Ethical Guideline

Ethics Regulations

Chapter 1 General Provisions

• Article 1 (Purpose): The purpose of these regulations is to prevent research misconduct by members of the Korean Data Analysis Society (hereinafter referred to as "the Society"), secure research ethics, and establish fair and systematic procedures for verifying the truthfulness of research misconduct when it occurs.
• Article 2 (Applicable Scope): These regulations shall apply to all persons who directly or indirectly participate in research activities for papers submitted to the Society's journal, "Journal of the Korean Data Analysis Society."
• Article 3 (Scope of Application): Unless there are other special regulations regarding research ethics and truthfulness verification for a particular research field, these regulations shall apply.
• Article 4 (Definition and Scope of Research Misconduct):

1. ① Research misconduct (hereinafter referred to as "misconduct") as used in these regulations refers to forgery, falsification, plagiarism, and inappropriate authorship attribution in research proposal, research execution, reporting and presentation of research results, and the scope of misconduct includes the following:
   1. 1. "Forgery" refers to the fabrication of non-existent data or research results.
   2. 2. "Falsification" refers to distorting the research contents or results by artificially manipulating research materials, equipment, processes, or by arbitrarily modifying or deleting data.
   3. 3. "Plagiarism" refers to the act of using another person's ideas, research contents, or results without proper approval or citation.
   4. 4. "Inappropriate authorship attribution" refers to the act of awarding authorship status without proper reasons to a person who has not made any scientific or technical contributions or omitting a person who has made such contributions, or granting authorship status to a person who has not made any contributions due to expressions of gratitude or other reasons.
   5. 5. Intentional obstruction of investigations into suspicions of one's or another's misconduct, or actions that harm the whistleblower.
   6. 6. The act of proposing, coercing, or threatening another person to engage in the above-mentioned misconduct.
   7. 7. Actions that seriously exceed the limits that are commonly accepted in the field of education, science, and technology.
2. ② The term "whistleblower" refers to a person who informs the society of the facts or evidence related to misconduct that they have witnessed.
3. ③ The term "respondent" refers to a person who is suspected of participating in misconduct during the investigation process, either because they have become the subject of an investigation due to a report or the society's knowledge, and witnesses or informants in the investigation process are not included.
4. ④ The term "preliminary investigation" refers to the process of preliminary fact-checking to determine whether there is a need to investigate allegations of misconduct.
5. ⑤ The term "full investigation" refers to the process of verifying the facts of misconduct to prove whether they are true or false.
6. ⑥ The term "decision" refers to the process of confirming the results of a full investigation and notifying both the whistleblower and the respondent of it in writing.

Chapter 2 Research Ethics Committee

1. Article 5 (Functions) : The Research Ethics Committee shall deliberate and decide on the following matters:
2. ① Matters relating to the establishment and operation of systems for research ethics and truthfulness.
3. ② Matters relating to the designation of departments for reporting and processing allegations of misconduct.
4. ③ Matters relating to the initiation of preliminary and formal investigations and approval of investigation results.
5. ④ Measures to protect whistleblowers.
6. ⑤ Matters relating to the processing of research integrity verification results and follow-up measures.
7. ⑥ Other matters designated by the Chairperson.

1. Article 6 (Composition)
2. ① The Research Ethics Committee shall be composed of no more than nine members, including the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson (hereinafter referred to as "ex officio members"), and the Chairperson shall be the Editor-in-Chief.
3. ② Other members of the committee shall be appointed by the President upon the recommendation of the Chairperson from among the editorial board members or headquarters officials. Their term of office shall be two years and may be renewed.
4. ③ The committee shall appoint one secretary, who shall also serve as the Treasurer.

1. Article 7 (Meetings)
2. ① The Chairperson shall preside over the Research Ethics Committee and serve as its chairman.
3. ② Meetings shall be conducted primarily via electronic mail and decisions shall be made by a majority vote of attending members and approval by at least two-thirds of participating members.
4. ③ The Chairperson may convene an in-person meeting if he or she deems the matter under consideration to be serious. The meeting shall be attended by a majority of members and decisions shall be made by approval of at least two-thirds of attending members.
5. ④ Meetings shall be closed to the public, but relevant parties may be invited to provide their opinions when deemed necessary.

