It depends on discipline and university rules though. In my subject/university the rules are that a PhD thesis has to be between 80,000 and 100,000 words long, including footnotes. Much shorter ones would be automatically failed. I've written 50,000 words so far (between 4 and 5 chapters) and think I can easily reach 72,500 but there'll still be a way to go to reach the minimum acceptable level. I write concisely!

But the thing is, her thesis was in science, and so is mine, and imperial and qmul have similar "rules"
i also read in the handbook that states, no more than 100,000 words, but no less than 60,000 words. and i read in a book about how to write a phd, that states to make a thesis at least 60,000 words, anything less will feel like a Mphil.

but just goes to show, sometimes the rules get overlooked!

Thanks Reda!

yeh, i think examiners care more about "content" than word count. so i am not focusing so much about word count, but more on the content.

Bilbobaggins, that's fantastic you have all those words written for a thesis already, you're well on your way! i wouldn't worry so much about word count. My supervisors are always saying, write consise.

My maximum word count is 80,000 (or 350 pages - which ever comes first) and there is no minimum. I'll be happy with 50,000+. Does seem to vary a lot.

Thankfully in my field and our uni the word count counts, well, nothing. It's the content they are interested in and as long as that is up to standard you can have a 30,000 words thesis, nor problem. Maybe it all depends on what subjects you do it in. Mine is in medical sciences and my PhD director and supervisors are not interested in length of the thesis. They prefer good solid research results without any extra information disctracting from them. I am quite happy with that as my thesis definitely does not go up to 80,000 or even 50,000 words.

Smildon, I would be happy with 50,000 aswell! i too have a max of 80,000 words. for my introduction chapter i am going to keep to 25,000 words, i have to set an upper limit to introduction, because i have a tendency to go over the top with literature reviews.

Danzig,
that is very reassuring to hear! i too am doing a phd in science , and my supervisors also go on about consice and to the point! and prefer shorter writings..

how many words does your thesis go up to ?

i would be happy if i reach 50,000 words for my thesis :)

That's a long introduction Lara. Mine's going to go up to 10,000 max, i.e. 1/8 of my total thesis, and that's with extending from the current version. Are long introductions normal in science (I'm arts)? I could review far more journal papers/books in the thesis (I've read masses more that I could comment on) but I've focused instead on the most relevant, contextualised my research appropriately, and then spend the bulk of the thesis describing my new research/findings.

Definitely seek advice from your supervisor though when you see them. They should be able to reassure you about length issues, both overall and individual chapters. Plus remember they have to officially approve your thesis before it can even be examined. So agree this sort of detail with them.

that's good advice !! thanks I will do just that

yah in science it's normal to have introductions around 20,000 -25,000 words. it might end up being less though.

I have to write a max. of 100,000 and normally anything under 80,000 is unacceptable (although there is no official minimum). I am aiming to write 95,000 with approx. no more than 20% of the word count constituting footnotes.

My intro is also a max. of 10,000, & no literature review at all - but I'm law, not humanities.

My science PhD buddies all seem to be aiming for around 50/60k.

Keep up the good work Lara! I'm also in the 'get it finished by September club'!

hurrah! another member of the september deadline. glad to hear it

good luck with your thesis writing,and getting to that word count.

that's reassuring to learn that your science phd buddies are aiming for the 50/60k mark, that makes me feel better.

thanks for the encouragement and support