Research Ethics Regulations
Adopted in April 2010
Amended in January 2016
Amended in February 2020
Preamble
Spatial Information Research is an academic journal aiming at spatial information-related technology dissemination and academic exchange. Spatial Information Research is the main channel to release research findings and communicate academic knowledge. Spatial Information Research is required to expose academic fraud such as the authenticity of submitted papers, multiple publications, forgery, falsification and plagiarism while setting up and implementing appropriate measures against them to contribute to ethical research compliance. This Research Ethics Guideline seeks to comply with applicable principles and rules in the research activities while presenting some principles and rules to the authors, editing staff and examiners for compliance.
Chapter 1 General Provisions
Article 1 (Purpose)
This Guideline seeks to secure the research ethics and authenticity of Spatial Information Research by determining general matters such as the criteria for fraudulent research activities and disciplinary measures on the papers submitted to and published in the Spatial Information Research.
Article 2 (Research Ethics)
1. (Academic Objectivity) Authors submitting papers to the Spatial Information Research should maintain academic objectivity throughout the research process and not intentionally omit, add, or modify research findings.
2. (Academic Originality) Authors submitting papers to Spatial Information Research should respect others' research achievements and secure academic originality in their paper to be distinguished from other papers of the author's own and other existing research achievements.
3. (False Citation) Authors of papers submitted to and published in Spatial Information Research should be those who have contributed to the paper writing and should not omit anyone who has done so.
Article 3 (Research Ethics Committee)
1. The Research Ethics Committee is organized to deliberate and make decisions on the matters outlined in this Guideline.
2. The Research Ethics Committee will be seven to ten, including the chairman in total, who are experts in areas concerned with issues under deliberation.
3. The Research Ethics Committee members are designated and appointed by the Editorial Board.
4. The Editor-in-Chief will chair the Research Ethics Committee. The chair will convene and preside over the Research Ethics Committee.
5. The Research Ethics Committee is organized and held where necessary as deliberation issues are introduced.
Chapter 2 Duties of Editorial Board members and reviewers
Article 4 (Duties of Editorial Board members)
1. The Editorial Board members should be responsible for every publication in the Journal and respect the authors for their integrity and scholarly independence.
2. The Editorial Board members, irrelevant to possible conflicts of interests among the journal-related administrative staff, authors and examiners, should treat papers fairly based on their quality and submission rules.
3. The Editorial Board members check the authenticity of the paper review process to manage and supervise people involved in the editorial.
4. The Editorial Board members are obliged to publish every paper that has been decided to publish, excluding those found to have a material mistake or ethical problem after a decision to publish.
5. The Editorial Board members should open the paper review process to authors in the same academic field and be able to explain proper reasons for every phase.
6. The Editorial Board members should ensure all reviewers are anonymous. The Editorial Board members should not assign reviewers who work at the same institution as the authors.
7. The Editorial Board members should keep the anonymity of the paper before a paper under deliberation is decided to be published.
8. In the event of obvious errors or distorted results in publication, the Editorial Board members should immediately correct such and inform the organization of a related author.
9. In the event of a false report or crucial mistake in a paper, the Editorial Board members should withdraw such a paper.
10. A new member of the Editorial Board cannot change existing member(s)'s confirmed decision on paper publication, excluding the case of a crucial problem.
Article 5 (Duties of Editorial Board)
1. The Editorial Board guarantees that the review and publication processes on the submitted papers comply with this Ethics Guideline.
2. The Editorial Board, if ethical deliberation is necessary regarding submitted papers, checks if there is any violation of research ethics.
3. The Editorial Board, if the paper is found to violate the Ethics Guideline, notifies such to the author's affiliated organization.
Article 6 (Duties of Reviewer)
1. The reviewers should ensure an anonymous process during review and respect authors’ right to information property.
2. The reviewers should complete the review process within a set period and not delay the process without a clear reason. If an examiner views himself or herself as not appropriate to examine a paper, he or she should notify an editorial member of such without delay.
3. If the objectivity of the examination seems unfair or procedural validity is suspicious, the reviewers can reject the review request.
4. If a submitted paper is found to have been published in another journal or have an abnormality in the findings, the reviewers should notify such facts to editorial members.
Chapter 3 Research Misconduct
Article 7 (Multiple Publication)
1. (1) Any paper that has been published in other journals should not be submitted and published in the Spatial Information Research.
(2)(2) To differentiate submitted papers from existing ones concerning the paragraph (1) above, the following criteria are applied:
A. A submitted paper should have a remarkable difference from existing papers in research purpose, method, scope, data, findings, logical development, etc.
