Ethical Provisions of Journals of Japan Society on Water Environment
Enacted on 16 March, 2017
Amended May 8, 2024
(Purposes)
Article 1
These provisions aim to clarify the duties of authors, editorialcommittees, and reviewers, as well as stipulate procedures to fairly respond to reports ofalleged misconduct, to prevent misconduct regarding papers published in journals issued
by Japan Society on Water Environment (Journal of Japan Society on Water Environment
and Journal of Water and Environment Technology), and to ensure the academic andsocial integrity of the journals.
(Definitions of terminology, applicable actions, and interested parties)
Article 2
These provisions shall be applicable to the following types of
misconduct described in the respective items:(1) Fabrication (creation of non-existent data, research results, and similar matters);(2) Falsification (manipulation of research materials, devices, and processes to alter
the data, results obtained from research activities, and similar matters, to different
items that are not true);(3) Plagiarism (appropriation of other researchers’ ideas, analytical and analytic
methods, data, research results, papers, or terminology, without the researchers’
consent or appropriate attribution);(4) Double submission (submission to multiple journals and submission to multiple
categories in a journal in the case where the paper is deemed on review to havethe same or similar contents);(5) Inappropriate authorship (inclusion in a paper’s author list of a person(s) who did
not substantially contribute to the paper’s establishment, or conversely exclusionfrom a paper’s author list a person who substantially contributed to the paper’sestablishment, or similar actions).
(6) The inappropriate use of artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted tools or technologies(including AI in the author list of a paper, quoting AI-generated sentences, orusing AI-assisted tools/technologies when writing a paper without disclosing in
the manuscript, or similar actions) is not acceptable.
2
These provisions shall apply to the following persons as interested parties:(1) Authors;1(2) Persons reporting alleged misconduct;(3) Those deemed to have close relations with the authors or the persons reporting thealleged misconduct.
(Authors’ duties)
Article 3
Authors that submit their manuscripts to the journals shall comply withregulations stipulated by the Japan Society on Water Environment. The data in themanuscripts shall be correct and orderly, and shall be presented along with reproducible
methods to allow verification by third parties. The contents described in the manuscripts
shall be free from any misconduct as stipulated in Article 2. Moreover, if the maininvestigation as stipulated in article 8 is to be carried out regarding any misconduct, theauthors shall be obliged to cooperate with the investigative committees.
(Duties of the editorial committees and reviewers)
Article 4
The editorial committees shall take responsibility for deciding whether
submitted paper manuscripts deserve publication in the journals. The editorial committees
have the right to reject any paper manuscript that fails to meet legal requirements, or that
includes research-related misconduct. Moreover, regarding the above mentioneddecisions, the editorial committees may ask opinions from the respective journals’
departments and reviewers. The editorial committees, as well as the respective journals’
departments and editorial staffers, shall not disclose, without a special valid reason, any
information associated with paper manuscripts to anyone other than the authors,reviewers (including those who are approached as to their willingness to be reviewers),
and responsible people of the editorial and printing companies.
2
If the reviewers, as well as those who are approached as to their willingness tobe reviewers, feel that they are unable to review properly, objectively, and fairly, theyshall decline the tasks of reviewing, and they shall not disclose the contents of the paper
manuscripts and shall treat them as confidential.
(Reporting of misconduct)
Article 5
Reports of alleged misconduct regarding a paper published in one of thejournals shall be directed to the authors’ affiliated organization or the agency allocating
the research funding concerning the paper. The alleged misconduct may be reported tothe Japan Society on Water Environment only if the author is an individual researcher
with no affiliated organization, and the paper does not specify the agency allocating theresearch funding, or when it is possible to decide that the listed agency allocating the2research funding cannot investigate the alleged misconduct.
2When reporting alleged misconduct to the Japan Society on Water Environment,
the person shall disclose his or her real full name, shall provide an expressly written
document describing the alleged misconduct, and shall explain the scientific rationale
why the action is deemed to constitute misconduct.
3
The secretariat of the Japan Society on Water Environment shall inform thepresident of the alleged misconduct reported in accordance with the procedures stipulated
in the preceding paragraph. The acceptance date of the report of alleged misconduct shallbe the date on which the president is informed of the report.
4
As a general rule, the authors shall not be permitted to correct or withdraw thepaper while an investigative committee is being established to examine the alleged
misconduct.
(Investigative committee)
Article 6
After the president is informed based on paragraph 3, article 5, thepresident shall promptly establish the investigative committee as a special committee, as
stipulated in article 9 of the detailed provisions. The investigative committee shall consistof three or more committee members who are not interested parties. As a general rule, theinvestigative committee shall include one or more editorial committee member and one
or more expert in the research field related to the paper in question. The chairperson of
the investigative committee shall be designated by the president.
2
To avoid disadvantage to the authors and the person reporting the alleged
misconduct, the report to the Board of Directors, as stipulated in paragraph 2, article 9, of
the detailed provisions shall not as a general rule include the committee organization andactivity contents, and shall include only the facts of establishing and abolishing thecommittee, except when the misconduct has been acknowledged in the main investigation.
3
The investigation shall be stopped if it becomes clear after establishment of theinvestigative committee that another alleged misconduct, similar to that already reported,has been investigated by the authors’ affiliated organization or the agency allocating theresearch funding.
