Ethical guidelines
I Introduction
Research and scientific activity are based on trust. The research community and rest of society must be certain that research is conducted in accordance with recognised standards of integrity and objectivity. These standards are stated in General Guidelines prepared for our sector by the Norwegian National Research Ethics Committees in 2014.
NLA University College's research ethics guidelines are based on the Norwegian Universities and University Colleges Act, the Research Ethics and Integrity Act and regulations issued pursuant to it, and the recognised ethical norms prepared by the Norwegian National Research Ethics Committees. [1]
The guidelines apply to scientific staff, guest researchers, research fellows and students at NLA University College dealing in research (hereinafter called researcher(s)). Through its rector, NLA University College is responsible for ensuring that research is conducted in accordance with prevailing laws, regulations, and guidelines. The pro-rector for R&D has been delegated responsibility for ensuring that the regulations are complied with and regularly assessed. In cooperation with the pro-rector for R&D, the section and programme heads are responsible for ensuring that those dealing with research are familiar with the regulations. This includes ensuring that research ethics guidance is provided, finding a good balance between trust and checks and helping to develop an open, transparent research culture which makes it difficult to get away with misconduct. This does not relieve individual researchers of their independent and unabridged responsibility to acquire knowledge and carry out their own research conscientiously and in accordance with recognised standards of integrity and objectivity. Project managers are responsible for ensuring that research is conducted in accordance with generally accepted research practices and recognised scientific and ethical principles relating to the subject and within the established frameworks. Teaching supervisors have a special responsibility to impart the research ethics rules that are relevant for the subject to research fellows, trainee senior lecturers and students. Project staff, students, trainee senior lecturers and research fellows have an independent responsibility to become familiar with research ethics issues.
II Scientific misconduct
• NLA University College does not accept any form of scientific misconduct.
• Scientific misconduct includes any breach of good research practice, cf section 5 of the Norwegian Act relating to ethics and integrity in research (Research Ethics Act). This includes, but is not limited to, the falsification or fabrication of data, plagiarism and gross negligence during the application phase or when carrying out or reporting research. The following are also scientific misconduct:
the deliberate withholding of undesirable results;
the deliberately misleading use of statistical methods;
deliberately misleading information about who has contributed to the research and how much the participants have contributed;
the deliberate or grossly negligent withholding of methodology details;
deliberately false information about scientific qualifications in applications;
the deliberate destruction of research material to prevent an investigation if research misconduct is suspected[2].
• NLA University College employees and students are entitled and obliged to give notice of any scientific misconduct and any suspicion of scientific misconduct.
• The requirement of scientific integrity applies in full to all types of research. NLA University College has rules governing the treatment of cases of scientific misconduct.
III Good research practice
Research ethics include ethical factors relating to the role of a researcher and carrying out of research work:
• Integrity – Researchers are responsible for the credibility of their own research. Fabrication, falsification, plagiarism and similar serious breaches of good scientific practice are not compatible with such credibility[3].
• Impartiality – Researchers must avoid mixing roles and relationships that may result in a reasonable suspicion of a conflict of interest, cf section 6 of the Public Administration Act. Bias may also be determined following a discretionary assessment. Researchers must disclose relevant roles and relationships in which they are involved to colleagues, research participants, sources of finance and other relevant parties[4][5].
• Independence – Researchers must be ensured freedom in their choice of topic, method, conduct of research and publication of results [6].
• Openness – Researchers must make research results available to ensure verifiability and give something back to research participants and the rest of society[7].
NLA University College has a special responsibility to ensure that students at all levels are educated in these areas.
IV Publication, authorship and co-authorship
• Researchers must respect other researchers' or students' contributions and comply with standards for authorship and cooperation. Individual responsibilities should be clarified as soon as possible in the process and jointly by all those involved.
• According to the Vancouver Convention, the right to co-authorship is to be based on three main criteria, all of which must be fulfilled in order for authorship to be legitimate:
Significant contributions to the idea and design, or data acquisition, or analysis and interpretation of data.
The preparation of the manuscript itself or significant parts of the manuscript or a critical review of the article's intellectual content.
Approval of the version of the article that is to be published.
• Researchers employed by two institutions are responsible for ensuring that both institutions are correctly credited, refer to the Norwegian Association of Higher Education Institutions' (UHR's) advisory guidelines on crediting scientific publications to institutions. http://www.uhr.no/documents/Veiledning_kreditering_av_vit_publikasjoner_til_institusjoner___endelig_m_eks.pdf
• The main rule is that results are to be published in both scientific and popularised form, but with the restrictions set by confidentiality and the duty of non-disclosure. However, no permanent restrictions on the right to publish research results may be agreed on or determined apart from those stated in legislation or pursuant to legislation, cf section 1-5 (6) of the Universities and University Colleges Act. When a time-limited exclusive right of use has been agreed on for the principal, it is the researcher's right and duty to ensure that the research findings are published after the time clause has expired[8].
If in a guidance situation, a teaching supervisor wants to use the student's/research fellow's unpublished research results in his/her own publications or research, the student must have given his/her consent to this. If a student/research fellow wants to use a teaching supervisor's unpublished results, the teaching supervisor's consent is required in the same way.
V Commissioned research
• All the ethical guidelines that apply to research also apply to commissioned research.
• In order to safeguard the research's credibility, the researcher must be conscious of his/her relationship with the client. The client's interests must not affect the integrity of the research. Refer to the Norwegian National Research Ethics Committees' website regarding commissioned research.
• Any publications must clearly state the party funding the research. The assumptions on which the project is based must be clarified before the project starts and no important information may be omitted.
• In the case of commissioned research, there must be freedom regarding the design of the solution to the task so that it is professionally justifiable. Commissioned research must be carried out without any external instructions regarding the research results. The standard agreement for research and investigation assignments prepared by the Ministry of Education and Research is to be used.