Chapter 3 Reporting and Protection of Rights of Reporters and Investigated Parties

1. Article 8 (Reporting and Reception)
2. ① Reporters may submit their reports through any possible means, such as verbal, written, phone, or email, and should generally do so under their real names. However, even if the report is anonymous, if it includes the name of the paper, specific details of the misconduct, and evidence, it will be processed similarly to a named report.
3. ② Reporters must submit specific details of the misconduct and evidence. However, if the information has already been disclosed by a media outlet, the Ethics Committee may conduct a preliminary investigation without the reporter's involvement.
4. ③ If the Ethics Committee receives a report, the Chairman may interview the reporter and related parties to confirm the report's content and may request supplementary materials.
5. ④ A reporter who reported information that they believed or could have known was false is not protected.

1. Article 9 (Recusal, Exclusion, and Abstention)
2. ① Investigated parties or reporters may apply for recusal if they have circumstances that make it difficult to expect a fair review and decision from the Ethics Committee, and must explain the reasons.
3. ② Any Ethics Committee member who has a direct interest in the issue cannot participate in its deliberation and decision-making.
4. ③ Any Ethics Committee member who has grounds under Paragraph 1 or 2 may abstain from the Ethics Committee proceedings with the Chairman's consent.

1. Article 10 (Protection of Rights and Confidentiality)
2. ① Information regarding the reporter's identity is not subject to disclosure, and those involved in the receipt and verification of the report bear responsibility if the reporter suffers retaliation from the investigated party or if their identity is revealed against their will.
3. ② Reporters may demand to be informed of the investigation process and schedule after reporting misconduct, and the Ethics Committee must respond truthfully.
4. ③ The Ethics Committee must be careful not to unfairly violate the investigated party's reputation or rights during the verification process of misconduct, and the suspicion of misconduct should not be disclosed to the public until the judgment is confirmed.
5. ④ Investigated parties may demand to be informed of the procedures and schedule for investigating and processing misconduct, and the Ethics Committee must respond truthfully.
6. ⑤ Any matters related to reporting, investigation, deliberation, decision-making, and recommendations must be kept confidential, and anyone who has directly or indirectly participated in the investigation or performance of duties must not disclose any information obtained during the process. However, if there is a reasonable need for disclosure, the Ethics Committee's decision is required.

Chapter 4 Preliminary Investigation

1. Article 11 (Preliminary Investigation)
2. ① Preliminary investigation refers to the procedure to determine whether it is necessary to investigate allegations of misconduct. The preliminary investigation shall be conducted by the Research Ethics Committee.
3. ② The preliminary investigation shall be conducted promptly (within 10 days) after receipt of the report, and if necessary, the committee may seek advice from experts in the relevant field among the members of the Society.
4. ③ If the respondent admits to all allegations of misconduct in the preliminary investigation, the decision may be made without further investigation.
5. ④ The preliminary investigation report must include the following:
   1. 1. Contents of the report
   2. 2. Whether the allegations in the report constitute misconduct as defined in Article 4 paragraph ①
   3. 3. Whether the report has the specificity and clarity to require a formal investigation and the basis for such judgment

1. Article 12 (Notification of Preliminary Investigation Results)
2. ① The results of the preliminary investigation shall be notified to the reporter by electronic document or in writing within 10 days after approval by the Research Ethics Committee. However, if the reporter is anonymous, this shall not apply.
3. ② If the reporter disagrees with the results of the preliminary investigation, he/she may file an objection with the Research Ethics Committee within 10 days from the date of notification.

Chapter 5 Investigation Procedure

1. Article 13 (Composition of Investigation Committee)
2. ① The investigation refers to the procedure for verifying the existence of research misconduct. When the Research Ethics Committee determines that an investigation is necessary, it must form an Investigation Committee consisting of at least five members, including the Chairperson.
3. ② The Investigation Committee must include individuals with specialized knowledge and experience in the relevant field, accounting for at least 50% of its members, and may appoint impartial outsiders, accounting for at least 20% of its members, to ensure fairness and objectivity.
4. ③ Individuals with a conflict of interest or relevant parties involved in the investigation may not be included in the Investigation Committee.
5. ④ Prior to the commencement of the investigation, the Research Ethics Committee must inform the whistleblower of the list of investigation committee members according to the provisions of paragraph 1, and must accept legitimate objections from the whistleblower regarding the selection of committee members.

