Ethical review in human sciences at TAMK

Key ethical principles of research with human participants 

Informed consent to participate in research is a key ethical principle of research involving human subjects. 

When participating in research, research subjects have the right to: 

• participate voluntarily, but also refuse to participate. 
• suspend their participation at any time without adverse consequences for him/herself. 
• withdraw their consent to participate in the study at any time. 
• receive information on the content of the research, the processing of personal data and the practical implementation of the research, such as what participation in the research means in concrete terms and how the life cycle of the processing and storage of the collected research data has been planned.
• obtain an understandable and truthful picture of the objectives of the research and of the potential disadvantages and risks of participation. 
• know that he or she is being researched especially in situations where the researcher is also in a role other than that of the researcher, such as the research subject's supervisor or teacher. 

Full guidelines of the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK  

What does the Ethics Committee assess?

Ethical review on non-medical research in the field of the human sciences refers to the evaluation of a research plan in accordance with discipline-specific ethical practices. Ethical solutions will be examined regarding: 

• any risks and inconveniences caused by the research or its results to the research subjects, their relatives and the researcher himself or herself. 
• sufficiently clear information on the content of the research, the participation of research participants and the processing of personal data.
• a data management plan that includes a description of the processing of personal data during the research lifecycle.
• appropriateness of the subjects' written or electronic consent to participate.
• the manner in which participants' consent to participate is requested and documented, especially, if written or electronic consent is not used.
• the significance of the new knowledge sought by the research in relation to the potential harm and risks arising from the research.
   

How to apply for an ethical review?

The TAMK Committee issues ethical review statements for TAMK students' master's theses and RDI projects coordinated or led by TAMK. If TAMK is involved in an RDI project coordinated or led by another higher education institution or research institute, the project will request an ethical review of the project in question from the organization's committee. The subprojects of the larger research entity are presented in their own separate requests for statements. 

The statement must be requested before the research data is collected. No statement is issued ex post (i.e., on a study or part of it that has already been carried out).
 

Theses 

The application for a statement concerning master's theses is sent by the student together with his/her supervisor. The author of the thesis is responsible for his/her thesis and compliance with ethical practices. However, the thesis supervisor must ensure that the supervisee is familiar with the ethical principles of research work. 

As a rule, the student acts as the controller of the personal data collected in connection with his or her thesis research. However, the task of the supervisor is to guide the student to the correct and appropriate processing of research data. Bachelor's theses and minor student projects must be planned as far as possible so that they do not require ethical review. 

Data protection in research
Instructions for supervisors concerning data protection (intranet) 
 

Attachments

When applying for a request for a statement, the request must contain the following documents:

• a free-form cover letter with the contact details of the person responsible for the research and a justification for the request for a statement 
• research plan assessment of the ethics of the research by the person responsible for the research 
• information sheet to be delivered to research participants (template on intranet) 
• Informed consent documentation form (form template, intranet) or a description of the documentation 
• other material intended to be given to research participants (questionnaire, interview outline, etc.) 
• data management plan (e.g., DMP Tuuli)
• research privacy statement (intranet). The privacy statement of the request for a statement is the privacy statement of the research, also in the case of master's theses. 
• data protection impact assessment DPIA (intranet) or justification why no impact assessment is needed
• other relevant attachments.

The request for a statement must contain all the documents listed above and the information requested in the instructions. If key attachments are missing from the request for a statement, the request will be returned to the sender before processing. If necessary, TAMK's Ethics Committee directs requests for statements to the Tampere Region Ethics Committee or the Regional Ethics Committee of the Tays Special Responsibility Area.
 

Getting assistance with sensitive data and DMP

If you have questions about data protection or data management, the committee recommends contacting the above-mentioned parties even before submitting the request for a statement to the ethics committee. Before preparing an impact assessment, the researcher or student can contact TAMK's Data Protection Officer (tietosuoja.tamk [at] tuni.fi (tietosuoja[dot]tamk[at]tuni[dot]fi)). The Data Protection Officer helps determine whether a data protection impact assessment is needed for an investigation.

Tampere University Data Services helps with the preparation of a data management plan, questions related to open science and research, and questions related to scientific publications (researchdata [at] tuni.fi (researchdata[at]tuni[dot]fi)).

IT services, on the other hand, help with information security issues (it-helpdesk [at] tuni.fi (it-helpdesk[at]tuni[dot]fi)).
 

Timetables 

A request for a statement addressed to the TAMK committee should be sent to address TAMKinihmistieteideneettinentoimikunta [at] tuni.fi (TAMKinihmistieteideneettinentoimikunta[at]tuni[dot]fi) no later than 10 days before the next meeting, by 4.00 p.m. If you are making a request for a statement for the first time or are not sure about the attachments needed for the request for a statement, please contact the secretary of the committee by email.
 

TAMK Human Sciences Ethics Committee meetings in 2024

Committee’s decisions

The criteria for processing requests for statements are based on TENK's guidelines. The Ethics Committee shall notify of its statement no later than two weeks after the processing. The statement may be positive, positive conditional (with correction requirements) or negative (with substantial correction requirements). If the research committee issues a conditional or negative statement on the study, the research plan must be amended as presented in the statement. The statement is primarily issued in the language of the request for a statement (Finnish/English). If a researcher does not follow the instructions received, it may constitute a violation of the responsible conduct of research (RCR) (tenk.fi). 

If the person requesting the statement does not accept the decision of the ethics committee or the proposed changes proposed in the statement, they may request a statement on the matter from TENK. The final statements will be public. The materials submitted by those who have applied for a request for a statement and the decisions made by the committee during the process concerning the necessary changes are not public.

The statement will be given in electronic form, but it will be available on paper format upon request. Composition of TAMK's Human Sciences Ethics Committee The committee is responsible for ensuring that the statements are in line with the guidelines of TENK, the practices of the Tampere higher education community and other respective national and international bodies.
 

Members of TAMK's Ethics Committee for 2024

• Arja Halkoaho, Chair 
• Teemu Jokinen, Secretary (Liisa Marttila, Secretary, on Study Leave)
• Pia Keiski, Vice Chair
• Eeva Liikanen
• Merja Sinkkonen 

If necessary, the committee will also request consultation from other experts in the Tampere higher education community (e.g., IT and data protection issues). The Research Council also maintains active contact with the committees of other higher education institutions and research institutes. 

The ethics committee of the Wellbeing Services County of Pirkanmaa carries ethical reviews of proposed medical research involving human subjects.