CSTM: Doctoral Student Resources

Key Resources

CSTM Dissertation Template

The Clough School of Theology and Ministry has created the template below for formatting theses and dissertations. Please contact TML staff if you have any trouble with downloading or using the document.

CSTM Dissertation/Thesis Template

Sample Dissertations

As you prepare to write a dissertation or thesis, you may want to consult others that have already been produced in your area of study. The following research guide contains links to resources that either contain the full text or abstracts for dissertations that you might be able to request through Interlibrary Loan (ILL). It also has detailed instructions on searching and accessing BC theses and dissertations. If you have questions about how to locate a resource, please speak with someone at the TML Reference Desk.

Dissertations & Theses
A research guide produced by the Boston College Libraries.

Literature Review

If you are required to develop a literature review as part of the process of writing your thesis or dissertation, you may benefit from consulting resources like the ones listed below.

Writing a Literature Review
A research guide produced by the BC Libraries with step-by-step instructions for writing a literature review.

Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review by Andrew Booth; Anthea Sutton; Diana Papaioannou
Call Number: LB1047.3 .B66 2016
ISBN: 9781473912458
Showing you how to take a structured and organized approach to a wide range of literature review types, this book helps you to choose which approach is right for your research. Packed with constructive tools, examples, case studies and hands-on exercises, the book covers the full range of literature review techniques.

Interdisciplinary Sources

For interdisciplinary areas of study, research guides on the other discipline can be useful in identifying key resources and tools.

Primary Sources

The following resources contain primary source materials that may be necessary for your research.

Acta Sanctorum This link opens in a new window
The Acta Sanctorum are a principal source of research into the societies and cultures of early Christian and medieval Europe, published over a period of three hundred years by the Société Des Bollandistes. This resource brings together materials on the lives of the saints from the beginning of the Christian era to the end of the sixteenth century.
ATLA Historical Monographs Collection Series 1 & 2 This link opens in a new window
This series provides religious and theological literature from the late 13th century to 1922 and contains more than 29,000 titles. The topics covered include church life, demographics, doctrinal disputes, higher criticism, Judeo-Christian religions, Non-Western religions, and social movements.
Digital Library of Classic Protestant Texts This link opens in a new window
A collection of 1,500 works from the Reformation and post-Reformation eras in mostly 16th and 17th century editions. Works include the theological writings of more than 300 Protestant authors, as well as a wide range of confessional documents, biblical commentaries, polemical treatises, and Bible translations. In addition to the usual search categories (author, title, keyword), researchers can limit searches to specific theological topics, social/cultural topics, theological tradition, place of publication, publisher, and document type.
Digital Library of the Catholic Reformation This link opens in a new window
Transcriptions and facsimiles of documents, including papal and synodal decrees, catechisms and inquisitorial manuals, biblical commentaries, theological treatises and systems, liturgical writings, saints' lives, and devotional works by Catholic authors of the 16th and 17th centuries.
History of Religiosity in Latin America Online This link opens in a new window
A collection of materials from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries related to the study of religion in Latin America. The contents, which includes over 3,000 monographs and 500 periodicals scanned from microform, were originally collected by the CIDOC Library in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and contain items from other libraries throughout Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile.
Library of Latin Texts CLCLT This link opens in a new window
This full text database contains Latin texts from the beginning of Latin literature (Livius Andronicus, 240 BC) through to the texts of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). It covers all the works from the classical period, the most important patristic works, an extensive corpus of Medieval Latin literature as well as works of recentior latinitas. The texts have been taken from the Corpus Christianorum series and from other leading editions. Series A and Series B are meant to complement one another. The Cross Database Searchtool (listed next to LLT) allows searching Series A and B together.
Loeb Classical Library This link opens in a new window
This resource is an interconnected, fully searchable library of over 500 volumes of Latin and Greek texts and their accompanying English translations including epic and lyric poetry; tragedy and comedy; history, travel, philosophy, and oratory; the great medical writers and mathematicians; and those Church Fathers who made particular use of pagan culture.
Luthers Werke im WWW This link opens in a new window
The Weimar Edition in electronic form. The Weimar Edition, which is regarded as a monumental work in the field of theology and the German language, was first published in 1883 and includes 112 volumes in 117 sections. Limited to 3 simultaneous users.
Past Masters This link opens in a new window
Past Masters provides online access to authoritative editions of the works of seminal figures in the history of philosophy, political thought, religious studies, sociology, the history of science, economics, and classics.
Patrologiae Graecae This link opens in a new window
The most comprehensive collection of Greek patristic material relevant to the study of the history of the Christian Church from its beginnings through the Council of Florence in 1439.
Patrologia Latina This link opens in a new window
The Patrologia Latina contains 221 volumes and represents a complete electronic version of the first edition of Jacques-Paul Migne's Patrologia Latina (1844-1855 and 1862-1865).
Thesaurus Linguae Graecae This link opens in a new window
The major resource for searching and analyzing Greek texts of the classical, patristic, and medieval eras, searchable title include Septuaginta (A. Rahlfs, 9th edn. Stuttgart: Wrttemberg Bible Society, 1935) and Novum Testamentum (K. Aland, M. Black, C.M. Martini, B.M. Metzger, and A. Wikgren, The Greek New Testament, 2nd edn. Stuttgart: Wrttemberg Bible Society, 1968). Access Requirements: You must create a personal account using your BC email address.
World Council of Churches: Dialogue with People of Living Faiths This link opens in a new window
A digital library containing documents detailing the various meetings of the 1971 Dialogue with People of Living Faiths and Ideologies (DFI) program, a series of interreligious dialogues with Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, and Muslims initiated by the World Council of Churches.
World Council of Churches: Relations with the Roman Catholic Church This link opens in a new window
A digital library containing documents from the archives of the World Council of Churches on its ecumenical relationship with the Roman Catholic Church from 1948-1992. Contains correspondence, personal notes, press cuttings, reports and unpublished material, and is divided into five sections: General Documentation, Roman Catholic Church, Council Vatican II, Joint Working Group, and Sodepax.
World Council of Churches Online: World War II Era Records This link opens in a new window
A digital library containing documents from the World Council of Churches archive, dating from 1932-1957.

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CSTM: Doctoral Student Resources

Key Resources

CSTM Dissertation Template

Sample Dissertations

Literature Review

Interdisciplinary Sources

Primary Sources

Subject Librarian