Ethics Guideline

Enacted on May 31, 2007
Amended on January 5, 2014
Amended on December 19, 2014
Amended on July 6, 2017
Amended on March 20, 2020

Chapter 1 General Provisions

Article 1 (Purpose) The purpose of this Ethical Guidelines for Research is to secure the research ethics for the papers contributed to the “Journal of Odor and Indoor Environment” (hereinafter referred to as “the Journal”), prevent any research misconduct, and present the standards and principles to verify research misconduct in an impartial way.
Article 2 (Persons Subject to) These Guidelines shall apply to all researchers who contribute their papers to the Journal.
Article 3 (Scope of Application) Except as otherwise specified in other laws and regulations concerning research ethics and truthfulness for specific research fields, these Guidelines shall apply.

Chapter 2 Obligations of Researchers and Authors

Section 1 Responsibilities and Obligations of Researchers

Article 4 (Truthfulness of Research)
① Researchers shall honestly and truthfully carry out all research activities (including proposing research, conducting research, and reporting and presenting research results).
② Researchers shall objectively and accurately describe the contents and significance of the research. They shall not randomly delete or add to the research results.
③ Researchers shall ensure that all research activities are carried out without prejudice and prejudgment.
Article 5 (Obligations to Record, Preserve, Report, and Disclose Research Information)
① Any and all research information shall be accurately reported and be clearly and accurately recorded, processed, and preserved so that confirmation can be obtained.
② Researchers shall apply appropriate experimental design and statistical techniques and disclose them if necessary.
Article 6 (Social Contribution of Research Results) Researchers shall endeavor for their research to promote social benefits and to meet the standards of public interest. They shall attempt to carry out their responsibilities as experts to the fullest potential in consideration of the potential societal impact of their research.
Article 7 (Precautions for Utilization of Research Results) Researchers shall act according to their academic conscience when publishing and utilizing research results. It should be emphasized that research results should not be distorted or exaggerated to enhance one’s reputation or secure research funds.
Article 8 (Obligation to Comply with Related Regulations) Researchers shall respect intellectual property rights such as patents or copyrights, and abide by research-related laws and regulations.

Section 2 Responsibilities and Obligations of Authors

Article 9 (Joint Research) In the case of conducting joint research with other researchers, all parties involved shall clarify roles and interrelations and fulfill relevant responsibilities. Prior to the initiation of research, there shall be mutual agreement and understanding regarding the objectives and expected results of research tasks, individual roles in the cooperative relationship, the methods of data collection, storage and sharing, author selection, ranking criteria, selection of the principal investigator, and mutual agreement and understanding about intellectual property rights and ownership issues.
Article 10 (Responsibilities and Obligations of Author)
① Corresponding author shall take the overall responsibility regarding the content of the paper and author indication.
② Authors shall follow the recommendations of the Editorial Committee of the Journal to verify their contribution to the paper.
Article 11 (Corresponding Author)
① Corresponding author shall be the person who can take the overall responsibility for the results and verification of research.
② Corresponding author shall share the burden of proof regarding the order of author indication and the coauthor indication.

Section 3 Authorship and Author’s responsibility

Article 12 (Author Selection Criteria)
① Authors shall be selected according to the following academic and technical contributions to the research contents or results. 1. Substantial contributions to the concept or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
3. Final approval of the version to be published; AND
4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. ② Any person who has not made any academic or technical contribution to the research contents or results shall not be included in the author list either to express gratitude or as a courtesy. However, the contents of other contributions such as data collection or input, translation into other languages, etc. may be acknowledged with a word of thanks.
③ In principle, minors are but recognized as authors. However, only if the above author's conditions are satisfied, it can be reviewed by the Editorial Board and recognized exceptionally as an author. At this time, the authors must submit all materials related to author conditions as required by the Editorial Board.
Article 13 (Determination of Order of Author Indication) The order of author indication shall be determined fairly and reflect the level of research contribution according to the consultation and consensus among all authors.
Article 14 (Display of Affiliation of Authors) The affiliation of authors shall be indicated as the affiliation at the time the research is conducted, including experimentation and writing.

