'Policy Research Plagiarism' Misconduct Eliminated... Ministry of the Interior and Safety Fully Revises Work Manual

'Research Ethics Self-Checklist' and 'Provision of Inspection Criteria'
Mandatory Submission of 'Self-Checklist' and 'Similarity Inspection Report' Upon Completion of Policy Research

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] From now on, researchers participating in policy research must submit a ‘Research Ethics Self-Checklist’ and undergo an inspection by a specialized institution after completing the research.

On the 14th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that it has completely revised the Policy Research Management Manual to prevent research misconduct related to policy research in advance and improve quality, and notified central administrative agencies and local governments.

The Policy Research Management Manual contains standards related to the overall execution of policy research, including the selection of research projects and researchers, evaluation and utilization of research results, in accordance with regulations on administrative efficiency and collaboration promotion (Articles 49 to 56). As of the 11th, a total of 48,050 policy research projects (35,515 central, 12,535 local governments) have been registered in the Policy Research Management System (PRISM) since the service began in January 2006, with about 4,000 new research projects registered annually.

The main points of this revision include: requiring researchers to submit a ‘Research Ethics Self-Checklist’ and ‘Provision of Inspection Standards’ before conducting policy research, and mandating the submission of a ‘Self-Checklist’ and a ‘Similarity Inspection Report’ using an inspection program upon completion of the policy research.

Researchers participating in policy research must submit a ‘Research Ethics Compliance Pledge’ in advance and conduct research considering the ‘Research Ethics Inspection Standards’ prepared by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. When submitting research achievements, researchers themselves must complete the ‘Research Ethics Self-Checklist’ to recheck for forgery, alteration, plagiarism, improper authorship, duplicate publication, and so on. Upon completion of the research, researchers are required to submit a ‘Similarity Inspection Report’ conducted by a specialized institution.

The responsibility of the research institution to which the researcher belongs is also strengthened. Research institutions must provide ethics education to researchers and primarily manage and supervise researchers’ compliance with research ethics. If misconduct by a researcher causes disruption to policy research, the research institution may also be held accountable.

Furthermore, central administrative agencies commissioning policy research will evaluate researchers’ compliance with research ethics by receiving the ‘Self-Checklist’ and ‘Similarity Inspection Report’ when assessing research results. If misconduct is found, sanctions (participation restrictions, imposition of penalty surcharges) may be imposed, and researchers who receive participation restrictions will be explicitly barred from being selected as researchers for all policy research projects for a certain period.

If a commissioning agency receives a report about a researcher or research institution, it may request an internal investigation from the research institution even after the research is completed, and the research institution must notify the commissioning agency of the inspection results. Additionally, since commissioning agencies must disclose research results to the public for transparent research progress, if non-disclosure is necessary, the appropriateness of the reason for non-disclosure must be evaluated according to the detailed judgment criteria provided.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety plans to improve the Policy Research Management System (PRISM) functions to preemptively check for duplication with existing policy research reports from the research project selection stage to prevent duplicate projects, and will launch the related service in early April.

Han Chang-seop, Director of the Government Innovation Organization Office at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, “Policy research is a necessary process to establish and implement better policies,” and added, “We will continue to strengthen research ethics and strive to improve research quality through ongoing inspections.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.