Responsible conduct of research
Responsible conduct of research forms a basis for all research activities. Responsible conduct of research means practicing integrity, meticulousness and accuracy in all phases of research, using ethically sustainable methods that fulfill scientific criteria, as well as respectful and responsible conduct towards other researchers. Responsible data management as well as openness in sharing the results and conflicts of interest are in the core of responsible conduct of research.
Commitment to responsible conduct of research is primarily up to you, but also to your supervisor, the whole research team, the head of your research unit and the leadership of the University. In addition to good scientific practice, you must take into account up-to-date legislation. At the University of Eastern Finland, violations of good scientific practice are monitored by the leadership of the University (Rector and Academic Rector).
The National Advisory Board on Research Integrity (Tutkimuseettinen neuvottelukunta, TENK) appointed by the Ministry of Culture and Education has issued research ethics guidelines Responsible Conduct of Research and Procedures for Handling Allegations and Misconduct in Finland (pdf) and
Recommendation for Agreeing on Authorship for Research Publications (pdf).
Universities Finland (UNIFI) and The National Advisory Board on Research Integrity (TENK) have also compiled a recommendation Supervision of Doctoral Dissertations and Their Review Process in Finland with a Special Emphasis on Research Integrity (pdf).
You, just like all doctoral researchers, have to be aware of good scientific practices before starting the doctoral studies.
Ethical review and licenses
The ethical committees assess the ethicality of research project and, if necessary, give statements about them. Responsibility for adhering to the ethical guidelines remains with you despite of a statement issued by the ethical committee. Ethical review protects the subjects and ensures the researcher’s legal protection.
You may also need a permit for your research. The research permit practices vary depending on the discipline and research type.
If you use customer and register data generated in social and health care activities for a purpose other than the primary purpose for which they were originally saved, you must apply for statistical data with a data request and individual-level data with a data permit. More information about Act on the Secondary Use of Health and Social Data.
It is good to reserve time for ethical review and research permit practices in your research plan, since processing occurs via established systems and time-frames.
Authenticity check of manuscripts
Turnitin is a tool for checking the authenticity of the text, which you can utilise when ever you write academic texts. You can, for example, check the manuscripts of the scientific articles before submitting them. The doctoral dissertation must be checked with Turnitin before submitting it to pre-examination. More information on the topic: Permission for public examination and pre-examination of doctoral dissertation.
Using artificial intelligence in research
When using AI, there are many questions related to, for example, research ethics, copyright and processing confidential information. Read carefully through The use of AI in teaching and research webpage in Kamu as well as Artificial intelligence (AI) at the University of Eastern Finland in UEF intranet (requires UEF login).
Learn more
Course on Research ethics
On the course Research ethics you will familiarise yourself with ethical thinking and ethical challenges related to different phases of research.
Responsible research
The website Responsible research collects timely information on the topic: good scientific practices, research ethics, responsible publishing and open science.