Writing a dissertation
Writing a dissertation is a long process that involves a number of key stages. Project management and time management skills can be just as important as your research skills.
This support document on Planning your dissertation provides an overview of the dissertation process.
The main source of information about the requirements of your dissertation is the dissertation handbook, however, these library resources can also assist you with some of work that is required in writing a dissertation.
The literature review is a critical evaluation of the academic treatment of the topic that you are investigating. The UCC Skills Centre guide to Literature Reviews and these IMI library resources will help you with this.
The IMI page on referencing will also be useful.
Knowledge Centre Dissertation Archive
The Knowledge Centre maintains an archive of dissertations published as part of previous programmes. You can view the library holdings of dissertations on our catalogue.
The dissertations are not digitalised but can be viewed when visiting the library on campus. To access the archive, please speak with the librarian at the desk.
Dissertations held at the library can be consulted in the IMI library but cannot be photographed, photocopied, or reproduced in any way.
Online Repositories
There are a number of online repositories which provide access to dissertations and theses submitted to institutions around the world.
Below are a list of some of the repositories which provide access to high quality research and dissertations.
ETHOS – Electronic Theses Online Service at the British Library. This repository provides access to over 500,000 dissertations in a variety of disciplines.
DART-Europe E-theses Portal – Access to over 1 million open access research theses from 575 Universities and 29 Countries.
CORA – UCC’s open research archive provides access to research publications, theses, and dissertations.
Support with your dissertation
If you would like any assistance with your literature review, planning your dissertation, or your research methodology the library team is here to support you.
You can book a one-to-one meeting with a member of the team to discuss any topics you are having difficulty with.
The library can help identify useful databases and search strings for your literature review, search for relevant research that may be useful for your study, and provide any support on referencing and using reference management tools.
The best way to arrange a meeting is to contact us at: knowledge@imi.ie
