Research and thesis

RESEARCH ETHICS

Ethics considerations

The nature of academic research requires intellectual honesty and rigour on the part of students, both in carrying out the research and in presenting the results in thesis form.

The findings set out in the thesis must be accurate; they must be neither falsified nor concocted in any way. All students should be familiar with the guidelines for the ethical conduct of research.

When research involves human subjects, students must submit their research projects for the approval of the University Human Research Ethics Committee (UHREC), prior to embarking on the research proper.

Clear acknowledgement must be given in the thesis for every book, article or document used. Quotations must always be properly identified, and the bibliography must include every book, article or document used in any way in the research or thesis.

Intellectual property rights

Intellectual property is a complex subject, and the circumstances of each particular case have to be considered. In general, however, intellectual property developed on-campus by professors, students or non-academic employees is handled in accordance with the agreement between the University of Ottawa and the Association of Professors of the University of Ottawa (APUO).

Currently, the main provisions of this agreement are that inventions, whether patentable or not, belong to the University, while copyright works (software, texts, term papers, theses, etc.) belong to their creators.

Any revenue realized from the commercial exploitation of inventions is shared equally between the University and the inventors. If the University is involved in developing materials that will subsequently be copyrighted or in exploiting copyrighted materials (as is often the case with software), the sharing of revenues is negotiated on a case by case basis.

Students wishing to use articles in their theses that they have previously had published must obtain written permission from the publisher that holds the copyright.

In registering for a graduate program at the University of Ottawa, students implicitly agree to the use of their theses for research purposes. Upon final submission of the corrected copied to the FGPS, they must sign a document consenting to their thesis being made available for loan and for consultation in accordance with University regulations and allowing the University of Ottawa, its successors, and its assignees, to make copies of the thesis and to lend or sell their copies at cost to libraries or scholars. The right to publish the thesis by other means and to sell it to the public remains with the author of the thesis.