Hey Melsie, I'm doing clinical psychology and every person with my supervisor (and most other clinical supervisors) has taken the full four years to submit, mainly due to the lengthy processes required to test clinical populations- ethics, recruitment etc take 10 times longer than people testing non-clinical populations. I am actually due to finish in the 3 years, and to be honest, if I hadn't bothered with the conferences and publications I could probably have managed it in 2.5. I think one reason for this is that I had very few distractions in my first two years and worked extremely hard, often until late in the evenings and over weekends (I didn't have a boyfriend at the time and don't have kids or anything, although I still enjoyed nights out with my mates). I live a 5 minute walk away from my office so don't spend time travelling- others in the team have two children and a long drive/train ride in every day which obviously makes a huge difference. But working so hard has stood me in good stead and I am really glad I pushed myself- at the moment I am pretty much just working 9-5 and one day at the weekend because I'm finding that I just can't spend much more than that just sitting writing up. The other thing is that I now have a fiance as well! But I'm also trying hard to keep a balance, and do my exercise every day etc, have a day out on bikes at the weekend. I think three years can be done, but you need to be organised and write as you go along. I've started my final year with a number of chapters already written and accepted for publication, and although I am struggling a lot more with the results papers, at least I have enough time to spend on them. It's nice to have a bit of a buffer. I am hoping to submit on the three year mark in October, but if I have no job lined up I may slow things down and wait until all my results chapters have been accepted for publication before I submit, just to give me more confidence for what will no doubt be a tough viva! Good luck with it all! KB

Hey Ady! I am well into my write-up and my sup wants my raw data (quantitative) as well. I don't think it's anything to worry about- my sup probably just wants a copy for her records, or maybe she wants to have a little play around with it to see if there are any other analyses that might be relevant. I don't think it's anything to be worried about. My sup doesn't have copies of my interviews or transcriptions from my qualitative study, but she did look at the first three transcriptions to give me feedback on my interview technique. I am guessing before I finish she will probably ask for a copy of all the transcriptions though- she likes to have copies of everything! I wouldn't stress at all- I don't think he's trying to catch you out or anything! Best, KB

A random post! Last night I had a dream that I got the proof back from one of the journals I have submitted a paper to. At first, they texted it to my mobile so I couldn't read it, but then when they emailed it to me I opened it and they had made a children's book out of it! All of the writing had been re-arranged so that it rhymed, and there were loads of really colourful illustrations covering every page! To be fair, it would probably be an improvement on what is a very dull paper! Any other crazy PhD-reated dreamers out there?! KB

I have to say, I really admire those of you who have stuck it out under such difficult circumstances. My PhD has been pretty smooth until now, and I'm going to pieces over just the first difficult period I've had, so good on you who have been through loads of those and are still at it. If my first and second years had been this hardgoing I'd be an absolute wreck by now. Luckily I'm having a weekend away from uni and my work, and I feel better for it already, although tomorrow I'm going to Ireland to visit my grandad and it may well be the last time I see him (he has very advanced Alzheimer's and a very short prognosis) so I guess that will a pretty hard day. Looking forward to seeing him but not, if you know what I mean. Hope everyone else has had a good weekend! KB

Blimey, I think I would have had a proper go at him Eska! We're quite lucky where we are (i.e. in the middle of nowhere!)... there are very few staff and my boyf often jumps on the train without paying to come visit me and no-one ever asks for his ticket or asks him to purchase one! Maybe he just looks very innocent lol! KB

Hmm, I wonder if this is why some academics seem so arrogant? Maybe some are genuinely very convinced about what they're saying but there are some who will just not consider an alternative viewpoint and will downright deny any limitations of their work etc etc...maybe it's just to cover up insecurities! My sup is very funny- she will NEVER admit that she is wrong! Even when it's in black and white- she messed up my supervision time last week and called into my office at 4pm to see why I wasn't at her office for supervision, when the appointment was actually for 5pm. She said that the appointment had never been set for 5pm, and I replied that it said 5pm on the online lab calendar and had done for several weeks (which is where she puts all our appointments with her). She denied that it was on the calendar for 5pm and turned down my offer of opening it up to show to her! She's a strange one! She also frequently denies things that she has said and actually accuses other members of the team of having remembered things incorrectly etc, even when there's written proof of what was said! But she has you beginning to think that you're in the wrong after a while! Professors, eh?!! KB

Damn you Wal...the only thing I noticed about today is the fact it's payday! KB

Good, it's not just me then! Sometimes when I get like this I wonder if it is a bipolar thing going on, because when you've had it for a while it's easy to lose the distinction between what is completely normal and what might be an early warning sign! Today hasn't been too bad, I'm just struggling in writing up my results papers and wishing I had a bit more support from my supervisor at this stage, but she's so busy and I'll get my head bitten off if I ask for more help! There are other things going on as well- I'm so stressed about what is going to happen after my PhD now I have my boyf to think about too, and the counsellor I have seen for 7 years is retiring and I'm getting myself upset about that because she's been fab and I've got so used to seeing her every week. Anyway, I'm going home this weekend to see my mates, my little nephews who always make me smile, for mothers day meal and for a day trip over to Ireland to visit my grandad...so at least that will give me something else to think about for a few days! Hope everyone else has got something nice planned too because it sounds like we're a right up and down lot. Thanks for your input everyone, it's so nice to have some reassurance! Best, KB