4The president shall dissolve the investigative committee when any of thefollowing items is applicable:(1) If the president has decided that the main investigation is unnecessary inaccordance with paragraph 5, article 7;(2) When the president has received a report from the main investigation as stipulated
in paragraph 4, article 8;3(3) If it becomes clear that another investigation has been conducted by anotherorganization or agency as stipulated in the preceding paragraph.
(Preliminary investigation)
Article 7
After its establishment, the investigative committee shall promptly
launch its preliminary investigation. The purpose of the preliminary investigation shallbe to decide whether it is necessary to carry out the main investigation. As the preliminary
investigation, the investigative committee shall confirm the contents of the alleged
misconduct that was reported, and shall determine whether the case corresponds to anyof the types of misconduct described in paragraph 1, article 2, and whether there is enoughevidence to conclude that the misconduct occurred.
2
When conducting the investigation as stipulated in the preceding paragraph, theinvestigative committee may interview the person reporting the alleged misconduct ifnecessary.
3
The preliminary investigation shall be completed within approximately 30 days
following the acceptance date of the report of the alleged misconduct.
4
After the preliminary investigation is finished, the investigative committee shallprovide a written document to the president accompanied by the reason why carrying out
the main investigation is necessary or unnecessary.
5
Based on the results of the preliminary investigation, the president shall decide
whether the main investigation is necessary or unnecessary. If the president decides thatthe main investigation is necessary, the president shall request the investigative committee
to carry out the main investigation. If the president decides that the main investigation isunnecessary, the president shall inform the person reporting the alleged misconduct
regarding the decision.
(Main investigation)Article 8
The investigative committee shall carry out the main investigation
based on the instruction from the president as stipulated in paragraph 5, article 7. The
main investigation shall aim to examine the evidence regarding the alleged misconductthat was reported, and to acknowledge whether the misconduct occurred or not, while
ensuring an opportunity for the authors to provide an explanation.
2
The main investigation may be conducted using written documents andinterviews with the person reporting the alleged misconduct, the authors, and otherinterested parties. Submitting materials to confirm facts may be requested as needed. The
investigative committee shall keep the records of the investigation process.
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The main investigation shall be completed approximately 60 days following theinstruction from the president. However, this is not applicable if there is a reason toconfirm the occurrence or non-occurrence of the misconduct by way of retesting or
similar methods.
4
The investigative committee shall provide a written document to the president
accompanied by the evidence and the reason for acknowledging the occurrence or nonoccurrence of the alleged misconduct.
(Responses)
Article 9Upon receiving the report as stipulated in paragraph 4, article 8, and if
the investigative committee acknowledges the occurrence of the alleged misconduct, thepresident shall report the results of the main investigation to the Board of Directors. If theinvestigative committee acknowledges the non-occurrence of the alleged misconduct, thepresident shall report only the facts of establishing and dissolution of the investigative
committee as stipulated in paragraph 2, article 6.
2
If the investigative committee acknowledges the occurrence of the alleged
misconduct, or the authors’ affiliated organization or the agency allocating the researchfunding regarding the paper acknowledges the occurrence of the alleged misconduct
regarding the paper published in any of the journals of the Japan Society on Water
Environment, the Board of Directors may decide on any of the following disposition
measures and the president shall inform the authors without delay.
(1) Canceling publication of this paper;(2) Stopping the authors from submitting their manuscripts to the journals for aspecified period;(3) Canceling the acceptance of the authors’ paper (that was accepted and unpublishedat the time of the report to the Board of Directors);(4) Canceling the reception of the authors’ paper (that was in the review process at
the time of the report to the Board of Directors);(5) Stopping the authors’ research presentations at annual conferences, symposiums,and similar occasions for a specified period.
3In addition to the preceding paragraph, the Board of Directors may submit amotion, based on articles 11 and 19 stipulated in the articles of incorporation, to thegeneral assembly if any of the authors is a member or a director of Japan Society on Water
Environment.
4
After reporting to the Board of Directors, the president shall inform the person
reporting the misconduct regarding the response of the Japan Society on Water
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Environment.
(Revision or abolition)
Article 10
Revising or abolishing these provisions shall be conducted after
obtaining approval from the Board of Directors.
(Related internal provisions)
Article 11
The President shall separately stipulate necessary matters regarding theexecution of these provisions.
Supplementary provisions
1
These provisions shall come into effect on 16 March, 2017.
2
With regard to these provisions, if the president is an interested party, anotherperson who is not an interested party shall be assigned to act as the president to performthe tasks regarding the case in question, and all of the descriptions concerning thepresident shall be read as descriptions for the other person acting as the president. The
priority of assuming the role of the person acting as the president shall be in the order ofvice presidents, executive directors, and directors (except for the director in charge ofeditorials). If there are two or more people with the same position, the older person shallbe given priority.
3The written document(s) in these provisions may include documents sent byemail and fax.
4
The interview methods as stipulated in paragraph 2, article 8, shall include
interviews over the Internet (such as via Skype).
5
As a general rule, the specified period regarding the disposition measures inparagraph 2, article 9, shall be within 1 year. Moreover, the starting and ending dates ofthe disposition measures shall be expressly described in the notification to the authors.
6
The governing language of these provisions shall be Japanese.

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