Dissertation Abstracts International
| Producer | ProQuest (United States) |
|---|---|
| History | 1938 to present |
| Access | |
| Cost | Subscription |
| Coverage | |
| Record depth | Index & abstract |
| Format coverage | Dissertations |
| Temporal coverage | 1861 to present |
| Geospatial coverage | Worldwide |
| Print edition | |
| Print title |
Dissertation Abstracts International
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| Links | |
Dissertation Abstracts International
Dissertation Abstracts, Dissertation Abstracts International (DAI) or the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (PQDT) database is a bibliography of American (and international) dissertations published by University Microfilms International (UMI) / ProQuest, Ann Arbor, since 1938. UMI has had an agitated life and the bibliographical data have often shifted owner and name, and therefore appears under different labels. It covers doctoral dissertations accepted at accredited American institutions since 1861. Selected Masters theses have been included since 1962; since 1988, the database includes citations for dissertations from 50 British universities that are available at The British Document Supply Centre. Additionally, it covers a limited number of dissertations from the rest of the world.
The print version is published monthly and cumulated annually and it is available both in softcover and on microfiche. It is divided in three sections:
The usability of dissertation abstracts depends largely on their content. Many journals within the medical community have settled on a seven sentence structure, which is also gaining acceptance in the social sciences, education and business. In it, the purpose of the study and methodological choices are outlined succinctly, allowing the reader or researcher to quickly scan and evaluate a number of studies to easily choose ones that meet their particular demands. The structure contains variations on the following seven sentence stems: "The purpose of this study is...." "The scope of this study...." "The methodology...." "The Findings..." "Conclusions reached are ..." "Limitations of this study include...." "This study contributes...." Abstracts of dissertation proposals contain the same seven concepts, substituting data collection and analysis in place of findings and conclusions. Abstracts are limited in the United States by the UMI to 350 words.
In 1962, the Xerox Corporation bought UMI. Xerox introduced some changes and in 1971 UMI changed its name to Xerox University Microfilms, but in 1976 reverted to University Microfilms International. In 1985, UMI was sold to Bell & Howell, who changed the name to Bell & Howell Information and Learning in 1999. In 2001 Bell and Howell created the ProQuest Company. December 2006, the Cambridge Information Group (CIG) bought the unit of ProQuest called ProQuest Information and Learning (which included UMI).
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