{"id":970,"date":"2025-11-09T07:35:50","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T07:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paultrowler.com\/wordpress\/?page_id=970"},"modified":"2025-11-09T07:44:56","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T07:44:56","slug":"version-2-doctoral-theses","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/paultrowler.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/version-2-doctoral-theses\/","title":{"rendered":"Find doctoral theses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!DOCTYPE html>\n<html lang=\"en\">\n<head>\n  <meta charset=\"UTF-8\" \/>\n  <meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0\" \/>\n  <title>Targeted Doctoral Theses Finder<\/title>\n\n  <!-- Tailwind CSS -->\n  <script src=\"https:\/\/cdn.tailwindcss.com\"><\/script>\n  <script>\n    tailwind.config = {\n      theme: {\n        extend: {\n          colors: {\n            primary: {\n              50: '#eff6ff',\n              100: '#dbeafe',\n              200: '#bfdbfe',\n              300: '#93c5fd',\n              400: '#60a5fa',\n              500: '#3b82f6',\n              600: '#2563eb',\n              700: '#1d4ed8',\n              800: '#1e40af',\n              900: '#1e3a8a'\n            }\n          },\n          boxShadow: {\n            soft: '0 10px 25px rgba(15,23,42,0.08)'\n          }\n        }\n      }\n    }\n  <\/script>\n<\/head>\n<body class=\"bg-gray-50 text-gray-900\">\n  <a href=\"#main\" class=\"sr-only focus:not-sr-only focus:absolute focus:top-4 focus:left-4 focus:z-50 focus:px-3 focus:py-2 focus:bg-white focus:border focus:border-primary-600 focus:rounded-md\">\n    Skip to main content\n  <\/a>\n\n  <main id=\"main\" class=\"min-h-screen\">\n    <section class=\"max-w-7xl mx-auto px-4 py-10\">\n      <!-- Header -->\n      <header class=\"mb-8\">\n        <h1 class=\"mt-1 text-3xl font-semibold text-primary-800\">\n          Targeted Doctoral Theses Finder\n        <\/h1>\n        <p class=\"mt-3 text-base text-gray-800 max-w-3xl leading-relaxed\">\n          Use this tool to generate a structured prompt that asks an AI with web access\n          to search multiple open-access thesis repositories, shortlist the most relevant\n          doctoral theses for your topic, and clearly indicate where you should search manually\n          if it cannot access a given database directly.\n        <\/p>\n      <\/header>\n\n      <!-- Main Card -->\n      <div class=\"bg-white rounded-2xl shadow-soft p-6 md:p-8 border border-gray-200\">\n        <!-- 1. Project context (optional) -->\n        <div class=\"mb-6\">\n          <h2 class=\"text-sm font-semibold text-gray-900\">\n            Optional: paste your project summary\n          <\/h2>\n          <p class=\"mt-1 text-sm text-gray-700\">\n            If you paste a short Project Profile or thesis summary below, the AI can\n            prioritise theses that are conceptually and methodologically aligned with\n            your work.\n          <\/p>\n          <textarea\n            id=\"projectSummary\"\n            class=\"mt-3 w-full h-24 text-sm rounded-lg border border-gray-300 px-3 py-2 focus:outline-none focus:ring-2 focus:ring-primary-600 focus:border-primary-600\"\n            placeholder=\"E.g. Briefly paste your doctoral topic, core research questions, theoretical frame, and methods (optional).\"\n          ><\/textarea>\n        <\/div>\n\n        <!-- 2. Core topic \/ phenomenon -->\n        <div class=\"mb-6\">\n          <h2 class=\"text-sm font-semibold text-gray-900\">\n            Your specific topic or phenomenon <span class=\"text-red-600\">*<\/span>\n          <\/h2>\n          <p class=\"mt-1 text-sm text-gray-700\">\n            Describe as you would to an examiner: 2\u20135 sentences on the focus, setting,\n            and key concepts. This will be inserted directly into the AI prompt.\n          <\/p>\n          <textarea\n            id=\"topicInput\"\n            class=\"mt-3 w-full h-32 text-sm rounded-lg border border-gray-300 px-3 py-2 focus:outline-none focus:ring-2 focus:ring-primary-600 focus:border-primary-600\"\n            placeholder=\"E.g. Doctoral study on how early-career lecturers in post-1992 UK universities navigate digital learning policies, using practice theory and qualitative longitudinal interviews.\"\n          ><\/textarea>\n        <\/div>\n\n        <!