Academic writing in French is set by the department, and it includes exercises English has no name for. A French dissertation is a timed, argued essay, not a thesis; the long research paper is the mémoire, and the commentaire or explication de texte is a close reading of a set passage. EdCitation publishes this guide. Every rule below was read in French at source on 26 September 2026, and every translation is ours.
We read fourteen documents from twelve institutions in France, Belgium (ULB), Switzerland (Geneva) and Québec (Laval). Citation is covered in French citation norms, and the German counterpart of this guide is academic writing in German. EdCitation's free Check your paper reads a brief and lists its rules, reliably in English only, and Verify references checks a French bibliography against the records. We tested both on French material, and the results are at the end.
What is a French dissertation, and must it be thèse, antithèse, synthèse?
A French dissertation answers a question through a plan announced at the end of the introduction; thèse, antithèse, synthèse is one such plan, and Lille's philosophers teach that a dissertation should not be one. The shape depends on the subject.
In philosophy: three parts, and no happy medium
Université de Lille (2025) lists what a dissertation is not, ending with "Ni une « thèse/antithèse/synthèse »": the third part is neither a summary of the first two nor "un juste milieu", a halfway point. What it does call the most common and classic plan is the plan dialectique: two contradictory answers, then a third part that finds and gets past the assumption both share.
Lille also teaches an analytical plan, denying in turn each of three propositions that cannot all hold. A thematic plan ("I) La vérité, II) L'opinion") is ruled out, because it puts off answering until part three. The exam dissertation runs to 6 to 8 handwritten pages in four hours.
In law: two parts, each in two
Law wants two parts, each split into two titled sub-parts. The methodology booklet of the Institut de droit des affaires internationales (2021), a Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne programme run with Cairo University, asks for balanced parts, a short "chapeau" introducing the sub-parts, and one idea per subdivision; a conclusion is optional. Its stock pairs include "Notion/régime" and "Conditions/Effets".
The annonce du plan
The annonce du plan closes the introduction and states the answer each part defends, not its topic. Lille warns against giving the whole demonstration away, and its model opens "Dans un premier temps nous verrons que…" (first, we shall see that…). In law it is one sentence marked "… (I) … (II)"; the A and B are announced later, in the chapeaux. The English cousins are the argumentative essay and the discursive essay.
How is a commentaire de texte different from a dissertation?
A commentaire or explication de texte explains a passage you are given instead of answering a question. Damamme (n.d.), in Paris 8's sociology department, puts it as "Expliquer le texte, tout le texte, rien que le texte": explain the text, all of it and nothing else.
The introduction names the passage's theme, thesis and argument and announces the plan as its line of argument, "non un résumé thématique", not a list of themes; the body takes one part per movement of the text. Three faults are named:
- Paraphrase: repeating the text instead of accounting for it.
- Generalities: leaving the passage for the author's thought at large.
- The trial ("le procès"): setting out to prove the author wrong, or a separate critique tacked on at the end.
The guides disagree on the page. Paris 8 wants no numerals such as "I" in the copy; law's commentaire d'arrêt at Paris 1 uses titled parts I, II, A and B and needs no conclusion. Follow the one your marker set.
What parts does a mémoire have?
A mémoire runs from a cover page to the bibliography and appendices in an order each university fixes. The guides differ on three points: where the contents go, what the bibliography holds, and whether appendices come before it.
| Part | Its role | Rules read at source |
|---|---|---|
| Page de garde | Title page | University, faculty, title, "Mémoire pour le diplôme de licence en droit", author, supervisor (Paris-Saclay); ULB accepts only its own template |
| Page after the cover | Disclaimer or record sheet | Paris-Saclay: one sentence saying the opinions are the author's and "n'engagent pas l'université"; Sciences Po Toulouse: a bibliographic record sheet |
| Remerciements | Acknowledgements | Optional; "faites simple et pudique", keep it simple and modest (Toulouse) |
| Avant-propos | Foreword | Compulsory at Laval, holding the AI declaration |
| Résumé | Abstract | Laval: in French, at most 300 words for a mémoire (Université Laval, n.d.). Grenoble: French and English, 200 words each, five keywords, on the back cover |
| Sommaire or table des matières | Contents | Paris-Saclay: a one-page sommaire at the front, the full table des matières at the end; Toulouse and Geneva: contents at the front |
| Introduction | Aim, question, plan | One page at most, written last (Grenoble); aim, problématique, state of research, method and annonce du plan (Geneva) |
| Corps | Chapters | Grenoble's teaching mémoire: state of the art at most 15 pages, method and results 5 to 7 each, discussion at most 5 |
| Conclusion | Findings, limits | At most half a page, or merged into "Discussion et conclusion" (Grenoble) |
| Bibliographie | Works used | Every work cited "et aucune autre", and no other (Grenoble); every source consulted (ULB). EdCitation's Verify references matches each entry to its record |
| Annexes | Appendices | At most 10 pages, numbered separately (Grenoble); before the bibliography at Geneva and Paris-Saclay, after it at Toulouse |
In English, see acknowledgements, dedication and front matter.
