ETHICAL PRINCIPLES AND PUBLICATION POLICY

The Anatolian Journal of Forest Research (AJFR) adopts the reliable, impartial, transparent and ethical production and publication of scientific knowledge as its fundamental publication principle. All editorial and publication processes are conducted in accordance with the principles of research integrity, editorial independence, impartial peer review, transparency, accountability and preservation of the scientific record.

AJFR’s research, review and publication processes take into account international principles of publication ethics and transparency developed primarily by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), as well as the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA), World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), Council of Science Editors (CSE) and European Association of Science Editors (EASE). The journal’s publication policies are also implemented in accordance with the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing jointly published by COPE, DOAJ, OASPA and WAME.

These principles apply to all submissions, authors, editors, subject editors, reviewers, the editorial board and the publisher.

Editorial Independence and Impartiality

Editorial decisions at AJFR are based solely on the scientific quality, originality, methodology, contribution to the field, academic significance and relevance of the work to the journal’s aims and scope.

Authors’ nationality, ethnicity, gender, religious or political beliefs, institutional affiliation, academic title or other personal characteristics do not influence editorial decisions.

Editors and the editorial board make publication decisions independently of commercial, institutional or personal interests.

Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

Authors must:

·         Declare that their work is original, has not been published in another journal and is not simultaneously under consideration elsewhere.

·         Take responsibility for the accuracy of the data, analyses and results presented in the work.

·         Retain research records and original data so that they can be made available for editorial examination when required.

·         Properly acknowledge ideas, data, methods, figures, tables or text obtained from other sources in accordance with scholarly citation practices.

·         Refrain from listing individuals who have not made a genuine and meaningful academic contribution as authors, and from excluding individuals who have made a substantial scientific contribution.

·         Disclose all financial and non-financial conflicts of interest, research support and funding sources.

·         Obtain the necessary permissions before commencing research that requires approval from an ethics committee, institution or competent authority, and report the relevant information in the manuscript.

·         Promptly inform the journal’s editorial office if they identify a significant error or ethical issue in their work before or after publication.

Ethical Responsibilities of Editors

Editors must:

·         Assess manuscripts solely on their scientific content and relevance to the journal’s scope.

·         Select reviewers with due regard to expertise, independence and potential conflicts of interest.

·         Protect the confidentiality of author and reviewer information.

·         Follow COPE guidance and flowcharts when addressing potential breaches of research or publication ethics.

·         Safeguard authors’ right to respond to allegations of ethical misconduct or complaints.

·         Evaluate conflicts of interest concerning manuscripts and withdraw from the editorial process when necessary.

·         Exclude editors or editorial board members who are authors of a submission from the decision-making process for that work and ensure an independent editorial assessment.

Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers must:

·         Accept invitations to review only work within their areas of expertise.

·         Conduct impartial, scientific, constructive and evidence-based assessments.

·         Keep all information concerning the manuscript and the review process confidential.

·         Avoid direct communication with authors; all communication must take place through the editorial office.

·         Inform the editor of potential conflicts of interest before undertaking the review.

·         Notify the editor if they suspect plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, redundant publication or other ethical issues.

·         Refrain from using unpublished information, data or ideas accessed during the review for personal or academic advantage.

Confidentiality

Submissions are treated as confidential documents until publication. Editors and reviewers must not share manuscripts, data, figures, methods or other information accessed during the review process with third parties or use them in their own work.

Conflicts of Interest

Authors, editors and reviewers must disclose any financial, institutional, academic or personal relationships that could influence the assessment or interpretation of the work.

Declared conflicts of interest are assessed by the editor, and the editor or reviewer concerned withdraws from the review process when necessary.

Similarity Plagiarism and Research Misconduct

Submissions to AJFR are checked for similarity and originality during editorial assessment.

The numerical similarity score alone is not regarded as evidence of plagiarism. Editors also examine whether sources have been appropriately acknowledged and assess the nature and extent of textual overlap.

Plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, redundant publication, inappropriate reuse of text or data, salami slicing, improper authorship, citation manipulation and false or misleading reporting of ethical approvals are regarded as breaches of research and publication ethics.

Suspected cases are addressed in accordance with guidance and flowcharts published by COPE.

Use of Artificial Intelligence Assisted Tools

Generative artificial intelligence systems and large language models cannot be listed as authors or co-authors.

Authors who use generative artificial intelligence tools to create scientific content, analyse data, generate figures or perform similar tasks in preparing their work must transparently disclose the tool and how it was used. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, referencing and ethical compliance of all content generated or edited by artificial intelligence.

Reviewers and editors must not upload unpublished manuscripts or confidential research data to generative artificial intelligence systems that do not guarantee confidentiality.

Post Publication Corrections Retractions and Ethical Breaches

AJFR takes the necessary editorial action when an error, ethical breach or reliability issue affecting the scientific record is identified in a published article.

Depending on the nature of the issue, a correction, editorial note, expression of concern or retraction may be issued.

These actions follow COPE guidance and aim to preserve the integrity of the scientific record.

Complaints and Appeals

Authors, reviewers and readers may submit reasoned complaints or appeals concerning editorial processes, ethical matters or publication decisions.

Appeals are assessed in light of information not considered in the initial decision and scientific arguments. When necessary, the matter is referred to an independent editor or editorial board member.

Allegations of ethical misconduct are examined with due regard to COPE procedures and the parties’ right to respond.

Open Access and Copyright

Authors retain copyright in articles published in the Anatolian Journal of Forest Research. Authors grant the journal the right of first publication and non-exclusive permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, make the article electronically accessible, archive it and supply it to indexing services. The journal does not require a transfer of copyright or economic rights.

Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) licence. This licence permits non-commercial sharing and adaptation, provided that appropriate credit is given, a link to the licence is provided and any changes are indicated. Uses that comply with the licence do not require additional permission. No additional restrictions may be imposed on uses permitted by the licence. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Detailed provisions on AJFR’s Research Ethics, Publication Ethics and Peer Review Process are provided on the corresponding policy pages.