Does anyone else feel like they're on an emotional rollercoaster at all? At the moment I seem to go from being over the moon when I get a paper published or something, to being in the depths of despair when I get a shedload of negative feedback to plough through, and back up again when my boyf does something really sweet and thoughtful or I see a new photo of my amazing little nephews. I know I'm bipolar, but I don't even think it's that....I just feel so sensitive to the smallest things at the moment. One tiny little thing can reduce me to tears or make my day. I'm not normally this prone to this type of thing unless I'm ill! Best, KB

Hey Mlis. I'm not yet in the same position as you, although I could well be by the end of the year. So on that one I can't really offer much advice just yet. But I wanted to post because you sound so down and I know how awful depression can be, so I just wanted to be supportive. You know, the main thing is to get some help for how you're feeling right now...everything else should come second to that. So tomorrow get out of bed and make that doc appointment, counsellor appointment, or whatever kind of help you need. A few years ago I contacted the Samaritans by email for a few months when things were really bad, and it helped. It won't solve your problems, but at least you have a little piece of something that says someone gets you and understands how you feel. Find something to busy yourself with- even if it's just some voluntary work for the moment, it will give you a reason to keep going. In the end you will find something- you've just gotta stick it out until the right thing comes along. I've had some horrendous ups and downs over the years, and every time my mum tells me it'll work out it means nothing at the time. Just a bit further on, you'll be able to look back, seeing things from a different perspective, and see that most things really do happen for a reason. But for now, look after yourself. Get help, you can't possibly even be in the right frame of mind for jobhunting when you're feeling so awful anyway. And keep us posted on how you're doing- things will work out, because they always do in the end. Best wishes, KB

Hey all, thanks for your replies. I guess I am just feeling a bit down in general at the moment and that makes all this feedback seem more daunting. I don't usually take to the drink (I'm not really allowed to drink cos of my medication) but I will make sure I keep it to a minimum, the last thing I need is to become a raging alky! I think you're right- it is maybe the hardest bit, and I just don't have experience of writing these types of papers, but I feel a bit better about it today.

You are right Sneaks- I tend to give her drafts of things but then she treats them like the final version and then makes comments which aren't really relevant for a first draft, although they would become relevant later on before i send them off to journals. I did write FIRST DRAFT in the top right hand corner of each paper this time though, just to remind her!  I think part of the problem is that I took very naturally to my first few papers and my very first paper got accepted in a really good journal, so I sort of set the bar really high. And I can't really top that- it will probably be the highlight of my career even ten years from now! So now I'm struggling to even put a decent draft together I feel really inadequate and I can sense her frustration with me (although I admit I am probably over-sensitive and exaggerating this in my own head).

I guess I'll get the hang of it in the end- I am still learning and I need to remember that!
Cheers all, KB

Hey huhu- I agree with the others, I don't think the time it takes means anything other than whether you have got a couple of snappy reviewers or a couple of last-minute ones. In my experience I have waited between 6 weeks and about 3-4 months for reviewer comments, which isn't too bad compared to what others seem to have waited. There are some journals that are just slower than others full stop, but you can always email the editor (or editorial assistant) if you want to check on the progress of your submission and you can't do it online. I recently re-submitted a paper and usually after a resubmission the decision is fairly quick- anyway after about 7 or 8 weeks I emailed the editor and he emailed back to say he had a big grant deadline coming up and that was why the response was slow, but after emailing I got a response the next day saying that it had been accepted. So I wouldn't attach too much importance to how long you're having to wait! Best, KB

Hey Ecas! No, it's certainly not too late to submit it! Often papers get published when they're based on data that was collected a year or two ago, because that's how long it takes to get round to writing the papers up and analysing them. There's a girl in my office who finished her PhD about 18 months ago and she is still writing new papers and getting them published. Obviously it's nicer if the data is recent, and the other thing is that if you delay it for a very long time someone else might have been studying your topic and beat you to it! But 6 months is fine- go for it! Good luck! KB

Hey all. Sorry, have had a few drinks after a hard day so might ramble a bit. I know the PhD process is different for everyone, but for me it has been reasonably straightforward until now. I have written a few chapters and had them published, my sup has been impressed and seems to have built up high hopes for me. Yet now I'm on to writing up my empirical (quantitative) papers I can't seem to get anything right, and I just feel like she's really disappointed with me. It's just so much 'constructive criticism' it's hard to take. I can't work out where and why I'm going so far wrong but I just don't seem to be getting it at all. I just feel really down and it would help if we could have a proper discussion about it but she always seems to be so rushed at the moment. She is making the effort to highlight the positive aspects but it barely disguises how much I'm doing wrong. For the first time in my PhD, I'm really beginning to doubt myself and my ability as a researcher. I know this is a common experience, and there are other anxieties that are making things harder for me than normal, but it's difficult to get this far feeling reasonably okay about how I'm doing, to suddenly feel like I'm stumbling at one of the final hurdles, and stumbling badly. I don't normally drink in direct response to my problems/anxieties, but I seem to be doing this a bit more than normal right now. Any advice/similar stories would be really helpful! Cheers, KB

I always find it strange when the clocks go whichever way they just went. I like going home from the office when it's dark because I feel like I've worked until really late, then when it gets all light and I leave while it's still light, I feel like I'm buggering off early! Is it just me?!! KB