Office news

On 17 July, the Ombudsman, Dr Reda Cimmperman, met with members of the Latvian Union of Young Scientists. During the meeting, the Auditor General shared the history of the founding of the Authority, presented the current developments in academic ethics in Lithuania and the Authority’s ethical guidelines for artificial intelligence. Together with the participants, she […]

The Trust On 2024 workshop took place at the Royal Belgian Library in Brussels on 26 and 27 June this year. The event brought together the best minds and leading experts to tackle the growing problem of disinformation in order to build a more trustworthy digital future. The event kicked off with inspiring speeches, with […]

On June 20th of this year, employees of the Office participated in the 9th European Artificial Intelligence Forum held in Vilnius. The forum was attended by speakers from different European countries, policymakers, and business representatives. Issues concerning potential national-level challenges in drafting AI legislation were raised, and the artificial intelligence ecosystem was discussed. The development […]

The Technical Support Instrument (TSI) launch event took place on the 12th of June. The event provided an opportunity to meet Nathalie Berger, Director of the Member State Reform Support Unit of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Structural Reform Assistance (DG REFORM), who is in charge of the Technical Support Instrument, as well as […]

Ethics and integrity in research and innovation are fundamental principles of science. In particular, they help to ensure the responsible pursuit of knowledge and innovation in research in science and research institutions. Technologies emerge faster than their ethical aspects can be assessed. In response to the question of whether new technologies affect the fundamental principles […]

This glossary relates to the project Combating Education Fraud in the framework of the Council of Europe Platform on Ethics, Transparency and Integrity in Education (ETINED). It serves as a basis to consolidate the definitions of terms related to ethics and integrity in education and to clarify the potential implications of their content. The glossary […]

29 April this year, the Ombudsman for Academic Ethics and Procedures of the Republic of Lithuania approved the Guidelines for the Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence in Science and Studies. It addresses the significant challenges that arise, the general principles of the ethical use of artificial intelligence, intellectual property rights and consumer protection. It provides […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 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 […]

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 […]

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 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 […]

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 […]

In the light of the challenges posed by the changing environment and conditions of scientific work, the European Commission proposes an update of the Recommendation of 11 March 2005 on the European Charter for Researchers and on a Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. The Draft European Charter for Researchers addresses research ethics […]

The 9th European Conference on Ethics and Integrity in Academia was held at the University of Derby in the United Kingdom from 12th to 14th July 2023, with the main theme Enhancing Ethical Practice, Professionalism, and Integrity for Future Development. The conference was organised by the European Network for Academic Integrity (ENAI) in partnership with […]

On 23 June 2023, at 12:00 pm All European Academies (ALLEA) published an updated European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity. We invite you to familiarise with it! In order to reflect the current trends in research and the related challenges in research integrity, in the autumn of 2022, ALLEA invited a wide range of […]

Cooperation between science and business is increasingly recognised as an important part of the activities of research and higher education institutions. Such cooperation is expected to bring social, economic, and other benefits to both research and higher education institutions, business, and society. Furthermore, cooperation between science and business also entails certain risks and ethical challenges. […]

The Office has carried out its second survey on the contract cheating services in Lithuania. The study analyses advertisements offering the afore-mentioned services in March and April 2023 on the four goods and services portals selected for the study. A comparison with a previous study (Vaškevičiūtė & Ozolinčiūtė 2021) suggests that similar trends are observed […]

On 30 May, the Office’s team conducted a remote seminar to the Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry on subtleties of academic ethics in research. Dr Birutė Liekė, an employee of the Office, familiarised the participants of the seminar with academic ethics in citizen science. The Guidelines for Research Ethics and Research Integrity in […]

On 17 and 23 May representatives of the Office and the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences hosted the project “Bridge” remote seminars on fair cooperation between science and business. Researchers, lecturers, master and doctoral students and their supervisors were invited to participate in the seminars. Dr Sandra Krutulienė (Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences) presented the […]

On 19 May, the staff of the Office visited Klaipėda University where they presented current issues of academic ethics to the members of the Senate. Dr Birutė Liekė, an employee of the Office, discussed the issues related to the promotion of academic ethics culture, including an overview of the concept of academic ethics in the […]

On 16 May, a remote meeting was held with teaching staff from Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. During the meeting, the Senior Analyst of the Office Dr Julija Umbrasaitė presented the peculiarities of academic ethics in the process of studying and the Guidelines for Ensuring Academic Ethics in the Organisation of Distance Learning. The Senior […]

On 12 May, the Ombudswoman Dr Loreta Tauginienė met with the Ethics Committees of research and higher education institutions. During the meeting, the representatives of the Office presented the current issues of academic ethics. The Senior Analyst Dr Julija Umbrasaitė explained what academic ethics violations related to research data are and what means may be […]

