13. Research ethics

  • As the author, you are solely responsible for the contents of the thesis even if your supervisor has read it.
  • All scholarly texts are to clearly indicate when you are representing your own thoughts and conclusions and when you are taking information from another source.
  • It is also important to be careful in your use of references. Quoting or taking information from sources, literature or websites without providing the correct references is considered plagiarism.
  • If you use images, the copyright holder is to be referenced if known.

    • Rights to images is a complicated legal question, so it is important to check to see what applies if you use images in your thesis. As the author, you are responsible for ensuring that the images can be published without violating copyrights. The rule of thumb is that the copyright holder must have been dead for at least 70 years for an image to be freely publishable. Even older images may require some form of permission, such as for images from library or museum collections. Permission from the copyright holder is required for newer images. If the copyright holder requires payment of a fee, LNU will not cover this cost. The thesis author will have to cover this cost.

    • If you have received written permission to publish an image, this is to be indicated under the image together with the photographer's or the artist's name. If you have not received permission to publish an image, your thesis must be published in DiVA without the image. 

  • If you use social media or other internet-based source material, there may be special research ethics considerations. Read more in the publication Ethical Guidelines, published by the Association of Internet Researchers.
  • Please refer to GDPR guidelines if you are using information about people such as name, photo, email address, bank details, social media posts, location information, medical information and computer IP address
  • The teacher is obligated to report obviously intentional plagiarism and other cheating to the University's Disciplinary Board. If the Disciplinary Board determines that the cheating is serious, the consequence can be suspension from studies.
  • For more on research ethics, see the Swedish Research Council's publication Good Research Practice.

Self-plagiarism

  • You may have gotten the idea for the subject of your thesis from a short assignment or a take-home exam in another course component. View these texts as a starting point for a completely new text. A previous assignment can be reworked and expanded. You reference your previous writings in the same way as you would literature from other authors. But do not reuse all or parts of previously graded texts. That would be considered cheating.

Anonymity of informants

  • The guiding principle is that informants from interviews and questionnaires are to remain anonymous. 
    • If, however, you ask questions to a representative of an organisation to collect, for example, factual data that cannot be considered sensitive, you can identify the person by name.
    • If you are uncertain of how to questions of anonymity in your thesis work, please consult your supervisor.