Chapter 1 Truthfulness and Social Responsibility of Research
Art. 1 (Truthfulness of Research)
① A researcher must perform his/her research activities (proposal, performance, report, presentation, screening, evaluation, etc.) honestly and sincerely.
② A researcher shall describe his/her research and its importance objectively and accurately and shall not delete or add to his/her research results arbitrarily.
③ A researcher has a duty to perform his/her research activities without prejudice or hasty conclusions.
Art. 2 (Record, Preservation, Report and Disclosure of Research Information)
① All research information must be reported accurately, and be recorded, processed and preserved clearly and precisely so it can be interpreted and confirmed.
② A researcher will use the appropriate techniques for test design and statistics, and if necessary, disclose them.
Art. 3 (Social Contribution of Research Results)
A researcher must make every effort to promote social interests and to comply with the standards of public interest, recognizing the social influence of his/her research and assuming his/her responsibility as an expert.
Art. 4 (Cautions for Use of Research Results)
A researcher has a duty to follow his/her academic conscience when announcing and using his/her research results. He/
she must not distort or exaggerate his/her research results to enhance his/her reputation or to secure research grants.
Art. 5 (Duty to Observe Relevant Laws and Regulations) A researcher must respect intellectual property rights, such as patents and copyright, and observe research-related laws and regulations.
Chapter 2 Fairness of Mutual Relations among Researchers
Paragraph 1 Author’s Responsibilities and Duties Art. 6 (Joint Research)
Researchers must agree on the roles and relationships in joint research and fulfill the corresponding responsibilities. Before research is begun, mutual agreement and understanding shall be made regarding the purposes and the expected results of a research task, the individual responsibilities in cooperative relations, the methods for data collection, storage and sharing, the criteria for author credit and sequence, the selection of a chief investigator, the problems of intellectual property or ownership rights, etc.
Art. 7 (Author’s Responsibilities and Duties)
① A corresponding author or principal author shall assume the overall responsibilities for specifying the data and authors and be responsible for managing and supervising co-authors.
② Authors may be asked to prove their contributions by their universities or external institutions, and shall comply with any such requests.
Art. 8 (Corresponding Author)
① A corresponding author shall assume the overall respon- sibilities for the research results and their confirmation.
② A corresponding author shall be strictly responsible for clarifying the sequence of authors and the credit of co- authors.
Paragraph 2 Author Credit Criteria and Author Display
Art. 9 (Author Credit Criteria)
① Authors must be decided according to their academic or technical contributions to the research contents or results.
The following are examples of academic and technical contributions:
1. Ideas and design;
2. Data collection and analysis;
3. Draft writing;
4. Final manuscript acceptance, etc.
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Research Ethics Guidelines of the Korean Fracture Societ y
Enacted on November 20, 2007 1st Amended on February 1, 2012 2nd Amended on September 1, 2020
② Authors must not include any person who has not made any academic or technical contribution to the research contents or results, for reasons of gratitude, respect, etc.
The annotation for acknowledgement, however, may include details of other contributions, including data collection or typing or translation.
Art. 10 (Sequence of Authors)
The sequence of authors must by decided fairly, according to the research contributions and by the consent of all authors.
Art. 11 (Institutions of Authors)
In principle, the institutions to which the authors belong at the time of performing research activities, such as test and writing, must be specified. A different practice, however, may be followed in a field where it is considered normal.
Chapter 3 Fraudulent and Other Unethical Research Acts
Paragraph 1 Fraudulent Research Acts Art. 12 (Definitions)
“Fraudulent research acts” mean any counterfeiting and falsification, plagiarism, unreasonable author credit, duplicate publication, etc. that occur during the entire study (proposal, performance, report, presentation, screening, evaluation, etc.).
① “Counterfeiting” means an act of inventing any non- existing data or study result.
② “Falsification” means an act of distorting the research content or result by fabricating research materials, devices, processes, etc. or transforming or deleting research content arbitrarily (“Deletion” means an act of intentionally excluding data that prevents the emergence of expected research results and using favorable data alone.).
③ “Plagiarism” means an act of using another author’s writing, ideas, hypotheses, theories, etc., especially those protected by copyright, without due permission or citation.
