Election of the Office’s Staff Trustee took place on 10 April 2024. After the voting and counting of the votes cast by the eligible employees of the Office, the results of the election were announced and Dr Birutė Liekė was elected as the Office’s Staff Trustee for a three-year term.

Dr Andrius Puksas, Chairman of the Office’s Staff Trustee Election Commission, stated that the election, which was contested by two candidates, went smoothly. When the ballot box was opened, no invalid or spoilt ballot papers were found. 100% of those eligible to vote turned out to cast their votes.

The new Staff Trustee will take up her duties as from the publication of this news.

At the end of my 5-years work at the Office of the Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures of the Republic of Lithuania (Office), I would like to give a snapshot on the changes that have been significant for the Office’s performance and team, as well as for the academic community. First of all, the activities of the Office in the field of complaints handling have been improved in line with the development of case law, and amendments have been made to the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Research and Higher Education and the Regulations of the Office. Second, a more in-depth look at the status of academic ethics in Lithuania and international good practices was used to delve into the more complex areas of academic ethics in research, providing guidance on what standards of academic ethics each research and higher education institution should implement in building a culture of academic ethics. Third, looking at the most important work of the Office’s team, the Guidelines for Ethical Review have been a milestone in the field of research ethics and research integrity.

The Office has remained open to the academic community through consultancy, newsletters, training and seminars and its annual conferences. The Office has joined international networks, one of which it founded with its European counterparts to share good practices and contribute to national legislation.

Like any organisation, the Office has faced many challenges. Some of these have been overcome through modernisation – through the implementation of various information systems, the use of electronic and other services, and the improvement of working conditions.

I express my gratitude to the academic community and all those who have supported the work of the Office and its team and contributed to the current Office’s standing.

In 2024, a new Ombudsperson of the Office will take up his/her duties. I wish him/her patience and determination in pursuing his/her ideas.

Loreta Tauginienė
Ombudswoman for Academic Ethics and Procedures
2019-2024

Election of the Office’s Staff Trustee took place on 27 December 2023. After the voting and counting of the votes cast by the eligible employees of the Office, the results of the election were announced and Dr Julija Umbrasaitė was elected as the Office’s Staff Trustee for a three-year term.

Dr Andrius Puksas, Chairman of the Office’s Staff Trustee Election Commission, stated that the election, which was contested by two candidates, went smoothly. When the ballot box was opened, no invalid or spoilt ballot papers were found. 85.71% of those eligible to vote turned out to cast their votes.

The new Staff Trustee will take up her duties as from the publication of this news.

On 12 December 2023, Dr Birutė Liekė, employee of the Office, gave a presentation at the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Lithuania on academic ethics in the development of tasks for high school students. Representatives from the Ministry, the National Agency for Education and the teachers and researchers who developed the tasks were invited to the event. An employee of the Office introduced the activities of the Office and presented the issue of plagiarism, focusing on image plagiarism and translation plagiarism. She also discussed the need for appropriate citation/quotation in the development of matriculation exam tasks and the creative commons licences. The event participants analysed sample tasks for the matriculation exams. The discussion raised questions about the first steps towards an ethical approach to the development of various examinations and other test tasks for high school students. Dr Birutė Liekė stressed that it is very important to develop the tasks in an ethical way, as they are remembered by high school students as good examples.

On 8 December 2023, the representative of the Office, Dr Julija Umbrasaitė, participated in the forum-conference “Relativity of Human Rights in the Social and Cultural Space” co-organised by the Public Security Academy of Mykolas Romeris University and the international non-governmental organisation Kaunas Soroptimist Club. This event is organised annually to commemorate International Human Rights Day.

This year’s event focused on diversity and inclusion in higher education.  During the event, Dr Virginija Jurėnienė, a professor at the Kaunas Faculty of Vilnius University, presented the historical discourse on Lithuanian women’s right to higher education. Dr Nomeda Gudelienė, Advisor on Sustainable Development to the Vice-Chancellor of Mykolas Romeris University, discussed the peculiarities of a modern university as a safe space for all. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Inga Juknytė-Petreikienė, Head of the Centre for Academic Affairs at Mykolas Romeris University, presented the results of the survey on the students’ experiences of diversity and inclusion in the academic community. Dr Julija Umbrasaitė, a representative of the Office, discussed the ethical challenges related to student mobility.

On 5 December 2023, Dr Loreta Tauginienė, Ombudswoman, attended the International Seminar on Education Research – the Doctoral Consortium in Druskininkai, organised by Vilnius University. She gave an interactive lecture on research ethics to international and Lithuanian PhD students and their supervisors. The Ombudswoman gave a brief presentation of the Office’s activities, presenting case studies with ethical dilemmas related to co-authorship and teamwork of early career researchers in the research conduct. The Ombudswoman also delved into the video excerpts and shared insights with the lecture participants.

On 4 December 2023, Dr Birutė Liekė, employee of the Office, conducted a seminar for the academic community of Kazimieras Simonavičius University. She presented the UNESCO Guidelines on Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education and Research, the final report of the Commission’s Expert Group on AI and Data in Education and Training, and the Guidelines on Trustworthy AI. The concepts of AI were introduced, and examples of machine learning and generative AI were given. Ethical issues, e.g. accessibility and fairness, psychological impact, human intellectual development, were discussed.

Attendees expressed their concerns about the use of ChatGPT by students, and discussed solutions being considered in their academic community both to take advantage of generative AI and to avoid its unethical use.

Members of the academic community with disabilities may contact the Office in person or by electronic means on academic ethics issues. They will be served in an adapted environment at the Department for the Affairs of Disabled under the Ministry of Social Security and Labour (from 1 January 2024 at the Agency for the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities), 10 Švitrigailos Street, Vilnius. Specialists will be brought in when needed.

To ensure a smooth service and equal opportunities for persons with disabilities, pre-registration is required by email info@etikostarnyba.lt or via phone +370 694 43992.

On 29 November 2023, Dr Julija Umbrasaitė and Dr Birutė Liekė, employees of the Office, gave a seminar to the academic community of the General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania. Dr Julija Umbrasaitė gave a presentation on academic ethics in the study process, presenting the establishment of the concept of academic ethics, the actors of the academic ethics system, and a study on the supply of contract cheating services in Lithuania. Dr Birutė Liekė talked about plagiarism and unethical authorship, introduced their types and exemplified plagiarism. She also presented international trends related to artificial intelligence (AI) in an academic environment providing more detail about the regulation of the use of generative AI engineering. She continued with the unresolved ethical issues surrounding the increasing sophistication of generative AI tools, the determinants of reliability and trustworthiness of AI tools, etc.

The seminar participants were interested in the fields of science in which contract cheating services prevail, shared their thoughts on human-artificial intelligence co-authorship and more.

Around 20 members of the academic community attended the seminar.

On 28 November 2023, the Office the State Patent Bureau signed a cooperation agreement. The aim of this cooperation is to disseminate information related to intellectual property in the context of academic ethics and copyright in a more effective way. Activities are planned within this cooperation, e.g. to jointly develop relevant information, advise members of the academic community and others on related issues on the website intelektine.lt, organise various events.

For detailed information on intellectual property and how to protect it, see: intelektine.lt.