On this page
Updated . Example details checked against Purdue University, 2002 (the Purdue OWL dissertation example).
The APA format
Pattern
Last name, A. A. (Year). Title of dissertation [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University Name.
- Unpublished (a print copy from the library): [Unpublished doctoral dissertation] or [Unpublished master’s thesis], then the university.
- From a database: [Doctoral dissertation, University Name]. Database Name. Then the URL if the database gives a public one.
- Title in italics and sentence case.
A real example
Reference entry
Bishop, K. L. (2002). Documenting institutional identity: Strategic writing in the IUPUI comprehensive campaign [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Purdue University.
In-text citation
(Bishop, 2002, p. 45)
When details are missing
- No database: use the unpublished form.
- An institutional repository: name it and give the URL.
Common mistakes
- “Ph.D. dissertation.” APA writes [Doctoral dissertation].
- The university twice. In the database form, the university sits inside the brackets only.
Or let Format do it.
Choose Dissertation or thesis, pick the degree, and fill in the university, year and database or link. Format writes the References entry and the in-text citation in APA 7, exactly as shown above, and builds the References page when you export to Word or PDF. MLA and APA are free.
Questions
Is a thesis cited differently from a dissertation?
Only the bracket changes: [Master’s thesis].
Where is the publication number?
Optional. APA 7 asks for the database name, not the number.
More citation guides
The same source in other styles
Similar sources in APA
Every source kind is on the APA page, and every style is on How to cite.