④ “Unreasonable Author Credit” means an act of not giving an author qualification without due reason to a person who has academically contributed to a paper, or vice versa.
⑤ “Duplicate publication” means an act of publishing a paper that is completely or nearly identical to that already published without informing the editors or readers of the fact.
Art. 13 (Idea Plagiarism)
① “Idea plagiarism” means an act of stealing another person’
s idea (explanation. theory, conclusion, metaphor, etc.)
by using it in whole or in part as it stands or by revising it superficially without regard for the achievement of the idea holder.
② An author has an ethical responsibility to specify the source of his/her ideas in the form of footnotes or references.
③ An author will not steal another author’s idea that he/she has come to know through his/her colleague’s screening of another author’s proposal or manuscript, without specifying its source or citing the idea.
Art. 14 (Text Plagiarism)
“Text plagiarism” means an act of copying a part of another author’s writing without specifying its source.
Art. 15 (Mosaic Plagiarism)
“Mosaic plagiarism” means an act of not specifying an original author and text source, while combining it with parts of another author’s text, adding or inserting words to the text, or replacing them with their synonyms.
Art. 16 (Duplicate Publication)
① Duplicate publication is when an author’s paper is the same as another paper already published by him/her, even if the text published later shows a somewhat different perspective or viewpoint or presents a somewhat different analysis of the data already published.
② If a paper already published is duplicate-published for a group of readers for whom the paper is not available, the editors of both journals shall consent to duplicate publication of the paper and its authors must inform the readers of the other journal of the fact that it was published in a different journal. This will apply when a paper published in one language is published in another journal by translation.
③ The simultaneous submission of the same paper to a plurality of journals is strictly prohibited. In principle, the paper may be submitted to another journal only after a journal has made the decision to reject it.
Art. 17 (Fraudulent Research Acts and Copyright Infringe ment)
① If a paper is published in a journal, its copyright will normally be transferred to the publisher of the journal.
Therefore, its author must be mindful of the danger of copyright infringement if the previously published paper published is published elsewhere or reused in a different form.
② Duplicate publication shall be avoided due to potential copyright infringement.
③ When a text is cited widely from a copyright-protected source, care must be taken to prevent the possibility of copyright infringement, even though citation marks are used properly or the text is rewritten properly.
Paragraph 2 Inappropriate Writing Acts Art. 18 (Inappropriate Writing Acts)
The following acts correspond to inappropriate writing acts:
① Inappropriate source citation;
② Distortion of references;
③ Citing a paper relying only on its abstract;
④ Citing any unread or not understood reference;
⑤ Specifying a source only partially, while borrowing from it extensively;
⑥ Recycling a text;
⑦ Publishing a research result in several papers for the purpose of exaggerating research achievements
Art. 19 (Prohibition from Distorting References)
① References must comprise only the literature directly related to a paper’s content. Literature with a dubious relationship to a paper shall not be included intentionally in the references for the purpose of fabricating the citation index of a journal or paper or enhancing the possibility of the paper’s publication.
② The use of only literature favorable to the data or theory of the paper in the references must be avoided. An author shall have an ethical responsibility to also cite literature that can be paradoxical to his/her viewpoint.
Art. 20 (Text Recycling)
① “Text recycling” means reusing part of the text that has already been used in an author’s other work.
② Violating ethical writing or recycling a text already published shall be avoided. If the text is reused unavoidably, the author must follow standard citation practice and prevent a copyright infringement by indicating citation marks or rewriting appropriately.
Art. 21 (Other Unreasonable Author Credit)
The following matters refer to inappropriate writing acts:
① Not reporting any important relevant evidence that does not correspond to an author’s data or viewpoint or not informing readers of the fact;
② Citing any study with methodological, statistical or other defects as a basis of proof;
③ Distorting a study method, including a sample design, intentionally lest other researchers should reproduce the
study result independently
Chapter 4 Protection of Human Subjects
Art. 22 (Basic Principles)
① A clinical test must be performed according to ethical regulations, clinical test management criteria and relevant regulations based on the Helsinki Declaration (2013: https://
www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki- ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human- subjects/).
