I had three informal interviews with the head of the dept, my supervisor, and my co-supervisor (who I haven't seen since).

It often depends on your subject area, and whether money and/or teaching duties are involved.

Well done, Matt!

I should add - I only direct the 'other' forum as I don't want to put my email on here.

Lara, have you sent in all your paperwork regarding submitting? Apparently, it takes 4 months, at a minumum, to get it all sorted, so you may get a few months grace.

You can PM me, on this site, if you would like to discuss submission
http://phdforum.heavenforum.com/welcome-f7/

I have to write a max. of 100,000 and normally anything under 80,000 is unacceptable (although there is no official minimum). I am aiming to write 95,000 with approx. no more than 20% of the word count constituting footnotes.

My intro is also a max. of 10,000, & no literature review at all - but I'm law, not humanities.

My science PhD buddies all seem to be aiming for around 50/60k.

Keep up the good work Lara! I'm also in the 'get it finished by September club'!

I used endnote but eventually gave up on it - too much hassle.

Interesting question - I'm currently finding it difficult to not slip the odd 'I' into my conclusion. Personally, I don't like using first person.

I've never been warned about not using it, but stylistically it doesn't seem to look or read very well.

Well I just read the article (albeit after a few glasses of wine), but... what a load of bollox.

'Freedom' is an academic's main incentive - crap. 'Ego' is more likely to be an academic's main incentive. How can someone have 'freedom' when they are pulling 50/70 hr weeks juggling research (within the restrictive boundaries of the RAE - which is stifling 'integrity/the truth' in favour of 'quantity'), teaching, and acting as counsellor/advisor to students. And where does the 'freedom' exist when many academics are forced to undertake private sector work to supplement their pay? hmmm.

Is this guy basing his experience on his personal diaries, circa 1975??

=== off to find box of gingko bilboa.

What type of cognitive enhancers are we talking about?

I did a quick Google on the concept of 'self plagiarism' and thesis writing: Sheffield find it 'unacceptable' in thesis writing, UCL, Hull, UWE find it unacceptable or to be avoided within their general rules. LSE say previous work can be used, but only if referenced. I only looked briefly, but on that alone (excluding the issue of copyright) ...it's probably best to re-write and cite.

Presuming the practice of copying published papers into one's thesis is allowable - and I should define 'copying' here, I mean literally word-for-word putting the whole or a subtantial part of the content of a published paper into a thesis -then wouldn't every PhD student be following this practice? Ultimately life would be easier and we'd all have more publications.

Personally, I have never heard of anyone doing it... but rather drawing subtantial material from a publication and then referencing, or slotting articles into the back of a thesis, or using abstracts, is the common practice.

Jouri - fair game, if you can do it, then do it, particularly if you have your supervisors' backing. Personally, I wouldn't do it, as some examiners, in my discipline at least, would frown on it.

I have a feeling this issue may boil down to different subject matters, different practices.

You would be wise to check with your supervisors and Senate House.

I was fully funded, but got a bank loan when my PhD overran. HSBC gave me a 'professional studies loan'. The problem is, when I applied (rules may have changed now), they were only interested in giving loans to the traditional professions.....denistry, medicine, law etc. for vocational courses, but if the PhD fell in those fields they seemed okay about it too.

They may have broadened the fields of study now, but they may also be stricter due to the ole credit crunch. Nevertheless, check them out.

Jouri - we'll have to agree to disgree (legally I believe I'm right).