Revised
on March 24, 2014
Section
1. General Provisions
Article 1 (Purpose) The purpose of these bylaws is
the regulation of matters regarding the organization and administration of the
Academic Integrity Committee (hereinafter “Committee”) of Ewha Research
Institute for Translation Studies (hereinafter “Institute”) whose objectives
are to establish academic integrity, to prevent misconduct in academic
research, and to implement the tasks of identifying, determining and enforcing
compliance issues in accordance to Article 14 of the Institute Regulations.
Article 2 (Scope of application) These bylaws shall apply to
all who conduct academic research in direct or indirect connection to the
Institute’s research activities.
Article 3 (Definitions)
1. Misconduct in academic research (hereinafter
“misconduct”) refers to fabrication, falsification, plagiarism and the like
in regards to the proposal and the execution of the research as well as the
reporting and publication of the research findings. The university’s code of ethics classifies acts
that violate research ethics but do not affect the quality of the research as
inappropriate acts in academic research and distinguishes such acts from the
classification of misconduct. However, the Committee shall classify all acts of
dishonesty as misconduct, setting out the following definitions.
① “Fabrication” refers to the act of
falsely making up data or research findings that do not exist.
② “Falsification”
refers to the act of intentionally manipulating the research materials,
equipment, processes and the like or arbitrarily changing or deleting
data to distort the research contents or findings.
③ “Plagiarism”
refers to the act of copying others’ papers, patents, ideas and other
intellectual creation or research contents and findings without proper consent
or citation.
④ “Unfair
authorship” refers to the act of either not listing an individual who made a
substantial contribution to the research as an author for no justifiable
reason, or granting authorship to those who played no significant role in the
work for reasons such as expressing gratitude or deference.
⑤ The act
of proposing to or pressuring another to commit one or more of the
misconducts described above shall also be considered misconduct.
⑥ Misconduct
also refers to any and all acts of serious deviation from the generally
accepted extents of the academic field of translation and interpreting.
⑦ Misconduct
also refers to the act of urging, pressuring or threatening someone to commit
one or more of the misconducts described above.
2. “Informant” refers to the person or persons who first notifies the
university or research-supporting institute of the fact that an act of
misconduct has come to his or her knowledge or who provides evidence of
someone’s misconduct.
3. “Subject under investigation” refers to the person or
persons under investigation for suspicions of misconduct that had either been
reported or come to the university or research-supporting institute’s
knowledge, or to the person or persons who have come under investigation
because their potential involvement in an act of misconduct was uncovered
during the process of conducting investigation. The term does not refer to the
witnesses in the investigation process.
4. “Preliminary investigation” refers to the procedure for determining whether
an official investigation needs to be launched on particular allegations of
misconduct.
5. “Main investigation” refers to the procedure for
determining whether the allegations of misconduct are true or not.
6. “Decision” refers to the procedure of concluding the
investigation findings and notifying the informant and the subject under
investigation of the findings.
Article 4 (Function) The Committee shall deliberate and decide on the
following matters.
1. Matters relating to the establishment and management
of academic
integrity policies
2. Matters relating to the decision to launch preliminary
and main investigations and to the authorization ofthe investigation findings
3. Matters relating to the appointment of preliminary and main
investigation committee members
4. Matters relating to approval of request for a
re-investigation
5. Matters relating to the protection of the informant
and the rehabilitation of the subject under investigation
6. Matters relating to processing the results of academic
integrity validation and the follow-up measures
7. Other matters as submitted by the chairperson
Section 2. Organization and Administration
Article 5 (Organization, etc.) The Committee shall consist of no more than nine
members who are recommended by the editorial board from among the head of the
editorial board, the head of the administrative board and researchers and who
are appointed by the director of the Institute. The chairperson shall be
elected by mutual vote from among the members.
Article 6 (Members and chairperson)The
director of the Institute can also serve as the chairperson and appoint more
than three members who are professional experts in the relevant field and
appoint more than two members from outside the Institute. However, interested
parties to the matter under investigation cannot be included. The terms of the
chairperson and members shall be two years with consecutive terms allowed.
However, in case of a new member who was appointed to fill a vacancy, the term
shall last for the remaining of the predecessor’s term.
Article 7 (Specialized committee members) In cases when necessary because of the specialty
of the investigation or validation, the Committee can appoint specialized
committee members.
Article 8 (Meetings)
1. The chairperson
shall convene Committee meetings and preside over the meetings.
2. The quorum for a
meeting shall be attendance by at least one-half of the registered members and
a resolution shall be made by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of those
attending.
3. When the agenda
under review is acknowledged by the chairperson to be a minor matter, it can be
reviewed in writing.
4. When acknowledged
by the Committee to be needed, a related party can be summoned for opinion.
Section 3. Validation of Academic Integrity
Article 9 (Receipt of report) Reports of misconduct shall only be
received when using one’s real name and addressed to the director of the
Institute.