Chapter 3 Research Misconduct and Other Unethical Research Activities

Section 1 Quotation Method and Principle

Article 15 (Quotation Method and Principle)
① Authors may quote a part of other people's works in a verbatim form or in a translated form by way of introduction, comment, reference, etc.
② Authors shall strive for accuracy when indicating sources and completing a list of references. Authors shall directly identify all elements for quotation (author name, volume and issue of journal, page, year of publica tion, etc.) from each original paper instead of relying on secondary sources. However, if it is necessary to rely on secondary sources, re-quotation shall be clarified first.
③ Authors shall quote the copyrighted works based on the principle of good faith in a reasonable way so that their own writing can be clearly distinguished from the quoted text.
④ In principle, authors shall quote published works. In the event that unpublished academic material is acquired through a private contact, authors are obliged to obtain the original author's consent prior to quoting it.
⑤ Authors shall specify the sources of the existing theories or ideas of other people's already-published papers that they adapt and introduce in their own work.
⑥ If there are important published documents which have a significant effect on determining the direction of research or help readers understand the contents of research, authors shall include all of them in the references. The exception is in the case where the relevant researchers have theoretical and empirical foreknowledge.
Article 16 (Method of Quoting General Knowledge) Although authors shall specify sources when using other people's ideas or information, they are not obligated to disclose sources if the information is considered general knowledge or the materials are recognized by readers. However, in the event that it is uncertain whether a concept or fact is considered general knowledge, it is recommended that the source is specified.

Section 2 Research Misconducts

Article 17 (Definition of Research Misconducts) “Research misconducts” refer to forgery, falsification, plagiarism, unjustifiable indication of authors, redundant publication, and other acts occurring in the entire research processes (proposing research, conducting research, reporting and presenting results, examining and assessing research, etc.).
① “Forgery” means any act which presents non-existent data, research results, etc. as though they exist.
② “Falsification” means any act which distorts research contents or results by falsely manipulating research materials, equipment, process, etc. or arbitrarily modifying and deleting data. Here, “deleting” refers to any activity which intentionally excludes the data that may interfere with drawing an expected conclusion from the research and selects and uses only partial and isolated data that supports the author’s stance.
③ “Plagiarism” means any act which uses copyright-protected writing, thoughts, ideas, hypotheses, theories, etc. of other people without justifiable approval or quotation.
④ “Unjustifiable indication of authors” means any act which does not indicate a person who has made academic contributions to the research contents or results qualifications for authorship of the paper without any justifiable reason; or indicates a person who has not made any academic contributions or results qualifications for authorship of the paper.
⑤ “Redundant publication” means any act in which the author contributes any form of writing that is identical to or substantially similar to the academic work they already published in another journal and resubmits and publishes it without informing editors or readers of this fact.
⑥ Any act which either intentionally interferes with the investigation of suspicious or fraudulent acts of the authors, involved parties, or those that harm the informant
Article 18 (Idea Plagiarism)
① “Idea plagiarism” means any act which appropriates ideas (explanation, theory, conclusion, hypothesis, metaphor, etc.) entirely or by superficially modifying the content either in part or whole without acknowledging the creator's achievement.
② Authors shall have the ethical responsibility to specify the source of an idea in the form of footnote or reference.
③ Authors shall not appropriate ideas of other people, of which they came to learn through others' research proposal, peer review of others' contributed manuscripts, etc., without proper disclosure of the sources and quotations.
Article 19 (Text Plagiarism) “Text plagiarism” means any act which copies a portion(s) of text from writings of others without specifying the original author.
Article 20 (Mosaic Plagiarism) “Mosaic plagiarism” means any act which combines several portions of text from writings of others, adds or inserts words, or replaces some words with synonyms without disclosure of the original authors and sources.
Article 21 (Redundant Publication)
① If the main contents of the paper are the same as that of which were previously published, this is considered redundant even though the subsequently published paper contains text reflecting somewhat different perspectives from the previous submission or different analyses using the same data. However, if a completely new interpretation technique is applied using the same data, it is not judged as redundant publication.
② It is prohibited to contribute the same paper to multiple journals at the same time. If the manuscript is first submitted to the Journal, it shall be a principle that only after the paper is determined not to be published in the Journal, it may be submitted to other journals.
Article 22 (Research Misconducts and Copyright Infringement)
① When a paper is published in a journal, the copyright is usually transferred to the journal issuer. Therefore, authors shall be aware that there is a possibility of copyright infringement in the event that the paper published in the journal is republished or reused in other forms.
② Authors shall be careful about redundant publication because it can infringe a copyright.
③ In the event where a wide range of texts from copyright-protected sources is quoted, authors shall adequately use quotation marks and be aware of the possibility of copyright infringement even if they replace text with new text.