-- 3. Emphasis \/ use-case (optional) -->\n        <div class=\"mb-7\">\n          <h2 class=\"text-sm font-semibold text-gray-900\">\n            What do you want these theses to help you with? (optional)\n          <\/h2>\n          <p class=\"mt-1 text-sm text-gray-700\">\n            For example: exemplars of strong methodology; conceptual frameworks;\n            similar contexts; design ideas; analytical strategies.\n          <\/p>\n          <input\n            id=\"useCaseInput\"\n            type=\"text\"\n            class=\"mt-3 w-full text-sm rounded-lg border border-gray-300 px-3 py-2 focus:outline-none focus:ring-2 focus:ring-primary-600 focus:border-primary-600\"\n            placeholder=\"E.g. Exemplars of rigorous qualitative design using Bourdieu; theses on comparable institutional change contexts.\"\n          \/>\n        <\/div>\n\n        <!-- 4. Generated prompt -->\n        <div class=\"mb-4\">\n          <div class=\"flex items-baseline justify-between gap-2\">\n            <h2 class=\"text-sm font-semibold text-gray-900\">\n              Generated prompt <span class=\"text-xs font-normal text-gray-600\">(visible excerpt)<\/span>\n            <\/h2>\n          <\/div>\n          <p class=\"mt-1 text-sm text-gray-700\">\n            This is what you will paste into an AI platform with web browsing enabled.\n            It asks the AI to search where it can, report sources transparently, and\n            direct you to specific repositories for any locations it cannot access directly.\n          <\/p>\n          <textarea\n            id=\"promptOutput\"\n            class=\"mt-3 w-full h-44 text-sm rounded-lg border border-gray-300 px-3 py-2 bg-gray-50 focus:outline-none text-gray-900\"\n            readonly\n          ><\/textarea>\n        <\/div>\n\n        <!-- 5. Buttons -->\n        <div class=\"mt-5 flex flex-wrap items-center gap-3\">\n          <!-- Primary: ChatGPT -->\n          <button\n            type=\"button\"\n            onclick=\"copyPromptAndOpen('https:\/\/chat.openai.com')\"\n            class=\"inline-flex items-center gap-2 px-4 py-2 rounded-lg bg-primary-600 text-white text-sm font-medium hover:bg-primary-700 focus:outline-none focus:ring-2 focus:ring-primary-600 focus:ring-offset-1\"\n          >\n            <span>Copy &amp; Open in ChatGPT (GPT-5 with browsing)<\/span>\n          <\/button>\n\n          <!-- Alternative: Perplexity -->\n          <button\n            type=\"button\"\n            onclick=\"copyPromptAndOpen('https:\/\/www.perplexity.ai')\"\n            class=\"inline-flex items-center gap-2 px-4 py-2 rounded-lg bg-gray-800 text-white text-sm font-medium hover:bg-gray-900 focus:outline-none focus:ring-2 focus:ring-gray-700 focus:ring-offset-1\"\n          >\n            <span>Copy &amp; Open in Perplexity<\/span>\n          <\/button>\n        <\/div>\n\n        <!-- Helper note -->\n        <p class=\"mt-4 text-xs text-gray-700 leading-relaxed\">\n          This prompt assumes the AI has responsible web access. It should:\n          (1) search open repositories directly where allowed,\n          (2) provide clear thesis links and citations,\n          (3) state explicitly when a source (e.g. ProQuest or institutional logins) cannot be accessed,\n          and (4) advise you exactly where and how to run those searches yourself.\n        <\/p>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n  <\/main>\n\n  <script>\n    function buildPrompt() {\n      const projectSummary = (document.getElementById('projectSummary').value || '').trim();\n      const topic = (document.getElementById('topicInput').value || '').trim();\n      const useCase = (document.getElementById('useCaseInput').value || '').trim();\n\n      const topicText = topic || '[Insert a clear 2\u20135 sentence description of your doctoral topic, context, concepts, and questions here]';\n\n      const summaryText = projectSummary\n        ? `Here is my brief project summary for context (use it to refine relevance, but do not rewrite it):\\n${projectSummary}\\n\\n`\n        : '';\n\n      const relevanceGuidance = useCase\n        ? `Use the topic description and this intended use to guide your relevance judgements: ${useCase}.`\n        : 'Use the topic description to guide your relevance judgements.';\n\n      const prompt = `\nYou are an AI theses discovery assistant with responsible web access.