Open and responsible RDI and education
As open as possible, closed when necessary
We promote a culture of open scientific research, Xamk’s Strategy (2023)
At Xamk, we strive to make our education and RDI activities as open and responsible as possible. We are committed to strengthening our culture of open science and research.
The Declaration on Open Science and Research and its complementary guidelines and recommendations are the foundations for the development of open science and research.
Xamk’s research and development activities comply with the Code of Conduct for Responsible Research, the Research Ethics Advisory Board (TENK) guidelines, and regulations and agreements related to RDI activities.
Open science increases the quality, reliability, and impact of RDI activities. Open practices also promote work-related cooperation between universities of applied sciences and businesses. Open learning and education practices increase the quality and impact of teaching and facilitate collaboration and co-creation at the national and international levels.
We aim to enhance the transfer of knowledge and skills and generate new knowledge through interactions between Xamk and the working world. Xamk offers staff and students training, guidance, and personal counselling to support open educational and RDI activities.
Declaration on Open Science and Research 2020-2025
Xamk has signed the National Declaration on Open Science and Research 2020-2025. The Declaration’s goals, aims, and principles are detailed in specific national open science policies, guidelines, and recommendations. For more information, visit the Open Science website.
Xamk is committed to developing openness and transparency in four key areas, which form the cornerstones of our operations.
Goal: In our research community, openness is considered throughout the research process. Research organisations have established evaluation practices, incentives, and services to support a culture of openness.
Internal coordination at Xamk: Open operating culture working group
Xamk guidelines: Science Communication (Lux-intra) and Guide to Open RDI (Libguides – in Finnish)
National guidelines: Policy for open scholarship
Goal: All new research publications are openly available immediately.
Internal coordination at Xamk: Open publishing working group.
Xamk guidelines: Open access publishing and contracts (Lux-intra) and Publisher’s guide (Libguides – in Finnish)
National guidelines: Policy for open access to scholarly publications
Goal: Research data and methods are as open as possible and closed when required. Data are managed appropriately following the FAIR principles (discoverable, accessible, interoperable, reusable). Research methods and data are recognised as independent research outputs.
Internal coordination at Xamk: Open data working group
Xamk guidelines: Research materials and methods (Lux-intra) and Guide to open RDI activities (Libguides – in Finnish)
National guidelines: Policy for open research data and methods
Goal: The co-creation and use of open educational resources and other teaching practices are part of everyday life in higher education. Xamk supports continuous learning.
Internal coordination at Xamk: Open learning and educational resources working group
Xamk guidelines: Programme for open learning and education resources (in Finnish)
National guidance: Open educational resources guide (in Finnish)
National guidelines: Open learning and education resources (in Finnish)
Promoting an open operating culture at Xamk
The Open Science and Research Group aims to deepen the culture of open science and research. Xamk’s organisational structure, guidelines, and support services ensure that open approaches are considered in RDI projects and other activities.
Research.fi
The Research.fi service gathers and shares information about national research in Finland. The service improves access to research information and experts and increases the visibility of Finnish research and its impact.
The aim is to ensure that Xamk’s activities and researchers are visible in the service (e.g., promoting the use of ORCID iD researcher identifiers and publishing research activities). You can access Xamk’s open research outputs directly via this link.
Based on the National Open Science (AVOTT) Monitoring 2023 survey results, Xamk’s Open Science and Research score is 4/5. Read more about the AVOTT Monitoring (avointiede.fi).
Responsible Researcher Evaluation
Xamk has signed the CoARA (Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment) agreement. Xamk has developed the researcher career path based on the principles of responsible researcher assessment. The career path is overseen by the Researcher Career Path Steering Group, which was established by Xamk’s Management Team. The Steering Group participates in the evaluation of research activities of those who are on the researcher’s career path. The Open Science working group is currently drafting Xamk’s CoARA action plan, which will be completed by the end of 2024.
CoARA Action Plan, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences, Xamk (Zenodo)
For more information: https://coara.eu/ and Good Practices in Researcher Assessment – National Recommendation for Responsible Researcher Assessment
Applying for research permission at Xamk
A research permission must be applied for in accordance with Xamk’s guidelines when research data collection (surveys, interviews, etc.) is part of research (e.g., thesis, scientific research, or publication) and the data collection is carried out in relation to Xamk students, staff, or Xamk’s activities.
A research permit must be applied for if,
- the data is collected in connection with an employee’s work at Xamk
- the research affects the performance of staff duties or the teaching provided to students, e.g. when intervening in a teaching situation
- the research subjects are Xamk’s equipment, closed premises, or events to which the public does not have access
- the research funder requires a research permit
- a student collects material from Xamk staff or students for their thesis.
A research permit is not required if,
- the survey is related to internal development, feedback collection, or a well-being survey. In other words, if the data is not used for research or published scientifically, a research permit is not required. In this case, the survey can be conducted as part of normal human resources management or other internal development activities.
- Xamk is asked to disclose data in its possession for research purposes. In this case, a request for disclosure of information must be made (see instructions on document transparency – South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences).
- Xamk staff participate in the research in their free time and in a role other than that of Xamk employees.
Research application process
Applying for research permission in accordance with Xamk’s instructions is required whenever conducting research, surveys, interviews, or other research-related data collection involving Xamk’s staff and students and related to Xamk’s operations, or due to another specific reason (e.g., requirement from the funder).
Xamk has a separate application form for applying for research permission. After filling in and signing the application, send it to Xamk’s registry following the instructions in the form. The registry will forward your application to the relevant person for approval.
A research plan/thesis plan must always be attached to the research permission application. If necessary, attach a privacy notice (if personal data is collected and processed in your thesis/research), research information sheet, consent form for research participants, and questionnaire/interview form or other equivalent data collection form.
Xamk grants research permission only for the purpose of conducting research/theses, or other data collection activities. The research participants themselves make the decision to participate in the research and give their consent.
- Xamk’s research permission application form (Libguides)
Invitation to participate and its distribution
When conducting research, you must always describe in your research plan how you plan to distribute your survey or interview requests to Xamk staff or students. If you wish to send invitations to participate in the research to Xamk’s staff or students centrally, follow the instructions below.
- If you are a Xamk staff member, you can distribute the invitation yourself, taking into account your target group and Xamk’s communication guidelines. You can, for example, share a link to the survey, along with a cover letter, on Xamk’s intranet.
- If you are a Xamk student, you can contact Xamk’s Communication and Marketing Services (viestinta@xamk.fi) for help in distributing the invitation. Survey links, along with cover letters, are primarily shared on Xamk’s intranet.
- If you are not a Xamk staff member or student, your survey link or interview requests may be distributed at Xamk, but this is decided on a case-by-case basis. The prerequisite for this is that the research deals with a topic relevant to Xamk, and that you provide Xamk with a summary of the results once the research is finished. Submit justifications for why your invitation should be distributed at Xamk, as well as the summary mentioned above, to Xamk’s Communication and Marketing Services (viestinta@xamk.fi), who will determine the appropriate methods and channels of distribution for the invitation on a case-by-case basis.