How long is a mémoire, and how is it formatted?
From 15 pages for a licence mémoire in law to about 100 for a master's. Each guide's own figures:
| Institution (exercise) | Length | Type and spacing |
|---|---|---|
| Lille (philosophy dissertation, exam) | 6 to 8 pages in four hours | If typed: 12 pt, 1.5 spacing, 4 to 5 cm margins |
| Paris-Saclay (licence mémoire, law) | 15 to 20 pages, without appendices, bibliography and contents | 12 pt, Times advised, 1.5 spacing, one side |
| Grenoble Alpes (teaching master's) | At most 35 pages, plus 10 of appendices | Times New Roman 12, 1.5 spacing, 2.5 margins |
| Sciences Po Toulouse (research mémoire) | About 50 to 90 pages; up to 150 for future doctoral students | Times New Roman 12, 1.5 spacing, left margin 3 |
| ULB (master's, information science) | 80 to 100 pages, about 2,000 characters a page | 12 pt, 1.5 spacing; LaTeX recommended |
| Geneva (master's, Japanese studies) | About 80 pages, some 160,000 characters | Not stated |
| Your own programme | Paste its brief into Check your paper for a free checklist, translated first |
Characters, not words
The longer mémoires are counted in "signes", characters with spaces: Geneva equates 80 pages with 160,000 (Todeschini, n.d.). Nollet (2025) at Sciences Po Toulouse calls page count "largement un faux problème", largely a false problem, since a supervisor prefers a short, interesting mémoire to a long one. The English way of counting is in what a dissertation word count includes.
From subject to soutenance
- Agree the subject with the supervisor, as Paris-Saclay requires.
- Find the literature. EdCitation's Find sources covers about 300 million published works and takes French keywords.
- Have the plan approved before drafting, and send one finished chapter early (Geneva).
- Turn the guide into a checklist with Check your paper, after translating it (see the test below).
- Write the body first, the introduction and conclusion last (Grenoble, Paris-Saclay, Geneva).
- Check the bibliography with Verify references.
- Sign the pledge and write the AI declaration your university asks for.
- Defend it. Geneva's soutenance lasts about 60 minutes, usually in public.
What goes in the engagement de non-plagiat, and how do you declare AI?
The engagement de non-plagiat is a signed pledge that you know plagiarism is fraud and have cited every source. Université de Bretagne Occidentale (n.d.) and Nantes Université (n.d.) word it alike: plagiarism, of all or part of a document in any medium, internet included, is "une violation des droits d'auteur ainsi qu'une fraude caractérisée", a breach of copyright and outright fraud. Nantes prints it in French and English.
Where the AI rules differ
The mémoire guides now draw the line on generative AI in three places.
- Declared in every case. Université Laval (2026) requires an AI declaration in the foreword from winter 2026: "Si vous n'avez utilisé aucun outil, vous devez également le déclarer", if you used none, say so too. Without it, submission is delayed. The model opens "Avec l'accord de [ma directrice/mon directeur de recherche]", with my supervisor's agreement, and AI inside Word, Excel or Canva counts.
- Style only. At the Université libre de Bruxelles (2023), tools of the ChatGPT kind may correct style and spelling but never write content; passages you did not write, or do not fully understand, are treated as plagiarism.
- Agreed with the supervisor. Sciences Po Toulouse lets AI guide reading, transcribe interviews or polish a draft, but warns that it sometimes invents answers "probables… mais fictives", plausible but fictitious (Nollet, 2025): the reason AI tools invent references.
An English-language model statement is in our guide on declaring AI use.
Should you write "je", "nous" or "on" in French academic writing?
Mostly "nous", or an impersonal sentence; no guide we read that addresses it welcomes "je". The "nous de modestie" is one writer saying "we".
