Research ethics

Research ethics is a set of values and norms intended to ensure that research is conducted with high integrity and in an ethically responsible manner.

This includes norms for good scientific practice, protection of persons and animals affected by research, and respecting the ethical obligations of research to society.

Research at NMBU must be conducted in accordance with recognised ethical norms and applicable legislation.

Ethical guidelines

Employees and students at NMBU have a responsibility to ensure that research is conducted in accordance with recognised ethical norms. The national research ethics guidelines are central in defining ethical norms, and in addition NMBU has its own ethical guidelines.

The university's ethical guidelines shall form the basis for reflection on ethical issues, and guide students and staff when they face ethical dilemmas in research and need to manoeuvre in situations where it is not obvious what is right and wrong.

Research at NMBU must be conducted in accordance with recognised ethical norms and applicable legislation.

NMBU ethical guidelines

Research ethics for employees at NMBU

NMBU Research Ethics Forum

• Misconduct in research

  Breaches of research ethical norms may have varying degrees of severity. There may be minor professional accidents, sloppiness or errors, grey area-cases and ethically problematic practice, and serious breaches that constitute marked deviations from what is acceptable in the research field.

  Serious breaches of research ethical norms can be regarded as misconduct, and such serious breaches includes falsification, fabrication, plagiarism and other serious breaches of ethical norms. To be regarded as misconduct, the breaches of research ethical norms must be committed intentionally or grossly negligent in the planning, implementation or reporting of research.

  The Research Ethics Act gives research institutions responsibility for investigating cases of possible breaches of research ethical norms, both the less serious cases and serious breachess that may constitute misconduct.

  At NMBU, suspicions of breaches of research ethical norms must first be investigated at the relevant faculty. NMBU's Research Ethics Committee is NMBU's committee on research ethics and integrity and handels the serious cases involving possible misconduct.

  Any suspicion of serious breaches of recognised research ethical norms  against an employee at NMBU, or a student at one of the university's doctoral programmes, must be reported. If external parties, without affiliation to NMBU as an employee or student, wish to report a possible breach of research ethical norms, please contact the secretariat of the Research Ethics Committee.

  Guidelines for processing cases of research misconduct at NMBU
• Free and independent research

  Free and independent research are fundamental principles underpinning the university's activities.

  The search for truth is indispensable to all research. Our society depends on reliable and independent research that is not guided by other interests, such as political, religious, organizational or commercial interests.

  Academic freedom implies that NMBU's researchers have:

  • Freedom to ask questions – also on what authorities regard as established knowledge, and in matters with strong interests or feelings connected to them.
  • Freedom to decide what material and methods to use.
  • Freedom to present hypotheses, results and express professional opinions to society at large.

  The university itself does not have opinions on academic issues. When individual researchers from NMBU make statements, with title and institutional affiliation, they do so as professionals and not on behalf of NMBU.

  Academic freedom is however not without limitations and comes with responsibilities.

  Researchers have obligations to society and must consider the consequences that research may have for individuals, society and the environment.

  To avoid any doubt about the independence of research, NMBU and individual researchers must be open about sources of funding, roles and possible conflicts of interest. 

  When research is conducted in collaboration with external parties or on commission, conflicting expectations and interests can put the independence of research under pressure. Therefore, agreements are made between NMBU and external actors, in connection with research collaboration or research assignments. In reports, evaluations and the like , the sources of funding must be stated.

Consideration of humans, animals and the environment in research