VI Protection of persons involved in research
• NLA University College's researchers who use research participants in their research must become very familiar with the Norwegian National Research Ethics Committees' research ethics rules for protecting persons involved in research.
• These relate to the following topics:
the informants' integrity, freedom, and right of co-determination.
the requirement of voluntary participation, informed consent and the right to withdraw.
anonymisation and de-identification, as well as the presentation and publication of the results.
the payment of research participants.
confidentiality and the duty of non-disclosure.
research into vulnerable groups and groups/individuals whose ability to grant consent is reduced or non-existent.
the storage of sound recordings, video recordings and lists of codes that may help to identify research participants.
obtaining the necessary approvals from the Data Protection Official for Research/Norwegian Centre for Research Data (NSD), the Norwegian Data Protection Authority, the Regional Committees for Medical and Health Research Ethics and suchlike.
• Researchers involved in health research must become familiar with the Helsinki Declaration.
• NLA University College's researchers must strive to ensure that the research can benefit research participants and prevent the research from causing harm.
• Action research and intervention research impose special requirements for the clarification of roles, publication, etc.
VIII Protection of the environment
NLA University College's research must not be harmful to the environment. Researchers must strive to ensure that their research contributes to the maintenance or creation of a good environment in the short and long term. This includes safeguarding biological diversity and the stability of ecosystems[9] and considering the consequences for landscapes and urban environments. It is normal to comply with the "precautionary" principle when considering the environmental consequences of research [10].
IX Global responsibility[11]
NLA University College has a responsibility to impart relevant knowledge to regions that would otherwise be excluded due to economic disparity.
NLA University College's research must help combat global injustice and maintain biological diversity.
X Sources
It is important that ethical principles and guidelines are perceived to be reasonable and in accordance with that which applies in other corresponding institutions. When preparing this document, therefore, the starting point has been the Norwegian Universities and University Colleges Act and existing ethical guidelines:
• Section 5 of the Research Ethics Act
• Section 1-5 (5) and (6) of the Universities and University Colleges Act
• Guidelines for Research Ethics in the Social Sciences, Humanities, Law and Theology prepared by the National Committee for Research Ethics in the Social Sciences and the Humanities (NESH) in 2006.
• General guidelines for research ethics prepared by the Norwegian National Research Ethics Committees in 2014.
• Ethical guidelines for the Norwegian University of Life Sciences issued in 2008.
• Guidelines on good research practice at Oslo University College of Applied Sciences issued in 2010.
• Ethical guidelines for the Work Research Institute (AFI) issued in 2009.
• Research ethics guidelines for Akershus University College of Applied Sciences issued in 2008.
• Ethical guidelines for research at Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences issued in 2014.
Relevant links:
• Research ethics checklist
The National Committee for Research Ethics in Science and Technology (NENT) has prepared a research ethics checklist for all professional areas. This checklist summarises what the committee believes it is most important to clarify in connection with a research project. The checklist is also used for applications for project funding from the Research Council of Norway (NFR). The Norwegian National Research Ethics Committees: "Research Ethics Checklist" (Last updated: 23 June 2014).
• University of Oslo: 10 commandments for good research ethics
http://www.mn.uio.no/ibv/om/hms/etikk/uios-10-bud-for-god-forskningsetikk-/ (in Norwegian only)
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[1] NLA University College's guidelines are based on Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences' ethical guidelines for research (Used with permission).
[2] Proposition to the Odelsting (parliamentary bill) no. 58 (2005/2006) Concerning the Act relating to the treatment of ethics and integrity in research.
[3] General research ethics guidelines, item 7.
[4] Cf the general research ethics guidelines, item 6.
[5] The Research Council of Norway's provisions regarding impartiality and trust.
[6] Refer to section 1-5 (5) and (6) of the Universities and University Colleges Act.
[7] Refer to the general research ethics guidelines, item 11.
[8] Ethical guidelines for the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.
[9] Refer to White Paper (NOU) 2004:28: Act relating to the safeguarding of nature, landscapes and biological diversity.
[10] There are many versions of the precautionary principle, and one of the most quoted is from the Rio Convention: "Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation (UNEP, 1992)” (www.unep.org). In recent years, the principle has been reworded to also cover health and social consequences.
[11] General research ethics guidelines, item 13.
Research and scientific activity is based on trust. The research community and society as a whole should be able to be confident that the research is carried out in accordance with recognized requirements for accountability and objectivity. Reputable demands for accountability and objectivity emerges from General guidelines developed for our sector of the National Research Ethics Committees in 2014:
https://www.etikkom.no/en/ethical-guidelines-for-research/general-guidelines-for-research-ethics/
Rector at NLA University College is responsible for ensuring that research is conducted in accordance with applicable laws, regulations and guidelines. Pro-Rector for Research and Development is delegated the task to make sure the rules are followed and assessed continuously. Department managers are, in collaboration with Pro-Rector for Research and Development in charge of getting imbedded regulations among those engaged in research. This includes providing guidance on research ethics, finding a good balance between trust and control, and help to develop an open and transparent research culture which makes it difficult to get away with misconduct. This does not absolve the individual researcher for his / her independent and non pro-rated responsibility to acquire knowledge and conduct their own research conscientiously in accordance with recognized requirements for accountability and objectivity.
Project managers are responsible for ensuring that research is conducted in accordance with good research practice and recognized scientific and ethical principles of the subject, and within the limits laid down.
Supervisors have a special responsibility to convey candidates, associate professor candidates and students the ethical rules that are relevant to the subject. Researchers, students, Associate Professor candidates and PhD candidates has an independent responsibility to orient themselves in research ethics.