Hi,

I am in my final year phd and final stage, I am currently in the middle of writing up my thesis. Unfortunately, my last paper just get rejected from a conference last saturday. I felt it is a good paper and should be accepted, but s*** happens.

Now, i am very panic about my thesis, and I only have one peer reviewed conference paper to support my thesis. My supervisor's wants me to have two papers,then I am in. But since that paper just gets rejected and with a short time left (I plan to submit my thesis in September). I feel there are not enough publications to support my thesis. I am trying to figure out a plan B to rescue my paper, and I looked all related conferences, and it seems no one matches the schedule (September). Even there is one time is short, by the time I submit my thesis, my paper will be still under the review, and even worse if it gets rejected again. What should i do? any advice? I sent emails to my supervisor about my paper and no replies yet.

What does external examiner expect from your thesis? If I walk into viva with only one publication, does it seem too weak to examiner? I am trying to find out policy about publication requirement from my uni, but i couldn't find one. I saw every one else from my department walk into their viva with a list of publications. thus, i panic a lot about my publication record. What should I do?

*Edited due to bad language*

I could be wrong but I haven't heard of conference presentations being a necessary condition for a PhD. An examiner might be influenced by a publication in a peer-reviewed journal, but I don't think they will be influenced much by invitations to conferences. On the other hand it is wise to do what your supervisor says, and although it is a bit late you might consider applying to present your work at every possible relevant conference in any part of the world. Also, get your supervisor's advice on what part of your thesis has the best chance of publication in a peer reviewed journal.

Thanks for your replies, I think in the worst case i have to prepare myself to defense my thesis with only one publication. I just found it is surprisingly hard to get the work published in a conference. I felt I have done a lot, but those reviews just never satisfied .... i feel i am so disappoint about academia...i had a totally different aspect of view from my 1st year phd now...i don't know if anyone else feel the same...