The parliament has approved the government bill (prop. 2018/19:165)  on changes in the Ethical Review Act (etikprövningslagen). The changes do not affect what research that is to be submitted for ethical review, and the exemption for student work remains. Instead, changes include increased sanctions for breaching the Ethical Review Act, and that the Ethics Review Appeals Board will be responsible for all supervision of research related to the Ethical Review Act. In the government bill it is also clarified that higher education institutions, primarily through heads of department, are responsible for ensuring that researchers are familiar with the requirements of the law. The changes enter into force on January 1st 2020. More information about ethics review and the legal changes can be found here.

On January 1st 2020 the new law on responsibility for good research practice and investigation of research misconduct (lagen om ansvar för god forskningssed och prövning av oredlighet i forskning (2019:504)) enters into force. The law defines “research misconduct” as “serious breaches of good scientific practice in the form of fabrication, falsification or plagiarism that are committed intentionally or with gross negligence in the planning, performance or reporting of research”. The law entails that alleged research misconduct shall be investigated by a new independent national board, while Stockholm University will keep handling other alleged deviations from good research practice. More information about good research practice, research misconduct and the handling of alleged deviations from good research practice can be found here.

You are welcome to read more about research ethics on our web pages, or contact the ethics support function at the Research Support Office if you have any questions: etik@fs.su.se.