Article 10 (Preliminary investigation)
1. The Committee
shall form a preliminary investigation committee consisting of three members
within 10 days of receiving the report.
2. The preliminary
investigation shall be the responsibility of the director of the Institute but
the Committee shall appoint the members of the preliminary investigation
committee.
3. The preliminary
investigation committee shall report its findings to the Committee within 30
days of launching an investigation and the findings report shall including the
following.
①The specifics of the report received and the identity of the
informant
②The allegations of misconduct being
investigated and the relevant research project
③ The decision to
whether launch a main investigation and the grounds for such a decision
④ Relevant evidence
material
⑤ Confirmation of
whether five years have passed from the initial date of the prescription period
Article 11 (Main investigation)
1. Should the
Committee decide based upon the findings of the preliminary investigation
committee that a main investigation is necessary, it shall form a main
investigation committee within 30 days of approving the findings of the
preliminary investigation.
2. The main
investigation committee shall consist of at least seven members, including at
least four professional experts with considerable knowledge and experience in
the relevant field and at least two outside members for the sake of fairness
and objectiveness.
3. The main
investigation committee shall reports its findings to the Committee within 90
days of launching its investigation and the findings report shall including the
following.
① The specifics of the
report received and the identity of the informant (except in cases of anonymous
reports)
② The allegations of
misconduct being investigated and the relevant research project
③ The role of the
subject under investigation in the research project and whether the allegations
are true
④ Evidence material and
list of witnesses
⑤ Objections or
arguments either by the informant or the subject under investigation regarding
the investigation findings and the results of processing such objections or
arguments
⑥ List of main
investigation committee members
4. Should the need to
extend the investigation arise, the investigation period can be extended with
the permission of the chairperson.
5. Specific
guidelines needed for individual investigation activities by the main
investigation committee shall be determined by the chairperson after Committee
approval.
6. Records related to
the main investigation shall be stored for five years after termination of the
investigation.
Article 12 (Measures following
investigation findings)
1.Should the
Committee approve the investigation findings by the main investigation
committee that the actions of the subject under investigation correspond to
misconduct in academic research, it shall recommend disciplinary measures to be
taken by the director of the Institute.
2.Should the
Committee approve the investigation findings by the main investigation
committee that the actions of the subject under investigation does not
correspond to misconduct in academic research, it shall take measures to
rehabilitate the reputation of the subject under investigation.
3.The Committee can
recommend to the director of the Institute to take disciplinary measures
against a member of the Institute who, as an informant, had made a report
against the truth, disregarding facts that went against his or her statement or
testimony, whether intentionally or by gross negligence.
4. The specifics of
the disciplinary measures as mentioned in clauses 1 and 3 shall be determined
separately.
Article 13 (Notification of the results) The chairperson shall, without undue delay,
notify the subject under investigation and the informant of the Committee’s
decision on the investigation findings in writing.
Article 14 (Re-investigation) Should either the subject
under investigation or the informant appeal the Committee’s decision, he or she
can request a re-investigation by presenting the reasons in writing to the
Committee 30 days within having received notification of the decision.
Chapter 4. Principles of investigation
Article 15 (Guarantee of procedural rights) Both the informant and the subject
under investigation must be guaranteed equal rights and opportunities of
statement, objection and argument and be informed of the related process in
advance.
Article 16 (Attendance and
request for evidence)
1. According to what
is needed in the investigation, the informant, the subject under investigation,
witnesses and the like may be requested to attend a meeting to give a testimony
to the investigation committee. The subject under investigation must accede to
such a request.
2. During
investigation, the subject under investigation could be required to submit
relevant data and in order to preserve the evidence data, substantial measures could
be taken such as restricting the subject under investigation from entering the
research lab or seizing and keeping relevant research data.
Article 17 (Confidentiality)
1. The Committee
under no circumstance shall expose the identity of the informant and ensure
that the reputation of the subject under investigation is protected until the
investigation findings are concluded.
2. Any and all
matters related to reports, investigations, reviews and deliberations as well
as actions proposed are to be confidential. However, when a considerable need
to disclose the information arises, such as a request from a government entity,
the matter could be disclosed after a Committee resolution.
3. All committee
members and persons who have directly or indirectly participated in the
investigation, related committee members shall keep confidential all the
information that was obtained during the process of investigating, reviewing,
voting and executing tasks and the duty to hold confidential information in
confidence shall remain in effect even after the individual is no longer in the
position.
Article 18 (Protection of the
informant) The Committee shall take
preventive measures against any possible acts of retaliation against the
informant and when such an act of retaliation occurs, shall inform the
chairperson of such fact and recommend the chairperson to take disciplinary
measures.
Addendum
(Effective Date) These by-laws shall
become effective immediately upon their adoption.