B. Use of a different language is not recognized as a difference.
2. If a paper submitted to Spatial Information Research modifies or improves partially or entirely another paper that has been previously presented in an academic symposium, etc., such a fact should be specified.
3. If a paper submitted to Spatial Information Research modifies or improves partially or entirely another research project report that has been previously presented in an academic symposium, etc., such a fact should be specified.
4. If a paper submitted to Spatial Information Research modifies or improves partially or entirely another Ph.D. or master's degree dissertation, the author of such dissertation must be included as authors in the submitted paper.
Article 8 (Forgery & Falsification)
Forgery or falsification includes behaviors intentionally expressing the data, measurements and photographs, etc., differently from the truth.
A. Forgery refers to behaviors falsely generating non-existent data or research findings, etc.
B. Falsification refers to behaviors distorting research details or findings by arbitrarily manipulating the research process, etc. or changing/deleting data.
Article 9 (Plagiarism)
1. Plagiarism refers to behaviors that use previously published academic ideas, views, expressions, research findings, etc., without specifying a clear source.
2. Regarding the parts used in papers without specifying citation sources, plagiarism also applies to the cases of similar details and expressions to those previously published ones. Plagiarism decisions are irrespective of the amount used without citation source specification.
3. Plagiarism applies to the cases where an author plagiarizes his or her own previously disclosed details (self-plagiarism).
4. However, plagiarism is not applied to the cases of using without source specification academic knowledge, research findings, etc., that have already been generally utilized in the public domain.
Article 10 (Re-submission)
1. Any paper rejected to publish in Spatial Information Research or similar papers thereof should not be re-submitted.
2. To identify differentiation of the papers rejected under paragraph 1. Above, the following criteria are applied:
A. A submitted paper should have a remarkable difference from existing papers among research purpose, method, scope, data, findings, logical development, etc.
B. Use of a different language is not recognized as a difference.
Article 11 (Simultaneous Submission)
Any paper submitted to Spatial Information Research should not be submitted to other journals simultaneously, regardless of time order. This provision applies to papers under ongoing deliberation as well.
Chapter 4 Deliberation and decision on the fraudulent act
Article 12 (Duties of Editorial Board members)
The Editorial Board members, if they find any fraudulent act in research according to Articles 4 through 8, should immediately report to the Editorial Board.
Article 13 (Decision on Fraudulent Acts in Research)
1. In the event of a report on a fraudulent act, the Editorial Board should collect related data and investigate the reliability of such a report.
2. The Editorial Board, if the report is found to be reliable, should introduce the issue to the Research Ethics Committee and submit deliberation data.
3. The chairperson of the Research Ethics Committee allows an opportunity for the involved author to present an explanation for the issue prior to deliberation.
4. The Research Ethics Committee decides on fraudulent research acts based on the presentation of at least 2/3 of the current members and votes for agreement by at least 2/3 of the present members according to Articles 4 through 8 while deliberating and resolving the paper submission prohibition period under the provisions of 1) and 2) of Article 16.
5. The chairperson notifies the corresponding author's voting results and reasons thereof.
Article 14 (Objection)
1. The author of a paper that decided to involve a fraudulent research behavior can file an objection in writing once if he or she views that the Board's decision or reasons are unfair.
2. The Research Ethics Committee reviews the validity of such an objection and can re-examine or modify its resolution.
3. The chairperson notifies the Committee's resolution and causes thereof to the corresponding author.
Article 15 (Confidentiality)
1. The Editorial Board members should not disclose to the outside the identity of a reporter who has informed a fraudulent research act.
2. Research Ethics Committee and Editorial Board members should not disclose the identity of the corresponding author before the final decision that a reported behavior is fraudulent or when such behavior is found not to be fraudulent.
Chapter 5 Penalty
Article 16 (Penalty)
1. If the Research Ethics Committee decides that a reported act is forgery, falsification, plagiarism, and multiple publications under Articles 7, 8 and 9, the following measures are executed:
A. The Editorial Board cancels the publication of such a paper in Spatial Information Research.
B. In the event of multiple publications, other involved journals should be informed of such a decision.
C. The related author is not allowed to submit a paper to Spatial Information Research for three years from the resolution.
2. If the Research Ethics Committee decides that a reported act is simultaneous submission and re-submission under Articles 10 and 11, the following measures are executed:
A. The Editorial Board refuses or discontinues its deliberation on such a paper.
B. In the event of simultaneous submission, other involved journals are notified.
C. The related author is not allowed to submit a paper to Spatial Information Research for one year from the resolution.
Additional Rules
Article 1 (Enforcement Date)
This Guideline shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.