On 24 November 2023, Dr Birutė Liekė, Senior Analyst of the Office, participated in a seminar-discussion “Ethical Issues in Citizen Science: between Enclosure and Freedom” organised by Vytautas Magnus University. She presented the Guidelines on Research Ethics and Research Integrity in Citizen Science and participated in a roundtable discussion. The discussion focused on the regulation of academic ethics and the interaction between science and society. It also looked at how research and higher education institutions and their departments could better contribute to the promotion of citizen science. The discussion developed around whether/how the regulation of academic ethics should be improved to empower and promote citizen science. Other topical issues of academic ethics were also discussed. Other relevant issues of academic ethics were also brought to the discussion.

Around 40 members of the academic community attended the seminar-discussion.

On 21 November 2023, Dr Birutė Liekė, an employee of the Office, gave a seminar on international trends in artificial intelligence (AI) in the area of academic ethics. She overviewed the concepts related to artificial intelligence, introduced the UNESCO Guidance for generative AI in education and research, and presented the regulation of the use of generative AI in education. In addition, Dr Birutė Liekė introduced the Final Report of the Commission’s Expert Group on AI and Data in Education and Training as well as Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI. The academic community was interested in whether the guidelines related to the ethical use of AI are going to be published and explored the effectiveness of bans on certain AI technologies.

Around 30 members of the academic community attended the seminar.

On 8 November 2023, representatives of the Office together with the community of the Lithuanian Center for Social Sciences delved into issues related to the review of research ethics. Dr Loreta Tauginienė, ombudswoman, presented the need and prerequisites for the review of research ethics in Lithuania, methods of depersonalisation of research data. Dr Julija Umbrasaitė, an employee of the Office, discussed good practices in research data management and the peculiarities of the research data management plan.

The meeting discussed issues of concern to the community, e.g. instances of obtaining ethical review, informed consent, open data, good practices for authorship attribution.

Around 30 members of the academic community of the Lithuanian Center for Social Sciences attended the meeting.

On 20th October 2023, the Office organised its annual conference Ethics in Academia 2023. Gabija Juzėnaitė, a representative of the Lithuanian National Union of Students, presenting the results of the academic integrity index, stressed that the most common forms of dishonest behaviour were using notes, lecture notes and other literature sources and information technology tools during distance learning, while the least common were bribing lecturers with money or gifts to get a better mark. Dr Julija Umbrasaitė, Senior Analyst of the Office, presented the results of the study The Supply of Contract Cheating Services in Lithuania, which showed that contract cheating services are more intensively advertised during the active study period (March and April 2023), with one fifth more advertisements than in the study conducted in August 2021. The study results also show that such services are offered not only to bachelor and masters students, but also to doctoral students. Dr Laura Daniusevičiūtė-Brazaitė, Associate Professor at Kaunas University of Technology, discussed the definitions of artificial intelligence, presented the capabilities of the ChatGPT tool, and provided possible solutions on what should be done in order to prevent irregularities in the application of artificial intelligence technologies.

The conference continued with a discussion with the participation of Assoc. Prof. Dr Laura Daniusevičiūtė-Brazaitė (Kaunas University of Technology), Lijana Savickienė (Vilnius University Students’ Representation), and Assoc. Prof. Dr Irma Šileikienė (Vilnius University of Applied Sciences). The participants shared their thoughts on the benefits and risks of artificial intelligence technologies in higher education. They analysed the necessary competences of academic staff and students to use artificial intelligence technologies in an ethical way and discussed the ethical principles of applying artificial intelligence technologies.

The conference concluded with a presentation by Ombudsperson Dr Loreta Tauginienė on recent developments in research ethics, such as the need to protect research, researchers, and whistleblowers. The Ombudsperson also presented UNESCO’s guidance to research and higher education institutions and the academic community on how to prepare for the ethical use of artificial intelligence technologies.

Photos from the archive of the Office

On 2nd October 2023, we met with the academic community of Kauno kolegija Higher Education Institution for the second time this year. This time, the members of the community deepened their knowledge about ethics in citizen science. Office employee Dr Birutė Liekė conducted a seminar on academic ethics in citizen science and presented a vignette on ethical use of technology. Participants had to choose the technological solution that best suited the interests of citizen scientists. Office employee Dr Julija Umbrasaitė presented a vignette on institutional review. The members of the academic community had to figure out whether the situation presented requires an ethical review.

