I am thinking of doing a PhD on a sixteenth-century topic, probably on the reign of Henry VIII or Edward VI. However, I wouldn't like to spend all that time on it, and find that someone had already researched this area. Is there any way to find out what topics people have also done research masters or PhDs on? And if so, is there an index of them somewhere? Can we read them?
Have you tried
ReplyDeletewww.theses.com
A comprehensive listing of theses with abstracts accepted for higher degrees by universities in the United Kingdom and Ireland since 1716.
Any Ph D supervisor worth studying with will know if a topic has already been covered.
ReplyDeleteIt is also partly the job of your supervisor to make sure you are researching something new. This is one reason that most PhD students start discussing their research with potential supervisors before applying to the university.
ReplyDeleteIf you have access to ProQuest (in the US) you can find bibliographic information for doctoral dissertations via:
http://www.proquest.com/en-US/catalogs/databases/detail/add.shtml
Your local university librarian can assist you with access.