Principles of responsible RDI at Metropolia

Responsible RDI means applying the research communities widely accepted methods in RDI: it combines the best practices of research integrity and science communication with a wider framework of open science culture and responsible evaluation of research outcomes.

Responsible research promotes collectively accepted practices of producing, publishing, and assessing research results. It supports the reliability and transparency, presence, and utilization of science in society. It is part of a broader aspiration towards equality, sustainable development and the effectiveness of science.

Responsible research brings together

• Research ethics
• Openness of science
• Communication of science
• Thematic in evaluation

Get to know the Responsible RDI-guidelines presented by the The Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK (in Finnish)

Get to know the Responsible research site

Get to know more about ethical reviews and the Human Sciences Ethics Committee of the Helsinki Region Universities of Applied Sciences

In Finland, researchers in all disciplines are guided by the following general ethical principles:

• The researcher respects the dignity and autonomy of human research participants
• The researcher respects material and immaterial cultural heritage and biodiversity
• The researcher conducts their research so that the research does not cause significant risks, damage or harm to research participants, communities or other subjects of research

Furthermore, in Finland, all scientific research complies with the guidelines on responsible conduct of research (RCR) drawn up by TENK.

Get to know the The Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK’s site

Metropolia is committed to following the guidelines for the responsible conduct of research and for handling alleged violations of conduct (the RCR guidelines) given by The Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity (TENK).

The RCR guidelines promote the responsible conduct of research and to ensure that misconduct is handled fairly, expediently and with expertise.

Get to know TENKS’s guidelines (PDF)

RDI- activities can be ethically acceptable, reliable and outcomes credible, if they are performed complying with the responsible conduct of research. The principles are part of a self-regulation system of the scientific community, alongside the Finnish legislation.

The basic principles:

1. 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.
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. These agreements may be further specified during the course of the research.
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 organization adheres to good personnel and financial administration practices and takes into account the data protection legislation.
10. Researchers must comply with the principles also when working as teachers and instructors?, when applying for funding or working in expert positions within or outside the scientific community.

Researchers must comply with the principles also when working as teachers and thesis instructors, when applying for funding or working in expert positions within or outside the scientific community.

The RCR guidelines also provide the guidelines for investigating alleged RCR violations in research organizations and specify the instances when parties may request a statement from TENK. The notification of alleged RCR misconduct is to be sent to the respective university or university of applied sciences or to the research institute in which the research has primarily been conducted.

Get to know TENKS’s guidelines (PDF)

Download the Template for reporting allegations of violation of the responsible conduct of research (DOCX)

Research Integrity Advisers at Metropolia

The Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK has created a network of Research Integrity Advisers. Since the start of 2017, TENK has trained more than 100 advisers in more than 60 research organizations to provide low-threshold personal advice on research integrity. The advisers give advice to researchers and other staff in their organization. The discussion with an adviser is absolutely confidential. They may be asked for advice, if, for example, there is a suspicion of a violation of responsible conduct of research or if someone has themselves been suspected of a violation.

The advisers are familiar with the responsible conduct of research (RCR) investigation process monitored by TENK and may, for example, provide assistance in drafting an RCR notification. However, they are not lawyers. They are a neutral source of advice, and they can, where necessary, provide advice to both parties in a dispute. The advisers do not participate in the RCR process and they do not give their view on whether misconduct has occurred. That decision is made by the top management of the organization according to the RCR process

Juha Järvinen
PhD (doctor of Arts), Specialist, RDI services
Juha.Jarvinen [at] metropolia.fi

Anu Valtonen
PhD, PT, Senior lecturer, Rehabilitation
anu.valtonen [at] metropolia.fi

Metropolia has complied with TENK’s ethical principles for research with human participants and ethical review in the human Sciences in Finland.

Download The ethical principles of research with human participants and ethical review in the human sciences in Finland. Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK guidelines 2019 (PDF)

Read the Ethical review in human sciences as a text version

Get to know more about ethical reviews and the Human Sciences Ethics Committee of the Helsinki Region Universities of Applied Sciences

When you wish to study i.e., students, staff, participants, of a certain organization, it is good research conduct to ask for a research permit from the organization. The research permit is the organizations permission to approach its’ representatives, it does not replace the individuals consent to partake in research.

The conditions for granting the permit

• Metropolia is committed to TENK's guidelines. Therefore, the permit can only be accepted if the research adheres to the responsible conduct for research.
• Handling of personal data must be done in compliance with legislation. The researcher is responsible to use data confidentially and only for the study for which the permit is granted
• Once the study is complete, all data must be destroyed in an appropriate manner

The permit is granted on a case-by-case basis for scientific, RDI and/or thesis related research, which is significant either societally or for Metropolia. Significance is evaluated based on the possible harms (for e.g., time, stimuli, data protection risks) for the participant as opposed to the value being sought after.

The research permit

Permit application

The application must include:

• The basic information of the research the researchers
• The responsible researcher or the advisor for the thesis
• The name of the study
• The organizations involved
• The goals and research problems
• The schedule
• The role of Metropolia.

The required attachments

• A research plan (incl. data management plan)
• A description of how participants are recruited and informed
• A description of how consent is managed (either a consent form or another way of how the voluntary knowledge-based consent can be shown)
• All other possible material for the participant (questionnaires, frame for interviews)
• If you handle personal data, the data protection plan must be attached. If your research requires and ethical statement, be sure to attach it to the application.

Metropolia student

A research permit is also needed in thesis work if you intend to collect data from students of staff as part of thesis work. The thesis worker along with their instructor applies for the permit, but only once the research plan has been accepted.

Please attach all necessary documents so as to speed up the process.

Other coursework

The permit is not needed, if information gathered from either staff of students, is gathered for course work. It is however good research conduct, to ask permission for the participation of staff and students by contacting the head of department.

Get to know Arene’s guidelines for responsible thesis work

Get to know Arene's ethical guidelines for thesis work (PDF)

Once the application has been received

Once the application has been sent to Metropolia, the application and appendixes are reviewed, possible amendments or additions are asked forr. After this, the application, is forwarded to the manager of director. The whole process requires about 2-3 weeks.

It is very seldom that Metropolia divulges personal information of staff or students. The most common way for contacting research participants is by posting the recruitment material and questionnaire on Metropolia's Intranet. If you need personal data, please attach the data protection plan as well.

More information on Scientific research and data protection

Metropolia Privacy Policy and GDPR

Data protection plan: Metropolia research permit register (in Finnish)

Further questions, please contact

tutkimusluvat [at] metropolia.fi or laura.pitkaranta [at] metropolia.fi

Metropolia’s objective is to make a stronger impact for the benefit of society. A culture of openness plays a key role in achieving impact, as it guarantees that information produced at Metropolia receives visibility and our competence is communicated effectively. In order to achieve this objective, the methods, materials, products and results of our RDI activities must be as widely accessible and usable as possible.

The culture of open scholarship at universities of applied sciences is described with the concept of open RDI. Universities and other research institutions use the concept of open science and research.

Our open RDI includes the following

• Culture of open scholarship
• Open access to research data and methods
• Open access publications

Metropolia is committed to the Declaration for Open Science and Research.

See the Declaration for Open Science and Research 2020-2025 on avointiede.fi

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