Ethical Responsibilities And Policies

The components of the publication process of the The International Journal of Ahiska Studies , namely the publisher, editor, author(s) and reviewers, are required to comply with ethical principles. In this context, all components of the publication process of the The International Journal of Ahiska Studies  must comply with ethical principles in line with the guidelines and policies of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (https://publicationethics.org/).

Submitted manuscripts are reviewed by the editor in terms of purpose and scope. Those deemed suitable are sent to the reviewers. The journal reviewers consist of researchers selected from a wide panel. There is a double-blind reviewing process. Reviewers and authors are not acquainted with each other. Reviewers can decide to accept manuscripts, accept them with revisions or reject them.

Authors should submit manuscripts in accordance with the following ethical rules:

Ethical Obligations of Authors

Ethics committee approval must be obtained for all types of research conducted with qualitative or quantitative approaches that require data collection from participants using survey, interview, focus group study, observation, experiment, or meeting techniques; the use of humans and animals (including material/data) for experimental or other scientific purposes; clinical studies conducted on humans; studies conducted on animals; and retrospective studies in accordance with the law on personal data protection. Furthermore, in case reports, it must be stated that an “informed consent form” has been obtained; for the use of scales, questionnaires, photographs, etc., belonging to others, the permission of the owners must be obtained and stated; and for ideas and works of art used, it must be stated that copyright regulations have been complied with. If ethics committee permission is required, it must be clearly stated from which institution, on which date and with which decision or number the permission was obtained.

Ethics committee approval is not required from the author(s) for review articles. However, in articles that do not require an ethics committee decision, it should be stated on the last page of the article and in the method section that an ethics committee decision is not required.

In the event that ethical violations such as plagiarism are detected in articles, this situation is reported through official channels to the institution where the article author(s) work(s), and the manuscript is rejected. The journal has the right to request the output files related to the analysis results from the author(s) according to the feedback given by the editor and/or reviewers.

According to the publication rules of the International Journal of Ethnopedagogy, the similarity rate in submitted manuscripts must not exceed 3% from a single source, and 20% in total, excluding the method and references sections.

While the copyrights of the manuscripts accepted for publication in the International Journal of Ethnopedagogy belong to the journal, any legal liability regarding the contents of published manuscripts rests with the author(s).

In addition, the following principles and rules are expected to be observed:

  • Manuscripts should not be sent to another journal before the end of the review process.
  • Care should be taken that people who do not have academic support for the study and who are unrelated to the subject are not enlisted as authors.
  • Authors are obliged to submit information that may be evidence such as necessary reports, statistics, results, observation data, etc., if requested by the reviewers.
  • Authors who realise that there are errors in their studies must notify the journal editor and in this case, either request the right of correction or withdraw their manuscripts from publication.
  • Submission to the journal of the ethics committee report regarding the study is the responsibility of the authors.
  • If requested, legal permission obtained from the relevant institutions regarding the study (if necessary) should be submitted.
  • In the event that a conflict of interest is noticed regarding the study submitted for publication, all responsibility and the necessary legal and administrative liability belong to the author.

Ethical Obligations of Reviewers

  • In the journal, reviewing is carried out according to the double-blind system, and authors are prevented from being acquainted with reviewers and vice versa.
  • Reviewer assignments are sent to experts directly associated with the article or study.
  • In interdisciplinary studies, reviewer assignments are sent to different reviewers in accordance with the fields in the content of the article, and thereby, an attempt is made to preserve objectivity.
  • Reviewers are appointed to perform reviews as two main reviewers and one substitute reviewer. In case of a difference of opinion in the reviews of the two main reviewers, the third reviewer intervenes and is the determiner.
  • Like the authors, the reviewers are obliged to warn the journal management when they notice a conflict of interest.
  • Deficiencies in manuscripts should be clearly stated by the reviewers in the review forms, the reasons should be well defined, and clear feedback should be given to the authors.
  • Reviewers’ criticisms and recommendations should be expressed in an appropriate style.
  • Reviewers are required to complete their reviews within the time given to them and are expected to comply with the ethical responsibilities stated herein.

Ethical Obligations of Editors

While regulating the operation of the journal, the editors must take into account the guidelines stated below and adhere to the principles in these guidelines, since the editors are responsible for all articles published in the journal.

  • Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors (COPE Guidelines)
  • Practical Applications and Communication Guide for Journal Editors (COPE Guidelines)
  • COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors

Editor-Reviewer Relations

  • Editors should carry out the necessary checks to make sure that submitted manuscripts are sent to the right reviewers.
  • Editors are obliged to request the reviewers to state that there are no conflicts of interest regarding a manuscript before reviewing the manuscript.
  • Editors are obliged to provide all kinds of follow-up and evaluation documents to the reviewers in the examination of manuscripts.
  • Editors should make sure that the peer-review process is carried out with double-blindness and should never reveal the identity of the reviewers to the authors or that of the authors to the reviewers.
  • Editors should take care to ensure that reviewers do their work in a timely manner and provide feedback on deficiencies.
  • Editors should periodically obtain the opinions of reviewers and gather data for a better review process.
  • Editors are obliged to take the necessary measures in case of breach of etiquette.
  • Editors should always be disposed to expand the reviewing committee and make the necessary effort to update it.

Editor-Author Relations

  • The journal has certain writing rules, and these rules are clearly stated in such a way as not to create any confusion. Editors are obliged to immediately notify authors of any changes made to the writing rules and to renew the announcement of the writing rules.
  • Editors examine the submitted manuscript and forward it to the relevant reviewers.
  • The date of submission of the manuscript and the date of acceptance for publication are written in the title of the article by the editors.
  • Editors are obliged to answer authors’ questions related to the manuscript. Questions about the fate of the manuscript are answered by the editors.

Editor-Editorial Board Relations

  • Editors have the right to make additions to assistant editors/field editors and to dismiss assistant editors/field editors who fail to carry out their duties.
  • Newly appointed editorial board members and reviewers should be notified of the publication and writing rules by the editors and informed to pay attention to these rules.
  • The editor expects the members assigned to the journal to carry out serious duties such as support in developing the journal, acting responsibly in the appointment of reviewers, never transgressing the objective principles, and implementing the absolute decisions determined in the writing rules, and it is his/her responsibility to make the necessary checks.

Plagiarism and Unethical Behaviours

Manuscripts submitted to the IJE are scanned with the “iThenticate” or “Turnitin” programs. The similarity rate should not exceed 3% from a single source and 20% in total, excluding the method and references sections. It will be possible for the journal to change this rate with the decision of the editorial board. Manuscripts whose similarity rate exceeds 3% from a single source and 20% in total, excluding the method and references sections, are returned to the author and revision is requested. Manuscripts that are not revised within ten days will not be reassessed.

If plagiarism is detected in articles, the article is sent back before it is published.

In the journal, unethical behaviours are determined as follows:

  • Unethical authorship (not recording those who contribute to the study, recording those who did not contribute to the study),
  • If the article is derived from theses or written within the scope of a project, failure to specify this,
  • “Slicing” a study in order to convert it into more than one study for the purpose of duplication,
  • Failure to report conflicts of interest regarding submitted studies,
  • Deciphering the double-blind process,
  • Having the published study published in different journals in different languages,
  • Submitting a manuscript to more than one journal at the same time,
  • When oral presentations presented at scientific meetings such as congresses and symposia are submitted to the journal as articles, failure to notify that they have previously been presented.