Ethics committee of human sciences

The Ethics Committee of Human Sciences of University of Oulu carries out ethical review of non-medical research projects on requests of researchers within the university.

Ethical review

Ethical review is based on the Guidelines of The Finnish National Board on Research Integrity (http://www.tenk.fi/): 'Guidelines for ethical review in human sciences'.

The ethical advance evaluation of medical research is stipulated by law (http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/1999/19990488) and is the task of the ethical committee of North Ostrobothnia's hospital district (https://oys.fi/tutkimus-ja-opetus/tutkijan-ohjeet/laaketieteellinen-tut…).

Further information for researchers

Obtaining a statement

The ethical principles are especially related to the subjects' autonomy and securing it, avoiding injuries, and to privacy and data security. This applies to all fields of science and is primarily related to the research object and the methods applied.

When is a statement obtained on a study related to human sciences ?

The principles include six cases where a statement is always mandatory before the study is launched. This action shall always be taken, with no exceptions whatsoever.

1. The study does not abide by the principle of information-based consent (however, an evaluation is not required for the research of public and published information, register and document material and archive material).

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 carer or without informing a parent or carer in a way that would enable them to prevent the child’s participation in the research.

4. Studies where the subjects are subjected to exceptionally powerful impulses where the evaluation of possible harms requires special competence (e.g. studies involving violence or pornography).

5. Studies which involve the risk of causing long-term mental harms (trauma, depression, sleeplessness) to the subjects and the harms exceed the limits of usual daily life.

6. Studies which may involve a security threat to the subjects (e.g. studies related to domestic violence) or researchers or their family members or others closest to them .

If none of the criteria (1-6) is met, and a description of the ethical review system is needed for the party granting the research permit, the party publishing the research, or the party funding it, the researcher(s) may send a request for a signed description letter (see the attached file/document) to the chair and secretary of the committee. If, in addition to the description, any of the aforementioned parties requires an ethical advance evaluation, the statement is obtained from the ethical committee of human sciences.

If a thesis included in a basic degree is going to be implemented in such as way that it includes one of the aforementioned things, the student shall obtain a statement with his or her main instructor unless the research project has already been given the green light.

The applications are submitted to the Ethics Committee of Human Sciences of University of Oulu and delivered to the secretary of the committee Janne Kurtakko by e-mail firstname.lastname@oulu.fi.

For further inquiries, please contact:

Chair of the committee, Professor Tiina Keisanen, tel. 0294 483407

Secretary of the committee, Janne Kurtakko, tel. 0294 48 7001

Attachments:

IEEA_kuvaus_mallipohja SUO_EN_SV.docx

Documents included in the statement request

When drawing up the statement request, attention should be paid on expressing the content in a clear, understandable way. Those making the evaluation may not necessarily represent the applicant's field of science. The statement request is drawn up as one PDF file and includes the following documents (numbered):

1. Accompanying letter which presents these details:

- contact information of the person responsible for the research, and other members of the research team, who process the research material

- justification for statement request

- possible grounds for secrecy (see Act on the publicity of official activity 621/1999 24 subsection 1 clause 21)

- table of contents of the statement request

2. Research plan (max. three pages) and its summaries in Finnish and English (max. 200 words). The structure of the plan abides by the Academy of Finland (Suomen Akatemia) guidelines and the plan shall state (if applicable) that it is part of a more extensive research project or involves other sub-studies.

3. Evaluation by the person (responsible for the research) on the ethical standards of the study. If the request is made by a Master's student or a Doctoral Researcher, supervisor's evaluation is also required.

4. Communication to the subjects. No academic terminology is to be used here. The text must be understandable to laymen and it shall describe in a concrete fashion what the subjects will be subjected to. When research communication is submitted to children, the level of communication must match their age. The communication is targeted to the subject and shall not be presented in the passive form. If the study does not abide by the principle of information-based consent, the justification for the decision shall be provided in the evaluation on the ethical standards of the study. In regard to minors or the differently abled, the communication is targeted to the guardian or the legal representative of the subject.

5. Consent document to be signed by the subjects or their legal representatives if identification data is created in the study. If they are capable of understanding the contents, they themselves sign the consent document.

6. Material presented to the subjects in relation to the study (evaluation forms, tests, interview frame, diaries, survey forms, etc.) If the research sample requires method development as the research progresses, the methods must be described as carefully as possible.

7. Material management and data security plan (material processing, storage, use and archival plan).

8. In case you are handling personal data in your research, include a privacy notice in the application. The privacy notice template can be found in Patio. More information about data protection regulation in scientific research can be found in Patio on the above-mentioned web page.

More information on the website of data protection ombudsman: https://tietosuoja.fi/en/scientific-research-and-data-protection

In addition to the privacy notice you should include a risk assessment template (template available currently only in Finnish) as an attachment document to your statement request. Ask for the template from your data protection officer at your faculty. After filling in the risk assessment template, send it also to the data protection officer. The contact information of data protection officers at the faculties can be found in Patio on the same page as general information about data protection in research.

Ethics committee of human sciences

Ethical review

Further information for researchers

Obtaining a statement

Documents included in the statement request

Evaluation criteria

Publicity of committee work

Committee

Committee meeting schedule

Postal address

Street address