Just to re-iterate CCs reponse - published papers can help, but they do not determine the originality and/or outcome of a PhD. Obviously it's good to get some chapters published if you can prior to viva, as it means that part of your thesis has already been peer reviewed. (But it's still open to challenge!)

Originality is a complex issue - the truth is that it can be one small part of your work that's different, not necessarly the whole thing throughout. I used a well know form of qualoitative analysis that's been used in my area, but not the specific illness I was researching.

Re. a flat fail, I don't know of anyone who received this result, and I figure something must have to go really wrong (like you have next to no supervisory contact, don't do any work, or the examiner is not remotely connected to your field of research!) to fail.

My viva was 3 hours long. Neither examiner appeared to understand the content of my thesis, but rather asked me questions about what they THOUGHT the thesis should be about rather than what it actually WAS about. At the end, I nearly fainted from the stress. The examiners went home that night not having decided whether to give me minor corrections or a 9-month referral. So I had the pleasure of waiting all night not knowing what the outcome was.

The viva was an unpleasant experience, but in the end I only got minor corrections. Although my examiners were probably aliens, the experience of doing corrections was very useful, as it got me to rethink some of my assumptions and will help me in future research.

In short, vivas suck but are necessary, and if you know your work and your supervisor thinks it is good you will pass. My advice: if you get on well with your supervisor make sure he/she comes to your viva. He/she is your best advocate.

CorrectedShoe, what an ordeal! I have never known anyone to have to wait overnight for the outcome decision - that kind of thing should be against universities' codes of practice. Was this in the UK? Sounds like your examiners were a pair of to$$ers. You came out on top though, so well done!

You say something really important too ... "if you know your work [...] it will pass". I think this is really true. My current boss gave me some advice before my viva. He said to remember that I was the expert in the thesis area at that time, anywhere in the world. Holding that thought in my head made me think "Yes, I KNOW what I'm talking about, so there!" and I'm sure gave me the feistiness I needed to pass.

Funny, my supervisor called my examiners the exact same thing