Ethical Guidelines

Article 1 (Purpose)

The purpose of this regulation is to define the necessary provisions for promoting a proper research culture and research ethics among the members of the Korean Association for Behavior Analysis (hereinafter referred to as the "Association"), and to set forth the establishment and operation of the Research Ethics Committee for the prompt and impartial investigation of research misconduct.

Article 2 (Scope and Application)

This regulation applies to all members of the Association and to the journals and publications published by the Association.

Article 3 (Roles and Responsibilities of the Association)

① The Association shall establish and enforce research ethics regulations to promote the establishment of research ethics.

● Researchers: Researchers must submit the results of the KCI similarity check for the submitted manuscript, revised manuscript, and final manuscript.

● Editorial Board Members: Editorial board members shall ensure the professionalism and impartiality of the reviewers, ensuring that the manuscript is handled impartially and without influence from the author's gender, age, or affiliation.

● Reviewers: Reviewers shall ensure that they are not biased due to personal beliefs or relationships with the author. They are required to use tactful language during the review and provide specific, constructive suggestions for revisions.

② The Association shall regularly provide research ethics education to ensure that researchers adhere to research ethics and prevent research misconduct, and shall actively cooperate with the Minister of Education or heads of specialized institutions when conducting research ethics surveys or other activities aimed at establishing research ethics.

③ The Association shall establish and maintain a mechanism for the verification and judgment of research misconduct should such incidents occur.

④ When publishing journals, organizing academic conferences, or managing research achievements, the Association shall verify and manage the author information of related research results and shall actively cooperate when requested for relevant materials by the Minister of Education or heads of specialized institutions.

⑤ The Association shall conduct a thorough investigation into allegations of research misconduct and shall actively cooperate with the Minister of Education, specialized institutions, or universities when requested to provide investigations or materials regarding allegations of research misconduct.

Article 4 (Roles and Responsibilities of Researchers)

Researchers shall conduct their research autonomously based on academic freedom, while adhering to the following principles:

① Respecting the dignity of research subjects and ensuring their fair treatment.

② Safeguarding the personal information and privacy of research subjects.

③ Conducting research with honesty and transparency, grounded in factual evidence.

④ Upholding professional academic integrity when contributing knowledge to society.

⑤ Contributing to the advancement of scholarly knowledge by disseminating new academic findings.

⑥ Acknowledging and respecting the work of previous researchers by appropriately citing sources when utilizing their works.

⑦ Ensuring that research outcomes are not influenced by the interests of funding organizations, and clearly disclosing any relevant conflicts of interest related to the research results.

⑧ When presenting research findings, accurately disclosing the researcher’s affiliation and position (e.g., professor, lecturer, student, postdoctoral researcher, etc.) to enhance the credibility and integrity of the research.

⑨ Fully disclosing any actual or potential conflicts of interest (e.g., financial, interpersonal, intellectual, or role conflicts) that may arise in connection with the research to ensure transparency and accountability.

⑩ Engaging in continuous education on research ethics.

⑪ Adhering to the revised research ethics regulations of this Association, without the need for additional consent, when such regulations are amended.

Article 5 (Definition of Terms)

"Research misconduct" refers to the intentional or grossly negligent act of falsifying, fabricating, plagiarizing, engaging in improper authorship practices, or duplicating publications in the process of proposing, conducting, or presenting research, irrespective of the research's purpose.

Article 6 (Prohibition of Misconduct such as Falsification, Fabrication, Plagiarism, and Duplicate Publication)

The following actions are prohibited for all research works subject to this regulation:

Falsification: The act of creating non-existent data or research results and recording or reporting them as if they are authentic.

Fabrication: The act of manipulating research data, equipment, or processes, or altering or omitting data or research results, such that the research record no longer accurately reflects the truth.

Plagiarism: The act of using someone else's ideas, processes, results, or records without the original author's consent or proper citation.

Improper Authorship Attribution: The act of assigning authorship to individuals who have not made a legitimate contribution or offering authorship to those who have not contributed, based on reasons such as acknowledgments or honors, without valid justification.

Duplicate Publication: The act of republishing all or part of one’s own work that has already been published in another journal as a new article in this journal.

Article 7 (Guidelines for the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI))

① Definitions

Generative AI refers to artificial intelligence-based tools, such as ChatGPT and Gemini, capable of generating new content, including text and images.

AI Assistive Tools refer to tools that provide functions for editing existing text and improving readability, such as spell-checking, grammar correction, and translation.

② Responsibility

Artificial Intelligence (AI) cannot be granted authorship and shall not be included in the list of authors.

While AI may be utilized as a research assistance tool, the authors bear full responsibility for the final output.

All analyses, interpretations, and conclusions must be the intellectual product of the authors themselves. Plagiarism of text or images using AI is strictly prohibited. Authors must be fully aware of and verify risks such as unintentional plagiarism, factual errors, or false information (hallucination) that may arise from the inappropriate use of AI. It is highly recommended to perform plagiarism and similarity checks prior to submission.

