Hi everyone.

I'm trying to finish off my thesis asap, however I'm finding it difficult to judge when to stop! When is it good enough? I'm continually warned that I have perfectionist tendencies, but surely I can't submit while I can see issues? After reading top publications in my field for over 3 years it's hard to understand what standard is required for a PhD thesis.

I'm worried that my supervisors will say it's okay and to submit but that I can see major gaps/flaws.

I'm already in an academic post, so I'm very much looking to get this finished off (it's been a nightmare juggling both after the last few months and I'm sure they'd like me finished soon). My publications will be framed quite differently to the thesis itself because of the way I'll need to chop it up, so really the time I spend perfecting the thesis wont benefit me much in terms of publications. So really passing the PhD is now just ticking a box so that I can move on. However I'm worried about being blase because I have the job - if that makes sense?

How did you decide that it was 'done'?

the easiest is getting your supervisor's approval, if they say it's ready, it's good to go :-)

love satchi

I think the thing is it's down to your examiners. I have three different supervisors all with completely different standards on certain parts of my writing, one saying everything is fine, one in the middle and one saying everything is awful because he is a perfectionist and freaks out about tiny typos etc. So you can imagine it's down to your examiners pickyness but you never fail for small typos or errors, the most you will get is minor corrections!

I agree with this. Supervisor allows you to run free but also pulls on the reigns when needed. Discuss with your supervisor

Thanks everyone for your responses.

What happens if you've lost confidence in your supervisor, and you don't trust their judgement? I've slowly come to realise (mainly through writing papers with him) my supervisor's attention to detail is a lot lower than mine, and not appropriate to the type of work I'm wanting to do. He keeps telling me that it's fine, it'll pass, it doesn't need to be perfect or even the same standard as the journals I'm reading to pass the viva. But what happens if I submit, and the examiner doesn't agree and thinks it should be that standard?

My other supervisor is the opposite and obsesses over small details. Her PhD is via publication as she couldn't reign the thesis in, plus she hasn't supervised a PhD student before (my other supervisor has). I think she'll come back with loads of minor changes.

I don't know which view I should believe...

P.S. it's a qualitative thesis, and it's the theory building that I'm worried about. It doesn't feel as tight as I'd expect, and not as tight as papers I've previously written because it's quite broad.

If you've published papers based on your thesis, and your supervisor thinks it is ready, I think you are probably ready to go.