Ethical Scholarship, Research Integrity & Discussion of Cultural Awareness

Research Integrity and Permission to Publish

[The below, in part, was originally based on and modified from the Singapore Statement on Research Integrity]

Preamble

The value and benefits of academic research and creative work are vitally dependent on academic integrity. While there can be and are national and disciplinary differences in the way academic work is organized and conducted, there are also principles and professional responsibilities that are fundamental wherever research is undertaken.

Principles

  • Honesty in all aspects of research and creative production
  • Accountability in the conduct of research and creative production
  • Professional courtesy and fairness in working with others
  • Good stewardship of research on behalf of others

Responsibilities:

  1. Integrity: Students should take responsibility for the trustworthiness of the submitted work.
  2. Adherence to Regulations: Students should be aware of and adhere to all disciplinary and university regulations and policies related to academic work.
  3. Research Methods: Students should employ appropriate research methods, base conclusions on critical analysis of the evidence, and report findings and interpretations fully and objectively.
  4. Records: Students should keep clear, accurate records of all research and creative production in ways that will allow verification and, where appropriate, replication of their work by others.
  5. Authorship: Students should take responsibility for contributions to all publications, funding applications, reports and other representations of their academic work. Lists of authors should include all those and only those who meet applicable authorship criteria. For Horizons, this means having been an actively enrolled undergraduate student during the two years prior to submission.
  6. Publication Acknowledgement: Students should acknowledge in publications the names and roles of those who made significant contributions to the research, including writers, funders, sponsors, and others, but who do not meet authorship criteria. For images, audio and video clips, and other media reproduced from sources other than the author’s creation, students should make all reasonable efforts to secure written permission for publication and re-use. See the UH copyright policy on our policies page, and the following link for guidance on how to seek permission to use copyrighted work: https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/copyright/permissions
  7. Peer Review: Reviewers should provide fair, prompt and rigorous evaluations and respect confidentiality when reviewing others’ work.
  8. Conflict of Interest: Students should disclose financial and other conflicts of interest that could compromise the trustworthiness of their work in research proposals, publications and public communications as well as in all review activities.
  9. Public Communication: Students whose work has been accepted for publication in our journal retain full intellectual property rights to their work and are free to submit it to publication or exhibition elsewhere. We ask for notification by email horizons@hawaii.edu when submission to other venues occurs.
  10. Reporting Irresponsible Research Practices: Students should not engage in and if otherwise discovered, report to the Journal Editor any suspected research misconduct, including fabrication, falsification or plagiarism, and other irresponsible research practices that undermine the trustworthiness of research, such as carelessness, improperly listing authors, failing to report conflicting data, or the use of misleading analytical methods.
  11. Responding to Irresponsible Research Practices: Research institutions, as well as journals, departments and colleges, have procedures for responding to allegations of student misconduct and other irresponsible academic research practices and for protecting those who report such behavior in good faith. When misconduct or other irresponsible research practice is confirmed, appropriate actions should be taken promptly, including correcting the research record. Plagiarism or the use of AI generated material submitted as original work is not acceptable. Correct citation style is required. The UHM student code of conduct can be found here: https://manoa.hawaii.edu/studentsuccess/conduct-code/
  12. Societal Considerations and Human Subjects: Researchers and research institutions should recognize that they have an ethical obligation to weigh societal benefits against risks inherent in their work. Students whose work involves human subjects are expected to adhere to ethical principles for research, including undergoing review by the Institutional Review Board where appropriate. See link below for more information:
    https://research.hawaii.edu/orc/human-studies/
    From FAQ page: “most undergraduate activities performed to meet class requirements typically do not require IRB approval. However, if the research will be published or presented in a public forum, the study will require prior IRB approval.”

By submitting a work to Horizons, the student agrees that all ethical standards by Horizons, University of Hawai‘i, academic disciplines and laws of the state of Hawai‘i and United States have been faithfully adhered to. The student also releases the journal of responsibility for research integrity and liability for possible damage and unintended consequences of publication. If Horizons is made aware of such damages by the student, the journal will remove the student’s work form the website.

Cultural Awareness

What is cultural awareness and ethical scholarship?

According to Young (2010) Cultural Appropriation and the Arts, cultural appropriation is the adoption or use of elements of one culture by members of another. While such cultural borrowing and adoption is common throughout history, as members of different cultural groups met, mixed, traded, conquered, intermarried, migrated, and otherwise came into contact, cultural appropriation is different than these forms of borrowing and mixing. When a cultural element is appropriated, the meaning associated with that element (e.g., a symbol, name, image, phrase, song, ritual, or other practice) is lost or distorted, and the misuse is explicitly seen as disrespectful or even offensive by members of the home culture.

Borrowing an image, symbol, or other cultural element from another culture can take a variety of forms, ranging on a continuum from taking creative license (using a cultural element as inspiration for a creation, which changes it so much that the original form is not readily recognizable) to cultural appropriation (borrowing or use without proper acknowledgement, permission, or cultural context) to expropriation (the wholesale reproduction or misuse of a cultural element that constitutes plagiarism).

What is Horizons’ policy regarding cultural awareness?

As with all undergraduate student work published, authors and contributors must strictly and carefully adhere to all applicable copyright and intellectual property laws and regulations. Any type of appropriation is a form of intellectual plagiarism that a reasonable effort to consult with members of the originating cultural group would reveal to be offensive or disrespectful. Horizons does not tolerate appropriation, and will refuse publication of any work considered inappropriate or poorly researched by the Editorial Board.

How can I avoid appropriation?

This is not intended to be a comprehensive statement of best practices, but rather a place to start the conversation. In that spirit, see below for some recommendations to help avoid appropriation and build cultural awareness:

  1. Do the research! Just as when using a quote from another author in a paper, any use or borrowing of an element from another culture should be accompanied b a thorough and careful review of that element’s meanings, proper uses, contexts and history, and those aspects of the cultural element should be properly cited and explained. Failing to do so is a form of plagiarism, and may disqualify work from acceptance. For a paper, this context should be part of the text; for a creative work, the attribution and explanation may be included in the accompanying Artist Statement.
  2. Make sure work is original, rather than an amalgamation of cultural elements.
  3. Cite and acknowledge influences and the sources of ideas and research in the work.
  4. Consult academic experts, cultural practitioners, and others as appropriate before submitting work to Horizons.