On 20-24 March 2023, the partners of the Bridge project organised training in Sweden at Uppsala University. During the training, Dr Julija Umbrasaitė and Dr Birutė Liekė presented the training module “Citizen Science and Ethics” which is being developed by the Office together with the project partners. The 10-hour module consists of 10 topics: citizen […]

On 23 March 2023, during the scientific-practical conference “Administrative Law and Personal Data Protection” organised by Mykolas Romeris University and its partners, the Ombudsperson Dr Loreta Tauginienė delivered a presentation on the importance and methods of data depersonalisation in research and the practice of data depersonalisation in the decisions of the Ombudsperson. She pointed out […]

On 16 March 2023, the Ombudswoman Dr Loreta Tauginienė and the Senior Specialist (Senior Analyst) Dr Birutė Liekė, visited Vilnius Žirmūnai Gymnasium. The lesson included an Office’s presentation on academic ethics, i.e. what is important for every high school student to know before entering a higher education institution. High school students asked whether it is […]

On 9 March 2023, the Ombudswoman Dr Loreta Tauginienė participated in the event “Sharing Good Research Practices and Ethical Challenges in Citizen Science-North Macedonia” organised by the University of South-Eastern Europe (North Macedonia) and the Galicica National Park where she gave an invited talk on the ethical fading of interdisciplinarity in citizen science. In her […]

On 8 March 2023, the Ombudswoman Dr Loreta Tauginienė met with the doctoral supervisors in the fields of sociology, pedagogy, and philology. During the training of doctoral supervisors, the legal regulation of scientific activities in Europe and Lithuania was presented, and the amendments in the legal regulation of doctoral studies and their impact on the […]

On 2 March 2023, the staff of the Office discussed academic ethics issues with the lecturers and students of Kazimieras Simonavičius University. Dr Julija Umbrasaitė presented the specific nature of students’ research activities and related violations of academic ethics. The meeting focused on violations related to research data: fabrication, falsification, suppression, etc. Dr Birutė Liekė […]

On 23 February 2023, a remote event “Lay People’s Voice: How to Hear It with Integrity?” was organised by the Research Council of Lithuania and the Office of the Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures of the Republic of Lithuania. During the event, the experiences of the implemented projects in the field of citizen science […]

On 27 February 2023, the staff of the Office discussed academic ethics with the lecturers and students at the SMK University of Applied Sciences. The participants of the meeting were interested in how to avoid image plagiarism. Dr Birutė Liekė, the Senior Analyst of the Office, discussed the concept and types of plagiarism, demonstrated the […]

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the education sector has been the subject of considerable debate recently. Ethical challenges are faced when using AI-based information systems as support tools, e.g. for students’ theses, for researchers’ research conduct, for scientific publications. In 2019, an independent high-level panel of experts on AI published the Ethical Guidelines […]

We are pleased to invite you to the webinar on how to hear lay people’s voice with integrity in research practice. The webinar will take place on 23 February at 09:00–10:45 (CET) in MS Teams. On this webinar you will learn about the PRO-Ethics project perspective what ethical challenges emerge when involving participants in research […]

January 28 is the European Data Protection Day. To mark the day, on 27 January 2023, a seminar “Data Protection and Ethics in Biomedical Research” was held at Scholarly Communication and Information Centre of Vilnius University. The event featured presentations by the representatives of the Faculty of Medicine of Vilnius University, the State Data Protection […]

On 27 January  2023, the Ombudswoman Dr Loreta Tauginienė attended a meeting with the lecturers of Kaunas University of Technology (KTU). During the discussion “Lecturers’ Café” organised by KTU, the Ombudswoman presented to the lecturers the relevant information on academic ethics in the study process, e.g. expectations of the teaching profession in the field of […]

On 8 December 2022, the Ombudswoman Dr Loreta Tauginienė met with the representatives of the ethics committees of research and higher education institutions. During the meeting, the Ombudswoman presented the developments in the field of academic ethics (e.g. the template of the research data management plan) to the representatives of the ethics committees. She also […]

On 2 December, the Office of the Ombudsperson organised the seminar to representatives of institutional review boards, representatives of the Lithuanian Bioethics Committee and the commission of research ethics of the Research Council of Lithuania, and other members of academic community about research data management. Head of the Office of the Ombudsperson, Dr Loreta Tauginienė, […]

On 17–18 November, the 6th plenary session of the European Council Platform on Ethics, Transparency and Integrity in Education (ETINED) was held in Strasbourg. The Recommendation on countering education  fraud adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 13 July 2022 was introduced. Protection of whistleblowers and legal regulation of contract […]

The seminar about research integrity organised by the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) was held on 10 November in the Life Sciences Centre of Vilnius University. Research integrity and good practices in life sciences were discussed in the event. Senior Specialist (Senior Analyst) from the Office of the Ombudsperson, Dr Julija Umbrasaitė, introduced the participants […]

