In 2025, no cases of plagiarism were recorded in academic works in Tajikistan. However, the use of artificial intelligence was detected in over 100 academic works, leading to their rejection. This was announced by Saifiddin Davlatzoda, Chairman of the Higher Attestation Commission (HAC) of Tajikistan, during a news conference in Dushanbe on January 27.
Davlatzoda explained that 602 academic works were submitted to the HAC in 2025 for academic degrees. Of these, 568 theses were approved: 78 doctors of sciences, 406 candidates of sciences, and 84 doctors of philosophy (PHD). Another 34 works are still pending approval.
He also mentioned that last year, the HAC annulled 46 decisions of dissertation councils due to non-compliance with established requirements. Most of these dissertations, primarily in the category of candidates of sciences, were rejected due to exceeding the allowable 15% threshold for citations, improper formatting, and publication in non-prioritized journals.
“The citation norm is 15%. Exceeding this threshold impacts the originality of the text. Scientific articles must be published in peer-reviewed journals, and their structure must meet specific requirements. Otherwise, we will annul the dissertation council’s decision,” said Davlatzoda.
Use of artificial intelligence
The Chairman of the HAC expressed concern over the increasing use of artificial intelligence in academic works. Last year, this led to the rejection of more than 100 works, as their defense was not allowed. Davlatzoda stated that in 2025, the use of AI in academic works increased sixfold compared to the previous year.
“We have a program that precisely determines which parts of the dissertation were written using AI and which type of AI was used,” he explained. “At this point, no dissertation written with the help of artificial intelligence has been defended.”
Davlatzoda emphasized that scholars need to study the culture of AI usage and use it as an assistant rather than a replacement. “AI should not be asked to write a dissertation for us. It cannot handle this task. We must use it to advance our work, but not forget that AI merely processes existing information, not conducting original research,” added the HAC Chairman.
Earlier concerns
This is not the first time that the HAC has raised concerns about the use of AI in academic works. In October 2025, the commission had already addressed the issue.
Additionally, plagiarism has been an ongoing concern in Tajikistan. In May 2024, President Emomali Rahmon criticized the HAC for ineffective measures in combating plagiarism, noting that “DissNet” had identified 150 cases of plagiarism among Tajik scientists, including high-ranking officials.