Section 3 Unethical Research Activities

Article 23 (Unethical Research Activities in the Examination Process)
① Examiners shall not use the specific information they came to learn during the paper examination directly or indirectly in their relevant research without the consent of the original author.
② The following acts shall be prohibited because they may be regarded as unethical research activities in the process of paper examination. 1. The act of requesting the paper examination with which they are entrusted to another person
2. The act of discussing the contents of the paper under examination with others
3. The act of keeping a copy of the examination results after the termination of examination
4. The act of reviewing and evaluating a paper without reading it
5. The act of making any comment defaming the author's reputation or making any personal attack on the author. Article 24 (Unethical Research Activities) The following acts may be regarded as ethically inappropriate research activities.
① The act of presenting results of joint research in a conference or seminar without notifying the facts of the joint research in an appropriate way
② The act of making any comment defaming a specific person's reputation or making any personal attack on that person in the paper.
③ The act of overestimating research results for financial gain
④ The act of violating the provisions on the protection of human subjects and the welfare of laboratory animals
⑤ The act of making a false statement or report on research achievements or results

Section 4 Inappropriate Writing

Article 25 (Inappropriate Writing) The following acts are judged as inappropriate writing.
1. The act of inappropriately citing sources
2. The act of distorting references
3. The act of relying on abstracts, etc. while citing published papers
4. The act of citing sources of unread or incomprehensible writings
5. The act of only partially disclosing the source in spite of extensive use from one source
6. The act of reusing text
7. The act of dividing the research results which should have been published as a single paper into several papers and publishing them with the intention of exaggerating research achievements
Article 26 (Prohibition of Distortion of References)
① References shall include only documents that are directly related to the contents of the paper. Any document suspected of being unrelated to the academic journal or the paper shall deliberately be excluded in the references
. ② Authors shall not include only the documents considered biased or favorable to their data or theory in the references. Authors have an ethical responsibility to cite even the documents that may challenge their own perspective.
Article 27 (Reuse of Text)
① “Reuse of Text” refers to reusing a portion(s) of the text the author has already used in his or her previous writings.
② Text reuse is considered an act unacceptable and contradictory to ethical writing that the author shall refrain from reusing text already used. In the case where text reuse is necessary, the author shall follow standard quotation practices including the use of proper quotation marks or indication and practice discretion to prevent violate copyright infringement.
Article 28 (Other Inappropriate Writing) The following acts are considered inappropriate writing activities.
1. The act of not reporting to or not informing readers of any important relevant evidence that does not reflect the author's data or perspective
2. The act of citing any study with methodological or statistical inaccuracies or other types of inaccuracies as a basis for proof
3. The act of intentionally distorting or unclearly describing research methods so that other researchers cannot independently reproduce the research results.

Chapter 4 Deliberation of Research Misconducts

Article 29 (Organization of Research Ethics Committee) The Research Ethics Committee, in principle, shall be composed of five or more members among the Editor-in-Chiefs and Editors of the Korean Society of Odor Research and Engineering and the Korean Society for Indoor Environment. However, another type of verification organization may be assembled and enacted in consideration of the nature of the study, the scale and scope of misconducts, etc.
Article 30 (Authority of Research Ethics Committee)
① The Research Ethics Committee (hereinafter referred to as the “Committee”) may request the attendance for a statement to any informants, examinees, witnesses and testifiers in the process of an investigation. In this case, examinees shall follow the request.
② The Committee may require examinees to submit data.
Article 31 (Time Limitation for the Verification of Misconduct) In the event that any misconduct occurred five years prior the date of receipt of the report, the author(s), in principle, shall not be subject to verification even if the report of past misconduct is received.
Article 32 (Procedures of Deliberation) The Committee shall deliberate on the research ethics of members as per the following procedures.
1. Raising a question: If there is a report of research misconducts, the chairperson shall collect related data and determine the credibility of the report.
2. Calling a committee: If the report is confirmed to have credibility, the chairperson shall form an investigation committee and include the issue on the agenda.
3. Vindication procedure: If the committee judges that there is a conflict, an opportunity of vindication is offered to the examinee in written form.
4. Sanctions: Sanctions include warnings, prohibition of paper contribution, withdrawal of papers, suspension of membership, etc. The sanction period shall be determined depending on the degree of misconduct.
5. Decision: The Committee shall deliberate and determine the decision in accordance with regulations.
6. Notification: The chairperson shall individually notify the results of deliberation to the Boards of Directors (the "Board") of the Korean Society of Odor Research and Engineering and the Korean Society for Indoor Environment and propose sanctions.
Article 33 (Decision and Notification of the Board) The Board shall review the results of the deliberation by the Committee, determine the sanction proposal, and notify the results to the informant and examinee.'
Article 34 (Raising an Objection)
① The examinee, in response to an objection to the decision by the Board, is allowed to raise an objection within one month from the date of notification.
② The Committee shall deliberate on the validity of the objection and may request reconfirmation or modification of the decision to the Board.
Article 35 (Notification of Sanctions) Any sanction ultimately determined by the Board shall be announced on the Society's Homepage or Journal. If necessary, it may also be notified to the affiliated organization of the examinee.
Article 36 (Confidentiality)
① The identity of the informant who has reported research misconduct shall not be disclosed to outside parties.
② The identity of the examinee shall not be disclosed to outside parties prior to issuance of the final judgment as a research misconduct.