The BRIDGE team organised the multiplier event and training in North Macedonia, South East European University (SEEU) on 24–28 October. The event and training were hosted by the project’s partners from SEEU. The multiplier event and training for academic community, namely master students, doctoral students, and their supervisors, were conducted by the project’s partners from […]

The Catalan Research Integrity Committee organised the meeting with the members of the European Network of Research Integrity Offices (ENRIO) and the Spanish academic community on 20 October in Barcelona. The attendees were greeted by the chair of the Catalan Research Integrity Committee, Prof. Dr Pere Puigdomènech and CEO of Barcelona Biomedical Research Park, Prof. […]

On 18 October, an international conference was held in Dublin to commemorate the anniversary of 10 years of the Irish Quality and Qualifications Agency (QQI). Attention was paid to higher education issues from the perspective of students. Simon Harris, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science of Ireland, stressed that a fair […]

The Office of the Ombudsperson organised the annual conference ‘Ethics in Academic Environment 2022’ on 14 October 2022. The conference received a high level of attention – more than 190 participants joined the conference. The Senior Analyst of the Office of the Ombudsperson, Dr Julija Umbrasaitė, presented the results of the survey ‘Responsible Research Barometer […]

The Committee on Education and Science of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania and the Office of the Ombudsperson organised the international online discussion ‘Governance models of research integrity authorities in Europe: Where are we?’ on 7 October 2022. The participants of the event had the opportunity to learn more about the Austrian, Norwegian, […]

Ombudswoman Loreta Tauginienė gave a lecture to students from the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration of Vilnius University on 22 September, on how academic ethics contributes to the reinforcement of the university’s social responsibility. She stressed that it is provided in the Law on Higher Education and Research of the Republic of Lithuania that […]

Ombudswoman Loreta Tauginienė met with the academic community of the Centre for Innovative Medicine on 15 September, to discuss the role of a researcher (scientist) in conducting research and publishing their results. The ombudswoman stressed in her talk that the duty to comply with research ethics and other standards of academic ethics arises not only […]

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 […]

The Office of the Ombudsperson carried out the survey ‘Responsible Research Barometer’ for the second time. The doctoral students, teachers, scientists and other researchers from the Lithuanian Research and Higher Education Institutions (RHEIs) took part in the survey. In total, the responses of 310 respondents were analysed. The report on the survey reviews how well […]

Education without fraud and corruption – that is the main message announced by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in its Recommendation of 13 July on countering education fraud addressed to the Member States. This recommendation is a joint result of four years’ work by various stakeholders participating in the Council of […]

On 15 June 2022 representatives of the Office gave distance training to the academic community of the Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry. More than 60 community members attended the training. The Ombudswoman Dr Loreta Tauginienė explained what plagiarism and self-plagiarism are and how to avoid them. The Ombudsperson discussed the concept of academic […]

To provide guidance to research and higher education institutions on how to adequately ensure the protection of personal data in scientific research (research data), a working group established by the Office has developed a template form for a research data management plan. It aims to encourage researchers to handle their research data responsibly, especially when […]

From 16 to 20 May, the BRIDGE project held meetings and training sessions for the Lithuanian academic community: master’s program students, doctoral students and their supervisors. 41 representatives of research and higher education institutions took part in the training held from 17 to 19 May. Participants were introduced to the basic concepts of academic integrity […]

On 4-6 May the staff of the Office participated in the conference “Ethics and Integrity in a Changing World” (ECAIP2022) co-organised by the European Network for Academic Integrity (ENAI) and the University of Porto. The conference touched upon topics, such as the politics of academic integrity in a changing society, the foreseeable and realistic impact […]

On 3 May, the Ombudsperson, Dr Loreta Tauginienė met with members of ethics committees of research and higher education institutions to discuss how to ensure the principle of confidentiality in the handling of complaints about allegations of academic ethics and what material should be made available to the person complained. Representatives of the ethics committees […]

On 28-29 April, the General Assembly of the European Network of Research Integrity Offices (ENRIO) was held in Helsinki. The ENRIO’s General Assembly met to discuss the results of ENRIO’s activities in 2021 and its planned activities for 2022. For the first time since ENRIO’s establishment in November 2020, the General Assembly elected a Board […]

In view of the significant amendments to Article 17 of the Law on Research and Higher Education of the Republic of Lithuania, which entered into force on 1 December 2021, and other legal acts, the Regulations of the Office have been reworded. It should be noted that the new wording of the Regulations of the […]

On 21 April 2022, we met with the Kaunas University of Applied Sciences (KUAS) community. This is the second meeting this year between the representatives of the Office and the lecturers at the KUAS. During the meeting, the Senior Specialist (Senior Analyst) of the Office, Dr. Eglė Ozolinčiūtė shared tips on how to avoid plagiarism […]

