Disclaimer: This is an English translation of the original Korean document "연구 윤리 규정". In case of any discrepancy, the Korean version takes precedence.
These guidelines aim to establish research ethics for articles and data published (or to be published) by the Korean Association for Digital Humanities (KADH) (hereinafter referred to as "the Association"), prevent research misconduct, and define the basic matters concerning the establishment and operation of the Association's Research Ethics Committee (hereinafter referred to as "the Committee") for fair and systematic verification and handling of research ethics in case of research misconduct.
Members of the Association must comply with research ethics norms, conduct research activities according to scholarly conscience, and contribute to the development of academia and society.
A Research Ethics Committee shall be established to handle matters related to compliance with research ethics for articles and data submitted to and published in the Association's journals and other publications.
These guidelines primarily apply to articles and related outputs published in the Association's journals and publications. They also apply to all academic activities of Association members directly or indirectly related to all academic events organized by the Association. Unless there are other special provisions related to establishing research ethics and verifying research ethics, these guidelines shall be followed.
The terms defined in these guidelines are basically as follows:
"Research misconduct" refers to fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, unfair authorship indication, or any act that undermines research integrity, committed intentionally or by gross negligence irrelevant to the research purpose in the process of proposing, conducting, or presenting research.
"Fabrication" refers to the act of creating false data or research results and recording or reporting them.
"Falsification" refers to the act of artificially manipulating research materials, equipment, or processes, or arbitrarily changing or deleting data, thereby rendering the research inaccurate.
"Plagiarism" refers to the act of using others' ideas, research processes, or results in research without appropriate source attribution.
"Self-plagiarism" refers to the act of reusing a substantial part of one's own copyrighted article already published in another academic journal, either as is or with minor modifications, without explicit citation or reference.
"Unfair authorship indication" refers to not granting authorship to an individual who has made academic contributions to the research content or results without justifiable reason, or granting authorship to an individual who has not made academic contributions, for reasons such as expressing gratitude or courtesy.
The Committee deliberates and decides on the following matters to ensure research ethics:
The Committee consists of one chairperson and up to 5 members, all appointed by the president of the Association. However, members from the same institution or affiliation as the article submitter shall be excluded. The chairperson represents the Committee, convenes and presides over meetings, and appoints one secretary to handle the Committee's affairs.
The chairperson convenes and presides over Committee meetings as needed.
Unless otherwise specified, meetings are constituted with the attendance of a majority of incumbent members and decisions are made with the approval of a majority of attending members.
If necessary, non-members may be invited to attend meetings to provide opinions.
The chairperson may conduct written deliberations if the matter for deliberation is deemed minor.
Meetings are, in principle, closed to the public.
The Committee must investigate allegations of research misconduct when there is a specific report or substantial suspicion raised. Reports can be received by the Committee's secretary through written documents, telephone, or email, with real-name reporting being the principle. For anonymous reports, efforts should be made to receive the article name and specific details of misconduct with evidence in writing or via email.
The preliminary investigation should commence within 15 days of receiving the report and be completed within 30 days of the investigation start date, subject to the Committee's approval. The preliminary investigation reviews the following to determine if a full investigation is necessary:
The preliminary investigation is conducted under the secretary's supervision, with the possibility of requesting additional information from the informant and, if necessary, commissioning investigations from relevant experts.
The results of the preliminary investigation should be notified to the informant in writing within 10 days after the chairperson's approval. However, this does not apply if the informant is anonymous. The preliminary investigation report should include the following:
The full investigation should commence within 30 days of the chairperson's approval of the preliminary investigation results. During this period, the Committee should form a subcommittee (hereinafter referred to as the "Investigation Committee") to conduct the full investigation. The full investigation, including judgment, should be completed within 90 days of its commencement. If the Investigation Committee determines that it cannot complete the investigation within this period, it must explain the reasons to the Committee and request an extension.
