Guidelines for the responsible conduct of research and for handling allegations of misconduct (the RCR guidelines) have been published by the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK, which is appointed by the Ministry of Education and Culture in Finland. The RCR guidelines have been drafted in co-operation with the Finnish research community. (In the 2023 guideline, the term responsible conduct of research (RCR) has been changed into research integrity (RI).)
The objective is to promote the responsible conduct of research (in Finnish hyvä tieteellinen käytäntö) while ensuring that the alleged violations are handled with competence, fairness and expediency.
- The RI guidelines: The Finnish Code of Conduct for Research Integrity and Procedures for Handling Alleged Violations of Research Integrity in Finland 2023 (PDF)
- Commitment to RI/RCR: a list of organisations that have committed themselves to following TENK's guidelines
- The RI notification: Notification form for an alleged RI violation 2023 (PDF) - Please note, that the notification of alleged scientific misconduct is to be sent directly to the rector/head of the organisation concerned, not TENK.
- Implementation checklist for the 2023 RI guidelines (PDF)
- The RCR notification: Template for reporting allegations of violation of the responsible conduct of research 2012 (DOCX) - Please note, that the notification of alleged scientific misconduct is to be sent directly to the rector/head of the organisation concerned, not TENK.
What is responsible conduct of research (RCR)?
From the point of view of research integrity, the premises for the responsible conduct of research are the following:
The research follows the principles that are endorsed by the research community, that is, integrity, meticulousness, and accuracy in conducting research, and in recording, presenting, and evaluating the research results.
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.
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.
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.
The necessary research permits have been acquired and the preliminary ethical review that is required for certain fields of research has been conducted.
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. These agreements may be further specified during the course of the research.
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.
Researchers refrain from all research-related evaluation and decision-making situations, when there is reason to suspect a conflict of interest.
The research organisation adheres to good personnel and financial administration practices and takes into account the data protection legislation.
What activity falls in the scope of RCR?
Researchers need to comply with the practices listed above also 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.
In addition to research activity, the principles of responsible conduct of research apply to teaching materials, written and spoken statements, evaluations, CVs and publication lists, as well as to societal interaction in both printed and electronic publication channels, including the social media.
Each individual researcher and research group member is primarily responsible for complying with the principles of the responsible conduct of research. Nonetheless, the responsibility also rests on the whole research community: research groups and their principal investigators, the directors of research units and the administration of research organisations.
