Cheng Kung Law Review’s Statement on Publication Ethics and Malpractices

Dec. 13, 2021

“Cheng Kung Law Review” will not accept any research publications that violate academic ethics, including plagiarism, simultaneous submission/redundant publication, fabricated/forged materials, in nominal terms without actual participation in research, undisclosed conflicts of interest, etc.

I. Author’s Responsibility

1. Requirements for Research Papers

Authors should precisely state and objectively discuss original dissertation or thesis. Research data should be accurately described in the article. Research papers should include references and major details for others to repeat the research. Deceptive or deliberately inaccurate representations are against academic ethics. A retrospect on papers and professionally published articles should be done precisely and objectively.

2. Data Use and Retention

Authors shall retain the original data for editorial review after publication, or for public access.

3. Originality and Plagiarism

Authors shall confirm the entire report is their own work and should expressly cite other authors’ statements when they are used. Unethical practices such as plagiarism in any form are unacceptable including peculating conclusions of others, reproducing, or imitating others’ works without citing sources, and copying someone else’s work.

4. Multiple, Redundant, or Simultaneous Publications

Authors shall not publish essentially the same research paper in multiple journals or publications simultaneously and submit the same manuscript to different journals at the same time, which is deemed a violation of publication ethics. Authors shall not submit previously published research to this Journal, nor shall they submit a work which had been submitted to this Journal to other journals simultaneously. However, a secondary publication is permitted under certain circumstances, such as translation, provided that both the author and the editors of each (Issues 1 and 2) journal should agree to the secondary publication, and the material and interpretation of the secondary publication shall be consistent with the first published paper, and the literature referenced by the first publication shall be indicated in the secondary publication. If the author considers reproducing the published articles or translations and publishing them in other journals or monographs, he or she should obtain the prior consent of this Journal.

5. Notification of Data Sources

Authors must exercise all due diligence in citing the others’ works. Authors should cite publications that influence the nature of the research. Information privately obtained such as dialogues, letters, or third parties’ discussions, should not be used or published without the express consent of the source. Information obtained by reviewing other people’s documents, such as reviewing other people’s manuscripts or applications, shall not be used without express written authorization from the original author.

6. Authorship

Only the significant contributors who have made important contributions to the conception, design, implementation, or enunciation of research articles can be titled authors, and all contributors who have made substantial contributions to the research work shall be titled co-authors. Other contributors who have made contributions to the research should be identified or titled. Corresponding authors should be ensured that all contributing co-authors are titled on the paper, and those who did not contribute to the paper should not be titled on the paper. Corresponding authors need to confirm that each co-author has completed the review of the manuscript before submitting it and agrees to the manuscript submission.

(1) Conflict of Interest

Authors shall disclose all sources of funding for any research that may be deemed to influence the results of research or the interpretation of the results or other data that may lead to a conflict of interest, including economic grants, program grants, employment relationships, consultancy, stock ownership, author’s remuneration, expert witness fees, patent applications/registrations, or other sponsored research funding. Information on possible future conflicts of interest should be provided as early as possible.

(2) Errors of Research

When the author finds that the content in research contains errors or inaccurate information, he or she shall immediately notify the editor and the editorial department, as well as taking relevant measures such as withdrawing the paper or correcting it. If the editor or the editorial department is informed of major errors in the research paper by a third party, the author shall withdraw the manuscript immediately, or revise the manuscript, or explain the correctness of the manuscript to the editor.

II. Editor’s Responsibility

1. Right to Publish

For the manuscripts that have passed “peer review”, the editor may decide whether to publish the submitted article based upon its research topic, or its importance to other researchers or readers. Editors may be guided by the policies of the journal’s editorial board and shall be bound by legal principles pertaining to copyright and plagiarism. Editors may discuss publication decisions with other editors or reviewers before making a conclusion.

2. Fair Competition

Editors shall review the paper according to the content of the paper instead of being on the ground of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, nationality, and the author’s political ideology.

3. Confidentiality

Editors and editorial staff shall not disclose any information about the manuscript to anyone other than the individual authors, reviewers, editorial advisors, and journal publishers.

4. Principles of Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

(1) Without the consent of the author, the editor shall not use the unpublished material in the manuscript submitted for his own research.

(2) The peer-reviewed information and ideas shall be kept confidential without being used for personal benefit.

(3) When the editor believes that a conflict of interest is constituted arising from competition, cooperation or other association among the contributing author, enterprise, and organization, he or she shall voluntarily disqualify himself/herself in the review thereof and request an editorial committee member, deputy editor or assistant editor to proceed with it on his/her behalf.

(4) Editors shall request all research contributors to disclose the information related to conflicts of interest. If a conflict of interest is disclosed after publication, the measures such as an issuance of correction direction, or article withdrawal, or a statement of interest are required.

(5) It is necessary to ensure that sponsored supplements are subject to the same requirements as other papers in the Journal during the peer review process.

(6) Sponsored supplements shall fully comply with the value of academic research, rather than commercial interests.

III. Reviewer’s Responsibility

1. Immediate Effect

If the reviewer is unable to review the manuscripts, he/she shall notify the editorial department and actively request to be disqualified from reviewing manuscripts.

2. Confidentiality

Reviewing the manuscripts, the reviewers shall strictly abide by a non-disclosure agreement without disclosing or discussing reviewed articles to or with anyone other than the editor.

3. Objective Criteria

The reviewers shall not have bias and carry out reviews impartially and objectively, as well as producing relevant evidence for their review comments. Reviewers shall not criticize the authors for the articles being reviewed.

4. Notification of Sources

Reviewers shall identify publications that have not been cited by the author. Conclusions, findings derived therefrom, or arguments of others’ writing should be included in the relevant citations. Reviewers shall alert editors to possible duplications or similarities between the article under review and other published articles

5. Disclosure Principles and Conflicts of Interest

Without the express consent of the author, the reviewer shall not use the unpublished material in the manuscript submitted for his own research. The peer-reviewed information and opinion acquired shall be kept confidential without being used for personal benefit. When the reviewer believes that a conflict of interest is constituted arising from competition, cooperation or other association among other contributing author, enterprise, and organization, he or she shall voluntarily disqualify himself/herself in the review thereof.

6. Copyright

After the manuscript is reviewed and accepted, the author shall grant the copyright of the manuscript to the Journal “Cheng Kung Law Review”. Manuscripts shall be written in the format of this Journal’s “Style Sheet for Papers”.