On 14 April, the staff of the Office participated in a meeting with students and lecturers from the SMK University of Applied Social Sciences. During the meeting, the Senior Specialist (Senior Analyst) of the Office, Dr Eglė Ozolinčiūtė shared tips on how to avoid image plagiarism: how to find, select and properly cite the visual […]

The Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures of the Republic of Lithuania, in the performance of the tasks assigned to him, shall submit proposals to the Parliament, the Government and other authorities on measures to ensure compliance with academic ethics and procedures. To this end, the Office has initiated a review of doctoral evaluations from […]

The BRIDGE project team has pleasure to inform you that if  you are a master student, doctoral student or supervisor and find yourself in Vilnius on 17-19 May 2022, you are invited to participate in one-day training where you will deepen your understanding of ethics and integrity in higher education, business, and society. During the […]

On 25 March, in the scientific-practical conference “Lithuanian Administrative Law in the Context of the European Union”, organised by Mykolas Romeris University and its partners, the Ombudswoman Dr Loreta Tauginienė presented how academic ethics in scientific activities and the dissemination of science is regulated in the European Union. She stressed that, while scientific activity and […]

The Office presents the results of an e-survey on the implementation of academic ethics measures by research and higher education institutions (RHEI) conducted in January-February 2022. The survey results provide a systematic assessment of the academic ethics measures implemented by RHEIs and the extent to which they comply with academic ethics provisions. This is the […]

In February, we had meetings with teachers from the University of Applied Social Sciences. At a meeting on 17 February, the Office’s Senior Specialist (Senior Analyst), Dr Julija Umbrasaitė introduced the community to the development of the establishment of academic ethics in research and higher education, the concept of academic ethics, the types, and consequences […]

Office of the Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures continues its meetings with academic communities in 2022. On 22 February 2022, a meeting was held with members of the academic community of Kazimieras Simonavičius University. More than 20 participants attended the meeting. During the meeting, the Senior Specialist (Senior Analyst) of the Office, Dr Julija […]

On 25 January, representatives of the Office met with several ad portals to find solutions for the prevention of contract cheating services in Lithuania. At the meeting, the Office’s Senior Specialist, Dr Eglė Ozolinčiūtė presented the results of the 2021 study on the supply of contract cheating services in Lithuania. She stressed that the true […]

On 10 February, the Ombudswoman for Academic Ethics and Procedures, Dr Loreta Tauginienė met with the academic community of the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences (LCSS). Around 50 community members attended the meeting. During the meeting, the Ombudswoman explained the origins of the responsibility of a researcher to comply with the norms of scientific and […]

On 9 February, the Ombudswoman for Academic Ethics and Procedures, Dr Loreta Tauginienė and the Senior Specialist of the Office (Senior Analyst) Dr Julija Umbrasaitė met with lecturers and administrative staff from Kaunas University of Applied Sciences. Around 60 community members attended the meeting. During the meeting, the Ombudswoman presented the evolution of the establishment […]

On 20 January 2022, on the initiative of the Office, the first inter-institutional meeting of the working group on the development of a template for scientific research data management plan was held, with the participation of representatives from several Lithuanian institutions: the Lithuanian Research Council, the Lithuanian University Rectors’ Conference, the Lithuanian Scientific Society, the […]

On 13 December, Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) conducted seminar “Citizen Science in Creation of Social Welfare”, where the results of project “Citizen Science as an Innovative Form of Citizen Participation for Welfare Society Development” (CS4Welfare) financed by the Research Council of Lithuania were presented. KTU Prof. Dr. Eglė Butkevičienė noticed that the interest of […]

On 10 December, the International Human Rights Day, Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures, Dr. Loreta Tauginienė met the representatives from ethical committees of research and higher education institutions to discuss their experience in implementation of the Guidelines for Ethical Review. The guidelines were published one year ago and granted the ground for appropriate assurance […]

On 9 December 2021, Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures, Dr. Loreta Tauginienė took part in the event Scientific Integrity organised by the German Commission for UNESCO. The event’s participants from various world countries shared initiatives promoting scientific integrity, raised issues for discussions what scientific integrity is, why and how it is important for academic […]

Despite the imposed restrictions to spread information about contract cheating services, the advertisements of such services are easy to find in public space. This confirms that there is a market offering scientific and students’ works done by other persons that would not necessarily meet the requirements of the higher education and research quality. Besides, the […]

On 23 November, the attendees of the Council of Europe Platform on Ethics, Transparency and Integrity in Education, ETINED, placed offers for the draft of Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to member States on countering Education Fraud and promoting ethics, transparency and integrity in education. The significance of the role of research and higher […]

