1.2 Why ETDs? Edward Fox and Joseph M. Moxley

There are many reasons for ETDs. Indeed, if one asks “What are the reasons to not have ETDs?” it is difficult to find any convincing, forward-looking answer. Almost all TDs are produced as electronic documents, and if students know in advance about how to prepare ETDs, then creating their own ETD usually is a very simple process. In addition, there are special benefits that result from ETD creation.

The world of scholarship depends on people making their research available to others. Approximately 47,000 dissertations and 12,000 theses are archived each year at Proquest. Electronic publication of these works would greatly aid graduate education by allowing the ETDs to serve as a guide to those who are in the process of completing their work, save others the time and cost of redoing studies that have already been done; introduce students and researchers to the latest reviews of research.

Additional Resources

Moxley, Joseph M.  American Universities Should Require Electronic Theses and Dissertations.  (Educause Quarterly, No. 3 2001, pp. 61-63.)