Hi All, Just having a panic here, I have 2 weeks til my viva and picking up my thesis I am happy with most of it (coherent etc) but I have made a complete boo boo and missed out quite a lot of references. I have cited them but then not listed them in the back! Not really sure how it happened - it's only my lit review that is like this so all I can think of is I forgot to add chapter 1 refs to my list. I feel very foolish....
In order to recify I will take a list of them into the viva but I am so concerned it looks very bad :(
Any advice gratefully recieved!

I agree that it is an unfortunate mistake, but you have noticed! Should you have gone to your viva without this knowledge then yes you would have looked bad, but you are going in knowing these omissions and will probably have rectified them by then. You could take a copy of the updated refs list with you to show that it has been corrected. Take a full list of errors with you (as there are likely to be more minor ones) and the examiners will be more accepting of the omissions. Don't worry about it as what is submitted is done. Make necessary notes and move on with your prep. Many people will have realised significant mistakes prior to viva and have passed. Good luck with it :-)

Thanks, I realise what is done is done and have set about recifying it right away, at least the other chapters are fine reference wise. I wanted to go into the viva confident but find it being eroded away the more I look at it, I am completely terrified!

It doesn't look very bad. This sort of mistake happens all the time with theses. The main thing is you've spotted it. Add it to a list of errors that you will correct, and take that list into the viva. Don't make a big thing of it on the day. Just pass over the list of errors that you've spotted. I did this at the very start of my viva, and took 3 copies of the error list in, one for each examiner, and one for the convenor of my viva. All were grateful. No big deal.

Thanks Bilbo, I keep seesawing between the anticipated relief that it will all be over soon (aside from corrections, assuming not a fail!) and panic at the viva hurdle. Small things (like missing a bunch of references) really knock my confidence. At the least though my long reference list is now even longer - not sure if this is a good or bad thing but it makes by short thesis several pages longer, even if it is just references!

You really don't need to worry, just write a list of typos/errors you have found and take them with you. My examiners spotted *2* typos, I found more like 150 (not joking!), plus I made a mistake in presenting some of my findings. I thought the latter was a major or I'd fail. But I needn't have worried; the main purpose of the viva is to see you have understood what you have done and recognising your mistakes and thesis weaknesses is all part of that. And yes, I passed, with *minors*. You'll be fine!

Don't worry about it. In nearly every paper that I have reviewed for academic journals, references have been missing. As long as you haven't made them up, they will just ask you to include them in your revision, that's, of course, if they are thorough enough to pick them up!

Haha, no I haven't made them up! I have now found the reference list that was supposed to go in the back of the thesis so have printed it out. A girl from my Masters course did exactly that though - made up references and never got caught... and passed! I will let you know how it goes independant of the result....

Hi All just thought I'd update on the outcome of the viva re: missing references!
It wasn't a problem, one of them said he'd seen a lot worse mistakes in terms of typos/missing things out etc.. What they were pleased with was that I had spotted it and had already updated it for the final copy. As for the viva, as nervous as anything and yes it was a grilling but with lots of positives too. Not an totally enjoyable experience but certainly not a bad one either. Passed with minor corrections (should only take a day).

Oh and thanks too all who replied to my initial thread - you stopped me panicking over something that I could not do much about and move my focus to more important thesis issues to swot up on!

Congratulations 8-)

Thats fabulous news, well done Dr Stuff!

Well done! Best of luck for the future Dr Stuff(up)

Huge congratulations Dr. Stuff 8-)