Is it normal to go through this horrendous stage of doubting whether you should submit or not?

My official intention to submit deadline is still 3 weeks away, but I feel ready. I've printed the whole thing out, read it, and I feel I can do no more between now and then which wouldn't just be sticking extra bits in for the sake of it. One more journal quotation there, one more book chapter reference here - it won't make a difference now. The nuts and bolts are there, so should I just go for it, and do it early, to put myself out of my misery?

I'm proud of the work I've produced, but it's like the One Ring in the Lord of the Rings - I don't want to let go of my precious, to let two people get stuck into it...

Submit - or wait til the deadline?

Thanks for the reply.

The article/chapter I have aren't included in the thesis, but are on a similar topic. Kind of a sideways step if you like.

Just wondering whether it's worth handing them in as supporting material...

It can't do any harm. They may completely disregard them, or they might think "this guy has been published twice on a similar topic to his thesis, it must be good!"

Wishful thinking?

Submission is looming for my PhD (5 weeks from now), and I'm reading through the various 'How to get a PhD' books just to ensure I'm doing everything right. Obviously I follow university guidelines first and foremost.

However, something caught my eye in one of them (Phillips and Pugh 1987):

'...your examination is not limited to your thesis report. In addition to your thesis you should submit to the examiners as supporting material any academic work to full professional standard that you have published'

Is this the norm? I have two publications (a journal article and book chapter) which have been accepted and are being printed this month. Should I submit those as hard copies with a short document explaining that I am submitting them as supporting evidence? Both are very closely related to my thesis.

I've never come across this before, and there is nothing in my university guidelines offering it as an option.

Has it the potential to make an excellent impression, or should I not bother?

I think it may be the latter.

I've never thought of myself as being incapable of doing the thing, it's just the way it makes me feel.

I can be in the middle of something completely different, such as watching a film, out for a walk, doing the foof shopping, and it'll all come crashing down on me. A horrible feeling of 'is it all worth it? what are you doing with your life?'.

Like you said - I might just need a good break. Planning on doing NO PhD work over Christmas. Two weeks without touching it. I'm handing a first draft in to my supervisors before we leave for the holiday, and I will then not revisit it until January 5th or so.

Maybe that's what I need. Recharge the batteries, take part in some hobbies, read a good book, and switch off the academic mind for a fortnight.

I know this is one of many, many 'is it normal to feel like this' threads, but just seeking some moral support!

I'm in a great place with my PhD. Without wishing to sound as though I'm bragging (I'm not), at the end of my 3-year scholarship I will have (hopefully!) got my doctorate, done a PGCHE alongside it, lots of teaching experience, 2 definite publications (chapter + article) and a few more in the pipeline, as well as international conference presentations across the world. I've also received external funding to study abroad twice in the last year. Great! I'm extremely proud of that, but it's taken its toll. I'm in complete burnout.

The PhD word count has touched 75,000 now, which is the acceptable amount for my department, and it's 95% ready for a first draft to be handed in.

So - my question is - why, on some days (most days), do I often feel like I'm something somebody has stood on in the street, that's come out of a dog's behind?!

I've got it all, and have been extremely lucky, but feel worthless at times. Maybe it's the stress/burnout talking?

On the flip side of the coin, on some days, I feel on top of the world, and I look through those achievments listed above and think 'wow - is that really me?!'.

Anyone got any tips on how to have more of those days rather than the extremely stressed, negative days? Some of my thoughts are genuinely scary. Enough so that I saw someone professionally in July for a few sessions. Felt better, but the old feelings keep coming back.

I'm telling myself that I've simply done too much, and my body has just gone: BLEEEEURGH.

Any thoughts?

Hi all,

Sorry for the vague title!

Just a quick question about whether to include the following books in my bibliography. Take the following sentence as an example:

--------

There is much scholarly literature regarding the use of empirical research methods in this area (Smith 2010, Boris 2011 and Evans 2013), but none have thus far covered the following points.

--------

Because I have mentioned those three authors and their works within the text, do I then need to include full references in my bibliography, or would it be more appropriate to insert a footnote with the full reference?

Many thanks in advance!

Hi all,

I'd like to cite one of my own journal articles in my thesis, but the article is under review. If published, the journal will print the article around the exact time that my thesis is due for hand in.

In Harvard style, is it acceptable to reference it as below?

DOCTOR, MISTER (2014). Article title in Italics, Manuscript submitted for publication.

I guess I wouldn't put the title of the journal in there, just in case it is rejected?

There are only two key external funding bodies for humanities as far as I can see: Leverhulme and British Academy.

Leverhulme need a thesis submission by 6 March 2015 for an October 2015 start date, and BA require 'a reasonable expectation that they will have submitted and had their thesis examined by 1 April 2014' which means a January submission, or thereabout!

There are very few internal Postdoctoral positions as far as I can tell. For example, and I've only had a brief look so far, my local (to home) universities offer the following:

York - nothing.
Leeds - 6 week short term fellowship.
Manchester - nothing for music.
York St John - nothing.
Nottingham - 3-year, but require viva by end of March which requires a December submission. Not likely.
Sheffield - nothing.

So, unless I'm missing a trick, without Leverhulme and BA support, the prospect looks bleak for internal positions.

The exception is to look further afield, where Cambridge (for one example) suggest that their Junior Research Fellows 'normally obtain their doctorates during the early stage of their Research Fellowship, and move on to pursue post-doctoral research'.

Hi all,

I may have got the wrong end of the stick here, but is it normal - if wishing to apply and hopefully take up a Post-Doctoral Fellowship somewhere - for there to be a random year between finishing the PhD and starting said Fellowship?

I'm entering the final year of my doctorate now, and there's only a medium chance of me being submitted and viva'd by 1st April 2015 (currently 45,000 words written up out of a 60-80k limit), which is when most Post-Doc Fellowship applications close for October 2015 start.

So - if I'm not viva'd by 1st April - I'm ineligible to start any Post-Doc Fellowship until October 2016.

What happens to the academic year 2015/16? Is it a case of finding something/anything to tick over with until the following round of Post-Doc applications, and try to strengthen my CV further before that time?

By the end of my PhD in spring/summer 2015, I'll have the doctorate (hopefully!!), ample teaching experience (I'm on a GTA scholarship), a PGCTHE and 10-15 conferences and 2 publications under my belt. What's the best option for me? Try to find a teaching position somewhere for a year, or look for short-term research positions (do they even exist in humanities? I'm a musicologist)? I must admit that I far prefer research to teaching, but if it's a case of teaching for a year to get some money behind me, that may be the way I have to go.

Anyone in a similar position?

Here's the issue... if it counts as 3 hours, I am 2 hours over my required teaching, which means I'll be obligated to do 2 hours LESS next term.

If it counts as 6 hours, I'm of course 5 hours over my required teaching, requiring me to do ONE hour next term.

I think it should count, the lecture. They are dictating my free time. If I HAVE to be in the room, it is surely eating into my 'work time' for the university?

Edit: It's an 'average' of X hours across the year, so one term can be higher, so long as the next is lower.

Dear all,

I'm a UK PhD student at a southern university on a GTA scheme.

In my 'agreement', it is stated that we must undertake no more than X hours of teaching per week.

Before I take this up with my university, how many hours of teaching would you consider the following as?

* Officially teaching a three hour seminar, but been told that attendance at the preceding lecture (3 hours) is compulsory so that I have context for the seminar.

Many thanks.