I have my viva coming up soon, I was wondering how many papers you should have to be confident that you will not fail your phd? I have two papers, both in journals. I'm not happy with my thesis, but I've shown that some of it is publishable.

I am interested in the same thing. I was encouraged to publish and have done several times. But now I am exhausted and my almost final thesis product is not exactly fabulous - more a collection of papers, and potential paper - but not a convincing thesis.

I am hoping that this is enough

I think it may be about the quality of the publications e.g if they are in high impact factor journals then it should be fine. I've decided to try and get all my studies published before submission - that would make me so more confident walking into the viva. of course the comments from reviewers will also enhance it!

Clearly the quality of the papers is important, but in my field (environmental science) many students now have three papers that makes up their thesis (thesis by paper format). I would say that with your two papers, you should be confident that you will pass ( I would have thought...) and I presume you have some additional chapters..

i've been thinking of this as well. i think my thesis idea is convincing, but the argument could be stronger. am almost afraid of being told i haven't gone deep enough into literature.

my plan is to publish a few more papers in journals that will publish in three months time. max. i start sending papers out next week. a problem for me remains perfectionism. i find myself wondering whether i should read more and make sure am up to date when in most cases i would have been more than up do date had i sent in the first draft.

am happy to see that am not the only one relying on this strategy. so far i have one publication directly related to my thesis. the other is more general. if i can get two more particularly on the theoretical framework and discussion chapter i would be well happy.

fingers crossed.

Chris - i feel the same about my last chapter which is the discussion chapter. hang in there.

Jojo: it is exactly my last chapter that is creating the problem too!
Good luck with yours.

The better one of my papers will be in a flagship journal of my field this summer, so I am pinning my hopes that with this under my belt, a pass is more likely.

OMG I'm worried now.
I have been ill during the early stages of my PhD and not had any papers published at all; I have only given one conference paper and I am on track to complete in the next 6 months.
I thought getting a thesis written was enough to pass; as it has been a huge commitement.
I am in a humanities discipline - perhaps you are in the sciences. Is there a difference expectation.
Please let me know to put my mind at rest!

In the humanities it's not expected that people publish papers. Many supervisors will very firmly tell their students to wait until after the PhD is finished.

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I am in the humanities, and it is normal here not to publish until completed - though increasingly some do get papers out towards the end of the third year. So don't worry. My supervisors wanted me to get papers out earlier in part because they thought it would help me write the thesis and it will also bolster the cv.

It is still possible to get postdocs and posts in humanities disciplines without publications, but I expect that these will become increasingly rare as the humanities adopt the "publish several papers" before you're done mentality. I am not sure if it is good or bad. Certainly if feels nice to have things in print or press - but this has pushed me some way over the 3 year deadline.

Also, at least in humanities PhD's there is no requirement that one publishes to pass the PhD. It is still all about the thesis. Hence why I am worried because the thesis is patchy - so time spent away on publications was perhaps not best spent.

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I'm in the sciences. My two papers covered two of the chapters in my thesis. One was in a good enough journal, the other wasn't in one with a high impact factor. My thesis is quite short in comparison with other theses in my field, im really dissappointed with it. :$

I'm in my third year and hoping to put publications together over the next few months and then put the thesis together. Although it feels like I am running out of time whichever way I look at it.

The correct answer is "zero" - having published papers is not a requirement for passing your PhD viva, and on the other hand, published papers do not give any "guarantees" either. So no scaremongering, please;) (I'm speaking here form the point of view of someone who very recently and successfully defended her PhD with minor corrections. The fact that I had a paper published never entered the conversation during the viva, my examiners based their decision solely on my thesis and performance during the viva - these are the rules).

I know it isnt a requirement to have papers published but I'm asking how many you should have to be confident you wont fail?
Example: If they question the quality of a certain piece of work I have done(which im sure is going to happen), I can argue the fact that this bit has been reviewed by people in this field and has been published. :-)

i don't see why anyone should be scared - it is not a competition. :-) i am in the humanities. i agree with lilbobeep. having papers published and possibly attached to the appendix of the thesis does help things - esp the odd question of having to convince a passionate examiner on the validity of an argument or in my case, that the facts are true as stated in the thesis especially if one is writing on an area where there are little or no publications.

lilbobeep - congratulations on submitting! i think what you should focus on is knowing and defending the limitations of your thesis and try not to be too anxious - though that is almost unavoidable. according to one examiner, some students let on less than they know in the actual thesis. you could act like you are one of these and still get your PhD. best of luck!