I really feel for you Gauio. You are in a very difficult position. you have a few options at this stage and all involve a bit of risk.

1) include forged data in thesis and hope know one ever notices

2) write your thesis without fake data, and be prepared to explain why you don't have the additional graphs and analysis that were in papers in your thesis

3) just walk away now and start a new Phd somewhere else.

so option 1; if you or your supervisor ever gets found out or investigated you will lose your Phd and your academic reputation. This could happen next year, 2 years time or 10 years time . you will never know and it is largely out of your control because it depends on careless and risky your supervisor decides to be in the future. You can move on and distance yourself from him, but if he proceeds with this line of conduct there is a chance he will get found out down the line.
google Deidrick Staple_ he is a social psychologist who forged most of his data, was eventually found out and 10 Phd students who had over the years completed Phd with him got their Phd award taken off them.

maybe he never gets found out; but there are a lot of ways he could. If he is too careless people will doubt his findings, if not now, maybe in the future (I think this is what happened to Staple)
if he puts other students in your position, they may be forced to 'out' him.

Option 2: this to me is a better option, less likely you will get your phd award taken away from you (if it is awarded). but here's the rub__ how do explain the difference between the papers and the thesis without arousing suspicion?? i don't know your field and maybe if your examiners haven't read your papers you could get away with it... but they could easily google you and find your papers when they are reading the thesis.
so how do you explain it??
and if your arouse their suspicion, you will then be accused of including forged data in a published paper... I'm not even fully sure of the consequences of this but I would imagine its the end to academic career and you may not get your phd.

Option 3: very drastic, but you start again and this time 4 years you have phd and nothing to worry about.

response continued in second message

Hi , hoping someone can help with access to this article

Title:
Socioeconomic Status and Paranoia: The Role of Life Hassles, Self-Mastery, and Striving to Avoid Inferiority.
Author(s):
Anderson, Fraser;Freeman, Daniel
Source Title:
Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease
Year 2013
Vol 201
issue 8
pp 698-702

Thanks

You seem happy with decision and you should be. I also think you made the right choice. Academia is not such an attractive a career that it's worth five years of mental and financial stress. You sound smart, I'm sure there's lots of better options out there for you.

You quit at right time in my opinion.

I agree with all above posters.... but just for peace of mind, can you back them up yourself in some way (or is that what your trying to do?) either way, paranoia aside, backing up a lot is never, ever a bad thing. accidents can happen, viruses ect. so I have decided I will embrace paranoia when it comes to backing up my work. So I save important files in multiple locations ect.

However, having said that, without knowing any more details than you have given, it does appear that you are being a bit paranoid thinking someone would deliberately want to destroy your files, and somehow tell exam board and get your PhD award revoked. seems a bit far stretched.

I recommend finding a good counsellor or therapist ( there not all equally good) so be careful.

I also recommend this book ' overcoming paranoid and suspicious thoughts' by Daniel Freeman

under stress, anyone can become a bit paranoid, it doesn't mean you are pathologically abnormal or have a major mental illness. I'm not suggesting that. but just like under stress anyone can get depressed or anxious, anyone can become a little more suspicious than necessary too.

Best of luck and CONGRATULATIONS on the PhD!!!!

I am not fully certain what you should do, it depends, in part, on how important school ranking is to you. But I do know that being able to secure funding is an important part of being an academic and one of the criteria you will judged upon when applying for jobs in academia. Apparently, and this may not apply to your field, self-funded phders are sort of looked down and at a disadvantage when applying for jobs. so that's something to consider.

Also doing a Phd is hard enough, without financial stress, I say this as a partially funded Phd student. And i.m.o going into debt is not worth the investment, especially if you factor in lost earnings and even more especially when you consider how precarious the academic job market is.

One thing that could offset going to a lower ranked uni is getting publications in good journals.

Just some food for thought. can't say I know what you should do.... maybe it would good idea to speak with an academic (not one of your potential supervisors) and see what they think... if you know someone whose opinion you trust.
I found career services in my uni, are not all clued in.... so beware of them.

Congratulations Emmadreams... This is huge achievement. with your experience I m sure you will do brilliantly.

so i go this ridiculous spam into my direct message. clearly some kind of money scam... mods can you look into it... it was sent someone named 'trustee'

I have copied and pasted the message below

Hello
God bless you and thanks,
how are you? Happy to meet you. I got your contact via this site, I seriously have interest to invest on a profitable business in your country, the money I want to invest was acquired from my church member, and then I was his financial adviser. The amount to invest is ($14.5 million US dollars) presently, but I’m the present Catholic Church leader in my parish, if you will like to assist me as a partner, you must have the fear of God? kindly indicate your interest, and all other details relating to the funds will be revealed to you as we progress on. Confidentiality contact my direct e-mail address (couldn't paste the email address) also indicate your direct telephone number, when replying this mail, God will guide us and with good health Amen,
God bless you and your family,
Rev, Chris

Hi Mako, I have couple of unrelated points to make in response to your post.

Firstly as with anything getting onto phd programme can be partly a matter of luck. having said that there a few things that can help your application..
1) good undergrad (good gpa)
2) masters with research experience (ideally a research thesis where you go a decent grade)
3) actual research experience.... so if you are finding it hard to get on PhD programme getting a job as research assistant where you learn research skills and have practical experience is great to improve your chances of getting accepted but will also be invaluable experience should you actually pursue a PhD.
4) presenting research at student conferences is also nice to have on your cv.

