this way:
Format
Narrative: Author’s Surname (Year)
Parenthetical: (Author’s Surname, Year)
Examples
Narrative: Blakley (1999)
Parenthetical: (Blakley, 1999)
The format for a reference list entry for a dissertation in APA style depends on whether you’re citing an unpublished or published dissertation.
For an unpublished dissertation, include the author’s last name and first initial(s), the publication date, the dissertation title, the format details in brackets, and the name of the institution awarding the degree.
Format
Author’s Surname, F. M. (Year). Title of the dissertation [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Awarding Institution.
Example
Yee, E. (2005). The time course of lexical activation during spoken word recognition: Evidence from unimpaired and aphasic individuals [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Brown University.
For a published dissertation, include the author’s last name and first initial(s), the publication date, the dissertation title, the format details and awarding institution in brackets, the database/archive holding the work, and if applicable, the DOI or URL.
Format
Author’s Surname, F. M. (Year). Title of the dissertation [Doctoral dissertation, Awarding Institution]. Archive/Database Name. DOI or URL
Example
Yee, E. (2005). The time course of lexical activation during spoken word recognition: Evidence from unimpaired and aphasic individuals [Doctoral dissertation, Brown University]. PubMed. https://doi.org/10.1124.92452
Notes