Chapter 6 Protection of Human Subjects

Section 1 General Matters

Article 38 (Obligation of Obtaining Prior Consent) In order to conduct any study using human subjects and tissues (the “Clinical Study”), prior consent shall be obtained from the subjects to ensure their rights, safety, and welfare.
Article 39 (Basic Principles)
① Investigators shall respect the dignity of subjects as humans, protect the entirety of their privacy and personal information, and take all preventive measures to minimize the negative effects of the study on their physical and mental dignity and personality.
② Investigators shall obtain voluntary consent of subjects, conduct the study without inflicting unnecessary physical and mental suffering and injury, and allow any of subjects to withdraw from the study.
③ Investigators shall respect the right of subjects to make decisions on their own without being unfairly influenced or obligated by investigators.
④ Investigators shall maximize the benefits and minimize the risks for the sake of subjects.
⑤ Investigators shall have an obligation to fairly distribute benefits and risks without any prejudice against specific individuals or groups of mental disability, specific nationality, and gender.
⑥ Additional protective measures should be taken in the study involving pregnant women, human fetuses and newborns, children, inmates, etc. as subjects.
⑦ Any study on human subjects shall be approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB).

Section 2 Informed Consent

Article 40 (Obligation of Informed Consent) In the clinical study on human subjects, investigators shall fully inform subjects of potential side effects and obtain their prior consent to participate in the study before the study is initiated.
Article 41 (Contents and Documentation of Informed Consent)
① The principal investigator shall fully explain the following matters to subjects and then obtain their written consent to voluntarily participate in the study. However, in the event that written consent cannot be obtained due to the lack of the subject's abilities to understand and express intention, it is permissible to receive the written consent of the legally acceptable representative such as a person with parental rights or a spouse. In this case, the following matters shall be fully explained in the language the subject or his or her representative can understand. 1. The fact that the clinical study is conducted for the purpose of research
2. Estimated duration of participation and estimated number of subjects
3. Purpose, contents, and method of the clinical study
4. The tests or procedures the subject will undergo
5. Expected efficacy, effect, side effects, and risks
6. Safety measures for the clinical study
7. The fact that the subject is free of penalty or obligation, even if he or she does not agree to participate.
8. The fact that the subject is free to withdraw from the study at any time, even if he or she agrees to participate.
9. Confidentiality of each subject's identity
10. Other matters necessary for the protection of subjects
11. Matters subjects shall observe ② The Informed Consent Form(ICF) shall be hand-signed by both the principal investigator and each subject or his or her representative; and a copy of the consent form and a copy of the subject information sheet shall be provided to each applicable subject.
Article 42 (Confirmation of Subject's Free Intention) Investigators shall check if the informed consent of the subject may be influenced by any dependency with or coercion by investigators. If such a possibility exists, they shall allow other peer investigators who are knowledgeable with the contents of the applicable study but not affiliated with or in a completely independent relationship with it to obtain informed consent.

Section 3 Confidentiality and Anonymity

Article 43 (Protection of Personal Information) Personal information of each subject shall be protected.
Article 44 (Confidentiality of Data) Investigators shall secure safety measures for the confidentiality of data regarding each subject.
Article 45 (Obligation to Explain Confidentiality) Investigators shall inform subjects of investigators' legal or other limitations of confidentiality and any result of violations of confidentiality.

Chapter 7 Protection of Laboratory Animals

Article 46 (Obligation to Obtain Prior Permission) In order to conduct any study using living spinal animals (the “Laboratory Animals”), investigators shall obtain prior permission from the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) to ensure the rights, safety, and welfare of the Laboratory Animals.
Article 47 (General Matters)
① Investigators shall comply with the rules and regulations on the transportation, protection, and use of the Laboratory Animals.
② Investigators shall use qualified animals of good quality to a minimum, and consider alternative ways of replacing animals to obtain reasonable results.
③ Preliminary ethics-related reviews are necessary when conducting any study on animals. ④ Studies using the Laboratory Animals shall be conducted after considering the possibility of modification, replacement, etc. of animal subjects.
Article 48 (Minimization of Pain and Suffering) In order to minimize pain, suffering, and discomfort of the Laboratory Animals, tranquilizers and painkillers shall be used appropriately. In the event that the animal subject experiences pain that cannot be alleviated or chronic and serious diseases are expected, the Laboratory Animals shall be euthanized painlessly.
Article 49 (Protection of Rights of Laboratory Animals) The rights of the Laboratory Animals shall be protected. Investigators shall appropriately raise and care for them, obtain prior approval in the event that harmful substances are administered to them, and prevent them from being harmed during the study.

Supplementary Provisions

1. This Guidelines shall be effective from the date of enactment.
2. For the matters not specified in These Guidelines, the "Guidelines for Securing Research Ethics" of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology may apply.