What is EThOS?
EThOS (E-Theses Online Service) is the British Library’s database of UK doctoral theses. It holds records for over 600,000 theses, allowing researchers to search theses from UK universities from the 1700s to present day. Prior to a cyber-attack in October 2023, it held over 300,000 files for download and provided a digitisation request service for theses that were only available in print.
What has happened to EThOS?
EThOS was badly damaged by the cyber-attack. Work is underway to restore an interim platform in late 2025. There is no need to update existing links to EThOS records as they will resolve to the relevant thesis on the new platform. We will continue to update the database regularly, although there will be an initial backlog of content to work through.
Will I be able to download thesis files?
The interim EThOS platform will not have files but will link out to each university’s repository, where you may be able to download individual theses, if the university has made it available.
What will happen next?
In 2026, we will begin the next phase of work to restore file downloads and automated requests for digitisation. We will be consulting with participating universities and EThOS users (including other discovery services) to ensure that we are meeting the community’s needs.
Can I request a thesis for digitisation?
You can request digitisation of someprint-only theses by emailing the relevant university library. As not all universities make use of the EThOS digitisation service, you should contact the university in the first instance to request any digitisation. It is the university’s decision to proceed with this request. If completed, the British Library will send the file to the university directly for it to be uploaded to their institutional repository (where available).
All theses that are digitised during this period will be uploaded to EThOS when it is fully restored.
How do I find theses in the meantime?
All theses in EThOS prior to October 2023 are in the British Library catalogue. You can filter your search in the catalogue by using the ‘Advanced search’ and filtering ‘Material type’ to ‘Theses’. This will show you the name of the awarding university. You can then search the university’s institutional repository or library catalogue for the thesis.
A digital copy of a thesis is likely to be downloadable in the awarding university’s institutional repository. A directory of university repositories is available at OpenDOAR. Please note, not all doctoral theses are available digitally and you may need to visit the university to view a print copy.
View more information on how to search the British Library catalogue.
You can also download a CSV file of the metadata of all theses held in EThOS prior to October 2023 from the British Library’s Research Repository.