Aside from all this practical advice there is one thing that stood out from your post.... firstly you labelled it 'always fail' and you seem to be taking it very personally and getting emotionally down about not finding a suitable programme yet..... this sort of staking your value as a person and your self-esteem on academics (something I have been guilty of) is really not a good mental attitude to have if you are going to be a PhD student and later, academic. it leads to taking things too personally and subsequent stress. depression and burn out. and perfectionism and procrastination.
Nobody's worth as person is defined by doing a PhD.... very few people do a phd and plenty of smart successful people have exiting fulfilling meaningful lives doing other things....
Your focus seems to narrow and it seem like (to me) you can't see the woods (life) from the trees (this short term aim of doing a Phd). ....

sorry if I am guilty of interpreting your post from my own experiences.... maybe you don't feel this applies to you, so if doesn't just ignore it.

just wanted to add and hadn't space in last message

People are emotional beings at the end of the day, so you need to sell yourself and your case at meeting. 2 publications are great: this all universities really care about (my uni anyway). You have a lot going for you going going into this meeting. Don't let self-doubt take that away from you.

Good luck. every problem has a solution.

I am sorry to hear of your situation. But it does seem like there are solutions, provided others are prepared to work with you (not a given, I know, but you have reasonable grounds).

From what you wrote, it seems like if you had a year you could get it done, but you only have 6 months left. I would ask for a meeting with supervisors/committee/ head of dept. I would demonstrate 2 things in that meeting. Firstly, what you have been doing in last 3.5 years and as result why you need an extension. and secondly your plan for proceeding forward with time line. So you need to sit down and make realistic plan to finish before the meeting. Be realistic, but i think if you need 14 months not 12 better ask for that now not later. I wouldn't expect to be funded for that 6/8 month extension- not saying that is right- but i just wouldn't expect it. So that's another hurdle... if you can't get a loan from family member or friend , maybe credit union or bank (live frugally, it will be worth it, since you have come this far)

I would document meeting and try to keep record of as much as possible (emails ect) . Maybe if there is a grad student adviser I would go to him/her first. or if you think one of your supervisors would support you, go to them first . it would be nice to have someone in your corner at meeting.

You are not really in a bad position, asking in advance for extension. also you need it due to difficulties that weren't to do with laziness or procrastination; you have been working hard and have valid reasons for needing extension.
I know every school is different. But I know lots of people who got extensions and it wasn't seen as a big deal. some had to pay fees (or partial fees) and their funding wasn't extended, but they got it done and it was worth it.

Contd

I think you need to do 3 things. First talk to your supervisor and ask for guidance in how to move forward. Try and develop a plan together for how to move forward. he/she could make suggestions, you go away and develop a plan based on that discussion and then send it to him/her for feedback.

Second you need to get some breaks and hobbies/downtime built into your days and weeks. This is vital. research can be stressful and if you don't have good self-care you will burn out. exercise is great, it relieves stress and gives you energy and motivation. being outside is also great and some social activities are good. it could be anything from a painting class once a week to a book club or a yoga class.

the third thing I think you need to do is after you have worked on a plan for going forward, is take a 5 day break and go home (if you can afford it all). it will reduce your stress and give you some perspective. if you cant afford that, the international society in most universities organises discounted trips... so you will get to meet other international students and get some perspective and refresh yourself.

If you feel talking to someone would help, there is usually counselling centre in uni or it is possible to find reasonably priced ones outside of uni.

Doing a PhD can be really difficult at times, so don't be too hard on yourself. I feel stupid all the time and am not even doing so great myself, at this current writing up phase. Most phd students have difficult phases and its always a bit harder if your miles from friends and family.

sounds like your feeling a bit disheartened.... every Phd student goes through that phase I think... I know I did.. my advice? get a clear plan for going ahead, but even still be prepared for odd setback. Take a break if your feeling disheartened... you can afford 5 day break.. turn off laptop and phone and you will back with the motivation and energy to keep going.

I think a lot of getting phd has to do with perseverance.

definitely

[/quote] Nothing the original poster said bothered me in the slightest and nor should it. Nothing she did or said will have any impact on me or anyone else on here.

Some of the responses to her were pretty crass and immature.[/quote]

1) I don't think its your place to tell someone how they 'should' react. Your not a moral authority on people's reaction or opinions.

2) it didn't anger me... I thought the thread was amusing.

2) while I found it funny, it did, I will admit, irk me somewhat, not for the reasons you cite, but for professional reasons. Sort of like if someone wanted to be a doctor without the hassle of going to medical school. or how irked I am by people with fake internet PhDs or who simply lie about having having a Phd...

that being said, I do regret my former post, mainly because it was a bit mean. I was hoping since it was started 2 years ago, the poster would not be on the forum. i suppose, in hindsight, ridiculing someone on the net isn't entirely fair...you never know what there going through when they read the post. if I could delete my original post I would

also all that being said, I know of people, with Msc's who managed to get in through part time teaching or admin work and then progressed to a do PhD while still doing admin work/ teaching. So they were in paid employment while doing their PhD's so it was less of financial burden, but also a lot more work.

and it was a lot to do with knowing the right people and being in the right place at the right time.

sounds really tough. I'm not experienced enough to advise. can you talk to your supervisor /grad student support advisor about the possibility of switching to part time to allow you finish and still work to pay off your loans.

A better solution would be if you could negotiate with the bank for an extension on your loan repayments.

Seems like you have come so far, and are a strong candidate, I hope you find a solution.