General guidelines for publishing activities at the University of Jyväskylä
Principles of scientific publishing
Publishing research results is an essential part of the research process. It enables the evaluation of results by the scientific community, enriches scientific and societal engagement, supports research-based teaching, and promotes the broader dissemination of research knowledge in society.
The aim of JYU’s publishing activities is to promote the advancement of science, transparency, and good scientific practice. Research processes are transparent and reliable. Research results are produced in accordance with ethical research principles and published through trusted publication channels. Publishing activities follow the ethical principles outlined in this document, which are based on the guidelines of the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity (TENK). Publications produced with supplementary research funding also adhere to the terms set by the funder.
Openness in scientific publishing
JYU adheres to national and international principles of open science and research and is committed to promoting openness in accordance with the national declaration for open science and research in Finland.
The University of Jyväskylä
- requires all research publications to be self-archived in the University’s digital archive JYX
- requires compliance with the openness requirements set by research funders
- encourages publishing in open access journals; when choosing a publication channel, its scientific quality and reliability must be considered
- does not recommend paying article processing charges (APCs) to make articles open access in subscription-based (hybrid) journals, except in cases where agreements allow publishing in hybrid journals without separate APCs
- encourages researchers to safeguard their rights to their own work and to choose only publishers and publication channels that permit immediate self-archiving
- encourages researchers to share the results of their research openly and to provide copies of their articles upon request, whenever there are no specific legal or contractual restrictions.
Ethical principles of publishing
JYU is committed to the guidelines of the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity (TENK), specifically the Finnish code of conduct for research integrity and procedures for handling alleged violations of research integrity in Finland (2023) and the complementary recommendation Agreeing on authorship. Recommendation for research publications (2019), and to promoting responsible conduct of research in all aspects of its research activities.
The principles of responsible conduct of research outlined in TENK’s guidelines also apply to publishing activities. TENK requires that researchers and authors:
- respect the work of colleagues and acknowledge their achievements and refer to them in an appropriate manner
- agree on co-authorship and the order of authors according to the Finnish authorship recommendations
- communicate about their research in an honest and open manner irrespective of publication format or channel
- inform their partners without delay if they intend to publish material related to their collaboration
- specify funding sources and declare potential conflicts of interest separately for each author.
International guidelines on authorship apply in Finland only on the basis of a prior agreement between the authors.
According to the TENK guidelines, violations of the responsible conduct of research include the following:
- plagiarism or other inadequate or inappropriate references to previous research results
- downplaying the contributions of other researchers
- manipulating authorship by other means.
Suspected violations are investigated in accordance with the procedures outlined by TENK.
Determining authorship in publications and aggreeing on authorship in co-publishing
The Finnish National Board on Research Integrity (TENK) has outlined the principles related to authorship in its recommendation Agreeing on authorship. Recommendation for research publications (2019). According to TENK’s definition, author refers to someone who has made such a substantial contribution to the creation of a scientific article or similar publication that they should be included in the list of authors.
In addition to writing the text of the published article, the following are all contributions: conceptualising and planning the research, production, analysis or interpretation of the research data, development of data or methods used in the work, editing a collective work, and creating images to illustrate the research. How these contributions are acknowledged in the publication must be discussed and agreed upon at the start of the research under the guidance of the principal investigator or head of research group.
In its guidelines, TENK refers to the so-called Vancouver recommendations by the International Committee of Medical Journals Editors, which propose the following four criteria for determining authorship – all of which must be fulfilled:
- substantial contributions to the conception or design of the research, or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data
- drafting the article or critically revising it in a way that has significantly influenced its content
- final approval of the version to be published
- accountability for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved, and that good scientific practice has been followed at every stage.
Because authorship practices vary between disciplines, it is important that, in the case of co-publishing, any disciplinary differences are discussed at the beginning of the research. At this stage, agreements should be made on the rules of authorship, including the principles for determining the order of authors and who will be listed as authors.
This kind of prior agreement is particularly important in interdisciplinary and international research. When agreeing on the authorship and order of authors for a specific publication, it is crucial that the agreed practice is in line with the established and accepted norms of the relevant discipline and scientific community, and that all parties involved are aware of the agreement. To avoid misunderstandings, it is recommended that the agreement is made in writing.
Authorship issues related to doctoral dissertations should be agreed upon well in advance, and the agreed practices should be recorded in the supervision document.
In the case of scientific compilations (such as edited volumes), agreements should be made on the criteria for determining the editor, chief editor, or editorial board member, or how other contributions will be acknowledged (e.g., in the acknowledgements section).
Conflicts are to be resolved in accordance with the procedures outlined in TENK’s guideline Finnish code of conduct for research integrity and procedures for handling alleged violations of research integrity in Finland (2023).
Publishing with the JYU affiliation
The University of Jyväskylä must always be mentioned as the affiliation in a publication when the publication is based on research the author has conducted at JYU, or other expert work that is substantially related to JYU or its activities.
The stated affiliation in the publication must include, at a minimum, the author’s name, unit (faculty / department / research centre), the university, and the country.
Publications that are not related to research or expert duties carried out at JYU will not be recorded in the JYU research information system Converis and should not list JYU as an affiliation. Such publications may include, for example, those related to hobbies, associations or business activities, ideological, religious or political work, or marketing.