The guides want it for opposite reasons. Lille wants the writer out of sight: it bans "je" and "moi" and asks for an "impersonnel, neutre, objectif" style, yet prefers a committed "nous soutiendrons désormais que" (we shall now argue that) to the evasive "on pourrait dire que" (one could say that). Nollet (2025) asks for "nous", bans "on" as too vague, discourages the passive, and tells students not to hide their part in the fieldwork behind impersonal phrasing.
One grammar point catches students out: with a "nous" meaning one person, the verb stays plural but the adjective is singular and takes the writer's gender. The Office québécois de la langue française (n.d.) gives "Nous sommes fière de publier les résultats de nos recherches". The English debate is in academic tone: first person and passive voice; for writers working in French as a second language, academic writing in a second language.
What counts as plagiarism, and what happens?
Any wording, idea, translation, table or image taken without its source. The Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour (n.d.) wants quotation marks around an extract "même court", even a short one, and a reference for every paraphrase, web texts and translations included. Its disciplinary section can impose a warning, a reprimand, or exclusion from the university, or from all public higher education, for up to five years or for good.
ULB adds that naming a source once at the start of a chapter, or only in the bibliography, is not enough, and that a jury suspecting fraud may ask for your notes and drafts, so keep them; the penalty can reach the whole exam session. Before you sign the pledge, EdCitation's Check plagiarism, part of Pro at $8 a month and run on credits, shows you privately which passages match published or web text and where each comes from; a match is a prompt to cite, not proof of anything.
What can EdCitation do for a paper written in French?
Verify references and Find sources handle French literature; Check your paper reads French only in part, and Cite a source builds English styles. For a French bibliographie, EdCitation is the strongest check there is: every entry is matched to a publisher's or library record, nothing is generated, and that answers Toulouse's worry about invented sources directly. No part of your mémoire is ever written by EdCitation.
Check your paper on a French brief and its translation
Grenoble's sections 1.1 and 3.9 (35 pages, Times New Roman 12, 1.5 spacing, 2.5 margins, 10 pages of appendices, 200-word abstracts) went into Check your paper as written. The French text gave three rules: font "Times New Roman"; page numbers, from the heading "1.1 Volume, pagination"; and a page count with a target of 35, though "limité à" means at most. It missed size, spacing, margins and the abstract limit, and set the appendices sentence aside.
Our English translation returned four rules: Times New Roman, 12 pt, 1.5 spacing and at most 35 pages. It set two sentences aside for you to check, the appendices limit and "Each abstract is strictly limited to 200 words", and missed the margin, which the guide gives without a unit. So the tool reads English instructions only, for now: translate first, then read each rule against its quoted sentence. Judging the finished paper against those rules is Theoretics QA, in the Max plan at $24 a month.
Verify references on a French list
Five real works on student writing, set out in French ISO 690 form, went into Verify references. All five came back verified. Delcambre (2013) and three others matched on "Title, year and first author match a published record". Kalika, Mouricou and Garreau (2023), the sixth edition of Le mémoire de master, matched on "Title and year match a published record, which names no author": that record holds neither authors nor edition, so check both at the publisher.
Find sources in French
Find sources takes French keywords; mind double meanings. "écriture universitaire mémoire étudiants" reported 45,299 Crossref records, and the seventh was a thesis on magnetic memory, since "mémoire" also means memory. "écrits universitaires étudiants rédaction mémoire de master" put Delcambre's article on the master's mémoire first, and listed two editions of Kalika's book with no author.
Cite a source: six English styles
Cite a source builds APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 18 author-date, Harvard, IEEE and Vancouver, all English-language styles; French forms are in French citation norms. An entry is only as full as its record: the APA 7 entry Verify references offered from the authorless Kalika record began "Le mémoire de master: Piloter un mémoire - Rédiger un rapport - Préparer une soutenance. (2023). Dunod.", title in the author's place. Add the authors by hand.
Quick questions
Is a French dissertation the same as an English dissertation?
No. A French dissertation is a timed argued essay of a few pages, 6 to 8 in Lille's four-hour exam; what English calls a dissertation is a mémoire.
Must a French dissertation follow thèse, antithèse, synthèse?
No. Lille teaches a dialectical plan whose third part gets past the first two rather than splitting the difference, and law faculties want two parts of two sub-parts.
Can I write "je" in a mémoire?
Rarely. Lille bans it and Sciences Po Toulouse asks for "nous"; with a one-person "nous" the adjective stays singular, as in "nous sommes convaincu".
Do I have to declare AI in a mémoire?
