국가연구개발혁신법의 도입과 한국의 연구윤리 발전방향

Abstract

Recently, rapid changes in the research environment have brought about new ethical issues such as conflicts of interest in research, prevalence of predatory academic journals, and unjustified authorship in Korea. We have analyzed research ethics regulations in Korea before and after the introduction of the 「National R&D Innovation Act(henceforth referred to as the Act)」. The Act provides a uniform legal policy against research misconduct across Ministries. So far, the scope of research ethics regulations in Korea has been focused mainly on research misconduct and its follow-up measures. With emphasis on creating research environment in which good research can be conducted, we propose comprehensive categories of research ethics for Korean research communities as follows: (1) Securing objectivity of research and conducting responsible research, (2) Creating the environment for good research, (3) Management of research subjects and research environment, (4) Research misconduct and research inappropriate behavior, and (5) Conflicts of interest and social responsibility. We also suggest the roles and responsibilities for each category of research ethics stakeholders including researchers, research institutions, academic societies, journal publishers, funding agencies and the government. The Act has great significance in proposing comprehensive categories of research ethics which is consistent with what we discussed in this paper. To build a national research ethics system in Korea, it is necessary to establish separate procedures for research misconduct and others, ensure consistency and uniformity of each actor, and disclose records of research misconduct. The research ethics development in Korea therefore needs to encompass industry-sponsored research so that research ethics culture for good research can take root in all research projects funded by the government as well as industrial sectors.