Reevaluation of the Appropriateness of Sanctions Imposed on Researchers and Research Institutions

The 3rd Researcher Rights Protection Committee Launched

The 3rd term of the 'Researcher Rights Protection Committee,' which reviews the appropriateness of sanctions imposed on researchers and research institutions, has been launched.

On the 18th, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced that it appointed the members of the 3rd Researcher Rights Protection Committee and held the 1st Researcher Rights Protection Meeting at the Koreana Hotel in Seoul.

The committee was newly established in 2021 under the National Research and Development Innovation Act to prevent research misconduct in national research and development activities and to protect researchers' rights. When researchers or research institutions receive prior notification of sanctions such as restrictions on participation in national R&D projects or imposition of penalty surcharges due to misconduct and raise objections, the committee reviews the appropriateness of these sanctions.

The 3rd committee consists of a total of 97 members, including 92 private members who are experts in various fields such as science and technology research, law, accounting, and intellectual property rights, as well as 5 government members from major ministries involved in national R&D projects.

The 3rd committee has appointed many research ethics experts with experience in university research integrity committees or sanction evaluation teams of various ministries to strengthen the expertise of the review process, and has additionally secured legal and accounting experts.

At the 1st Researcher Rights Protection Meeting held on the same day, Lee Won-yong, a research ethics expert and Vice President for Research at Yonsei University, emphasized, "While thoroughly protecting the rights of researchers who have been unfairly subjected to preliminary sanctions, the committee must firmly sanction clear cases of misconduct and conduct reviews that meet the public’s expectations."

Im Yo-eop, Director of Science and Technology Innovation Coordination at the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, "The government will work together to ensure that sanctions on research misconduct are based on accurate evidence so that many honest researchers are not harmed by the misconduct of a few."