At Laval, yes, from winter 2026, even if you used none. ULB allows AI for style only, and Sciences Po Toulouse asks you to agree its use with your supervisor.
Will EdCitation check a French bibliography?
Yes, free: EdCitation's Verify references matched all five French entries we gave it, though one record carried no author names, so confirm anything a record leaves out.
References
- Damamme, A. (n.d.). Méthodologie de l'explication de texte [PDF]. Département de sociologie, Université Paris 8. https://sociologie.univ-paris8.fr/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/m%C3%A9thodo_commentairedetexte17876.pdf
- Delcambre, I. (2013). Le mémoire de Master: Ruptures et continuités. Points de vue des enseignants, points de vue des étudiants. Linguagem em (Dis)curso, 13(3), 569–612. https://doi.org/10.1590/s1518-76322013000300006
- Institut de droit des affaires internationales. (2021). Fascicule de méthodologie en droit 2021-2022 [PDF]. Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and Université du Caire. https://idai.pantheonsorbonne.fr/sites/default/files/inline-files/IDAI%20Plaquette%20m%C3%A9thodologie%202021-2022.pdf
- Kalika, M., Mouricou, P., & Garreau, L. (2023). Le mémoire de master: Piloter un mémoire, rédiger un rapport, préparer une soutenance (6th ed.). Dunod. https://doi.org/10.3917/dunod.kalik.2023.01
- Nantes Université. (n.d.). Engagement de non plagiat: Non-plagiarism pledge [Form, PDF]. https://www.univ-nantes.fr/medias/fichier/engagement-non-plagiat-non-plagiarism-pledge-janv23_1668783993834-pdf
- Nollet, J. (2025). Guide pratique du mémoire de recherche [PDF]. Sciences Po Toulouse. https://consultationmemoires.sciencespo-toulouse.fr/recherche/Guide_du_memoire_de_recherche.pdf
- Office québécois de la langue française. (n.d.). Accord de l'adjectif avec un nous de majesté ou un nous de modestie. Banque de dépannage linguistique. https://vitrinelinguistique.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/index.php?id=21706
- Todeschini, M. (n.d.). Vade mecum pour l'écriture des mémoires de master [PDF]. Unité d'études japonaises, Université de Genève. https://www.unige.ch/lettres/estas/application/files/4317/5861/1130/Vade_mecum_pour_les_memoires_EJ.pdf
- Université de Bretagne Occidentale. (n.d.). Engagement de non plagiat [Form, PDF]. https://www.univ-brest.fr/sites/nouveau.univ-brest.fr/files/2025-07/ubo-engagement_anti-plagiat.pdf
- Université de Lille. (2025). Méthodologie de la dissertation philosophique [PDF]. Département de philosophie. https://humanites.univ-lille.fr/filehumanites/user_upload/docs-pdf/Departement_Philo/Harmonisation_lilloise_-_Methodologie_de_la_dissertation.pdf
- Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour. (n.d.). Formulaire d'engagement anti-plagiat [Form, PDF]. https://bibliotheques.univ-pau.fr/_attachment/votre-memoire-de-master-article-2/0_Formulaire_engagement_anti_plagiat%202029.pdf?download=true
- Université Grenoble Alpes. (n.d.). Guide de rédaction: Mémoire ou écrit scientifique réflexif, master MEEF [PDF]. INSPÉ. https://inspe.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/medias/fichier/guide-redaction-memoire-esr_1589311114064-pdf?ID_FICHE=129061&INLINE=FALSE
- Université Laval. (n.d.). Contenu des sections. Faculté des études supérieures et postdoctorales. Retrieved September 26, 2026, from https://www.fesp.ulaval.ca/memoires-et-theses/contenu-des-sections
- Université Laval. (2026). Déclaration obligatoire sur l'utilisation de l'IA générative dans les mémoires et les thèses [PDF]. Faculté des études supérieures et postdoctorales. https://www.fesp.ulaval.ca/system/files/public/memoires-theses/declaration_obligatoire_IA_generative.pdf
- Université libre de Bruxelles. (2023). Guide du mémoire du master en sciences et technologies de l'information et de la communication [PDF]. https://mastic.ulb.ac.be/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/STIC_GUIDE-MEMOIRE_2023-2024-2.pdf
- Université Paris-Saclay. (2021). Guide méthodologique du mémoire de L3 2021-2022 [PDF]. Faculté Jean Monnet. https://www.jm.universite-paris-saclay.fr/sites/default/files/media/2021-07/guide_methodologique_du_memoire_de_l3_2021-2022.pdf