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To ensure academic integrity and prevent plagiarism, the Paris Institute of Political Studies has banned the use of ChatGPT, the new chatbot capable of instantly writing essays. Without transparent referencing, students are forbidden to use the software for any written work or presentations, except for specific course purposes. The sanctions for use of the software may go as far as exclusion from the institution.

When a doctoral student denounced the theft of her work, she was told that it was part of the game. One in five PhD students in the academic world is facing this practice. According to an online survey conducted among 1,800 PhD students and young doctors, 21% of respondents said they had seen someone else take credit for their work. Concerned about the impact on their future careers, many PhD students choose to remain silent on such abuse.

A professor in political economy at the world’s oldest university has more or less invited his students to copy. It is his way of speaking out against the impunity of certain of his colleagues accused of plagiarism. He announced “I will not be checking to see if you have copied your work as I cannot, in good conscience, ask you to respect rules that the University of Bologna allows it’s professors to violate.”

Over the last few weeks, the various faculties of the University of Lyon have been doing awareness training with their students on the question of plagiarism. Presented as members of the animal kingdom – sheep, parrots or chameleons, the campaign distinguishes between different types of plagiarists: involuntary, negligent or serious.

Denouncing the reluctance of universities to fight plagiarism, French teachers and researchers have launched a petition. They believe it is urgent to act in order to protect the legitimacy of degrees.

The executive Director of the School of Journalism, Sciences Po, is accused of copying/pasting extracts of articles in her chronicles on the Huffington Post, without quoting her sources. The Director of the School of journalism wrote to both students and staff stating that: "the school, that teaches deontology, cannot take lightly such affairs".

According to teacher estimates, 20% of assignments are copied and pasted from other sources. Anti-plagiarism charters should be systematically signed by both universities and students, but nothing can beat the eagle eye of the lecturer.

Students, lecturers: who are the plagiarists? Has the Internet revolutionized cheating? How can we combat this phenomenon, which over the last five years has taken on exponential dimensions.