1. Article 14 (Attendance and Submission of Documents)
2. ① The Investigation Committee may require the whistleblower, the subject of the investigation, witnesses, and references to attend and make statements during the investigation, and the subject of the investigation must comply.
3. ② The Investigation Committee may also request the submission of relevant documents from the whistleblower and the subject of the investigation, and may take appropriate measures to preserve evidence and prevent the loss, destruction, concealment, or tampering of evidence.

1. Article 15 (Guarantee of the Right to Object and Present Counterarguments)
2. The Investigation Committee must provide the whistleblower and the subject of the investigation with an opportunity to express their opinions, guarantee the right to object and present counterarguments on an equal basis before finalizing the investigation results, inform the relevant procedures in advance, and consider a lack of response from the parties as a waiver of objections.

1. Article 16 (Submission of Investigation Results Report)
2. ① The Investigation Committee must promptly submit a report on the investigation results (hereinafter referred to as the "Final Report") to the Research Ethics Committee.
3. ② The investigation results report must include the following items:
   1. 1. The content of the whistleblowing.
   2. 2. The research misconduct that was the subject of the investigation.
   3. 3. The list of investigation committee members.
   4. 4. The role of the subject of the investigation in the relevant research and the existence of research misconduct.
   5. 5. Relevant evidence and witnesses.
   6. 6. The objections and counterarguments of the whistleblower and the subject of the investigation, and the results of their processing.

Chapter 6 Judgement and Result Measures

1. Article 17 (Judgement of Ethics Committee)
2. ① Judgement refers to the procedure of confirming the results of the investigation and notifying the informant and the investigated party in writing. After the Ethics Committee has reviewed the report on the investigation results, it informs the informant and the investigated party of the judgement.
3. ② The contents of the investigation report are determined by a vote at an electronic or in-person meeting of the Ethics Committee, with the participation or attendance of a majority of the members and the approval of at least two-thirds of the participating or attending members.
4. ③ The criteria for determining the severity of the misconduct described in Article 4, Paragraph ① are classified into four levels: "no suspicion," "mild," "serious," and "grave."
5. ④ If the informant or the investigated party disagrees with the judgement, they may file an objection with the Ethics Committee within 10 days of receiving the notification. If the Ethics Committee deems the objection to be reasonable and valid, it must conduct a re-investigation.

1. Article 18 (Measures for Results)
2. ① The Ethics Committee reports the judgement to the President.
3. ② Based on the judgement, the President may discipline the individuals involved in the misconduct.
4. ③ If a member of the Society provides a false report intentionally or due to gross negligence, the Ethics Committee may recommend disciplinary action to the President.
5. ④ The types of disciplinary action for misconduct described in Article 4, Paragraph ① are as follows:
   1. 1. If the misconduct is classified as "no suspicion," the informant is issued a "warning."
   2. 2. If the misconduct is classified as "mild," the investigated party is issued a "warning."
   3. 3. If the misconduct is classified as "serious," the investigated party is suspended from membership in the Society for three years.
   4. 4. If the misconduct is classified as "grave," the investigated party is permanently expelled from membership in the Society.

1. Article 19 (Record Keeping and Disclosure)
2. ① The records related to the preliminary investigation and the main investigation are to be kept by the Chair of the Editorial Committee and must be retained for five years after the investigation is completed.
3. ② The final report is generally not disclosed, but if it is deemed necessary for the public interest to do so, the information related to the identity of the informant, investigators, witnesses, advisors, and others involved may be excluded from the disclosure if their disclosure is likely to cause them harm.

Supplementary Provisions

• Article 1 (Enforcement) This regulation will go into effect on January 1, 2007.
• Article 2 (Amendment) This regulation was revised by applying the "Guidelines for Ensuring Research Ethics" (Established by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology on February 8, 2007, Ministerial Decree No. 236) and will go into effect on June 1, 2008.