PUBLICATION ETHICS
Turkish Research Journal of Academic Social Science (TURAJAS) is an interdisciplinary periodical that adopts an open-access policy and publishes original research and review articles. By sharing innovations, applications, and up-to-date information in the field of social sciences with readers and researchers, the journal encourages new scientific research. Articles submitted to Turkish Research Journal of Academic Social Science must not have been previously published or submitted elsewhere for publication. Studies submitted to the journal are required to comply with ethical and scientific standards. The scientific, ethical, and legal responsibilities of the published articles belong to the author(s) and do not reflect the views of the editor, editorial board, or publication board members. Turkish Research Journal of Academic Social Science adopts the International Principles of Ethical Publishing issued by Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) ve Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA). In addition, the journal follows the publication principles established by DergiPark under the framework of TÜBİTAK ULAKBİM. The guidelines prepared in accordance with these principles are presented below.
Publisher’s Ethical Responsibilities
Turkish Research Journal of Academic Social Science has been publishing in the field of Social Sciences under the management of its editorial board since 2018. The journal believes that scientific works should be published in accordance with ethical principles and operates on a non-profit basis.
· The Publisher is responsible for using its communication power without pursuing any personal interest and for guiding its target audience accurately.
· The Publisher protects the ownership and copyright of every work published within the journal and undertakes the responsibility of archiving every published product.
· The Publisher provides open, electronic, and free access to the journal on the journal’s website.
· The Publisher guarantees editorial independence, respects the peer-review process, and refuses to interfere in editorial decisions.
· The Publisher guarantees the timely publication of volumes and issues.
· The Publisher guarantees the protection of the integrity of scientific work.
· The Publisher specifies the rules governing relations between editors and third parties in all agreements, protects intellectual property and copyrights, respects confidentiality, and supports editorial independence.
Individuals should not hesitate to contact the Publisher when encountering an unethical situation.
Responsibilities of the Editorial Board
The Editorial Board of the Turkish Research Journal of Academic Social Science is responsible for every manuscript submitted to the journal, including all processes after publication, and is aware of this responsibility. This responsibility requires making decisions independently and solely in consideration of the public interest, without seeking personal gain. The relationship between the Publisher and the Editorial Board is based on the principle of independence, and all editorial decisions are made independently of the Publisher and other individuals or organizations.
· The Editorial Board strives to continuously improve the journal and enhance its publication quality.
· The editors of the journal are responsible for implementing and maintaining the journal’s publication policies.
· The editors apply the journal’s double-blind peer-review and evaluation policies, keep reviewers’ identities confidential, and ensure that every manuscript is evaluated impartially and within an appropriate timeframe.
· The editors are responsible for assigning manuscripts to reviewers who are experts in the relevant research fields.
· The editors evaluate submitted manuscripts solely based on scientific merit, regardless of the author’s gender, age, sexual orientation, race, nationality, ethnic origin, religion, political opinion, or institutional affiliation.
· The editors, editorial board members, and assistant editors may not disclose any information regarding submitted manuscripts to anyone other than the corresponding author and the Publisher.
· The editors are responsible for the peer-review process of manuscripts and make the final decision on which manuscripts will be published based on reviewers’ and editorial board members’ evaluations.
· The Editorial Board protects the copyright of authors whose articles are published in the journal.
· The Editor and Editorial Board must ensure the protection of human and animal rights and must reject manuscripts lacking ethics committee approval.
· The editors are responsible for monitoring reviewers and editorial misconduct. When ethical complaints regarding submitted or published manuscripts are presented, the editors must take measures in accordance with the journal’s policies.
Responsibilities of Reviewers
Turkish Research Journal of Academic Social Science applies the principle of double-blind peer review during the manuscript evaluation process. Reviewers cannot directly communicate with authors; evaluation forms and revision requests are conveyed to the author(s) through the DergiPark management system via the editor and/or editorial board.
Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers:
· Reviewers should accept only manuscripts related to their area of expertise.
· Reviewers must evaluate all manuscripts fairly, based solely on the content of the manuscript, regardless of the author’s gender, race, ethnic origin, religion, nationality, or political values.
· If reviewers have a conflict of interest or mutual interest with the authors, they must refuse to review the manuscript and inform the editor.