On 10-12 November, the representatives of the Office of the Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures met the representatives of the Norwegian National Research Ethics Committees, FEK. The Office’s employees shared their experience and learnt how FEK are forming the research integrity provisions in Norway and what challenges are encountered, what preventive measures of unethical […]

On 25-27 October, the representatives of the Office of the Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures visited the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity, TENK. During the work visit, the Office’s employees took part in the interinstitutional exchange of knowledge and experience: they took interest how TENK is forming the research integrity provisions in Finland […]

On 20 October 2021, the Office gathered approx. 160 representatives of the academic community to the annual conference Ethics in Academic Environment 2021 to commemorate the Global Ethics Day. The attendees of the conference had the possibility to learn more about the guidelines for assurance of academic ethics and equal opportunities in scientific events, how […]

On 11-13 October 2021, the researcher (project manager) of the Office’s project “Bridging Integrity in Higher Education, Business and Society” (Bridge), Dr. Eglė Ozolinčiūtė met the project partners at Mendel University in Brno (Czech Republic). The representatives of the project partners from other countries were also present: from Czechia, Sweden, North Macedonia, and Ukraine. The […]

The Congress on Research Integrity Practice organised by the European Network of Research Integrity Offices (ENRIO) is held online on the 27th-29th of September. Two employees of our Office – Senior Specialist (Senior Analyst), Dr. Eglė Ozolinčiūtė, and Senior Specialist, Ms. Kamilė Kapočiūtė-Sabaitienė, are sharing the outcomes and experience of the Office’s work there. ENRIO […]

Ombudswoman for Academic Ethics and Procedures, Dr. Loreta Tauginienė, and Senior Specialist (Senior Analyst), Dr. Eglė Ozolinčiūtė, met members of student research societies and other students from Klaipeda State University of Applied Sciences, Siauliai University of Applied Sciences, Kaunas University of Applied Sciences, Panevezys University of Applied Sciences, and the Lithuanian Maritime Academy on the […]

Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures, Dr. Loreta Tauginienė, presented the development of regulations of academic ethics and national participants related to promotion of academic ethics in Lithuania to the community of the Lithuanian Energy Institute (LEI) on the 17th of September. Besides, she provided more thorough information about the key documents that served as […]

The Office of the Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures has participated again in the events of Science Festival “Spaceship Earth” this year. The festival’s programme aimed to popularise science covered even 400 events this year. They were held in 19 cities and regions. Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures, Dr. Loreta Tauginienė, Senior Specialist […]

The Office conducted the study “Monetary Value of Violations of Research and Publishing Ethics: Losses caused by the Researcher”, whereby it was endeavoured at expanding the knowledge about the value of the violations of research and publication ethics (RPE), i.e., the value of RPE violations in money according to the losses caused by the researcher. […]

On 8 and 21 June, Ms. Loreta Tauginienė, Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures, met the representatives of the associations of higher education institutions, the Conference of the Directors of the Lithuanian Universities of Applied Sciences, and the Conference of the Rectors of the Lithuanian Universities, to encourage the higher education institutions to consider the […]

Although Covid-19 pandemic has changed the reality of communication between the academic communities and transformed the “live” events into online ones, yet the fundamental principles for securing academic ethics and equal opportunities remain valid or they even have become more relevant when the scientific events are organised. In order to achieve the quality of scientific […]

Ms. Loreta Tauginienė, Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures, conducted the training to the doctoral students on the 18th of June about evaluation of the violations of academic ethics in the research works in terms of ethical and legal approaches. She used the international practice of research publications to introduce the legal peculiarities of assessment […]

On the 25th of May, Ms. Loreta Tauginienė, Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures, took part in the policy overview session of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) about the research integrity. The ombudsperson briefly reviewed the evaluation of the Lithuanian situation of research and publishing and presented the main results of the survey “Barometer […]

On the initiative of the Office of the Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures, the training “Virtues and Morals in the Academic Environment” were held on the 7th of April. The training was organised under the programme Virtue based ethics and Integrity of Research: Train-the-Trainer program for Upholding the principles and practices of the European […]

On February 22, the Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures Loreta Tauginienė met with representatives of the Academic Ethics Committees from 21 research and higher education institutions. During the meeting, the expediency of establishing a network of academic ethics in Lithuania was discussed and issues related to the implementation of the Office’s recommendations and guidelines […]

In the new year, the Office of the Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures (the Office) continues meetings with members of the academic community. In January 2021, three distance meetings with representatives of three Lithuanian university colleges took place. On January 21, we met with 87 representatives of the University of Applied Social Sciences and […]

On January 11, the Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures Dr Loreta Tauginienė presented the Guidelines for Ethical Review to the members of the Rectors’ Conference of Lithuanian University Colleges and on January 15th, to the members of the Science Committee of the Lithuanian University Rectors’ Conference. During the presentation, the Ombudsperson pointed out that […]

