Ethical Standards for Publication in the Journal of JSCE

(Established on January 28, 2020)
The Editorial Committee on Journal of JSCE

The Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE) enacted its Code of Ethics for Civil Engineers in 1999 (revised in 2014), which states that, with respect to publication of results, “JSCE shall publish new findings and make policy recommendations through papers and reports, in accordance with its beliefs and conscience, respecting objectivity based on facts and the intellectual achievements of others, and endeavor to share such findings and policy recommendations with professional colleagues and the public.” In order to further enhance the credibility of JSCE’s publication of papers, contents related to the ethics of those involved in the Journal of JSCE Guidelines for Authors and Guidelines for Reviewers have been organized, and subsequently enacted and made public as the Ethical Standards for Publication in the Journal of JSCE.

1. Obligations of authors

• In writing manuscripts, authors shall fulfill the following author obligations, comply with the JSCE Code of Ethics (Code of Ethics for Civil Engineers), and fulfill all the terms and conditions in the Guidelines for Authors.
• Only persons who have significantly contributed to the completion of the manuscript should be listed as coauthors.
• One of the authors shall be designated as the corresponding author, who shall be responsible for the manuscript up to publication, including responses to peer reviews and proofreading. The corresponding author does not need to be the first author.
• The submitted manuscript shall include a sufficient contribution by the authors to the advancement and development of science and technology related to the fields of civil and environmental engineering.
• Authors shall avoid fragmentation of data, that could have been published as a single paper, into multiple studies. Authors should organize their related research into one manuscript.
• Manuscripts shall not have any obvious commercial intent.
• Duplicate submission is not permitted.
• Authors shall provide sufficient information in the submitted manuscript to allow authors’ peers to reproduce, verify, and evaluate the work. Furthermore, the source of the related past papers shall be clearly indicated so that they can be referred to, and a sufficient explanation of the novelty of the manuscript shall be included. In doing so, care shall be taken not to infringe on the copyrights of related papers.
• Criticism of existing articles is permitted only for the purpose of making a scholarly argument. Authors shall avoid criticizing existing papers for the purpose of personally attacking the authors.
• Authors shall not violate the human rights or any other rights of people who are involved in the investigation, and shall protect peoples’ lives, health, privacy, and dignity.
• The submitted manuscript shall not contain any fabrication or falsification of data. Plagiarism of ideas, methods, data, or results from other papers is strictly prohibited.
• Authors shall endeavor to retain the data, programs, etc., involved in the research for purposes such as verification of reproducibility.

2. Obligations of reviewers

• The reviewers’ role is to fairly determine whether the submitted manuscript is eligible for publication, in order to maintain the quality of the academic publication, and reviewers shall fulfill the following obligations.
• Reviewers shall promptly decline the review invitation, if the manuscript represents any possible conflict of interest or if the completion of review within the due date is deemed impossible.
• A peer review shall be conducted objectively and logically based on the quality of a manuscript on its own merits and with due respect to the intellectual independence of the authors.
• Reviewers shall describe the comments clearly and logically so that authors can understand the underlying reason for the comment, and they shall not assert their subjective opinions or preferences or request revisions on points where they disagree with the author.
• Reviewers shall not criticize the authors personally.
• Reviewers must not divulge the peer review request to others. They shall treat the manuscript they are reviewing as a confidential document, and shall not disclose nor discuss it with others.
• Reviewers are prohibited from utilizing any unpublished information included in the manuscript.
• Reviewers shall report promptly to the Editorial Committee members if they find a dishonest or inappropriate act in the manuscript such as fabrication and falsification of data or plagiarism from existing research papers.

3. Obligations of the Editorial Committee

• The Editorial Committee shall ensure fair management of the peer review process for submitted manuscripts in order to achieve the objectivity mentioned in the Code of Ethics for Civil Engineers.
• The Editorial Committee shall decide on the acceptance/rejection of the submitted papers without regard to the race, religion, ethnicity, gender, age, nationality, occupation, affiliation, or political conviction of the authors.
• A person who has authored or coauthored a manuscript submitted, or is involved in any conflict of interest, shall not be involved in any peer review process of the manuscript.
• The Editorial Committee shall impartially select the most suitable reviewers based on their specialty. People who may have personal bias in favor of or against an author or the subject matter of the submitted manuscript shall not be selected as reviewers.
• The Editorial Committee shall not disclose any information on the peer review process and information of the submitted manuscript and reviewers to others.