· Reviewers should use academic and constructive language while evaluating manuscripts and avoid offensive or personal comments.
· Reviewers must submit their evaluations of accepted review assignments to the editor and editorial board within the specified timeframe.
· Reviewers must keep all information regarding the manuscript confidential.
Reviewers of the journal may make one of the following four decisions regarding submitted manuscripts:
1. Accept for Publication
2. Revision Required (Accepted with Minor Revisions: revisions are checked by editors)
3. Resubmit for Review (Major Revisions: the manuscript will be reviewed in a second round)
4. Reject (Not recommended for publication)
Depending on reviewers’ decisions, a third or fourth reviewer may be assigned. In such cases, the same review process will be conducted.
Authors’ Ethical Responsibilities
Authors play a significant role in the academic publishing process and must ensure the accuracy and integrity of scientific knowledge by strictly adhering to ethical rules and publication policies. Authors’ responsibilities include the following:
· Authors must guarantee that their work belongs to them and is original. The work must not have been previously published elsewhere and must only be submitted to the Turkish Academic Journal of Social Sciences Research.
· Authors should submit their manuscripts to only one journal at a time. They must be aware that submitting the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.
· Authors must acknowledge that the Publisher holds all copyright rights for distributing published articles unconditionally and indefinitely.
· Materials taken from other sources (including the authors’ own previously published works) must be clearly indicated and necessary permissions must be obtained.
· Authors must cite the sources they benefited from during manuscript preparation using appropriate citation techniques in accordance with ethical principles.
· Authors must ensure that their work does not violate the rights of others, particularly privacy and intellectual property rights.
· Authors must guarantee that the data they present are accurate and have not been manipulated.
· Authors must clearly disclose any existing or potential conflicts of interest when submitting their manuscripts.
· Authors conducting research requiring ethics committee approval—such as studies involving experiments, surveys, scales, interviews, observations, focus group studies, or other qualitative or quantitative data collection methods—must state the name of the ethics committee, the decision date, and the approval number on the first/last page and in the methods section of the manuscript, and upload the ethics committee approval document during submission.
· If the research involves human or animal subjects, it must be declared that the study was conducted in accordance with international declarations and guidelines such as the Declaration of Helsinki.
· Authors must immediately notify the editor if they discover errors or inaccuracies in their work, whether published or unpublished.
· During the evaluation process, authors must provide the requested information or raw data to the editors if requested.
· Authors must accurately state the authorship status of the manuscript. Individuals who did not contribute to the manuscript should not be listed as authors, and requests to change author order, remove authors, or add authors after submission should not be made. Author names are uploaded by the corresponding author during manuscript submission, and the Editorial Board does not make system-based changes.
RESEARCH ETHICS
Turkish Research Journal of Academic Social Science adopts the principle of full compliance with national and international ethical rules and principles regarding the protection of human and animal rights. Authors are responsible for ensuring that their manuscripts comply with ethical standards.
· The research team and participants must be fully informed about the purpose, methods, and anticipated possible uses of the research; the requirements of participation in the study; and any potential risks involved.
· Participants must take part in the research voluntarily and should not be subjected to any coercion.
· The research team and participants must be fully informed about the purpose, methods, and anticipated possible uses of the research; the requirements of participation in the study; and any potential risks involved.
· Harm to participants must be avoided. The research should be planned in a way that does not expose participants to risk.
· Transparency regarding the independence of the research must be ensured, and any conflicts of interest must be disclosed.
· In experimental studies, written informed consent must be obtained from participants who decide to take part in the research. For children, individuals under guardianship, or persons with certified mental illnesses, consent must be obtained from their legal guardians.
· If the study is to be conducted within any institution or organization, official permission from that institution or organization must be obtained.
· In studies involving human participants, it must be stated in the “Method” section that informed consent was obtained from participants and that ethics committee approval was received from the institution where the study was conducted.
For manuscripts submitted to Turkish Research Journal of Academic Social Science Ethics Committee Approval is required for the following types of research:
· All research conducted using qualitative or quantitative approaches that require data collection from participants through surveys, interviews, focus group studies, observations, experiments, or similar techniques,
· The use of humans and animals (including materials/data) for experimental or other scientific purposes,
· Clinical research conducted on humans,
· Research conducted on animals (experimental animals such as mice, rats, etc.),
· Retrospective studies within the scope of personal data protection laws.
