Hi all,
I recently saw this issue being brought up in another thread. To be honest, I am troubled in general about my low number of publications (0!!!), and I am concerned that it will affect my viva and ultimately, my PhD. My supervisor says that you don't need to have publications to get a PhD, and that the viva will test originality of work, contribution to knowledge, application of principles etc etc.

However, many other academics have told me that it is higly NOT recommended to go for a viva without publications.

I am wondering therefore if my supervisor was just trying to consult me and get me to stop worrying, or if indeed publications are not really needed... Any ideas/thoughts??
Cheers

i don't think that publications are needed to get your PhD.
however:
- having some of your work published means it has been peer-reviewed and that might make the viva easier.
- from a careers perspective we were advised that if you've finished your thesis after three years but don't have any publications yet, it can in many cases be a good idea to not submit your thesis right away, but rather work on some publications first and only later submit your (already finished) thesis. simply because it is better to take four years for your PhD and then get a job, than take three years, be unemployed and unaffiliated for a year while you write publications, and then get a job.
that's what i heard, anyway.

I've never heard anything about publications counting towards the result of the viva... in my university regulations there's nothing about it whatsoever, and I think that the viva must focus on the content of the thesis rather than on things you did on the side. Lots of people in my area have passed without publications so I don't think it's a main issue.

It's got to be better with a string of publications to your name, however MUST you have publications to pass the viva? I think not.

However, if I were you, I would take 3 years and get 2 conferences accepted before you submit. I would also submit a journal before your viva, and then you can put them in your thesis contributions section as "submitted". Even though it may be rejected !!

This is just my opinion though - how many papers are typical for phd students in your field? Personally i want to enter the viva knowing i should pass, rather than feeling borderline, so taking say 4 years to get some publications makes for an easier life.

good luck

By the way, i had a 50% success rate with submitting conferences, so keep sending them out and some will go through !!!

Hi UFO...
as you can probably tell from my username, I am in computer science... Most phd students get 3 to 5 publications, but not necessarily in good conferences. I've also heard of a very few that had 2 or less.. I am concerned.. I am reaching the end of my second year and all papers I submited this far got rejected...

To be honest, this is one of the hardest parts of my PhD. I am working in an area that was completely unknown to me, my supervisor has no knowledge in this area either, and.. I am the ONLY one in the entire department working on this... The papers that we sent out were a bit experimental in the sense that we wanted to see what the community thinks of our work...

I am not trying to find excuses for myself, that's just the way things are... So I am not sure I'll ever get anything accepted for this research!

Recently we had a seminar on publication for PhD students. The advice from the faculty was quite contradictionary: one the one hand- most important thing is your PhD, later you will make publications out of it. on the other hands- with PhD, no publications it wont be easy to find a good job straight away. The conclusion is: publications are not obligatory but are as a bonus. And if you will have a brilliant PhD it will be very easy to make publications out of it.

Hi verdy...
I think I don't quite agree with the statement "if you have a brilliant PhD you will get publications".. Unfortunately, I have seen many academics rejectings the work of others to promote their own work. Also, if you are working on an interdisciplinary area (such as me), it is hard to (a) convice either disciplines of your work and (b) make each discipline understand the other and subsequenty your papers.

I really do hope you are right however! I am just saying that I've seen cases where it does not.

Hi! Well in my field you're doing well if you get any publications out before you submit! I know it helps pass your PhD to have them, and it helps with finding jobs - but it doesn't mean you won't get a PhD! I tried to cram in a publication, but it's taken 4 years just to do the PhD never mind write a publication (you could call me inefficient though), but if I have enough energy I might try to submit a paper after I submit but before the viva. Some subjects or results are difficult to publish (in science if you get a negative result), but it doesn't mean it's not worth a PhD. I wouldn't worry too much