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Article History

Received: 12 December 2023

Accepted: 10 March 2025

First Online: 24 April 2025

Competing interests

: The authors declare no competing interests.

: This study did not require formal ethical approval as it did not involve human participants in a manner necessitating review under institutional or national ethical regulations. According to Article 15, Clause 2 of the Bioethics and Safety Act of Korea and Article 13 of its Enforcement Rules, research that does not involve vulnerable populations, invasive procedures, physical interventions, or the collection of personally identifiable or sensitive information is exempt from institutional review board (IRB) approval. Specifically, the Act stipulates that studies utilizing survey responses or behavioral observations, where participants cannot be individually identified and where no sensitive data is collected, can be exempt from formal IRB review. Following these legal provisions, this study focused on measuring participants’ perceptions of organizational activities and individual behaviors without collecting personally identifiable information or engaging in interventions that could pose risks to participants. No vulnerable populations were involved, and all responses were collected anonymously. Given the nature of the study, no formal review or exemption was sought from an institutional review board. This study adhered to the National Research Foundation of Korea’s ethical guidelines and the Declaration of Helsinki principles, ensuring compliance with ethical research standards.

: Informed consent was obtained from all participants before their involvement in this study in July 2022, during the survey period. Before completing the questionnaire, participants were provided with a detailed informed consent form outlining the purpose of the research, the voluntary nature of participation, the assurance of confidentiality and anonymity, and their right to withdraw from the study at any time without consequences. Participants indicated their consent by selecting the option “I would like to take part in the study” before proceeding to the questionnaire. Only those who explicitly provided consent were allowed to participate. No personally identifiable information was collected, and all data was used solely for research purposes by ethical research guidelines.