Around 50 members of the academic community attended the seminar.

On 20th and 27th September 2023, Office representatives held a training session on academic ethics in Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. The following topics were presented to the academic community of the University: quality of research in terms of academic ethics, good record-keeping practices, co-authorship in research, plagiarism, and its prevention. The representatives of the Office gave an overview of good practices in research data management, gave examples of research data management plans, discussed European, field, and national guidelines on ethical authorship, types of plagiarism, possible consequences, recommendations on how to avoid it, etc. Training participants discussed the scope of research, storage options for research data (e.g., long-term storage in data repositories, conversion of data formats), unethical authorship, plagiarism cases, and other relevant issues.

Around 40 members of the University’s academic community attended the training on the first day, and around 30 members attended on the second day.

On 26th September 2023, Office employees visited Vilnius University Šiauliai Academy, where they gave a presentation on the developments of ethical review to members of the community. Office employee Dr Julija Umbrasaitė presented the specificities of the preparation of a research data management plan and gave examples from foreign countries. Office employee Dr Birutė Liekė discussed the application of ethical review in research conduct and the types of informed consent, examples, and main mistakes. The ethical review of research conducted by masters students, the storage of research data, and other relevant issues were discussed with the participants.

 

 

 

Photo from the archive of the Office

From 7th to 8th September 2023, the Congress of the European Network of Research Integrity Offices on Research Integrity Practices took place in Sorbonne University in France. It focused on research integrity in citizen science, showcasing responsible research practices in different fields, addressing research misconduct as well as anonymity, communication, and transparency in research conduct. The importance of supervising students and early career researchers in developing skills on research integrity was also addressed. Responsible open science, hard and soft law, research integrity regulation, and many other topics were discussed during the Congress.

The Congress provided training for the staff of the Office in the field of research integrity. Office employee Dr Julija Umbrasaitė presented the results of the survey Responsible Research Barometer. The full report of the Responsible Research Barometer in Lithuanian and English is available here.

The Office, together with its partners, has completed the implementation of the international BRIDGE project, Bridging Integrity in Higher Education, Business and Society (project No 2020-1-SE01-KA203-077973). The project was funded by the Erasmus+ programme under the action Cooperation for Innovation and the Exchange of Good Practices. The Erasmus+ programme is an important instrument for the development of the European education area, supporting the implementation of the strategic European cooperation in education and training and related sectoral agendas. It supports projects in higher education, vocational training, school education, adult education, youth, and sport. The total value of the European Union grant for the project is EUR 374,247.00.

The project involved five countries. The project was coordinated by Uppsala University (Sweden). Partners from Lithuania, the Czech Republic, North Macedonia, and Ukraine participated in the project. The aim of the project was to build integrity across sectors by raising awareness of integrity in higher education, business, and society as well as by providing appropriate skills to act in accordance with the values of academic ethics. The target group was masters students, doctoral students, and their supervisors.

Results and outputs produced by the project include checklists and guidelines on academic ethics in research, business, and society, educational materials (including gamified cases corresponding to real-life situations), and open educational resources (modules, etc.). The project has provided training in Lithuania, North Macedonia, and Sweden, organised two multiplier events and remote workshops. The Office led the development of two guidelines and their gamification (creation of vignettes and scenarios); developed a module on citizen science ethics; organised a project training in Vilnius and remote seminars as well as contributed to other project outputs in cooperation with partners.

Project results are available here.

The European Network of Research Integrity Offices (ENRIO) has published a Handbook on Whistleblower Protection in Research. It aims to help research institutions understand how to set up a system for managing whistleblowing in research. The Handbook may also be useful for research funding organisations monitoring the implementation of research projects or the scientific activities of researchers and the dissemination of science and receiving reports of possible irregularities. The Handbook on Whistleblower Protection in Research is also aimed at researchers, the public interested in research, and potential whistleblowers. It provides guidance for those who intend to report possible research misconduct, as well as potential problems that may arise during and after research.

The ENRIO working group on whistleblower protection was informally established in 2016 by representatives from Austria and Finland. The first meeting of the working group, chaired by representatives from Germany, took place in 2018. The Handbook on Whistleblower Protection in Research has been developed by representatives from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Lithuania, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Germany.