CSE reference list example. Unpublished dissertation or thesis: name-year [author, last name plus initials, followed by period] Warner DA. [date of degree, followed by period] 2001 Jan 16. [thesis title, followed by the label “master's thesis” in brackets and a period] Phenotypes and survival of hatchling lizards [master’s thesis]. [place of institution, followed by colon] Blacksburg: [institution, followed by period] Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.