In September 2020, Erasmus+ funded project “Bridging Integrity in Higher Education, Business and Society“ (Bridge) was launched, and the Office of the Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures is one of the partner organisations in it. The main goal of this project is to create a bridge of intersectoral integrity by deepening the understanding of […]

On the 15th of December, the Ombudswoman for Academic Ethics and Procedures dr. Loreta Tauginienė participated in the international conference ”Implementation of quality distance education” organised by the Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education. At the conference, she presented the results of the Office’s study “Challenges of Distance Education for Academic Ethics during the […]

On the 10th of December, the world commemorates International Human Rights Day, reminding of the importance of human rights in any society. Ensuring human rights in research is a necessity that must be realized through research (including interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral) and publication of its results in a variety of ways and forms. Assessing compliance with […]

By the ruling of the 3rd of December 2020, the Constitutional Court has recognised that the right granted to the Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures by the Item 2 of Paragraph 11 of Article 17 of the Law on Science and Studies to oblige to revoke a decision to award a higher education qualification […]

On the 14th of October, the Office organised an annual conference for the academic community “Ethics in Academic Environment 2020”. This event was held to mark the Global Ethics Day and attended by 70 participants from 30 institutions. At the beginning of the conference, the participants saw a short performance “Winds of Change” staging common […]

On the 25th of September, the Office of the Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures participated in the science festival “Researchers’ Night”. The event of the Office was aimed at doctoral students from various fields of science. They were invited to discuss on academic ethics. The participants from six research and higher education institutions saw […]

On the 24th of September, UNESCO organized an Eastern European Regional Consultation on the Recommendation on Open Science. It was attended by a wide range of stakeholders from Eastern Europe, including academia (especially library staff), policy makers and other representatives. About 150 participants participated in the Regional Consultation. During the Regional Consultation, the stakeholders shared […]

For the second year in a row, the Office of the Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures participated in the science festival “Spaceship Earth”. The festival, first held in 2004, has already become the largest science communication event in Lithuania. This year, its program included as many as 350 events. The event of the Office […]

On the 25th of August 2020, revised Recommendations on the Adaptation and Implementation of Academic Ethics Codes by Research and Higher Education Institutions (Recommendations) based on the Guidelines for an Institutional Code of Ethics in Higher Education by the International Association of Universities and the Magna Charta Observatory, the national legislation and the proposals by […]

Dear academia,   As every year, we welcome autumn with Science and Knowledge Day. New goals, new tasks and new challenges lie ahead. In the presence of a global pandemic, we will face even more challenges this academic year, but by acting in togetherness, responsibly, honestly, and respectfully, we will undoubtedly overcome them. Courage, creativity, […]

The Office of the Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures (Office) presents the results of the survey “Responsible Research Barometer 2020” on the experience and situations of researchers working in Lithuanian research and higher education institutions in the field of research and publication ethics. The aim of the survey was to overview the current practice […]

Although the Seimas’ resolution of establishment of the Office of the Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures was adopted in 2011, the Office began to function at full extent in 2013. Today the Office celebrates its seventh birthday. The team of the Office is composed of nine employees and, while supervising the embedding of provisions […]

In 2017, UNESCO issued the revised Recommendation on Science and Scientific Researchers covering all principles of Responsible Research: ethics, open science, STEM education, public engagement, and gender equality. 195 countries signed up the treaty, among them also Lithuania. The treaty obliges each country to evaluate its performance related to the principles of Recommendation every four […]

The Office of the Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures received financial support from the Nordic-Baltic Mobility and Networking Programme for Public Administration. The grant will allow three employees to make two short-term working visits abroad. The staff of the Office will take part in interinstitutional exchanges of knowledge and experience in Finnish National Board […]

The ombudsperson for academic ethics and procedures Loreta Tauginienė became a member of the Council of Europe Platform for Ethics, Transparency and Integrity in Education (ETINED). Senior specialist (senior analyst) Eglė Ozolinčiūtė has been appointed as her deputy. The ETINED is a network of specialists appointed by member states of the Council of Europe. The […]

On the 19th of May, the ombudswoman Loreta Tauginienė and the senior specialist of the Office Kamilė Kapočiūtė participated in a virtual meeting with the academic community of the Lithuanian Sports University (LSU). Some 60 members of LSU academic community participated in the meeting. The ombudswoman presented them the concepts of research integrity and publication […]

On the 13th -14th of May, the Office organised remote training on research ethics. The first training on peculiarities of ethical scientific supervision was intended for doctoral students’ supervisors. The training emphasized that the ethical dilemmas arising during doctoral supervision must be solved together with the heads of the department and the institution. It was […]

