The final stages of writing
Possibly the most important stage of candidacy is developing the completed thesis. Anecdotally, the advice is to plan how long the last stage will take, and then double the anticipated time. When the thesis is nearing completion, discrete chapters need to be linked to tell the same story. It is really important to make strong connections between the claims made for the need for the research in the early chapters, the literature used to make the case for the research (and to let your examiners know that you are aware of the breadth of the field), the method adopted to explore the topic, and the relationship between the findings and the original claims. The thesis provides the public face of the importance and originality of the topic, and the examiners need to be convinced of that importance and originality. A clear thesis structure helps examiners determine the logic of the thesis and sometimes the logic determined at the start of the process is no longer appropriate. Candidates are invited to comment on the prospective examiners, and a thesis is usually written with specialist examiners in mind. If the examiners require amendments to the thesis after examination, their reports will provide a detailed guide.
Candidate
In order to ensure that the examiners are able to read your thesis and focus on the important research findings, it is important to spend some time dealing with the details contained within the thesis. For instance, a thesis with incorrect or inconsistent references, formatting and spelling, will send a message that the candidate is a sloppy researcher. It is always a good idea to get a colleague to read the thesis to critique the ideas and conceptual flow, and perhaps a friend from outside the field to read for grammar, spelling and the general story.
Principal supervisor
Help your student through the last stages of writing by setting up achievable goals. As you have the final sign off it is important that you also set aside time to read and critique the penultimate work. For candidates this is usually a fairly sensitive time, so feedback on the thesis should be written and returned promptly. Make sure that you discuss the examination process with your candidates – especially what may happen once the examiners reports have become available.