Research ethics and integrity at Uniarts Helsinki

Published 26.6.2023 | Updated 11.3.2025

Principles of responsible research

The guiding principle for responsible research and research ethics is protecting the subject of research and the research environment. Researchers must take research ethics and integrity into consideration during the entire lifespan of their research: they must adhere to ethical data management and work methods and ensure that participation in the research is voluntary and that research participants’ right to privacy and safety is protected.

Ethical review of research

In Finland, certain research design elements require an ethical review of research. In human sciences and research where methods of human sciences are used, ethical review is carried out in accordance with a set of guidelines drawn up by TENK.

Situations that require an ethical review

The following research settings require an ethical review: 

1. participation in the research deviates from the principle of informed consent,
2. the research involves intervening in the physical integrity of research participants,
3. the focus of the research is on minors under the age of 15, without separate consent from a parent or a guardian or without informing a parent or a guardian in a way that would enable them to prevent the child’s participation in the research,
4. the research exposes research participants to exceptionally strong stimuli,
5. the research involves a risk of causing mental harm that exceeds the limits of normal daily life to the research participants or their family members or others close to them or
6. conducting the research could involve a threat to the safety of the research participants or researchers or their family members or others close to them.

An ethical review statement can also be requested when the funding body or the publisher of the research requires it. However, the researcher should first find out if providing a Finnish requirements for ethical review is sufficient. This description is available from the secretary of the ethical review committee. Uniarts Helsinki recommends conducting an ethical review also when the researcher plans on processing special categories of personal data.

If the research involves one of the aforementioned research settings (1-6) and no ethical review has been conducted, the researcher’s actions may constitute an RI violation.

When requested, the university’s ethical review committee evaluates the research carried out by Uniarts Helsinki researchers in light of ethical principles. The committee compiles their statement based on TENK’s ethical principles of research with human participants and ethical review in the human sciences in Finland. 

Ethical reviews concern Uniarts Helsinki’s researchers

The ethical review committee processes only statement requests submitted by Uniarts Helsinki’s researchers. The principal investigator requesting the statement must be in an employment relationship with Uniarts Helsinki. A sufficient affiliation with the organisation would also be project funding allocated to Uniarts Helsinki for the research in question, the applicant’s grant or a principal investigator’s visiting agreement for the duration of the project.

At Uniarts Helsinki, ethical reviews concern primarily doctoral research and research carried out after already completing a doctoral degree. The doctoral researcher must discuss the need for an ethical review with their supervisor. If the setting for doctoral research is so demanding that a review is necessary, the researcher requests it together with their supervisor. Supervisors of bachelor’s and master’s thesis projects are asked to make sure that the framework of thesis projects is designed so that no ethical review is required. 

The ethical review committee gives statements on research ethics at Uniarts Helsinki. The statement does not count as a research permit, and the researcher is ultimately always responsible for making sure that their research complies with ethical norms. 

Instructions for compiling a statement request

Please note that the statement should be requested in good time before the research has commenced. More detailed schedules and instructions are available on the Artsi intranet.

Uniarts Helsinki’s templates for ethical reviews and statement requests.

Uniarts Helsinki’s ethical review committee

The current term started on 1 January 2024 and will end on 31 December 2026.

Professor Heidi Partti, chair 
Vice Dean Laura Gröndahl 
Doctoral Researcher Hanna Pajala-Assefa
Professor Saijaleena Rantanen
Director of the Research Institute Leena Rouhiainen

Riikka Palonkorpi, PhD, Secretary

A representative of the Legal Services also attends the committee’s meetings.

Research permit application

The actual research permit needed for carrying out the research is granted by the researcher’s home organisation, which is the unit where the research will be carried out. Consent for research participation is given by individual research subjects. 

A researcher must apply for a research permit when they want to carry out research that concerns Uniarts Helsinki’s staff or students. If the research involves the processing of personal data, a privacy notice must be provided as an appendix to the research permit. If you need guidance concerning research permits, you can contact the university’s specialist working for the Research Services.

The Code of Conduct for Research Integrity

Uniarts Helsinki is committed to following The Finnish Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (RI guidelines) published by the Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity TENK. The guidelines define the principles of research integrity that must be followed in all research activities at Uniarts Helsinki. Each individual researcher is responsible for complying with the Code of Conduct for Research Integrity in their research.

Principles of research integrity (in accordance with TENK’s RI guidelines 2023):

• Reliability in ensuring the quality of research, reflected in the design, the methodology, the analysis and the use of resources.
• Honesty in developing, undertaking, reviewing, reporting and communicating research in a transparent, fair, full and unbiased way.
• Respect for colleagues, research participants, society, ecosystems, cultural heritage and the environment.
• Accountability for the research from idea to publication, for its management and organisation, for training, supervision and mentoring and for its wider impacts.

Violations of research integrity and procedures for handling alleged violations

Violations of research integrity breach the basic principles of responsible conduct of research. They damage the quality and credibility of research and undermine research collaboration and authorship. These actions may also be against the law, in which case they are investigated also in authority-led or judicial procedures in addition to the research integrity process. Differences of opinion and disagreements over theories, methods or interpretations of results, on the other hand, are part of academic discourse and generally not research integrity violations.

In the Finnish system, violations of good research practices are divided into two categories: research misconduct and disregard for good research practices. Violations can take place in any area of research activities and at any stage of the research process. You can read more about the topic in the RI Guidelines (2023).

If you suspect that research integrity has been violated, submit a notification via the Registry to Uniarts Helsinki’s rector using a form compiled by TENK: Notification form for an alleged research integrity violation 2023 (kirjaamo@uniarts.fi).

Notifications are processed in accordance with the processes described in the RI guidelines issued by TENK.

Alleged violations in the context of bachelor’s and master’s studies and thesis projects are not handled according to the process described in the RI Guidelines, and instead, the university follows its own internal processes and guidelines in these cases.

Research integrity advisers

Uniarts Helsinki has appointed research integrity advisers in accordance with the guidelines issued by TENK. The advisers are tasked with promoting the community’s awareness of responsible conduct of research. The advisers offer Uniarts Helsinki’s staff and doctoral researchers the chance to have confidential discussions and to receive impartial support in cases of alleged violations of research integrity.

The advisers have no authority in processes related to research integrity that are potentially launched, and they do not participate in them.

Uniarts Helsinki’s research integrity advisers are Kai Lehikoinen and Heidi Partti.

Central guidelines related to research ethics and integrity and data protection

All researchers must familiarise themselves with the national and international guidelines concerning research ethics and integrity.

Examples of guidelines:

The Finnish Code of Conduct for Research Integrity and Procedures for Handling Alleged Violations of Research Integrity in Finland (2023)
The ethical principles of research with human participants and ethical review in the human sciences in Finland
The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity
Agreeing on authorship for research publications (pdf)
Ethical guidelines for responsible academic partnerships with the Global South

Researchers who process personal data for artistic and academic research must follow Uniarts Helsinki’s principles concerning data protection. Before processing personal data, researchers must compile a data management plan and potentially ask for an ethical review and conduct a data protection impact assessment.