- Bilkent Theses
- Non-Bilkent Theses
- Submission Printed Theses
- Submission Electronic Theses
- Research Process
- Style Guides
- Mendeley
- Copyright
- Embargo
Bilkent University's Institutional Repository contains nearby 6000 theses completed at Bilkent dating as far back as the mid 1980's. Theses in this collection have been scanned by Technical Services or submitted in electronic format.Bilkent University theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without writer permission.

Naile Mağıltaş
- Faculty Librarian
- magiltas@bilkent.edu.tr
- +90 (312) 290 1677

Burcu Erbil
- Faculty Librarian
- burcu.erbil@bilkent.edu.tr
- +90 (312) 290 2167
There are several databases and websites avaliable to locate dissertations and theses.
If you looking for a specific thesis or dissertation it is also advisable to check the university website where it originated. Many universities are starting to add open access to the full text of their dissertations and theses to their websites.

Naile Mağıltaş
- Faculty Librarian
- magiltas@bilkent.edu.tr
- +90 (312) 290 1677

Burcu Erbil
- Faculty Librarian
- burcu.erbil@bilkent.edu.tr
- +90 (312) 290 2167
National Thesis Center (YÖK)
Bilkent University Thesis Database Acceptance and Permission Form
Bilkent University Doctoral and Master’s Students Discharge Form
National Thesis Center (YÖK) Data Entry and Publishing Permission Form
Bilkent University Thesis Access Postponement Request Form
Printed copy and the electronic version (loaded by graduate student to BUIR) of the thesis will be checked by the related librarian. Incomplete or incorrect theses will not be accepted and will be returned to the student.
The owner of thesis applies to the library with a signed copy of the “National Thesis Center (YÖK) Data Entry and Publishing Permission Form”, a signed copy of the “Bilkent University Thesis Database Acceptance and Permission Form” and in case of access postponement request a signed and stamped copy of the “Bilkent University Thesis Access Postponement Request Form”. The thesis is received only after the required controls are done by the related librarian.
After the “Bilkent University Doctoral and Master’s Students Discharge Form” has been initialled by the related librarian, it should be taken to and signed by the “Circulation Desk”.
By adding your thesis/ dissertation to “Bilkent University Institutional Repository” your record will be preserved digitally at Bilkent University Library.
After loading theses in “Bilkent University Institutional Repository”, they will be indexed by search engines and can be access by public (except embargo thesis).
It will only take a few minutes to adding your thesis to “Bilkent University Institutional Repository”.
Electronic copy of the thesis should be formed as a single PDF file.
Thesis should be uploaded to “Bilkent University Institutional Repository” by following the “Start a new submission” on the menu before giving print thesis to the Library.
All signatures are required on the approval page in electronic and print versions of thesis.
- Create an account by logging in to BUIR with your Bilkent credentials.
- Login to your BUIR account.
- Select "Submissions" then select "Start a new submission".
- Select the "University Library-Bilkent Thesis-Work in Progress-Collection Z" to submit your work.
- Fill in the form.
Thesis advisor:
Title:
Date:
Department:
Language:
Subject keywords:
Abstract:
- Upload your file and provide a short file description.
- Click "Next" to complete the submission.
2. Login to your BUIR account.
3. Select "Submissions" then select "Start a new submission".
4. Select the "Theses-Submission" to submit your work.
5. Fill in the form.
6. Upload your file and provide a short file description.
7. Click "Next" to complete the submission.
- Choose a Topic
- Dentify and deconstruct your topic.
- State your topic as a question.
- Read and Research
- Find background information.
- Find articles on your topic and note any relevant bibliographies at the end of the articles.
- Use the Bilkent University Library Webpage to find articles.
- Outline and Plan
- Evaluate sources and write a draft.
- Start Writing
- Your writing should be clear and concise. Spelling, punctuation and grammar are all important.
- Review and Edit
- Control all aspect of your writing include grammar, paragraph structure, citation... .
Cornell University
https://gradschool.cornell.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/WritingAB_WEB.pdf
Purdue University
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/658/1/
University of Wisconsin
http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/PlanResearchPaper.html
Ten simple rules for writing research papers by Weixiong Zhang
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3907284/
SUNY Empire State College
https://www.esc.edu/online-writing-center/resources/research/research-paper-steps/
A Research Guide for Students
A citation is a way of giving credit to individuals for their creative and intellectual works that you utilized to support your research. It can also be used to locate particular sources and combat plagiarism. Typically, a citation can include the author's name, date, location of the publishing company, journal title, or DOI (Digital Object Identifer).
A citation style dictates the information necessary for a citation and how the information is ordered, as well as punctuation and other formatting.
Citations are a short way to uniquely identify a published work (e.g. book, article, chapter, web site). They are found in bibliographies and reference lists and are also collected in article and book databases.
Citations consist of standard elements, and contain all the information necessary to identify and track down publications, including:
- author name(s)
- titles of books, articles, and journals
- date of publication
- page numbers
- volume and issue numbers (for articles)
You must cite:
- Facts, figures, ideas, or other information that is not common knowledge
- Ideas, words, theories, or exact language that another person used in other publications
Publications that must be cited include: books, book chapters, articles, web pages, theses, etc.
