Chapter 1. General Provisions

Article 1 (Purpose)

The purpose of these regulations is to establish and clearly define the ethical code to be adhered to by authors and journal editors and staffs for the publications of the Korean Society for Urban Railway (KOSUR; referred to as “the Society” hereafter), and to ensure fair and systematic resolution when unethical behavior is suspected or occurred.

Article 2 (Subject and Range of Application)

These regulations apply for all the submitted papers and published papers in the journals of the Society.

Article 3 (Definition of Terms)

1. 1. Acts against ethical conduct related to research publications (referred to as “misconducts” hereafter) include forgeries, alterations, plagiarisms, dual-publications, and false representation of the authors who contributed to the research and writing of the paper. More details on these misconducts are as follows:
   1. ① ‘Forgery’ is the falsification of data or research results.
   2. ② ‘Alteration’ is the distortion of experimental results or other contents by manipulating research materials, equipments, and experimental processes, or by arbitrarily altering or deleting data.
   3. ③ ‘Plagiarism’ is the practice of using or copying someone else’s idea, research content or results without proper consent or credit.
   4. ④ ‘Dual-publication’ is the practice of reusing a significant amount of one’s own paper published (and copyrighted) in another journal as is or with only slight modification to the original language, and without any obvious quotation or reference to the previously published work. However, the Society journal paper publications of the Society conference papers after revisions are allowed, and not considered as dual-publications.
   5. ⑤ ‘False representation of authors’ is the failure to credit someone, without a valid reason, who made a scientific or technical contribution to the content or result of a submitted paper, or the granting of author credit to someone who did not make a scientific or technical contribution, even as a mark of appreciation or respect.
2. 2. An ‘informant’ refers to a person who recognizes and reports any misconduct to the Society.
3. 3. An ‘examinee’ refers to a person who is under investigation for misconduct according to the report of an informant or the Society’s recognition. A testifier or witness shall not be called an examinee.
4. 4. A ‘preliminary investigation’ refers to a procedure by which the necessity of an official investigation on the suspicion of misconduct is determined.
5. 5. An ‘official investigation’ refers to a procedure collecting facts to determine if misconduct has been committed.
6. 6. ‘Judgment’ refers to a procedure of making decision based on the investigation. The informant and examinee are officially notified of the outcome of the judgment.
7. 7. The ‘misconduct accrual date’ is the date on which the paper guilty of misconduct was first published. If the same paper is involved in misconduct multiple times, then the most recent date is the misconduct accrual date.

Chapter 2. Ethics for Authors, Reviewers, and Editors

Article 4 (Ethics Codes for Authors)

An author who submits a manuscript is required to comply with the following ethics codes in writing and submitting a paper:

1. 1. The author must secure universality in respect for human rights, welfare of mankind, and protection of the environment.
2. 2. The author must precisely elaborate on the research content without misconducts, and should not distort the research results. The manuscript must include a new result or an improved result compared to the contents of published papers or articles.
3. 3. All documents (except the ones that are well known as common sense) which are related to the research content or may help its understanding must be included in the reference list, and cited in the main texts of the paper.
4. 4. All the researchers who contributed to the research paper must be listed as co-authors in the paper, and the one who does not contribute substantially to the research must not be included in the author list by nonacademic reason. The order of authors in the author list is determined by the level of contribution. Financial support, administrative help, and simple academic advice are recommended to be acknowledged in an "Acknowledgements" section.
5. 5. When the author want to include figures, tables, or text passages that have already been published elsewhere with copyright, the author is required to obtain permission from the copyright holder before publishing the paper, and submit the permission documents to the Society.
6. 6. If an error is detected in the research paper during reviewing process or after publication, the author must revise it. If it is a serious error, the author must withdraw the submitted paper or published paper.
7. 7. The author must submit KCI plagiarism checker result and signed confirmation of ethical conduct together with the final manuscript to the Society after the manuscript is accepted for publication.

Article 5 (Ethics Codes for Reviewers)

The reviewers are required to comply with the following ethics codes while the paper is under review for publication:

1. 1. The reviewers must review the manuscript on a consistent, fair, and objective basis regardless of the author's gender, age, affiliation, or personal acquaintances, etc.
2. 2. The reviewers must keep confidential on the information acquired during the review process, and should neither release the information to others nor misuse it.
3. 3. The reviewers must respect the author as a professional intellectual. The reviewers must refrain from making subjective valuations and offensive expressions, and make efforts in writing objective review responses in an scholastically humble attitude.
4. 4. If the reviewer is affiliated at the same institution with a author, or is directly related to the benefit of the paper, the reviewer must inform this fact to the editor immediately and make the editor to select other reviewer.

