The Korean Society on Water Environment (hereinafter, KSWE) is an academic organization that pursues academic development and technology advancement in water environment-related fields such as water preservation and water supply & sewage and promotes friendship between the members.

The Ethics define the principles and standards for research ethics to be observed by the members of the Society (hereinafter, "the Members"). The Members can recognize each other's research values and share the results by abiding by the Ethical Regulations when conducting academic research or presenting research papers, which is a perquisite for a genuine academic development in the water environment field.

Therefore, a periodic publication of an academic journal by selecting and placing papers containing valuable research outcomes in the water environment field through a fair and strict evaluation is one of the most important projects to accomplish the goals of the establishment of KSWE.

In order to contribute to academic development in the water environment field through the publication of a high-class academic journal, it is necessary to establish the ethical regulations that shall be observed by the authors, the members of the Editorial Committee, and the Peer Reviewers.

Information on research and publication ethics not specified in these regulations can be found at International standards for editors and authors (https://publicationethics.org/guidance/Guidelines).

All those designated as authors should meet all four criteria for authorship, and all who meet the four criteria should be identified as authors.

• (1) Substantial Contributions: Authors must have made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
• (2) Drafting and Revising: Authors must have been involved in drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
• (3) Final Approval: Authors must have given final approval of the version to be published; AND
• (4) Accountability: Authors must agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

The authors shall not present any parts of other researchers' ideas, information, and research results, in which they were not involved, as their own papers or books. While citing other researchers' study findings with proper quotation, authors may reference them several times. However, it constitutes an act of plagiarism to present others' research results as if they were the authors' own research findings or arguments.

• (1) Authors shall take responsibility only for those research projects which they conducted themselves or to which they made a substantial contribution. Only these research projects shall be recognized as their research achievements.
• (2) The order of authors listed on a paper shall accurately reflect the degrees of their respective contributions to the work. Minor contributions to a paper or book can be acknowledged appropriately in the acknowledgements section.

The authors shall not submit or publish their research findings, which have already been published in other scientific journals, as new research.

When citing published articles, the authors shall make every effort to describe them accurately. Unless the information belongs to common knowledge, the authors shall state the source of every citation.

The authors should make every effort to reflect the opinions and recommendations of the reviewers and the members of the Editorial Committee in their paper. If the authors do not agree with certain opinions, they shall inform the Editorial Committee of the grounds and reasons for their disagreement in detail.

The members of the Editorial Committee shall be responsible for determining whether to publish the submitted papers. Members of the Editorial Committee must respect the authors' personality and independence as scholars.

The members of the Editorial Committee shall evaluate submitted papers solely based on the submission instructions, without regard to the authors' gender, age, affiliation, personal acquaintances, or any other form of prejudice.

The members of the Editorial Committee shall assign the evaluation of submitted papers to reviewers with the appropriate expertise and fair judgment in their respective fields. To ensure an objective evaluation, it is advisable that the members of the Editorial Committee avoid assigning papers to reviewers who are too intimate or hostile towards the authors.

The Reviewers faithfully evaluate the papers assigned by the Editorial Committee of the Journal within a period prescribed by the regulations and must notify the results of the evaluation to the editorial board. If they determine themselves not to be the right person to evaluate the papers, they shall inform the Editorial Committee without any delay.

The Reviewers shall evaluate the papers fairly based on objective criteria, regardless of their personal academic beliefs or personal friendship with the author(s). Reviewers shall not evaluate the paper without reading them carefully.

Reviewers shall express their judgments on the paper in the letter of review opinion and explain in detail the reasons why certain parts need to be complemented. Reviewers shall use polite and respectful language whenever possible and refrain from using reproaching or insulting expressions.

Reviewers shall maintain the confidentiality of the papers they are examining. Unless seeking advice for the evaluation of the paper, it is not advisable to show the paper to another person or to discuss it with others. Additionally, any content from the paper shall not be cited without the authors' consent before it is published in the journal.

A new member of the Society shall sign the Agreement on Ethical Regulations. Existing members are regarded as having agreed to abide by the ethical regulations upon the effectuation of the Ethical Regulations.

If a member is observed by other members to violate any ethical regulations, the member will be reminded of the Ethical Regulations to rectify the case. However, if the violation remains unresolved or if it turns out to be a major violation of the Ethical Regulations, the case can be reported to the Ethics Committee of the Society (hereinafter, "the Ethics Committee"). The Ethics Committee shall report the breach to the Society but shall not disclose the identity of the member to the outside.

The Ethics committee is composed of more than five members, who are appointed by the chairperson on the recommendation of the board of directors.

The Ethics Committee shall conduct a thorough investigation of the reported violation case by consulting informers, examinees, witnesses, testifiers, and examining evidence materials. If it is found to be a breach of any ethical regulation, the committee may recommend appropriate sanctions to the chairperson.

If a member of KSWE is reported to violate any ethical regulations, he or she shall cooperate with the Ethics committee for investigation. Failure to cooperate itself constitutes a violation of the Ethical Regulations.

If a member of KSWE is reported to have violated any ethical regulations, he or she shall be given sufficient opportunity to explain the case.

Until the final decision on disciplinary action is made, the members of the Ethics Committee shall not reveal the identity of examinees' identities.

If a proposal for disciplinary action is received by the Ethics Committee, the chairperson will convene a board meeting to make a final decision on whether to take disciplinary action and determine the scope of such action. If a member is judged to have violated the Ethical Regulations, the Ethics Committee will take disciplinary measures, which may include warnings, restrictions on contribution, suspension, or cancellation of membership.

The revision of the Ethical Regulations shall be processed in accordance with KSWE’s revision procedure.