Advanced composite materials have been widely used due to their light weight and high corrosion resistance. In many of these applications, bolted joint shave been replaced by adhesively bonded joints because of the weight penalty and corrosion problems associated with bolted joints. However, the lack of valid methodology to predict the load-carrying capacity of adhesively bonded joint has often resulted in over-designed joints. The objectives of this investigation are to calculate the total strain energy release rate of adhesively bonded joints, following ASTM D3165 specimen geometry, with a prescribed crack using an analytical model. A classical plate theory version of Irwin's virtual crack closure method (VCCT) is applied for the energy release rate formulation in the analytical model. ASTM D3165 test results with adherends of dissimilar materials are used to calculate the critical energy release rate. The critical energy release rates for joints with different geometries, such as bond line thickness, are also calculated. The calculated strain energy release rates are also verified by using finite element analyses with two different approaches: (1) J-integral calculation and (2) virtual crack closure technique (VCCT).