Other Actions Contrary to Scientific Research and Publication Ethics
According to the Directive on Scientific Research and Publication Ethics of Higher Education Institutions, actions contrary to scientific research and publication ethics include:
Plagiarism: Presenting others’ original ideas, methods, data, or works as one’s own, partially or completely, without proper citation in accordance with scientific rules.
Fabrication: Using non-existent or falsified data in scientific research.
Distortion: Manipulating research records or obtained data; presenting devices or materials not used in the research as if they had been used; distorting or shaping research results in line with the interests of supporting individuals or institutions.
Duplicate Publication: Presenting duplicate publications as separate publications in academic appointments and promotions.
Salami Slicing: Dividing the results of a research study into multiple publications in a manner that disrupts the integrity of the research and presenting these publications separately in academic appointments and promotions.
Unfair Authorship: Including individuals who did not actively contribute among the authors, excluding those who did contribute, changing the order of authors without justification and inappropriately, removing active contributors from later editions of the work, or adding individuals as authors by exploiting influence despite lack of active contribution.
Research Management Plan and Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups
Research involving vulnerable groups must be conducted in accordance with Articles 19 and 20 of the WMA Declaration of Helsinki and must be approved by an ethics committee authorized by the relevant legal authority.
Protective Measures: Special protective measures must be taken in studies involving vulnerable groups to safeguard participants’ rights. These measures should ensure the physical and emotional well-being of participants.
Consent Procedures: Participant consent must be obtained in a manner appropriate to the nature of the research and the participant’s condition. In particular, for minors or individuals with limited capacity, approval must be obtained from parents, legal guardians, or another authorized person.
Informed Consent: Participants must be provided with a comprehensive informed consent process including information about the purpose of the research, procedures, potential risks, and benefits. Participants should have full access to all relevant information before agreeing to participate.
Confidentiality: The confidentiality and privacy of participants from vulnerable groups must be carefully protected. Personal information of participants must remain confidential and be used only to the extent necessary for the research.
Mandatory Reporting: Researchers are obligated to report any suspected abuse, exploitation, or neglect to the relevant authorities. Such reporting is essential to ensure participants’ safety and well-being.
Ethics Review Board Approvals: Necessary approvals from ethics review boards must be obtained for research involving vulnerable groups. These approvals ensure compliance with ethical standards and the protection of participants’ rights.
Scientific Quality: It is essential that the scientific quality of research involving vulnerable groups complies with the standards of the Declaration of Helsinki, ICH guidelines, and the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine.
Social Benefit: The interests of volunteers participating in the research must take precedence over social and scientific benefits. Research involving vulnerable groups is expected to provide social benefit.
PLAGIARISM POLICY
The similarity rate of submitted manuscripts must be 20% or below. Similarity reports must be obtained through:
· Turnitin
If the study is derived from a master’s or doctoral thesis, or from a conference paper, this must be indicated in the Title Page Form. Block similarity within the manuscript text is strictly prohibited.
COPYRIGHT POLICY
All publication rights of accepted works belong to the publishing institution of the journal. However, published works may be used, copied, reproduced, and adapted for non-commercial purposes provided that proper attribution is given and licensing conditions are respected. No copyright fee is paid for published articles.
Authors accept and declare that:
· The submitted work is original and free from plagiarism.
· All authors have substantially contributed to the work.
· All authors have approved the final version.
· The work has not been published or submitted elsewhere.
· The text, figures, and documents do not violate third-party copyrights.
The Copyright Agreement Form must be signed/approved by all authors.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
· Authors must declare any institutional, financial, personal, or academic conflicts of interest during submission.
· Reviewers must inform the editor of any conflicts preventing objective review and withdraw from the process if necessary.
· The journal ensures that reviewers and authors are not affiliated with the same institution.
· Editorial board members’ roles are suspended during the evaluation of their own manuscripts.
· Editors do not participate in decisions regarding manuscripts written by themselves or family members.
COMPLAINT AND APPEAL POLICY
Editors are responsible for carefully reviewing and responding clearly to complaints from authors, reviewers, or readers. Complaints regarding published materials are accepted only within two months of publication.
Complaints and appeals should be submitted to:
📧 hbircan@gmail.com