The Investigation Committee consists of up to 5 members from the Research Ethics Committee and related experts. The Investigation Committee may appoint as investigation members individuals who have extensive knowledge and experience in the relevant field but are not members of the Association's Research Ethics Committee. Individuals with conflicts of interest in the investigation case should not be included in the Investigation Committee.
The Investigation Committee may request additional data submission from the informant, the person under investigation, witnesses, and reference persons. In such cases, the person under investigation must comply.
The identity of the informant should never be directly or indirectly disclosed, and the informant's name should not be included in the investigation report unless absolutely necessary, to protect the informant. Until the verification of misconduct is completed, the identity of the person under investigation or the fact that they are being investigated should not be disclosed outside the Committee and the Investigation Committee. Care should be taken not to infringe on the honor or rights of the person under investigation, and efforts should be made to restore the honor of those found not guilty. All matters related to reporting, investigation, deliberation, resolution, and recommended measures are confidential, and those directly or indirectly involved in the investigation must not disclose any information acquired during the investigation and performance of duties. However, if there is a justifiable need for disclosure, it can be made public through the Committee's resolution.
The Investigation Committee must equally guarantee and inform in advance the person under investigation of their rights and opportunities to state opinions, raise objections, and defend themselves.
The Investigation Committee finalizes the investigation content and results based on objections or defenses and notifies the informant and the person under investigation. If an agreement on the investigation content and results is not reached, a decision can be made by vote, requiring attendance of a majority of incumbent members and approval of two-thirds or more of attending members. If the informant or the person under investigation disagrees with the Investigation Committee's results, they can request a re-examination by submitting a written explanation to the Committee within 15 days of being notified of the results. The Committee decides on the validity of the explanation and whether to re-examine within 15 days of receiving it. If re-examination is decided, the same Investigation Committee can be reconvened or a new one formed within 15 days. In case of re-examination, the assigned Investigation Committee must reinvestigate the contested matters within 30 days of convening and finalize the results, notifying the informant and the person under investigation.
The Investigation Committee must submit the full investigation report (hereinafter referred to as the "final report") to the Committee within 10 days of the final judgment. The final report must include the following:
The Committee can recommend disciplinary measures to the Association's president if there is attendance of a majority of incumbent members and approval of two-thirds or more of attending members regarding individuals involved in misconduct. The president decides on appropriate disciplinary measures and notifies the relevant author(s) in writing. Matters related to disciplinary measures can be determined separately.
When the Committee recommends disciplinary measures, the Association's president determines the level of disciplinary action considering the following items. More appropriate disciplinary measures can be taken if deemed necessary.
"Caution". Inform all authors of the article about the misconduct and instruct them to be cautious in future article writing.
"Warning". Inform all authors of the article about the misconduct, retract the published article, and warn them to be cautious in future article writing.
"Reprimand". Inform all authors of the article about the misconduct, retract the published article and post this information on the Association's website for at least 1 month. Cancel all articles by related authors currently under review or waiting for publication. The main author of the article cannot submit articles to the Association for 2 years.
"Severe Reprimand". Officially notify the institutions of all authors and the authors themselves about the misconduct. Retract the published article and post this information on the Association's website for at least 3 months. Cancel all articles by related authors currently under review or waiting for publication. All authors of the article cannot submit articles to the Association for 3 years. In case of plagiarism, after the above measures, the president sends an apology letter to the authors of the original article.
Records related to preliminary and full investigations and disciplinary measures are kept by the Association's General Affairs Department and must be retained for 5 years after completion. The final report can be disclosed after the judgment is completed, but information related to the identities of the informant, investigation committee members, witnesses, reference persons, and consultants may be excluded from disclosure if there is a possibility of disadvantage to the parties involved.
Other detailed matters necessary for the Committee's operation are determined separately after the Committee's deliberation.
① Other matters follow general conventions or the resolutions of the Research Ethics Committee. ② These guidelines are effective from February 8, 2023.