Sanna Kaisa Spoof
Humanist of the day

Sanna Kaisa Spoof

Sanna Kaisa Spoof has extensive knowledge of the field of higher education and research. Today, her work involves ethical review in the human sciences and preventing academic dishonesty throughout all academic disciplines. On her desk is a recommendation to universities on the ethics of supervising and inspecting doctoral dissertations. Although she is an ethnologist, Dr Spoof did not become a ‘heritage watchdog’; she became a ‘science watchdog’.

Sanna Kaisa Spoof

Sanna Kaisa Spoof (nee Pesälä)
Born 1962, Lahti

Master of Arts (Finno-Ugric ethnology, art history, archaeology) 1987, Licentiate 1992, PhD (Finno-Ugric ethnology) 1998, University of Helsinki
Docent in Finno-Ugric ethnology, University of Helsinki, 2002–

Secretary General, 1 September, 2010–, Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity
Research and Postgraduate Studies Officer 2009–10, Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki
Senior Training Officer 2007–09, Sibelius Academy's continuing education
Secretary general 2001–07, Lahti University Consortium
Research associate 1988–2001, Department of Cultural Studies (the Department of Ethnology until 13 July 1988), University of Helsinki
Researcher 1987, department of research, National Board of Antiquities

Photo: Ruusukuva
Written by Sanna Kaisa Spoof (Tiia Niemelä, ed.)
Translated by Matthew Billington

Work for the Advisory Board on Research Integrity

Dr Sanna Kaisa Spoof has been Secretary General of the Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity (TENK) since 2010. The Advisory Board was established by a decree of the Council of State in 1991, so it enjoys a relatively stable position in the changing world of state administration. The chief mission of TENK is to address the ethical issues of scientific research by promoting good research practices, in other words, to prevent and deter academic dishonesty and research misconduct in all its forms.

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Questions of plagiarism and authorship

As Secretary General of the Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity, Dr Sanna Kaisa Spoof has a ring-side seat on developments in research ethics in Finnish research circles. “A couple of years ago plagiarism was a hot topic in academia. Universities took swift action and implemented electronic plagiarism detection systems. Today, both undergraduate theses and dissertations are run through a plagiarism detection system before publication. The system is neither fool proof nor fully automatic; each case still requires human review and evaluation. But as the programs have become more common, people have learned to utilise them to good effect.”

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Fascinated by families

One of the things Dr Sanna Kaisa Spoof has researched in her academic career is the cultural history of genealogy and family associations. Dr Spoof's own interest in genealogy began at the age of fourteen. She remembers a school trip to the City of Lahti library, where they were shown microfilm readers. Their guide said these were used for family history research. This opened a door into a world she had never even known existed.

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My best memories at the University of Helsinki

My best memories at the University of Helsinki are connected with the Department of Ethnology and my dissertation. When I was writing my Master's thesis on the history of ethnology, I was asked to substitute for a research associate at the Department of Ethnology, and the following year I was hired for the position. This opened up an academic career that I hadn't even known to dream of. Us research associates formed a good team, and Professor Juhani U.E. Lehtonen was a fair boss.

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My dream

I hope that professional and amateur researchers of local, family, and individual history, as well as professional folklorists, could find each other in projects and events recording and utilising local history.

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