-
Another person's exact words should be quoted and cited to show proper credit
When in doubt, be safe and cite your source!
it's important to cite sources you used in your research for several reasons:
- To show your reader you've done proper research by listing sources you used to get your information
- To be a responsible scholar by giving credit to other researchers and acknowledging their ideas
- To avoid plagiarism by quoting words and ideas used by other authors
- To allow your reader to track down the sources you used by citing them accurately in your paper by way of footnotes, a bibliography or reference list
Mendeley is a free reference manager that can help you store, organize, note, share and cite references and research data.
Mendeley is a free reference manager.
- Manage your references
Use Mendeley Reference Manager, Mendeley Cite and Mendeley Web Importer to easily import, organize, annotate, share and cite references and research
- Organize and optimize the discoverability of your data
Upload your research data, share it with collaborators and make it publicly available and citable using Mendeley Data
- Advance your career
Get job alerts, find opportunities and be found by employers with Mendeley Careers.
Mendeley Reference Manager is a free web and desktop reference management application. It helps you simplify your reference management workflow so you can focus on achieving your goals.
With Mendeley Reference Manager you can:
- Store, organize and search all your references from just one library.
- Seamlessly insert references and bibliographies into your Microsoft® Word documents using Mendeley Cite.
- Read, highlight and annotate PDFs, and keep all your thoughts across multiple documents in one place.
- Collaborate with others by sharing references and ideas
Create an account via mendeley.com. This is completely free to do, only takes a few seconds and will make sure that you’re getting the most out of what Mendeley can offer.
Copyright is a set of exclusive legal rights granted to a creator of a work. These rights are often referred to as the bundle of rights and includes the rights to reproduce the work, to distribute the work, to perform the work, to display the work, and make derivative works. Copyright exists to protect the rights of the person(s) who has created a work and ensure that they receive due recognition for their contribution. As a property right it gives the copyright holder power over how the work is used, distributed and adapted for a set period of time. It is part of a group of rights which protect intellectual property whilst at the same time encouraging creativity in the creation of new material.
Copyright is an automatic right that comes into force when a work which meets certain criteria is created:
- the work should be original
- it should be produced in a fixed form (for example, written down)
- it should be a literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, film, broadcast work or a sound recording
Although this seems like a small list it covers a wide range of material, for example documents, reports, papers, data, letters, tables, computer programs, databases, photographs, typographical arrangements of published editions, sculptures, sound recordings, films and broadcasts.
Works may contain many separate instances of copyright. For example, a book or journal article may contain text and tables (treated by copyright law as literary works) and photographs or maps (artistic works). It is important to consider any third-party material used in your work and check permissions with the copyright holder as necessary.
Mechanism whereby access to, or visibility of, the full text is hidden or delayed for a set period.
So, it delays the point at which someone can see the full text of your thesis.
It is usually for a very defined period of time (i.e. 1-2 years).
The period of time will be determined by a range of circumstances e.g. publication plans, funder requirements etc.
Embargo is therefore all about withholding or hiding the full text for a set time. It is nothing more complicated than that.
If the purpose of conducting research is to share it and make it available as soon as possible, why would anyone choose an embargo?
One of the primary reasons why people decide to opt for an embargo is because they are preparing the work for publication. And they do not want their work to appear until it has been presented in a formal publication or publications. This could be in the form of a research article or articles, or indeed am entire book (sometimes called a monograph). So, people often choose to embargo the thesis while they are preparing the material for publication.
Find listed below some of the reasons why people embargo their thesis:
- Publication - the thesis is embargoed while you attempt to get your work published.
- Commercial reasons – the thesis has potential to be commercial and that is why you are embargoing.
- Confidential – the thesis contains confidential information – secrets of a business, process or maybe some legal and the embargo is needed because of the confidentiality of the content.
- Copyright – maybe your thesis contains excessive amounts of third party copyright and this is why an embargo is required.
According to National Thesis Center (YÖK) :
*ARTICLE 6
(1) In the event of there is a patent application relating to the thesis or the patent obtaining period is continued, the institute or faculty board may decide to postpone access to the thesis for the duration of two years upon the approval of the proposal by the thesis advisor and the department of the institute.
(2) In case of theses for which new techniques, materials and methods are used and have not yet been turned into a journal article or protected by means such as patent, and theses including information and findings that may create opportunity for unfair profit to third parties or institutions if shared on internet, upon the recommendation of the thesis advisor and approval of the department of the institute, the access to the theses may be prevented for the duration six months at most with the justified decision of the Graduate School Executive Board.