Dissertation Citations in APA (6th Edition) | Format & Example

This article reflects the APA 6th edition guidelines. Click here for APA 7th edition guidelines.

You can use other theses as a source for your own dissertation. Take into account that theses often still contain mistakes and are not always a reliable source. So don’t base your dissertation too much on other theses. According to the APA Style you also have to add to your reference that it is a dissertation of another student.

  Dissertation of another student
APA-format AuthorLastNameInitials. (Year). TitleThesisOrDissertation (Thesis or Master’s dissertation). Retrieved from http://WebAddress
In reference list Huijg, N. T. (2015). The Determinants of the Dutch Demand for Military Spending (Master’s dissertation). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2105/30207
In the text
  • According to earlier research in a master’s dissertation … (Huijg, 2015).
  • Huijg (2015) states in his master’s dissertation that … .
Open example in the APA Citation Generator

Sources in this article

We strongly encourage students to use sources in their work. You can cite our article (APA Style) or take a deep dive into the articles below.

This Scribbr article

Driessen, K. (December 16, 2020). Dissertation Citations in APA (6th Edition) | Format & Example. Scribbr. Retrieved October 17, 2022, from https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/6th-edition/archived-dissertation/

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Koen Driessen

Koen has written multiple theses and founded, together with Bas and Richard, the thesis editing company Scribbr in 2012.

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