04. 博士論文を探す／Find Doctoral Dissertations: English

Doctoral dissertation is an academic thesis submitted and accepted to obtain a doctorate degree.

According to a revision of the Degree Regulations by MEXT, Japanese doctoral dissertations after April 1st, 2013 are supposed to be published on the internet as a general rule (Doctoral dissertations before them are also available online, if they have permission of the authors).

In principle, doctoral dissertations are stored and made available as follows:

• Held by libraries at the university where the thesis was submitted
• Held by a national library in each country (e.g. National Diet Library in Japan)
• Available on the university's WEB site (institutional repository), where the thesis was submitted
• Available as a book which is sold generally
• Available sold by specialized vendors (mainly in North America)

Doctoral dissertations submitted to Waseda University can be searched by WINE.

○Online

［In general, all doctoral dissertations after 2013, and  those with author's permission after 2002］

PDF format are available at Waseda University Repository.

［Doctoral dissertations which are not published on the Internet with extenuating circumstances］

Electronic files are available in the Microforms/ Photographic Services Room on the 4th Floor of Central Library.

○Book form （Doctoral dissertations submitted before March 2013 and a part of them after 2013）

Doctoral dissertations in print forms must be sent to Central Library or other campus libraries to use from Honjo Deposit Library.

○A list of title/ abstract

Please consult at the office of each graduate school.

Please refer to the instruction page for the details.

• How to Find Waseda University Thesis & Dissertation

Using WINE

You can search them on WINE by title of single doctoral dissertation. Please select "Articles" for the search profile, after you enter search words in the search window on WINE.

Online Search

Check whether the full text is available on institutional repositories and following databases.

• IRDB（Institutional Repositories Database） [National Institute of Informatics] (Public Web site)
  A service for searching academic information (journal articles, theses or dissertations, departmental bulletin papers, research reports, etc.) accumulated in Japanese institutional repositories.
• Current IRs [National Institute of Informatics] (Public Web site)
  List of institutional repositories in Japan and abroad that NII provides.
• CiNii Dissertations [National Institute of Informatics] (Public Web site)

  A database service that lets you search for information on dissertations written for doctoral degrees in Japan conferred by Japanese Universities and the National Institute for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation.

Other University Libraries

If you cannot use a full text of the doctoral dissertation on internet, check each university's collection catalogs or doctoral dissertation search system to know how to use it. You may consider visiting other university libraries or making requests for photocopies via Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Service.

• Using non-Waseda Libraries (Library Web site)
  In this web site, you will get information about how to visit other libraries with a letter of introduction, and how to use libraries which has cooperative agreements with Waseda University Library.
• Interlibrary Loans (Library Web site)
  In general, you cannot order actual materials of doctoral dissertations, and a request for photocopy must be less than half of the total number of pages due to Japanese Copyright Law. For requests exceeding the regulation, you need to obtain permission from the copyright holder by yourself.

National Diet Library

National Diet Library holds doctoral dissertations in Japan after September 1923.

　　Domestic Doctoral Dissertations | Reserch Navi [National Diet Library] (Public Web site) *In Japanese only
　　This site is a guide for using Japanese doctoral dissertations provided by National Diet Library.

Following WEB sites are searching tools for doctoral dissertations held by National Diet Library and other libraries.

• NDL SEARCH [National Diet Library] (Public Web site)
  NDL Search is an integrated service of catalogs and digital archives held by public libraries, archives, museums, academic institutions and National Diet Library in Japan.
  You can search for doctoral dissertations in both printed and electronic form from “Refiners> Doctoral Dissertations”.
• National Diet Library Digital Collections [National Diet Library] (Public Web site)
  You can search for doctoral dissertations in electronic form from “Advanced Search> Doctoral Dissertations”.

You may consider visiting National Diet library or making a request of photocopy via Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Services.

• User Registration [National Diet Library] (Public Web site)
  Doctoral Dissertations are mainly held in Kansai-kan (in Kyoto) of NDL. So if you need to use them in Tokyo Mail Library, it must be transferred from Kyoto to Tokyo.  It takes some days, and you will be required for User Registration.
• Interlibrary Loans (Library Web site)
  In general, you cannot order actual materials of doctoral dissertations, and a request for photocopy must be less than half of the total number of pages due to Japanese Copyright Law. For the request exceeding the regulation, you need to obtain permission from the copyright holder directory by yourself.

When searching for overseas doctoral dissertations, it is important to check web based theses and holding institutions as well as for domestic. In addition to that it might be effective measures to purchase by databases or vendors. The following information are also useful for searching.

　　Overseas Doctoral Dissertations (General Information) | Reserch Navi [National Diet Library] (Public Web site) *in Japanese only
　　The characteristic of this site is substantial links to regional guides around the world.

• NDL SEARCH [National Diet Library] (Public Web site)
  National Diet Library also collects overseas doctoral dissertations from the late 1950's. Kansai-kan (in Kyoto) holds European and North American doctoral dissertations mainly in the field of science and technology. On the other hand, Tokyo Main Library hold some of humanities and social sciences related to Japan.

Using WINE

You can search them on WINE by title of single doctoral dissertation. Please select "Articles" for the search profile, after you enter search words in the search window on WINE.

Online Search

Check whether the full text is available on internet. The following information are also useful for searching.

　　Overseas Doctoral Dissertations (Internet Resources) | Reserch Navi [National Diet Library] (Public Web site) *in Japanese only

• ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global (PQDT Global) [ProQuest] (Library subscription database)
  The database of record for graduate research both at the PhD and MA level.
• Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations（NDLTD） [NDLTD] (Public Web site)
  Search and browse electronic theses and dissertstions from over 70 institutions - mostly US, but some other countries.
• WorldCat.org  [OCLC] (Public Web site)] 
  WorldCat.org lets you search the collections of libraries in your community and thousands more around the world..

Purchase

If the full-text of overseas doctoral dissertations you need is not available on internet, it might be effective measures to purchase by databases or vendors. You may use the thesis much faster and with low costs than ILL or visiting the holding library.

• Dissertation Express  [Proquest,via Sunmedia Co.,Ltd] (Public Web site) *in Japanese only
  A dissertation search and sales service provided by Proquest.You can use this service from the website of Sunmedia, an authorized distributor, and you can also request Sunmedia to obtain your thesis by e-mail or fax after searching (application by individuals).
• 丸善雄松堂　米国学位論文 ／ MARUZEN-YUSHODO Dissertation Service Center [MARUZEN-YUSHODO Co.,Ltd.] (Public Web site) *in Japanese only
  This site allows you to search and purchase mainly US dissertations.

Holding Libraries

If the overseas doctoral dissertation is not available neither to use on internet nor to purchase through databases/ vendor, the next step is to search the actual holding library such as an university library or a national library of the country. But please consider the time and costs for making a request via ILL service, and visiting the institution.

• Interlibrary Loans (Library Web site)
  In addition to photocopy, sometimes the actual material (books form, microfilms, etc.) is available for overseas ILL.  But please be noted the shipping cost depends on the weight, the parcel,  and the delivery fee on one way/ both ways .
• Using non-Waseda Libraries (Library Web site)
  Depending on the circumstances, a letter of introduction is required to use the library you are planning to visit. So please check the WEB site of the institution in advance.