Ethics Consideration

Research Ethics Policy & Guidelines

Research is one of the main pillars of the university and serves as a vehicle for the promotion of health, safety, social values and responsibility not only among stakeholders but for all end users. Thus, the university invests a great deal of resources to ensure that the academic community  adheres to the highest standards of research in congruence to its core value of service to  fellowmen.

Editorial Policies

The following are the adopted general policies: 1. Only original and unpublished research and literature reviews papers (full papers or research notes) are acceptable for publication; 2. Papers submitted by students, faculty and employees of UB are given priority as long as they go through the publication/review process; 3. Papers from other universities/colleges and organizations in the different regions may also be accepted; 4. The editor reserves the right to accept or reject articles submitted for publication in the journal; 5. Manuscript will be reviewed by at least two (2) external referees designated by the Editor-in-Chief. Papers not suitable for publication will be returned to authors with a statement of reasons for rejection; and 6. The Editorial Board shall be composed of at least six recognized research experts, preferably doctoral degree holders and having at least one published research article.

Refereeing Procedures

The double-blind refereeing system is used by the Kalinangan Refereed Journal. The double-blind policy in refereeing means that both authors and referees do not have knowledge of each other's identity for the sole purpose of attaining total objectivity in the screening process of research articles. This policy shall be applied to all submitted articles both at the Editorial Board level (internal referees) and at the external referees’ level. For the sake of retrieval and reference, only the Editorial Board is authorized to know the identity of the referees and authors.
Guidelines for Referees
Each referee is expected to abide by the following ethical responsibilities of reviewers: 1. keep the paper under review with utmost confidentiality; 2. critique the paper constructively; 3. accept refereeing assignment only if he/she has adequate expertise on the subject; 4. evaluate the merit of the paper objectively; 5. reveal to the editor any conflict of interest, so the issue could be properly dealt with, or else he/she has to decline the role of the reviewer; and 6. act promptly on and complete the review within fourteen (14) working days from the receipt of the paper under review.

Guidelines for Research Ethics Committee

General Guidelines
1. Research ethics committee review members must maintain, as objective as possible, a professional and analytical stance in the scrutiny of the research proposals. 2. Judgments should be as objective and transparent as possible and independent of institutional and professional biases and any form of vested interest. 3. Research proposals should never be rejected as a consequence of lack of methodological knowledge or prejudice. 4. Members should strive to be consistent in their judgments and in the advice they offer to researchers. 5. The committee should facilitate the raising of awareness about ethical research.
Specific Guidelines
In the conduct of the review, the committee should be able to: 1. review the informed consent form to ensure that the rights, dignity, well-being, and safety of the researchers and the participants are adequately protected; ask about the sample population size and how they are to be selected 2. clearly identify who is doing the research (researcher’s competence and expertise), what are they doing it for (objectives), and how will they go about doing it (methodology) 3. determine the soundness and appropriateness of the research design as a poorly designed research that wastes the participants’ time is also an ethical issue 4. verify if the proposal is not a replication of a previous study 5. evaluate the data gathering instrument/questionnaire to ensure that questions averse to cultural, psychological or moral sensitivities are eliminated 6. ensure that there is no misrepresentation or misinformation by the researchers in the selection of and in dealing with the target participants 7. establish the motive of benefactors in the case of an externally funded research 8. ensure that the research proponents have satisfactorily complied with all the documentary and procedural requirements entailed by the study to be conducted 9. determine if the research adheres to the institutional research policies and procedures.