On the 17th-19th of April, the Office’s senior specialists Kamilė Kapočiūtė, Eglė Ozolinčiūtė and Gintarė Židonė participated in the 6th International Conference Plagiarism across Europe and Beyond 2020, remotely held in Dubai. The main topic of the conference was plagiarism, its detection methods and prevention. At the conference, researchers, private business sector, public authorities and […]

On the 16th of April, the European Network of Research Integrity Offices (ENRIO) released a statement urging the academic community to keep in mind principles of research ethics. ENRIO emphasizes that research integrity remains crucial in the COVID-19 pandemic, given the need for evidence-based research conclusions. The Office of the Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and […]

On the 26–27 of March, a remote meeting of the European Network of Research Integrity Offices (ENRIO) was held. It was attended by representatives from Austria, Germany, Belgium, France, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Finland, Norway, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Luxembourg, and other countries. Ethics in social sciences […]

In 2019–2020, the Office initiated the review of the Recommendations for adoption, implementation, and supervision of academic ethics codes of research and higher education institutions (HEIs) published in 2015 and of the documents regulating the activities of academic ethics committees, approved by HEIs, and provided the academic community with the research review “Changes in Regulation […]

On February 20-22, the Ombudswoman for Academic Ethics and Procedures Loreta Tauginienė and Senior Specialist (Analyst) Gintarė Židonė participated in the 3rd International Conference organised by REWARD and EQUATOR networks. The aim of the Conference was to discuss challenges of scientific activities and their solutions with various stakeholders (e.g. research funding organisations, publishers, editors of […]

On the 9th of January, the Ombudswoman for Academic Ethics and Procedures Loreta Tauginienė participated in the international winter school organised by the Society of Doctoral Students of Mykolas Romeris University. She presented the concepts of research ethics, scientific integrity, and publication ethics, introduced with manifestations of unethical research related to authorship, plagiarism, performance of […]

In December 2019, Lithuanian Union of Students (Lietuvos Studentų Sąjunga, LSS) shared the results of the study “Index of Academic Integrity 2019”. The Office also contributed to this study by helping LSS to improve the questionnaire in Spring 2019. By calculating the index of academic integrity, LSS seeks to evaluate the prevalence of academic malpractices […]

On the 13th of December, the Government Strategic Analysis Center hosted a seminar for doctoral supervisors “Research Ethics for Supervisors” (in English) organized by the Office of the Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures. In the first part of the seminar it’s lecturer PhD Sonja Bjelobaba (Uppsala University, Sweden) spoke not only about the significance […]

On the 6th of December, the Ombudswoman for Academic Ethics and Procedures Loreta Tauginienė met with representatives of the ethics commissions of six colleges to discuss opportunities for collaboration in promoting ethical behaviour of the academic community. At the meeting, the representatives of ethics commissions of the colleges were interested in the possibilities of improving […]

In order to strengthen interinstitutional cooperation, on the 2nd of December, the Ombudswoman for Academic Ethics and Procedures Loreta Tauginienė met with the employees of the Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education. At the meeting, the Ombudswoman presented the study results about the situation of academic ethics in Lithuanian research and higher education, peculiarities […]

The 3rd plenary session of the Council of Europe Platform on Ethics, Transparency and Integrity in Education (ETINED) was held in Prague on 28-29 of November. It was attended by representatives from almost 30 European countries. Lithuania was represented by the Head of the Legal and General Affairs Division of the Centre for Quality Assessment […]

The Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures, Mrs. Loreta Tauginienė, participated in the 9th World Science Forum “Science, Ethics and Responsibility” held in Budapest on 20-23 of November. It was organized by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences together with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), The International Council for Science (ISCU) and […]

On the 8th of November at the Faculty of Law of Vytautas Magnus University, the Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures, Mrs. Loreta Tauginienė, met with the representatives of ethics commissions of seven universities to discuss cooperation possibilities in handling allegations of academic ethics while maintaining the implementation of the activity principles of the Ombudsperson […]

On the 8th of November, the Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures, Mrs. Loreta Tauginienė, met with the academic community of Kaunas University of Technology. At the meeting, the Ombudsperson acquainted the participants with certain aspects of publication ethics – authorship, conflict of interest, also discussed the role of the thesis / research supervisor and […]

Global Ethics Day is celebrated on the 16th of October this year. On this day higher education institutions usually invite to draw attention to the contract cheating, the sorest problem of academic ethics in the study process today. On this occasion, the Office of the Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures invites the academic community […]

On 30 September 2019, the Senior Specialists of the Office Mindaugas Židonis and Kamilė Kapočiūtė introduced to the academia the conditions of use and functionality of the PlagScan text-matching software.

On 25 September, the Office of Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures became a member of the European Network of Research Integrity Offices (ENRIO) in Krakow.