The JYU affiliation must be used in all publications related to research conducted at JYU by the following members of the university community:
- individuals who are employed by the University during the period of research and writing of the publication
- grant-funded researchers who conducted the research and writing of the publication while working at or having completed their doctorate at JYU
- doctoral students of JYU with an active right to doctoral studies
- emerita/emeritus professors and researchers or adjunct professors (docents) who have a valid contract with JYU.
Individuals working outside of an employment relationship with JYU or without an active right to doctoral studies are required to have a separate research-related contract with JYU. At the beginning of the research project, the principal investigator must initiate a discussion about the use of affiliation.
A bachelor’s or master’s degree student must use the JYU affiliation when publishing as part of a research group or when publishing work related to their master’s thesis supervised at JYU.
Due to researcher mobility, research results may accumulate at several different institutions. A publication may be written after the researcher has stopped working at the institution where the primary research was carried out. Since it is usually possible to list multiple affiliations in a publication, a researcher joining or leaving JYU must ensure that the first affiliation listed is the institution where the research work – or the majority of it – was carried out.
Researchers must ensure that the JYU affiliation is cited correctly and in accordance with these guidelines, not only in publications but also in various citation databases (e.g., Dimensions, WoS/Clarivate, Scopus).
What is recorded into the JYU research information system Converis?
The recording, maintenance, and presentation of publication data at JYU follow the guidelines outlined in the publication data collection manual maintained collaboratively by Finnish universities. Publication data are entered into JYU’s research information system Converis for publications relevant to the monitoring of research and development activities. Each researcher is responsible for ensuring that their publications are correctly listed in Converis.
Publications entered into Converis must be based on research the authors have conducted at JYU.
Publications are attributed to the university unit (faculty, department, etc.) where the research related to the publication was primarily carried out, even if the researcher has moved to another organisation before the publication is published. The primary indicator of university affiliation is the affiliation stated by the author in the publication.
Publications by bachelor’s and master’s students are not included in Converis. However, if a student continues to doctoral studies at JYU, their publication records may be supplemented with works published before the start of the doctoral studies.
Researchers are also encouraged to publish other types of research outputs, such as posters, abstracts and presentations. These may be recorded in Converis and published in JYX. Other research activities can also be recorded in Converis. For all entries, the ethical principles of publishing must be observed, and the accuracy of the data must be ensured.
If a publication is to be recorded in Converis:
- The publication must be public and accessible to anyone.
- The publication channel must have an editorial board or publisher that is independent of the author and decides which works are accepted for publication.
- The publication must not have been previously published in a form that is reported in the publication data collection.
These definitions apply to scientific, professional and popular publications, including documents available exclusively in electronic format (e.g., online journals, web-based publication platforms).
ORCID researcher identifier
All researchers at JYU are encouraged to use the international ORCID researcher identifier, which enables reliable identification of the researcher and their publications. The ORCID ID should be added to the researcher’s personal profile in Converis and, where possible, systematically included in all publications and other documents related to research activities.
Resolving potential conflicts related to the recording of publications
The JYU Open Science Centre (OSC) is responsible for recording publications produced at JYU in Converis and classifying them according to the publication data collection manual of the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. If a researcher disagrees with the classification or recording of a publication, they may express their view to the OSC. Any potential conflicts will be addressed in cooperation with JYU’s research administration.
Publishing of final theses at JYU
Theses (bachelor’s, master's and licentiate theses and doctoral dissertations) completed at JYU are archived in the digital archive JYX.
Under the Finnish Act on the Openness of Government Activities (1999/621), theses are public documents, and the University is required to archive them. A thesis becomes a public document once it has been approved.
Theses are generally published in JYX as fully open access. The author may choose a Creative Commons license for the thesis. A thesis under restricted access is sent by email to those who request it, under the provisions of the Act on the Openness of Government Activities.
A thesis (e.g., a bachelor’s or master’s thesis) may be commissioned by an external party such as a company. In such cases, the thesis still must be assessed based on academic criteria, and the commissioning party must be aware of the public nature of the thesis. Therefore, the thesis may not contain any confidential material. If confidential background material is used, this must be stated in the thesis. The commissioning party may make a contract between either the University or the author.
Publishing a thesis, parts of it, or a text based on it elsewhere – for example, as a scientific article – does not negate the requirement for public access. Publishing a thesis in JYX does not generally prevent a scientific journal from accepting an article based on it. The publisher’s policies on the matter should be considered when selecting the publication venue.
Doctoral dissertations
Doctoral dissertations conducted at JYU are published as open access online publications. Dissertations are available in the JYX digital archive under the same principles as other theses mentioned above. A dissertation may also be published elsewhere (e.g., cotutelle), but even in such cases, a parallel copy must be self-archived in JYX.
The articles or article manuscripts included in an article-based dissertation are openly accessible in JYX in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policies. Otherwise, the article can be obtained directly from the author upon request.
Copyrights
The copyright of a thesis remains with the author. Open online publication of the work requires permission granted by the author. With this permission, the OSC has the right to distribute the work electronically via the internet, as well as to convert it to another file format or make copies to ensure its long-term preservation.
