TENK’s RI guidelines (The Finnish Code of Conduct for Research Integrity and Procedures for Handling Alleged Violations of Research Integrity in Finland 2023, and the preceding guidelines Responsible conduct of research and procedures for handling allegations of misconduct in Finland 2012) had a total of 105 committed signatories by the April of 2024 including all the universities in Finland, most universities of applied sciences, and almost all publicly funded research institutions. The RI guidelines provide researchers with a model for the responsible conduct of research. The effectiveness of these guidelines is based on a voluntary commitment by the research community to adhere to them, and to increase awareness of the principles of research integrity. The RI guidelines apply to all academic disciplines in Finland, and a list of the organisations committed to these guidelines can be found on TENK’s website.

The premise of the RI guidelines is that promoting the responsible conduct of research and handling alleged violations are primarily the responsibility of the organisations conducting research. When alleged misconduct has been reported and the report has been finalised by the organisation, the party dissatisfied with the ruling may request a statement from TENK. (See attached charts of the RI process and TENK’s statement process.)

TENK does not conduct the preliminary inquiry or the investigation proper and it does not arrange hearings.

TENK offers training for research integrity officers of universities, universities of applied sciences, and publicly funded research institutions. TENK also organizes annual seminar on research ethics and integrity, and members of the secretariat can give talks in seminars organised by higher education institutions and research performing organisations.

TENK has created a network of Research Integrity Advisers. Since the start of 2017, TENK has trained more than 100 advisers in more than 60 research organisations to provide low-threshold personal advice on research integrity. The system was founded on a need to reinforce awareness of responsible conduct of research among the increasingly international research community in Finland. Research Integrity Advisers perform these duties alongside their own work and attend annual training offered by TENK.

TENK focuses on promoting the responsible conduct of research, as well as formulating and publicising common guidelines in co-operation with the research organisations.

National guidelines drawn up by TENK:

• The Finnish Code of Conduct for Research Integrity and Procedures for Handling Alleged Violations of Research Integrity in Finland 2023
•  Agreeing on authorship. Recommendation for research publications
• Template for a researcher’s curriculum vitae
• Ethical review in the human sciences
• Research integrity recommendations for universities regarding dissertation supervision and review

In addition to drafting these guidelines, the National Board’s activities focus on various national and international specialist tasks and networking, with a view to improving the culture of research integrity. This includes counselling researchers and postgraduate students, as well as other preventative work.