Defense can now be considered with a first publication accepted and a second publication finalized and submitted for publication, under the conditions detailed below.

This modification is applicable from August 2024.

The internal regulations are amended as follows:

Article 13: Doctoral defense

The defense of the PhD is governed by the decree of May 25, 2016 setting the national framework for training and the procedures leading to the award of the national doctoral diploma.

A defense cannot be considered until the candidate:

1 - Has written 2 original 1st authored articles, including 1 accepted (ARTICLE 1) and 1 accepted or submitted (ARTICLE 2), subject to the following conditions:

• Publication and/or submission in peer-reviewed journals indexed in MEDLINE or World Of Science and included in the list of recommended journals (https://conferencedesdoyensdemedecine.org/la-conference-des-doyens-de-medecine-et-du-cnu-sante-luttent-contre-les-revues-predatrices/ - unless justified)
• Excluding editorials or correspondence (which may however be included in the manuscript).
• A systematic review is counted as an original publication.
• Depending on the field and the journal, the research letter format may replace ARTICLE 1;
• A patent application relating to the work carried out may replace ARTICLE 2;
• A paper accepted at a computer conference ranked A or B in the CORE Rankings Portal may replace ARTICLE 1 and/or ARTICLE 2.

2 - Has validated 15 training credits (minimum), including training in scientific integrity.

The purpose of these rules is to make it possible to defend despite the long delays that may be encountered in the assessment of a manuscript for publication. They must therefore be implemented with this in mind, selecting journals for submission that respond in reasonable time.

When ARTICLE 2 is accepted, or requires only minor revisions after review, the defense process should be started as soon as possible.

If the ARTICLE 2 is not yet accepted, it is possible to apply for re-registration for a 4th year as usual. For doctoral students in 4th year or more, the defense should be preferred and any request for re-registration should be strongly justified.

If a defense is planned with a non-accepted ARTICLE 2, it will not be authorized before the 34th month of the doctorate.

The rapporteurs of the thesis manuscript must be informed of the accepted or unaccepted status of ARTICLE2. In the case of an unaccepted article, the submission history, including exchanges with reviewers in the event of revision, will be communicated to the rapporteurs (this need not be included in the thesis manuscript).

Co-first authorship is strongly discouraged for ARTICLE1 and ARTICLE2. For a co-first-author article to be validated, the other co-first author(s) must not be from the same team, and must bring expertise that is clearly different from that of the doctoral student.

The doctoral student, like the thesis supervisor, must comply with the signature rules of the institution where he or she is registered.