On 15 October 2019, the Office will hold the conference “Ethics in Academic Environment 2019” to celebrate the Global Ethics Day.

For the first time, the Office of Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures joined the science festival “Spaceship Earth”, which has been held since 2004.

On 13 August, the Ombudswoman for Academic Ethics and Procedures Loreta Tauginienė delivered a presentation on the challenges of ensuring research ethics by involving citizens in research as peer researchers.

On 6 August, the Ombudswoman for Academic Ethics and Procedures Loreta Tauginienė took part at the COST information day organized by the Research Council of Lithuania.

Congratulations on the Day of Science and Knowledge!

On 23 August, the opening of the 20th assembly of the Lithuanian National Union of Students Union (LSS) was held at Klaipėda University to discuss the future of higher education.

On 22 August, the Ombudswoman Loreta Tauginienė presented to the participants of the conference “Being a human among human beings” held by the Language Centre of State Institutions the insights related to ethical infrastructure in 32 gymnasiums of Vilnius.

Today, the Office celebrates its sixth birthday.

Mykolas Romeris University (MRU), Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) and the Office of Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures of the Republic of Lithuania invite to take part in the event “Perspectives of Citizen Science in Lithuania”.

On 12 July, the Ombudswoman for Academic Ethics and Procedures Loreta Tauginienė and the Senior Specialist Gintarė Židonė participated in off-site training of coordinators of the Student Representation of Vilnius University.

On 20–21 of June, the Adviser Giedrė Litvinaitytė attended the conference held by the International Whistleblowing Research Network in Utrecht (the Kingdom of the Netherlands).

The Ombudswoman Loreta Tauginienė and the Senior Specialists Regimantas Juras and Gintarė Židonė became members of ENERI (European Network of Research Ethics and Research Integrity) e-community network.

On 26 June, a discussion on the role of such public institutions as the Office, the Lithuanian Bioethics Committee and the Research Council of Lithuania in enhancing the focus of academia on research ethics was held at the Research Council of Lithuania.

On 19–21 June, the Ombudswoman for Academic Ethics and Procedures Loreta Tauginienė and the Senior Specialists Kamilė Kapočiūtė and Regimantas Juras took part in the 5th International Conference “Plagiarism Across Europe and Beyond” and the 3rd International Conference  “Shaping Ethics in Academia and Society”.

The seminar ”Avoiding plagiarism – what can librarians do?” hosted by the Office was held at the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences.

On June 2–5, the Ombudswoman for Academic Ethics and Procedures Loreta Tauginienė and the Senior Adviser Kristina Pažusytė participated in the 6th World Conference on Research Integrity, WCRI 2019.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Lithuania, the Research Council of Lithuania and the Office of Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures of the Republic of Lithuania will hold an information seminar “Enhancing the Role of Research Ethics”.

In the meeting with academic community of Šiauliai University the Ombudswoman Loreta Tauginienė presented the initiatives of preventive measures of unethical behaviour to the academic community.

Amendments to the General Rules for Competitive Financing of Research and Dissemination Projects of the Research Council of Lithuania (the Rules) took effect on 6 April of this year.

The Seimas adopted amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses revising administrative liability for submitting works created by ghost-writers to higher education and research institutions as own research or study papers, and the hand-over of written papers submitted by other persons as their own research or study papers.

Supporting the initiative of the Lithuanian National Union of Students (the LSS) to assess the prevalence of academic dishonesty in Lithuanian research and higher education institutions and to identify causes of academic dishonesty, this year the Office has assisted the LSS in conducting a research “Academic Integrity Index”.

Last week, the Ombudswoman Loreta Tauginienė presented areas of operations of the Office and its achievements at a meeting of the European Network of Research Integrity Offices (ENRIO) held in Prague.

Representatives of the Office participated in the discussion “Technological Development and Ethical Aspects” held by the Young Academy of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences and the Faculty of Law of Vilnius University.

Article 123 of the Code of Administrative Transgressions establishes a provision regarding unlawful purchase, sale and submission of research works to higher education and research institutions.

On 8 and 21 February, the Ombudswoman Loreta Tauginienė met with members of the Lithuanian University Rectors’ Conference and the Lithuanian University College Conference of Directors.

The Lithuanian University Rectors’ Conference (LURK) approved the Guidelines for Publication Ethics drafted by the temporary working group for academic integrity and ethics of the LURK at the meeting held on 8 February.

The Ombudswoman Loreta Tauginienė and employees of the Office met with Eigirdas Sarkanas, President of the Lithuanian National Union of Students (LSS) and Viktorija Žilinskaitė, Vice-President of the LSS.

The Ombudsperson and employees of the Office met with Deputy Director of the Centre of Information Technologies in Education (CITE) and the Head of Department of Registers of Pupils, Students and Teachers.