Q. How do I cite a thesis or dissertation using APA style?

Doctoral dissertations and master's theses follow different formats depending on whether they are published or not.

Unpublished (typically available in print at the institution awarding the degree or via inter-library loan)

An unpublished thesis or dissertation should have the following information:

• Author name, using the convention of surname followed by initials
• Date in parentheses followed by a period
• Title of the dissertation or thesis in italics, followed by a square bracket note that it is unpublished and whether it is a masters thesis or doctoral dissertation, followed by a period
• The name of the institution awarding the degree.

Here is an example of an unpublished thesis found at Western Washington University:

Omri, K. E. (2005). Risk perception among former Hanford workers [Unpublished master's thesis]. Western  
       Washington University.

Published (typically found in an online repository)

A published thesis or dissertation should have the following information:

• Author and date, same as above.
• Title of thesis or dissertation in italics, followed by a note in square brackets indicating if it is a doctoral dissertation or master's thesis, comma, and the name of the institution awarding the degree.
• Database or archive name.
• URL

Here is an example:

Schierl, Z. P. (2014). Effectiveness of time-lapse videos as a method to teach rates of surface geological
      processes [Master's thesis, Western Washington University]. CEDAR. http://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet/381