② A researcher has a duty to respect the dignity of a subject as a human being, protect his/her privacy and personal data, and take all the preventive measures to minimize any negative influences that the test may have on the physical and spiritual dignity and character of the subject.
③ A subject must consent to a test voluntarily, be relieved of unnecessary physical and spiritual pain and damage, and be free to stop the test at any time during the study.
④ A researcher must respect a subject’s right to decide his/
her will without undue influence or compulsion from the researcher.
⑤ A researcher must maximize the comfort of a subject and minimize his/her danger.
⑥ A researcher has a duty to distribute the benefit and danger fairly without prejudice to the mentally retarded or specific individuals or groups regardless of race, gender, etc.
⑦ Additional protective measures must be taken in studies of biomedicine and behavioral science that use pregnant women, human embryos and new-born babies, children, prisoners, etc.
Paragraph 1 Informed Consent Art. 23 (Duty of Informed Consent)
For a study targeting the human body, a subject must be sufficiently informed of any side effects and consent for his/her participation in the study must be acquired according to the regulations of the Life Ethics Deliberation Committee.
Art. 24 (Content and Documentation of Consent to Notification)
① A researcher must sufficiently inform a subject of the following matters and then receive the subject’s written consent to willingly participate in a clinical test. When it is impossible to obtain the subject’s consent for lack of his/her ability to comprehend and/or express an opinion, the subject’s consent may be replaced by that of
a person who can represent the subject lawfully, i.e., the subject’s parental right holder, spouse, etc. In this case, the following matters shall be explained sufficiently in a language that the subject or his/her representative can understand.
1. The fact that a clinical test is performed for research purposes;
2. Expected period of participation and number of subjects;
3. Purposes, contents and methods of a clinical test;
4. Examinations and procedures a subject will undergo;
5. Predicted efficacies, effects, side effects, and dangers;
6. Safety measures of a clinical test;
7. When a patient is a subject, other methods to treat the corresponding disease and their details;
8. The fact that a subject is not disadvantaged even if he/she does not consent to participate in a test;
9. The fact that a subject can withdraw his/her consent at any time;
10. Assurance of the secrecy of personal data;
11. Other matters necessary for the protection of a subject;
12. Matters a subject should observe
② A subject’s consent must be signed by a chief investigator, the subject or his/her representative with his/her own hand, and a copy of the consent and any other documents given to the subject shall be offered to the subject.
Art. 25 (Confirmation of a Subject’s Free Will)
A researcher has a duty to check the possibility that a subject’s informed consent may have been influenced by a subordinate relationship with a researcher or the researcher’s compulsion.
If there is such possibility, informed consent must be obtained through another colleague or relative who is fully aware of the research details but is uninvolved or completely independent of the corresponding study.
Art. 26 (Measures for Comparative Study Subjects) A subject joining a comparative study must be sufficiently informed of the study’s character, expected effects, dangers, and the subject’s possibility of receiving a placebo, and must understand the explanation clearly.
Paragraph 2 Maintenance of Secret and Anonymity Art. 27 (Protection of Personal Data)
The personal data of a subject must be protected.
Art. 28 (Maintenance of Data Secrecy)
A researcher has a duty to take measures to maintain the secrecy of the data on subjects.
Art. 29 (Duty to Inform Subjects of Secrecy Assurance) A researcher has a duty to inform the subject of his/her legal rights or other limitations to secrecy assurance and the possible results from the violation of secrecy maintenance.
Chapter 5 Test Animal Welfare
Art. 30 (General)
① A researcher will observe the rules and regulations on the transport, protection and use of test animals.
② The design and performance of the research must take into consideration the relations with human beings, animals or public health, the progress of knowledge, and the common good of society.
③ A researcher has a duty to use the minimum of appro- priate quality animals to obtain reasonable results and to account for the means used to replace animals.
④ Any animal-related research will require a prior review of ethics.
⑤ In a study using animals, a test must be performed after taking their transformation, replacement, etc.
Art. 31 (Test Animal Welfare Principles) A researcher shall observe the following principles:
① Substitution: use of non-animal models or lower-class animals, if possible;
② Reduction: use of various methods to reduce the number of test animals;
③ Improvement: removal or reduction of unnecessary pain and suffering.
