Bartın University Journal of Woman, Child and Family Studies

The Bartın University Journal of Woman, Child and Family Studies (BARU-JWCFS) is firmly committed to ethical principles, transparency, and academic integrity in scientific publishing. All editorial and publication processes are conducted in accordance with recognised national and international ethical standards.

1. General Ethical Principles
Integrity, impartiality, and transparency constitute the foundation of scientific research.
A zero-tolerance policy is applied to ethical misconduct at all stages of the publication process.
Respect for human dignity, privacy, and research ethics is fundamental.
All stakeholders—authors, editors, and reviewers—are expected to be fully aware of and comply with their ethical responsibilities.

2. Ethical Responsibilities of Authors
By submitting a manuscript, authors are deemed to have accepted the following ethical obligations:
Submitted work must be original and must not have been previously published or simultaneously submitted to another journal.
All listed authors must have made substantial academic and scientific contributions to the study.
Ghost authorship, gift authorship, and unauthorised authorship are strictly prohibited.
In-text citations and references must be complete, accurate, and appropriately documented.
Ethical committee approval related to the research must be clearly stated, including the approval number where applicable.
For studies involving human participants, authors must explicitly state that informed consent was obtained.
All conflicts of interest and sources of funding must be transparently disclosed.

3. Ethical Responsibilities of Editors
Editors:
Make publication decisions based solely on the scientific quality, originality, and relevance of the manuscript to the journal’s scope.
Do not discriminate based on authors’ institutional affiliation, academic title, gender, ethnicity, or political views.
Safeguard the confidentiality of the double-blind peer review process.
Act in accordance with COPE guidelines in cases of suspected ethical misconduct.
Refrain from handling manuscripts in which you have a conflict of interest.
The Editor-in-Chief holds final authority over all publication decisions.

4. Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers
Reviewers are expected to:
Conduct evaluations in an objective, impartial, and timely manner.
Treat all manuscripts as confidential documents.
Decline review assignments that fall outside their area of expertise.
Inform the editor of any potential conflict of interest.
Provide constructive, scholarly, and well-justified feedback.

5. Peer Review and Publication Process Policy
BARU-JWCFS applies a double-blind peer review system.
Each manuscript is reviewed by at least two independent reviewers.
Ethical compliance and formal requirements are assessed during the editorial pre-review stage.
Editorial decisions—such as revision, acceptance, or rejection—are based on the reviewer reports.

6. Plagiarism and Similarity Policy
All submissions are screened using plagiarism detection software (Turnitin).
The maximum acceptable overall similarity rate is 15%.
Similarity from a single source must not exceed 3%.
In cases of plagiarism, data fabrication, or data falsification, the manuscript is rejected and, when necessary, relevant institutions are informed.

7. Data Sharing and Open Science Policy
BARU-JWCFS supports open science principles.
Authors are encouraged to make their research data accessible whenever feasible.
When sharing data, authors must ensure the protection of personal and sensitive information.

8. Conflict of Interest Policy
Authors, editors, and reviewers are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest.
Failure to disclose conflicts of interest constitutes an ethical violation.

9. Correction, Retraction, and Expression of Concern Policy
If a serious error is identified after publication, a correction is issued.
In cases of ethical misconduct, an article may be retracted.
In situations involving serious suspicion, an expression of concern may be published.
All procedures are conducted in accordance with COPE flowcharts.

10. Fee Policy and Editorial Independence
At the Bartın University Journal of Woman, Child and Family Studies:
Manuscript submission, peer review, and publication processes are entirely free of charge.
Editorial decisions are made independently and are not influenced by financial considerations.

11. Complaints and Appeals Policy
Authors and reviewers may submit written complaints or appeals regarding the publication process.
All submissions are evaluated impartially.
The final decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief.

ARTICLE ACCEPTANCE POLICY

The Bartın University Journal of Woman, Child and Family Studies (BARU-JWCFS) accepts high-quality, ethically sound scholarly work that aligns with the journal’s aims and scope. Manuscript acceptance is governed by the following principles and criteria.

1. Accepted Article Types
The journal considers the following manuscript types:
Original research articles
Case reports
Systematic reviews
Meta-analyses
Letters to the Editor
Bibliometric studies

2. Editorial Pre-Evaluation
All submitted manuscripts undergo an initial editorial screening prior to peer review.
The following criteria are assessed:
Alignment with the journal’s aims and scope
Compliance with author guidelines
Presence of ethical approval and ethical statements
Similarity rate (plagiarism check)
Academic language quality and clarity
Manuscripts that fail to meet these criteria are rejected without peer review.

3. Peer Review Process and Evaluation
A double-blind peer review system is applied.
Each manuscript is evaluated by at least two independent reviewers.
Reviewers are selected from experts with relevant subject-matter expertise and experience in publication ethics.
Reviewer reports are confidential and used solely for editorial purposes.

4. Evaluation Criteria
Manuscripts are evaluated based on:
Originality of the study
Level of scientific contribution
Methodological rigour and validity
Clarity and consistency of results
Adequacy of discussion and conclusions
Compliance with ethical principles
Contribution to and currency of the literature

5. Editorial Decision Types
Based on reviewer reports, the following decisions may be issued:
Accept
Minor Revision
Major Revision
Reject

Manuscripts requiring revision must be resubmitted within the specified timeframe. Submissions not revised within the given period are excluded from further evaluation.

6. Revision Policy
Authors must respond to reviewer comments item by item during the revision process.
All revisions must be clearly indicated in the revised manuscript.
Revised manuscripts may be returned to reviewers if deemed necessary.

7. Final Acceptance and Publication
The final acceptance decision is made by the Editor-in-Chief.
Accepted manuscripts are published according to the journal’s publication schedule and technical workflow.
The journal reserves the right to determine publication timing and issue allocation.

8. Ethical Misconduct and Rejection Policy
Manuscripts are rejected, or the review process is terminated in cases of:
Plagiarism, data fabrication, or data falsification
Missing ethical committee approval
Concealment of conflicts of interest
Simultaneous submission
Authorship misconduct
All actions are taken in accordance with COPE guidelines.

9. Appeals and Complaints Process
Authors may submit reasoned written appeals regarding editorial decisions.
Appeals may be reviewed by an independent editor.
The final decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief.

10. Publication Fee Policy
Submission, evaluation, and publication processes in BARU-JWCFS are entirely free of charge.
No fees are requested from authors under any circumstances.