\n\n${summaryText}TASK\nUsing the topic description below, identify 3\u20135 open access doctoral theses that are:\n- Substantively close to this focus,\n- Conceptually and\/or methodologically instructive for this project,\n- Recent enough to be useful (where possible, prioritise theses from the last 10\u201315 years).\n\nTOPIC DESCRIPTION\n${topicText}\n\nSEARCH INSTRUCTIONS\n1. Start with these open and indexable repositories (respecting their terms of use):\n   - OATD.org (Open Access Theses and Dissertations)\n   - DART-Europe E-theses Portal\n   - NDLTD Global ETD Search\n   - BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine)\n   - OpenDissertations\n\n2. Where you can access a repository directly:\n   - Run well-structured searches based on the topic above.\n   - Screen titles and abstracts to judge substantive and methodological relevance.\n\n3. Where you CANNOT access a repository or full text (e.g. paywalled platforms, institutional logins, restricted APIs):\n   - Do NOT invent results.\n   - Instead, state clearly:\n     - which resource is restricted, and\n     - how I should search it manually (include the exact site URL and a suggested search string).\n\nOUTPUT FORMAT\nFor each recommended thesis (maximum 5), provide:\n- Full author name\n- Full thesis title\n- Year of award\n- Degree level and institution\n- Repository or platform name\n- Direct link to the thesis PDF or official landing page (if available)\n- One sentence on why this thesis is particularly relevant to my project\n\n${relevanceGuidance}\nConclude with a brief note on any important gaps (e.g. regions, methods, or years) where coverage appears thin, and where I might need to search further.\n      `.trim();\n\n      document.getElementById('promptOutput').value = prompt;\n    }\n\n    function copyPromptAndOpen(url) {\n      const promptText = document.getElementById('promptOutput').value.trim();\n      const textToCopy = promptText || 'Please add your topic so this prompt can be created.';\n\n      if (navigator.clipboard && window.isSecureContext) {\n        navigator.clipboard.writeText(textToCopy).then(function() {\n          window.open(url, '_blank', 'noopener');\n        }).catch(function() {\n          fallbackCopyAndOpen(textToCopy, url);\n        });\n      } else {\n        fallbackCopyAndOpen(textToCopy, url);\n      }\n    }\n\n    function fallbackCopyAndOpen(text, url) {\n      const tempTextarea = document.createElement('textarea');\n      tempTextarea.value = text;\n      tempTextarea.style.position = 'fixed';\n      tempTextarea.style.top = '-9999px';\n      document.body.appendChild(tempTextarea);\n      tempTextarea.focus();\n      tempTextarea.select();\n      try {\n        document.execCommand('copy');\n      } catch (e) {}\n      document.body.removeChild(tempTextarea);\n      window.open(url, '_blank', 'noopener');\n    }\n\n    document.addEventListener('input', function(event) {\n      if (['projectSummary', 'topicInput', 'useCaseInput'].includes(event.target.id)) {\n        buildPrompt();\n      }\n    });\n\n    buildPrompt();\n  <\/script>\n\n  <!-- Copyright 2025 Professor Paul Trowler. All rights reserved.\n       For personal use only for educational purposes; no part of this code to be copied, reused or sold. -->\n<\/body>\n<\/html>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Targeted Doctoral Theses Finder Skip to main content Targeted Doctoral Theses Finder Use this tool to generate a structured prompt that asks an AI with web access to search multiple open-access thesis repositories, shortlist the most relevant doctoral theses for your topic, and clearly indicate where you should search manually if it cannot access a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"engaging-with-the-literature","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-970","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paultrowler.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paultrowler.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paultrowler.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paultrowler.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paultrowler.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=970"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/paultrowler.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":972,"href":"https:\/\/paultrowler.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/970\/revisions\/972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paultrowler.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}