Art. 32 (Minimization of Ache and Pain)
A stabilizer or painkiller shall be used appropriately to minimize the pain and discomfort of test animals. Test animals must be killed without pain if they are expected to be exposed to unrelievable pain or chronic or serious disease.
Art. 33 (Rights Protection of Test Animals)
A researcher must protect the rights of the test animals.
He/she has a duty to raise and manage the test animals appropriately, obtain prior permission when administering harmful substances to them, and prevent them from suffering damage during experiments.
Art. 34 (Safety Management)
① A person who is in charge of protecting and treating test animals must have the appropriate qualifications and skills.
② A test animal manager shall manage test animals appropriately to protect people and other animals.
③ Caution shall be always exercised to prevent injury to the experimenters by the test animals, and experimenters unfamiliar with the management of test animals must perform a test after sufficient training.
④ The corpses of test animals shall be processed and/or kept according to the prescribed method at the end of the test.
Chapter 6 Enforcement Guidelines for Research Ethics Regulations
Art. 35 (Research Ethics Regulations Pledge)
All members of the Korean Fracture Society and all authors who submit their manuscripts to the Society’s journal must promise that they will observe the research ethics regulations.
Once the research ethics regulations come into force, all existing members shall be considered to have pledged to the regulations.
Art. 36 (Report of Fraudulent Acts and its Receipt)
① When a fraudulent act is recognized or reported, the case shall be verified by the institution to which the corresponding researcher belonged at the time of the research performance and be processed faithfully by its chief. If the Society has recognized the occurrence of a fraudulent act or received its report, it shall transfer the case to the corresponding institution so that it can be investigated. The Society’s Ethics Committee may be asked to perform an investigation if the corresponding institution does not verify the fraudulent act or has difficulty performing an investigation.
② The Ethics Committee may receive a report on a fraudulent act that violates the Society’s publishing ethics regulations for authors, editors or judges, or its proposal or imposition.
③ An informant may report by any possible means, such as dictation, writing, telephone, and email, and shall in principle reveal his/her real name.
Art. 37 (Secret Protection for Informant and Suspect)
① The Ethics Committee shall not reveal the identity of an informant. The non-disclosure principle will not apply to any informant who has fabricated his/her report.
② The identity of a suspect must not be disclosed before any final disciplinary action has been decided by the Society.
If the suspicion is found to be groundless, efforts will be made to recover the honor of the suspect.
Art. 38 (Composition of Ethics Committee)
① The Ethics Committee will be established under the Society’s Editing Committee.
② If a fraudulent act is verified, the Ethics Committee will comprise a commission of five persons or more at the request of the Editing Committee Chairperson, and commissioners shall be appointed by the President at the recommendation of the Editing Committee Chairperson.
On the other hand, if a commissioner has direct interests in the corresponding case, he/she shall not join its investigation, deliberation and decision.
③ The Ethics Committee shall comprise 50% or more corresponding experts, including editors, and 20% or more external persons who do not belong to the suspect’s institution.
④ “External persons” referred to in ③ are members who do not belong to the corresponding institution or the Editing Committee.
Art. 39 (Rights of Ethics Committee)
The Ethics Committee may recommend the President take any appropriate disciplinary action, if a fraudulent act is verified after conducting a widespread investigation of the case through informants, suspects, witnesses, evidence, etc.
Art. 40 (Investigation and Deliberation by Ethics Committee)
① When accused of research ethics violation, a member shall cooperate with the investigation made by the Ethics Committee. If he/she does not cooperate with a due investigation or takes any action to prevent it, it will be considered a violation of research ethics.
② The Ethics Committee shall assure an informant and suspect of the rights and opportunities for his/her opinions, objections and pleadings, and inform him/her of the relevant procedures.
Art. 41 (Procedures and Details of Disciplinary Action) When disciplinary action is recommended by the Ethics Committee, the President shall convene a meeting of the Board of Trustees and finally decide on disciplinary action. Once recognized to have violated the research ethics regulations, a member may be subjected to warning, manuscript submission limitation, membership interruption or deprivation, etc. and shall announce the infraction and discipline to his/her institution and other relevant bodies.
Additional Rules
These rules will come into force from February 1, 2012.
