2022-09-09

Lithuanian researchers were going into the requirements of academic ethics in citizen science

On 8 September 2022, the Office of the Ombudsperson organised online training for researchers supervising graduation works or dissertations intended to introduce them to academic ethics in citizen science. More than 30 members of the academic community took part in the event.

The Senior Specialist (Senior Analyst) from the Office of the Ombudsperson, Dr Eglė Ozolinčiūtė, presented the guidelines created to help to organise and carry out citizen science projects to the attendees. These guidelines provide the opportunity to learn more about the challenges to ensure academic ethics in citizen science. Recommendations are provided on how to avoid possible infringements of academic ethics, while initiating and carrying out the citizen science projects.

The Senior Specialist (Senior Analyst) from the Office of the Ombudsperson, Dr Julija Umbrasaitė, presented the gamification cases that help to master particular aspects of research ethics and research integrity in citizen science, and conducted the discussion about the most suitable modes of behaviour.

The training’s attendees raised questions: What information is treated as personal information, despite not surveying people as research participants? When and in what cases do possible conflicts of interests have to be notified or people have to be removed? How do you evaluate research conducted by students? Are imperatives of institutional oversight applicable to students? etc.