Code of Research Ethics

The International Space Education and Research Guild (ISERG) is committed to upholding the highest standards of academic and scientific integrity. This code of research ethics serves to guide the responsibilities of our participants and aligns with globally respected frameworks, including the Singapore Statement on Research Integrity and the guidelines set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Core Principles

All researchers, authors, and peer reviewers participating in ISERG projects must adhere to four fundamental principles:

  • Honesty: Participants must maintain honesty in all aspects of research, including the presentation of goals, data gathering, methodology, and the publication of findings.
  • Accountability: Researchers must take personal and collective accountability for the conduct of research and its subsequent representations.
  • Professional courtesy: Participants must exhibit fairness and professional courtesy in working with others, including collaborators, research subjects, and peer reviewers.
  • Good stewardship: Researchers must ensure the good stewardship of research and resources on behalf of others, including physical hardware, equipment, funding, and intellectual property.

Conduct of Research and Record Keeping

  • Researchers must employ appropriate and rigorous research methods, basing all conclusions on a critical analysis of the evidence.
  • Clear, accurate, and secure records of all research must be maintained to allow for verification and replication by others. This applies broadly to all technology and methodology, including physical hardware blueprints, mechanical apparatus logs, material testing results, and digital data sets.
  • Researchers must be aware of and strictly adhere to all applicable regulations, safety protocols, and export control policies when handling sensitive materials, physical prototypes, and technical data.

Authorship and Publication

  • All reported results must be the original and authentic work of the authors, completely devoid of plagiarism or fabricated data.
  • Researchers must take responsibility for their contributions to all publications, reports, and funding applications.
  • Authorship lists must accurately reflect those who have made significant intellectual contributions to the research, and only those individuals.
  • Contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship, including funders, sponsors, and general writers, must be properly acknowledged in the publication.
  • Researchers should share data and findings openly and promptly to facilitate scientific advancement, provided priority and ownership claims have been established.

Peer Review and Confidentiality

  • Peer reviewers must provide fair, prompt, unbiased, and rigorous evaluations of submitted manuscripts and proposals.
  • The peer review process is strictly confidential. Reviewers must not disclose, share, or misuse any information about unpublished work or proprietary technology for personal advantage.
  • Reviewers are prohibited from using unauthorized artificial intelligence tools to generate review reports if such use compromises the integrity or confidentiality of the submitted manuscript.

Conflicts of Interest

  • Researchers and reviewers must fully disclose any financial, personal, or professional conflicts of interest that could compromise the trustworthiness of their work, research proposals, or peer review activities.
  • If a conflict of interest exists that precludes an objective assessment, the individual must recuse themselves from the review or research activity.

Reporting Misconduct

  • Researchers have an ethical obligation to report any suspected research misconduct to the appropriate ISERG authorities.
  • Misconduct includes, but is not limited to, the fabrication or falsification of data, plagiarism, deliberate carelessness, improper authorship attribution, and the failure to disclose conflicting data.
  • ISERG is committed to protecting individuals who report such behavior in good faith and to taking prompt, appropriate action to correct the research record when misconduct is confirmed.

Sources and References

This code of ethics has been developed using the foundational frameworks established by the following international organizations: