Research Ethics Regulations

Enacted and enforced on May 7, 2007.
Amended and enforced on March 15, 2017.
Amended and enforced on September 30, 2018.
Amended and enforced on October 12, 2022.

Article 1 (Purpose and Object)

Purpose

The Korean Society of Minjung Thelolgy enacts research ethics regulations to establish research ethics and integrity of Madang: Journal of Contextual Theology, to prevent research misconduct in advance, and to perform fair and systematic verification of truthfulness in research misconduct.

Object

These regulations are intended for all researchers who contribute to the research activities of the Korean Society of Minjung Theology and all contributors of Madang: Journal of Contextual Theology. The researcher should carry out the research autonomously based on the principle of the freedom of research and observe the followings:

to respect the personality of the research subjects and treat them fairly.
to protect personal information and privacy of research subjects.
to conduct honest and transparent research based on facts.
returning her/his expertise to society, to stand for her/his academic conscience as an expert.
to contribute to the advance of science by publishing new academic results.
to acknowledge and respect the accomplishments of the prior researchers, such as revealing the source in an appropriate way when using the works of herself/himself and others.
to maintain ethical responsibility, in the process of signing a research contract, receiving and managing research fund.
to identify all interests related to research in research outputs without being affected by the funding agency’s interests.
to clarify researcher’s affiliation, position (author information), and to improve reliability of research, when presenting research results.
to participate in research ethics education regularly.

Article 2 (Establishment of Research Ethics Committee)

The Research Ethics Committee (the REC) is established within the Korean Society of Minjung Theology to regulate the fraudulent activities of Article 6.

Article 3 (Composition of the REC)

The REC consists of a total of five persons including the chairperson, and the chairperson appoints one of the committee members as a secretary to supervise the necessary administrative tasks.

Chairperson: 1 person
Committee members: 4 persons

Article 4 (Election of Committee Members)

a. The committee members are appointed from among the editorial board with the recommendation of the president of the Korean Society of Minjung Theology and the approval of editorial board.

b. The chairperson is appointed by the president of the Korean Society of Minjung Theology from among the committee members and approved by the REC.

Article 5 (Term of Committee)

Each of the committee members performs her/his duties for two years from the date of election, but may renew the committee.

Article 6 (Cases of Ethical Violations)

The following are examples of violations that will be commissioned by the REC.

Matters related to dignity as a member

in the case of judicial sanctions in violation of laws or regulations required to the general public.
in the case of unauthorized personnel intervention or fraudulent enforcement of research expenses.
decisions relating to the dignity of members shall be made in accordance with the self-correction requirements of the general public and academia, but shall not be determined by unreasonable premises such as public intervention.

Matters related to morality of research results (Research Misconduct)

Research Misconduct refers to the conduct of each of the following acts conducted in the course of proposing and conducting research, reporting and presenting research results.

to plagiarize the research content or results of others without proper authorization or quotation.
not to qualify a person, who has contributed to the research content or results, to be the author/translator of the article without justifiable reason, or on the contrary, to qualify unfairly a person, who has not contributed, to be the author/translator of the article, for the purpose of expressing gratitude or honor.
to duplicate presentation/publication of articles that are exactly same or remarkably similar in content to those already published. However, the following cases shall be excluded.
to be requested to contribute your research results already published, when this original research is judged to be meaningful in relation to the topic of the academic conference or academic journals of the Korean Society of Minjung Theology. At this time, you must disclose at the bottom of the article’s first page that all, part or similar content of the research has already been published in other journal(s).
to use the thesis content of dissertation of one’s own as part of a new thesis to deepen and develop the thesis topic. However, in this case, it cannot exceed two times.
both of these upper cases cannot be appreciated as your research achievements.
to disparage or conceal existing studies intentionally, in order to make your research stand out.
a misconduct which is deemed to be seriously out of the scope normally permitted by the academic community, that the REC considers itself necessary to investigate or prevent.
the case that there is other serious moral imperfection in the initiation, process, or results of the research.
the moral judgment of the research is determined based on the honesty, efficiency, and objectivity of the progress and results of the research.

Article 7 (Investigation Procedure)

The Investigation of the REC follows the procedure below.

The start of the investigation of the REC is made at the request of one or more of the REC members. Upon receipt of the request for investigation, the chairperson must convene the REC immediately.
The committee decides on the investigation procedure of the subject matter such as the internal investigation or the participation of the external judge through the discussion on the submitted case, but the member who may influence the proceeding of the examination shall be excluded from the investigation.
The REC makes a thorough review of the content and results of the research and decides whether to violate the research ethics. If necessary, the REC may interview the researcher, the informant, and the reviewers of the article.
The chairperson determines the handling of the case with the attendance of a majority of the REC members and the approval of a majority of the members attendant, and reviews the granting of the opportunity to self-vindicate in consultation with the researcher.
The vindication of the respondent is made through a non-public meeting of the REC. The chairperson explains to the respondent fully the progress of the investigation and inform her/him to attend the meeting with the requesting materials for the vindication.
The Chairperson decides, after the vindication of the respondent, whether the REC’s decision will be reversed and reports the result to the Editorial Board. The decision to reverse is made by the attendance of the majority of the REC members and the consent of a majority of the members attendant.
The REC and its members should not disclose to the outside the status of the respondent and the informant, and the progress of the investigation.

Article 8 (Penalty)

The REC decides the type of discipline after completing the investigation and interview. The types of discipline are as follows, and they can be disposed of in duplicate.

Expulsion
Recantation of the article by the official authority of the Korean Society of Minjung Theology and prohibition of the quotation of the article
Public apology from the Korean Society of Minjung Theology
Suspension of membership

Article 9 (Report of Investigation Result)

The REC should immediately report to the Editorial Board the results of the investigation and the type of discipline. The report must include the following:

Contents of commission of investigation
The misconduct which is subject to investigation
The list of judges and the investigation procedure
The basis of the decision and the relevant evidence
The procedure of the vindication of respondent and of the REC’s handling of it

Article 10 (Notification of Results)

The REC should make written notice of the results of the investigation and the disciplinary measures and notify the respondent and the informant without delay. For overseas scholars, the REC should notify them of the results in English.

Article 11 (Reinvestigation)

If the respondent or the informant disagrees with the decision of the committee, she/he may request the committee to review the reason within 30 days from the date of the notice, in writing.

Article 12 (Follow-up Action)

After reviewing the report, the REC should take the following measures.

The Chairperson should take the decision of the Committee immediately.
If the results of the investigation are found to be problematic in terms of rationality and validity, the Chairperson may ask the committee to review or supplement the report. However, the Chairperson should submit the specific reasons and requirements to the Committee in writing.

Article 13 (Administrative Matters)

a. The secretary must write the contents of the meeting of the REC and report it to the Editorial Board.

b. The Korean Society of Minjung Theology should provide the necessary financial support for the smooth operation of the REC.

Addendum

a. The matters not specified in these regulations are in accordance with the custom.

b. These Regulations may be amended in accordance with the amendment procedure of the Korean Society of Minjung Theology.

For Authors

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Publisher

Madang: Journal of Contextual Theology

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