③ Disclosure Statement

If AI was utilized during the manuscript preparation process for spell-checking, grammar correction, translation, or readability enhancement, the authors must disclose this fact upon submission.

Template: “During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors used [tool name] ([version], output date: YYYY.MM.DD) to perform [e.g., grammar correction, vocabulary refinement, improvement of readability]. The authors have thoroughly reviewed the results produced by the AI tool and take full responsibility for the final content of the manuscript.”

④ Permitted Scope

The use of AI is limited to language editing—such as grammar and spell-checking or improving the readability of expressions—and formatting or stylistic adjustments that do not affect the scholarly content or core academic arguments of the manuscript.

⑤ Prohibitions and Restrictions

The use of AI is prohibited in the following circumstances:

Falsely generating experimental results or numerical data and presenting them as factual.

Unauthorized summarizing or restructuring of others' research through AI and presenting it as one's own argument.

Altering the logical structure of sentences or providing new academic arguments beyond simple grammatical corrections.

Generating and inserting non-existent literature or citations.

Generating images or tables and presenting them as actual research results.

⑥ Compliance for Reviewers and Editors

Reviewers and editors shall not upload or share the contents of a manuscript acquired during the review process with AI tools. If the use of AI is unavoidable, it must be limited to a scope that does not infringe upon the manuscript’s copyright or data protection policies, and such usage must be disclosed to the Editorial Board.

⑦ Measures for Violations

If a violation is suspected, the Editorial Board may request an explanation and supporting evidence from the authors. If a violation is confirmed, the manuscript may be rejected during the review process. If discovered after publication, the Association may take measures such as retraction or requiring a public notice of the violation within the journal.

Article 8 (Protection of Participants)

① The purpose of the research and any potential mental or physical risks that may arise during participation must be fully explained to the participants, and consent must be obtained prior to the research, with the principle of indicating that IRB approval has been obtained.

② In cases where the participant is unable to independently make a decision regarding consent (e.g., minors), consent forms from both the participant and their guardian must be submitted.

Article 9 (Establishment and Operation of the Research Ethics Committee)

① The Research Ethics Committee shall be established under the Editorial Board.

② The Committee shall be composed of at least three members, appointed by the President of the Association upon the recommendation of the Chairperson of the Editorial Board.

③ The Research Ethics Committee shall investigate any actions that violate these regulations or general research ethics principles. The investigation process is divided into a preliminary investigation and a main investigation, as follows:

Preliminary Investigation: The Editorial Board will conduct an initial review to determine whether a formal investigation is necessary. If it is determined that no further investigation is needed, both the reporter and the respondent will be notified in writing.

Main Investigation: The Research Ethics Committee will conduct a detailed investigation by gathering statements and evidence from the relevant parties.

④ If research misconduct is confirmed, the Research Ethics Committee shall report the findings to the President of the Association and recommend disciplinary actions as outlined in Article 9.

⑤ If the Research Ethics Committee proposes disciplinary actions, the President shall convene a meeting of the Executive Committee to finalize the details of the disciplinary actions. If necessary, the President may announce the violation on the Association's website or in its journals.

⑥ Members reported for research misconduct must cooperate with the investigation by the Research Ethics Committee, and must submit related materials as required.

⑦ The Research Ethics Committee must provide the member reported for research misconduct with an opportunity to fully explain the matter.

⑧ The Research Ethics Committee must not disclose the identity of the subject under investigation to the public until a final disciplinary decision has been made. All investigation-related documents shall be retained for a maximum of five years, and the results may be disclosed upon request to ensure transparency.

Article 10 (Disciplinary Actions)

① If an individual who has submitted a manuscript to the Association's journal violates these regulations or general research ethics principles, they will be prohibited from submitting papers to the journal for a period of two years. Any other related matters will be determined by the Board of Directors.

② If an author who has contributed to the publication of an Association’s publication violates these regulations or general research ethics principles, they will be prohibited from participating as either a sole or co-author in any publications issued by the Association for a period of two years. Any other related matters will be determined by the Board of Directors.

③ Reviewers affiliated with the same institution as the submitter will be excluded from the review process for one year. Any other related matters will be determined by the Board of Directors.

Article 11 (Research Ethics Compliance Agreement)

The author(s) (including co-authors) of a paper accepted for publication must complete the 'Research Ethics Compliance Agreement' in the prescribed format and submit it to the Chairperson of the Editorial Board.

Article 12 (Enactment and Amendment)

This regulation shall be enacted and amended by the Board of Directors of the Association.

Supplementary Provisions

Article 1 (Effective Date)
These regulations shall take effect on December 31, 2013.

Article 2 (Amendment Effective Date)
These regulations shall take effect on September 1, 2018.

Article 3 (Amendment Effective Date)
These regulations shall take effect on February 15, 2020.

Article 4 (Amendment Effective Date)
These regulations shall take effect on February 23, 2026.