Article 6 (Ethics Codes for Editors)

The editors are required to comply with the following ethics code in the review and judgement of the research paper for publication:

1. 1. The editor must convey a fair and objective judgement regardless of the author's gender, age, affiliation, or personal acquaintances, etc.
2. 2. When the editor selects reviewers, he must exclude the researcher who is affiliated at the same institution with a author, or who is directly related to the benefit of the paper.
3. 3. Based on the evaluations from the reviewers, the editor must apply consistent standards in the decision of which research paper to reexamine or publish.
4. 4. The editor is not allowed to release or misuse the information acquired during the review process.
5. 5. The editor make a final decision on the publication of the final manuscript after examining KCI plagiarism checker result that the author submitted.
6. 6. The editor has the responsibility to monitor unethical behaviors between the reviewer and author. If such behaviors were detected, those should be immediately reported to the editor-in-chief for an investigation and appropriate punishments as necessary.

Chapter 3. Establishment and Management of Research Ethics Committee

Article 7 (Function)

The Research Ethics Committee of the Society ('Committee' hereafter) deals with and determines the following matters to obtain the publication ethics of research of the Society.

1. 1. Establishment and management of the system related to the publication ethics of research.
2. 2. Reception of reports on misconducts, organization of an Investigation Committee and appointment of investigators
3. 3. Starting of the preliminary investigation and official investigation
4. 4. Protection of the informant and redemption of the examinee’s honor where applicable
5. 5. Handling of preliminary investigation results, official investigation results and follow-up actions
6. 6. Handling of any other matters that the Chief Commissioner may present for consideration

Article 8 (Composition)

The Committee is organized with one Chief Commissioner and five (or less) members when there is a report of misconduct. The Chief Commissioner is the President of the Society. The Chief Commissioner nominates committee members and the Board of Directors approves them.

Article 9 (Chief Commissioner)

The Chief Commissioner represents the committee and organizes and presides over each meeting.

Article 10 (Assistant Administrator)

To handle certain business related to publication ethics, the Director of the General Affairs of the Society may act as an Assistant Administrator for the committee.

Article 11 (Meeting Procedure)

1. 1. The Chief Commissioner organizes each meeting of the committee and presides over the meeting as the Chairman.
2. 2. A meeting must be held with a half of the Committee members in attendance and any issue must be decided by favorable majority votes (at least a half) of the attending members. The decision regarding the request of a disciplinary action for misconduct confirmed by the Investigation Committee organized according to Article 4 requires a favorable vote of at least 2/3 of the attending members.
3. 3. In the event of a minor issue, the Chief Commissioner can deliberate and decide based on his/her review of relevant documentation.

Chapter 4. Verification of the Ethicality of Research Publication

Article 12 (Reception of Misconduct Report)

The Assistant Administrator of the Committee can receive a report of misconduct by any means including but not limited to letter, telephone, and email, and generally receives the report under the name of the informant. When receiving a report anonymously, the Assistant Administrator endeavors to collect detailed information about the paper, including the title, and proof of misconduct.

Article 13 (Period and Method of Preliminary Investigation)

1. 1. A preliminary investigation is initiated within fifteen (15) days of the initial reception of a misconduct report. The investigation and the committee’s approval of any findings are completed within 30 days of the start of the investigation.
2. 2. The necessity of an official investigation is determined by the Committee after reviewing the following matters during the preliminary investigation.
   1. ① The report, itself, corresponds to ethical misconduct as described in Article 3, Clause 1 of the Ethical Regulations.
   2. ② The report contains concrete, clear and accurate information pertaining to the reported misconduct in order for investigation.
   3. ③ The report should be filed within five (5) years of the misconduct accrual date.
3. 3. The Editorial Office is in charge of the preliminary investigation and is able to request additional information from the informant and support from relevant experts if necessary.

Article 14 (Notice of Preliminary Investigation Result)

1. 1. The informant is notified of the result of the preliminary investigation within ten (10) days after the findings are approved by the Chief Commissioner. In the case of an anonymous informant, the result is not shared.
2. 2. The preliminary investigation report should include the following contents:
   1. ① Detailed contents of the misconduct report
   2. ② Explanation of the misconduct in the paper under investigation
   3. ③ Reasons for the decision to perform the official investigation
   4. ④ Other relevant evidences if any.

Article 15 (Initiation and Period of Official Investigation)

1. 1. An official investigation is initiated within 30 days after the Chief Commissioner’s approval based on the result of the preliminary investigation. The official investigation, including adjudication, is completed within 90 days of the date of investigation initiation.
2. 2. If the Committee decides that they are unable to finish the official investigation within the period stated in Clause 1 (above), the investigation can be extended by 60 days.

Article 16 (Request for Materials)

The Committee can request additional information from the informant, examinee, or other any other witness. The examinee must comply with the request.

