5.3 Research integrity, data protection and research permit
Research integrity is applicable in all studies at universities of applied sciences. Misconduct and plagiarism are prohibited. Familiarise yourself with Jamk’s ethical principles and be sure to follow research integrity throughout your thesis project.
Remember
- Ensure appropriate data management and write a data management plan.
- Take copyright and other potential licensing and contractual matters into account.
- Familiarise yourself with the principles related to the processing of personal data and data protection.
- Together with your thesis advisor, check whether a research permit and/or a preliminary ethical review is needed for your thesis.
- Inform your thesis advisor about the funding and other relevant interests associated with your thesis.
- A thesis is a public document. Make sure that the possible client / commissioner is aware of this.
Disciplinary procedure
If there is reason to suspect that the author of the thesis has violated good scientific practice, a written notification will be made of the matter. The matter will be handled in accordance with the Jamk’s Degree Regulations and ethical principles.
Data protection
Familiarise yourself with data protection and the processing of personal data. In the thesis, data protection concerns the student preparing the thesis, the commissioner, potential research subjects and the written thesis complete with its research data.
Identify if your data contains personal data. Personal data means
- any information on a natural person and on their personal characteristics or personal circumstances, where these are identifiable as concerning them or the members of their family or household.
- all types of data that can be used to directly identify a natural person, but also data that can be used to identify a person indirectly (e.g. photos and voice recordings).
If you process personal data, you must have a privacy statement. Remove any personal identifiers, i.e. anonymize the material as soon as it can be reasonably analysed without identifiers. See the data protection page in the intranet for more detailed instructions.
Research permit
If you are conducting research, you need to find out what special permits you will need. Discuss with a representative of the target organization or commissioner whether you need a research permit and how to apply for it. The research permit is always obtained from the organization to which the research pertains. Not all organizations require a separate research permit!
If you are doing your thesis as part of a project or other research, first discuss the research permit with the project or research supervisors.
If a research permit is required, you cannot collect research data until you have an approved research permit.
Jamk research permit
If you are researching Jamk, its students, or staff in your thesis or other research, or if you need archival or registry data from Jamk, you must apply for a research permit from Jamk well in advance before starting the research.
The application must be accompanied by:
- data management plan (mandatory)
- thesis privacy statement (If personal data is processed in the research)
Further information about the research permit and how to apply for it can be found from Jamk’s Research Permit website (please, see the link below). Reserve about two weeks for the processing of the research permit.
For instructions on creating a data management plan, see Chapter 4.4.6 Data management plan and processing of research data of this guide (please, see the link below).