The ethical review must be conducted before the research begins. If a review is required, sufficient time should be reserved for the process.

The Human Sciences Ethics Committee at the Novia University of Applied Sciences assesses whether the planned research is ethically sound, taking into account compliance with the ethical principles of the humanities, social sciences, and behavioral research. The committee may require changes to the research plan before the study can proceed.

Research subject to the Medical Research Act (488/1999) must also comply with these ethical principles.

The Human Sciences Ethics Committee at Novia provides statements upon request to Novia staff and to students conducting thesis work at the Master’s level (högre YH). If a thesis is planned to be carried out in a way that requires ethical review, the student must apply for it from the ethics committee together with their supervisor.

The committee does not issue statements on Bachelor’s level theses (YH) except in cases determined as exceptional by the committee.[JL1]  It is recommended that a Bachelor's level thesis should not involve a research design that requires an ethical review. If there is uncertainty about whether a review is needed, the student should discuss this with their supervisor.

Thesis supervisors are responsible for ensuring that their students become familiar with ethical principles. However, the thesis writer is ultimately responsible for the ethical conduct of their work. Students and their supervisors are encouraged to use the materials provided on these pages to address research ethics questions.

An ethical review does not transfer responsibility for the research or its ethical and moral decisions from the researcher to the ethics committee.

It is important to note that a statement from the ethics committee is not a research permit. Permission to conduct data collection must be granted by the organization where the research is being carried out. In addition, individual participants must give their informed consent to take part in the study.

When is an ethical review from the Ethics Committee needed?

The researcher (responsible researcher or main supervisor of the thesis) requests an ethical review statement, if their research contains any of the following (see also the guidelines of TENK, Finnish National Board on Research Integrity): 

1. Participation in the research deviates from the principle of informed consent (does not apply to research in public and published documents, 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. Research that exposes participants to exceptionally strong stimuli, whose possible dangers should be tested by experts (e.g. research involving violence or pornography).
5. Research that involves a risk of causing mental harm that exceeds the limits of normal daily life to the research participants or their family members or others closest to them, (e.g. trauma, depression, insomnia).
6. Conducting the research could involve a threat to the safety of participants or researchers or their family members or others closest to them (e.g. research concerning domestic violence).

Sometimes a funder, publisher, or an organization granting the research permit may require an ethical review. The committee may consider processing requests for a review in such cases as well. Please contact the ethics committee for more information.

 Please check the additional guidelines by TENK if your research deals with minors or people with limited capacity.

The ethical review particularly assesses:

• the way in which the consent of participants is requested and documented (e.g., in writing, electronically, or orally), and how the voluntary nature of participation is guaranteed
• the potential risks and harm to research participants, their families, and possibly the researcher, along with the likelihood of these risks occurring, in relation to the measures outlined in the request for a statement to prevent or minimize these risks
• the significance of the new information that the research aims to obtain in relation to potential harms and risks
• sufficiently clear information to research participants about the content of the research, what their participation entails, and the processing of their personal data
• the data management plan, also containing a description of the processing of personal data throughout the lifespan of the research.