Article 17 (Confidentiality and Protection of Informant and Examinee)

1. 1. Identification of the informant should not be exposed directly or indirectly under any circumstance, and, unless necessary, should not be included on the investigation report.
2. 2. Neither the identity of the examinee, nor the fact that the examinee is being investigated, should be exposed outside of the Committee and the Investigation Committee until the misconduct investigation is completed. The examinee’s honor and rights should not be infringed upon. Also, the Committee should make every effort to redeem the damaged reputation of an examinee once free from suspicion.
3. 3. All information regarding the initial report, investigation, deliberation, decision and proposed measures for resolution should be in confidence and any direct or indirect participants of the investigation should not reveal information acknowledged during the investigation and during the performance of one’s duties. In the event that reasonable exposure is necessary, the release of information must go to a committee vote.

Article 18 (Guarantee of Right to Objection and Defense)

The Committee should guarantee equal rights to all parties involved and the opportunity for statements of opinion, objection and defense. All parties involved should be informed of the related procedures in advance.

Article 19 (Judgment)

1. 1. The Committee must come to a conclusion based on the investigations and with respect to any objections and defenses presented. The informant and examinee must be notified of the resulting decision.
2. 2. If the committee cannot come to a consensus, the outcome must be decided by a vote. In this case, at least a half of the committee members must attend and at least 2/3 of the attending members must agree.
3. 3. If either the informant or the examinee disagree with the decision of the Committee, an appeal stating valid reasons for objection and a request for a retrial can be submitted to the Committee within 15 days of the date on which the committee’s decision was made available. The appeal’s validity and the granting of a retrial are decided within 15 days after receiving the appeal. If a retrial is granted, the same Ethics Committee can be reorganized or a new Ethics Committee can be organized within 15 days after the decision to hold a retrial was made. If a retrial is to be held, the Committee in charge of the retrial will reinvestigate, determine the result, and inform the informant and examinee of said result within 30 days from the date on which the Committee was convened.

Article 20 (Submission of Official Investigation Report)

1. 1. The Committee is required to submit a final official investigation report (referred to as a ‘final report’ hereafter) within ten (10) days after the final judgment.
2. 2. The following contents should be included in the final report:
   1. ① Detailed contents of the misconduct report
   2. ② Explanation of the misconduct in the paper under investigation
   3. ③ Examinee’s role in the research paper and the reason(s) for suspicion
   4. ④ Relevant evidence
   5. ⑤ Information related to defense and/or objection by the informant and/or examinee to the investigation result and the related outcome
   6. ⑥ List of investigators of the Investigation Committee

Chapter 5. Action After Verification of Misconduct

Article 21 (Treatment of Misconduct)

1. 1. The Committee is able to propose disciplinary action for the person who is found to have participated in misconduct to the President of the Society if a half or more of the committee members attend and at least 2/3 of the attending members agree on the said action.
2. 2. The President of the Society decides the proper disciplinary action and officially informs the author of the said action in writing.

Article 22 (Disciplinary Measures)

For proposed disciplinary measures, the President of the Society decides the level of the disciplinary measure with respect to the following clauses, and takes disciplinary action against the author. If the President decides that there is a more appropriate disciplinary measure, it can be implemented instead of one of the following measures.

1. 1. (Caution) Authors are notified of their misconduct and advised to be more careful when writing and submitting their next papers.
2. 2. (Warning) Authors are notified of their misconduct, and the publication is withdrawn. Authors are advised to be more careful when writing and submitting their next papers.
3. 3. (Censure) Authors are notified of their misconduct, and the publication is withdrawn. Notice of the said misconduct is posted on the Society’s homepage for one month. For every author at fault, all papers currently under review or awaiting publication are barred from publication, and the main author is prohibited from submitting a paper to the Society for three (3) years.
4. 4. (Strict Censure) Chairmen of the organizations with which each author is affiliated are notified of the misconduct with official letters, and the publication is withdrawn. Notice of the said misconduct is posted on the Society’s homepage for one month. For every author at fault, all papers currently under review or awaiting publication are barred from publication, and each author is prohibited from submitting a paper to the Society for three (3) years. If the misconduct is one of plagiarism, the President on the Society will provide an official letter of apology to the authors of the original paper.

Article 23 (Storage and Release of Records)

1. 1. The Editorial Office should keep records regarding preliminary and official investigations and records of any disciplinary measures taken for at least five (5) years after the conclusion of investigation and/or disciplinary action.
2. 2. A final report can be opened after a judgment has been made, but information regarding the identities of those involved including the informant, investigators, witnesses, and consultants, can be excluded if the release of the said information may disadvantage someone involved.

Article 24 (Detailed Rules of Operation)

Other matters required for the Committee management can be separately regulated through deliberation of the Committee.

Addendum

1. These regulations are implemented as of June 1, 2013.