How do I reference a thesis… in the NLM style?
26/02/2026
You may be including theses within your research. When you do so you need to treat them in the same way as content taken from any other source, by providing both a citation and a reference. In this short blog post we will be showing you how to reference a thesis or dissertation.
What information do you need in the reference?
- Author – surname initials e.g. Thomas L.
- Title of thesis, including type of thesis in square brackets e.g. [PhD thesis].
- Location and name of the awarding institution
- Date of publication, and date cited in square brackets (if accessed online)
- Available from (either a URL or DOI, if accessed online and available)
Below are some examples for you to follow, which demonstrate how to form the reference from the above elements:
A printed thesis or dissertation
Peacock D. Effects of geometry on the compression set of elastomers [PhD thesis]. Cranfield: Cranfield University; 2002.
A ‘published’ thesis or dissertation from a database
DeVault E. Personality traits of military executives and the potential for leadership [DBA dissertation on the Internet]. Minneapolis (MN): Capella University; 2017. Available from: ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
A dissertation or thesis from a research repository
Owusu EK. Radio study of protostars [MSc by research thesis on the Internet]. Leeds: University of Leeds; 2019 [cited 2023 Mar 3]. Available from: https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/24854/
For all your referencing questions – please contact Cranfield Libraries.
Please note: Cranfield supports two different referencing styles – APA7 (Author-date) and Numbered (NLM). Please make sure you use the style preferred by your supervisor or lecturer
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