Research Ethics Regulations and Guidelines
Revised on December 4th, 2014

Clause 1. General Rules

Article 1. (Purpose)

This guideline aims to set regulations in order to establish research ethics and authenticity for submissions to Korean publications, English publications, journals; papers to be published; results from research services conducted by the Korean Society of Civil Engineers (hereafter, referred to as Society) upon request.

Article 2. (Research Ethics Committee)

1) A research ethics committee is formed to review and discuss these regulations when necessary.

2) The vice chairman of the Society is the chairman of the research ethics committee and is entitled to summon and chair the committee. However, when the committee does not consist of the vice chairman of the Society, the committee chairman will be elected from amongst the committee members.

3) The research ethics committee consists of a total of 9 members appointed by the chairman of the Society comprising of the Society’s vice chairman, civil engineering research director, editor-in-chief, and experts of relevant fields. However, authors and research personnel under review by the committee are not permitted be members of the committee

4) The research ethics committee is held every time there are matters up for review.

Clause 2. Research Misconduct

Article 3. (Subject of Research Misconduct)

Submissions made to Korean publications, English publications, journals, as well as papers to be published are subject to research misconduct. Results from research services conducted by the Society upon request also conform to these regulations.

Article 4. (Forgery and Falsification)

Forgery or falsification includes the act of deliberately expressing information used in the research, numerical values from results, photos, etc. differently from the truth.

a. Forgery refers to the act of creating non-existent data or research results.
b. Falsification refers to the act of distorting research content or results by manipulating the research process or modifying data.

Article 5. (Plagiarism)

1) Plagiarism refers to the act of using the contents of academic ideas, opinions, expressions, research results etc. in all written texts including local and international publications and journals, papers presented at academic conferences, research reports, masters and postdoctoral dissertations, books, magazines, internet, etc. without proper citation.

2) Plagiarism applies even when the researcher in question is also the author of a paper that has already been published (self-plagiarism).

3) However, it is not regarded as plagiarism when academic knowledge or a research result regarded as common knowledge in academia is not cited.

Article 6. (Simultaneous Submission)

Double submissions at the same time, before, or after an original submission to other international journals, local journals not registered with the Korean Citation Index (KCI) or candidate journal of the Korea Citation Index (KCI) is not permitted.

Article 7. (Double Publication)

1) i. Double publication at other local journals registered with the KCI or candidate journal of the KCI, or international journals is not permitted.
ii. The evaluation criteria to distinguish between the original paper and the new paper are as follows:
a. The new paper should have a significant difference from the original paper in at least two of the following aspects: research purpose, methodology, scope, data, results, and local development of the research.
b. Use of another language is not acknowledged as distinctive.

2) i. Papers or articles that have been published in journals and publications that are not university journals, journals registered with the KCI or candidate journal of the KCI may be submitted or published after editing and supplementing information.
ii. Evaluation criteria for whether a paper has been sufficiently edited and supplemented are as follows:
a. There should be a significant difference in one of the following aspects: research purpose, methodology, scope, data, results, logical development, etc.
b. Use of another language is not acknowledged as editing or supplementing information.

3) It must be clearly stated during submissions when editing, supplementing, or directly referring to papers that have been presented in academic conferences.

4) It must be clearly stated when editing, supplementing or directly referring to research reports.

5) When editing, supplementing, or directly referring to masters or doctoral dissertations, the original author’s name must be included in the paper.

Clause 3. Review and Resolution Procedure

Article 8. (Judgement of Research Misconduct)

1) If there is a report on research misconduct amongst members and non-members of the Society, the editorial committee or the director of Civil Engineering research must collect relevant information to confirm the credibility of the report.

2) If the chairman of the editorial committee or the director of Civil Engineering research confirms the authenticity of the report, this becomes a matter for the research ethics committee and information is submitted for review.

3) The chairman of the research ethics committee will give an opportunity to the researcher to provide reasoning in the form of documents for the matter under review in advance.

4) When two thirds of the committee is present and two thirds of the votes of the committee present agree that research misconduct took place, the suspension period for submission of papers will be reviewed and decided.

5) The chairman of the Society will inform the researcher in question of the decisions made by the research ethics committee and the rationale behind it.

Article 9. (Appeal)

1) A researcher judged guilty for research misconduct whom thinks that the decisions made by the committee and their rationale is unreasonable, he/she can submit an appeal within one month from the date of notification.

2) Upon considering the justification of the appeal, the Committee can review or revise their decisions.

3) The chairman of the Society will inform the researcher in question of the decisions made by the research ethics committee and the rationale behind it.

Article 10. (Confidentiality)

1) The identity of the person who reported research misconduct will not be disclosed to the public.

2) If the final decision is not research misconduct, or if the final decision has not been made, the identity of the researcher in question will not be disclosed the public.

Clause 4. Processing Decisions

When the Research Ethics Committee decides that there is falsification, modification, plagiarism, duplication, the committee will send the results of the investigation to the disciplinary committee.

Supplementary Provisions

Article 1. (Alteration and Abolitions of Regulation)

This guideline can be altered and abolished by the resolution of the board of directors.

Article 2. (Effective date)

This guideline is effective from the date of enactment.