I have had a number of requests lately about the end of the PhD. What to do about ‘gaps’ last time, or in this case, what is ‘enough’ for a PhD. In some ways I think both of these questions, obliquely, refer to the fear of finishing a PhD. For many people, the idea of being afraid of finishing the PhD might come as something of a surprise. The PhD is a long hard slog and is something we talk a lot about ‘getting through it’ or ‘putting it behind us’ - in other words, for many, we can’t wait to finish it! There is though a definite cohort who fear the end of the PhD, although they might not recognise that is what is going on, so today I want to work through this, and then answer the question: what is enough for a PhD?

Is it your fear talking?

If you feel hesitant about submitting your PhD, you might well have the following thoughts:

• This thesis will fail

• This thesis is not good enough

• I’m not good enough

• This thesis did not go as I wanted it to, so it is not going to pass

• I don’t think I have done enough

• What will I do once I press submit?

• What will I do for money?

• Who will I be once I submit this thesis?

• What will the future be when I am not writing this thesis?

Most of these feelings can be equated with the experience of ending anything. If you ever teach students across a programme of study, you will witness this feeling time and again. First years are full of optimism and excitement and insecurity, second years are bored, but ask final year undergraduates how they feel two weeks into the final year (9 months to go), they get this look of terror. Oh no, this part of my life is coming to an end and now I have to figure out what comes next. No more school. No more provided structure. The real world awaits and it is terrifying. They remain stunned like deer in the headlights right up to the pre-exam period where they work like their life depends on it. The fear of ending is unsettling, and it is no different towards the end of a PhD.

Check for signs

What should you check for to check if it is enough? Word count is the first place to start - have you literally created enough text (by this I mean the maximum word count allowed?). A short thesis is a light thesis and that is not a good sign. Is your structure correct? Have you spent time writing the PhD together as one coherent whole (the final editing)? Is there massive gaps in theory / methods /data or analysis that you have consistently refused to tackle because you think it is too hard? Is there a consistent bit of feedback from supervisors you have left unaddressed (this will come back to haunt you in the Viva)? Has it been properly referenced, and presented? These things cannot be ignored, and you absolutely need to do more work.

What should be there?

A PhD is an original contribution to knowledge. You need to make that claim, demonstrate it, and substantiate it. That is what needs to be there. You should be able to say why this work matters.

What does your supervisor say?

This is tricky and can be a double-edged sword.

Experienced supervisors will tell you the following things when you have done enough: you are ready; stop dragging your feet; it is time to submit. They will tell you that done is better than perfect, and that it will probably never be perfect, but you have done enough to get through. A PhD is not the Nobel prize. It is just a PhD and hopefully the poorest work you do as a scholar. Experienced supervisors will also tell you no: this is not done, you need to address X and Y before we are at this stage.

Unfortunately, inexperienced supervisors can become nervous (for you, but also for their own reputation) and stand in the way of submission even though you might have done enough. It is very hard for students to know the difference between these two types of supervisor, and that is when we need to listen to the supervisory team as a whole. An experienced supervisor who knows they have been telling you to do X from year 2 (you didn’t, and still have not, and this is a very BIG PROBLEM) is giving good advice, but an inexperienced supervisor might say similar things, when in fact, this comes from a different place - this is not the thesis they would have written. They don’t agree with it, therefore it is not done.

Toxic supervisors are on a whole other level, and they actively try to stand in the way of some PhDs completion, because they benefit from the PhD students labour.

Only you know what kind of supervisor you have, and the quality of the relationship you have with them.

Time to decide

Ultimately it is your PhD and you must make the call. Have you made, demonstrated, and substantiated an original contribution to knowledge? Is it well written and professionally produced piece of text? Have you abided by the regulations governing the PhD for your programme? Are you just fiddling around now because of fear, or have you run out of energy without having done the work you needed?

These are really tough questions to ask yourself, but the ones you need to ask to answer: is this ‘enough’?