1. General Principles

The Journal of Immersive Media Research is committed to maintaining research integrity and upholding ethical standards in scholarly research and publication. All authors submitting manuscripts to the journal are required to comply with research ethics throughout the research, manuscript preparation, and publication processes. Any suspected research misconduct will be reviewed and addressed in accordance with the journal's ethical regulations.

2. Research Ethics Committee

The journal operates a Research Ethics Committee to review potential violations of research ethics and determine appropriate actions.

The Research Ethics Committee consists of the Director of the Institute of Educational Research at Chonnam National University, the Editor-in-Chief, and the Editorial Board Members. External ethics experts may be invited to participate when necessary. The Editor-in-Chief serves as the Chair of the Research Ethics Committee.

When research misconduct is suspected, the Committee conducts an initial review and notifies the author concerned. The author may submit a written explanation in response to the allegations.

After reviewing the explanation, the Committee may determine that the allegations are unfounded or take appropriate actions depending on the severity of the misconduct, including rejection of the manuscript, withdrawal of publication, or requests for civil or criminal liability proceedings.

Committee meetings require the attendance of more than half of the members, and decisions are made by a majority vote of the members present.

3. Definition and Scope of Research Misconduct

The journal defines the following activities as research misconduct.

1) Fabrication

Creating or reporting fictitious research data, materials, or results that do not exist.

2) Falsification

Manipulating research materials, equipment, or procedures, or altering or deleting data in a manner that misrepresents the research content or findings.

3) Plagiarism

Using another person's ideas, research content, or findings without the original author's authorization.

4) Duplicate Publication

Publishing a manuscript that reproduces or partially modifies previously published work without disclosing its prior publication, or publishing substantially identical research in two or more journals.

5) Inappropriate Authorship

Excluding individuals who have made legitimate scholarly contributions from authorship without valid justification, or granting authorship to individuals who have not made scholarly contributions to the research.

6) Other Research Misconduct

Other forms of misconduct include intentionally obstructing investigations into suspected research misconduct, causing harm to whistleblowers, misusing research funds, or violating the legitimate rights of research assistants, thereby undermining transparent and responsible research practices.

Cases of misconduct not explicitly addressed above shall be determined by the Research Ethics Committee.

4. Research Ethics and Protection of Human Participants

For studies involving human participants, human biological materials, or research that may pose risks to human health or safety, authors must provide information regarding review by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) to ensure compliance with relevant research ethics and safety requirements.

5. Fair Review and Conflicts of Interest

To maintain the objectivity and fairness of the peer review process, the journal applies the following ethical standards:

1. Individuals affiliated with the same department or academic unit within an institution as the submitting author may not participate in reviewing the manuscript.
2. Authors who submit a manuscript to a particular issue may not serve as reviewers for other manuscripts submitted to the same issue.
3. Individuals responsible for the publication and management of the journal must complete research ethics training annually.
4. Authors must disclose any conflicts of interest related to their research or manuscript submission to the publisher.
5. Authors must disclose any special relationships among co-authors, including family relationships or relationships involving minors, to the publisher.

6. Ethical Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The Journal of Immersive Media Research establishes the following ethical principles regarding the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in research and manuscript preparation.

1. Generative AI tools may not be listed as authors or co-authors of a manuscript.
2. Generative AI may be used only as an auxiliary tool for writing, editing, organizing materials, and related activities during manuscript preparation.
3. Authors who use generative AI during the research or manuscript preparation process must clearly disclose its use and the extent of its application in an appropriate section of the manuscript.
4. Authors bear full responsibility for the accuracy, validity, and ethical compliance of any content generated or assisted by AI.
5. Authors must ensure that the use of AI does not result in factual errors or misrepresentations, fabrication or falsification of data, plagiarism, copyright infringement, or the unauthorized disclosure of personal information.

7. Additional Provisions

Any matters concerning research and publication ethics not explicitly addressed in these regulations shall be determined by the Editorial Board.