Finnish researcher was not responsible for RCR violations suspected by a foreign professor (TENK 2022:14)

Professor A from a foreign university suspected that Finnish technology researcher B who had worked under A’s guidance was guilty of misappropriation, the denigration of other researchers and the manipulation of authorship in a manuscript that B had offered for publication in a scientific journal after returning to Finland. Professor A’s allegations of RCR violations were processed in a preliminary inquiry by the research organisation to which B had returned from the foreign university.

After an exceptionally comprehensive preliminary inquiry, the director of the research organisation decided that no RCR violations had been committed with regard to the manuscript and that there was no reason to initiate an investigation proper. Professor A was dissatisfied with the decision and requested a statement from TENK.

TENK found that the preliminary inquiry commissioned from an external expert was carried out in accordance with TENK’s guidelines and that B had not committed any RCR violations.