Know your rights
The responsible conduct of research
The Finnish Advisory Board on
Research Integrity (TENK) is appointed
by The Ministry of Education and Culture
in Finland.
TENK provides the guidelines for the responsible
conduct of research and for handling alleged violations
of conduct (the RCR guidelines) in co-operation
with the Finnish research community.
The objective is to promote the responsible conduct
of research while ensuring that the alleged violations are
handled with competence, fairness and expediency.
In order for research to be ethically acceptable and
reliable and for its results to be credible, the research
must be conducted according to the responsible conduct
of research. Applying the guidelines for the responsible
conduct of research within the research
community constitutes a form of self-regulation that
is bound by legislation. Furthermore, the responsible
conduct of research is an integral part of the quality
assurance of research organisations.
The premises for the responsible conduct of research
provided by the RCR guidelines are: 1. The research
follows the principles that are endorsed by the
research community, 2. The methods applied for data
acquisition as well as for research and evaluation, conform
to scientific criteria and are ethically sustainable.
When publishing the research results, the results are
communicated in an open and responsible fashion that
is intrinsic to the dissemination of scientific knowledge.
3. The researcher takes due account of the work
and achievements of other researchers by respecting
their work, citing their publications appropriately, and
by giving their achievements the credit and weight
they deserve in carrying out the researcher’s own research
and publishing its results. 4. The researcher
complies with the standards set for scientific knowledge
in planning and conducting the research, in reporting
the research results and in recording the data
obtained during the research. 5. The necessary research
permits have been acquired and the preliminary ethical
review that is required for certain fields of
research has been conducted. 6. Before beginning
the research or recruiting the researchers,
all parties within the research project or team
(the employer, the principal investigator, and
the team members) agree on the researchers’
rights, responsibilities, and obligations, principles
concerning authorship, and questions
concerning archiving and accessing the data.
7. Sources of financing, conflicts of interest or other
commitments relevant to the conduct of research are
announced to all members of the research project and
reported when publishing the research results. 8. Researchers
refrain from all research-related evaluation
and decision-making situations, when there is reason
to suspect a conflict of interest. 9. The research organisation
adheres to good personnel and financial administration
practices and takes into account the data protection
legislation. In addition, researchers also need to
comply with the practices listed above when working
as teachers or instructors, when applying for research
positions or for research funding, as well as when functioning
as experts in their field both inside and outside
the research community.
Violations against the responsible conduct of research
constitute of research misconduct and disregard
for the responsible conduct of research. Legal matters,
such as copyright or criminal violations cannot, however,
be handled as a part of the RCR procedure.
The procedure for handling the alleged RCR violations,
consists of three parts: a written notification, a
preliminary inquiry and the investigation proper. Every
step of the procedure must be well documented and notification
of an alleged violation must also be reported to
TENK. The procedure is carried out by the University or
rersearch institution itself, but the procedure must be
conducted fairly and impartially. Should the organization
refuse to begin the proceedings or should the procedure
not meet the requirements of the RCR guidelines,
both the party suspected of the violation or the party
suspecting a violation, are entitled to a statement from
TENK, whether the procedure has been conducted accordingly
and or has there been in violation of the RCR.
TENK and some trade unions are organizing a seminar
on responsible conduct of research May 9 2016.
text Mia Weckman
lawyer, the Finnish union of
university researchers and teachers
- Painetussa lehdessä sivu 42
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