Ethical Principles and Publication Policy
Bartın University Journal of Woman, Child and Family Studies (BARU-JWCFS) is an international, peer-reviewed, scholarly, and open-access journal that conducts its scholarly publishing processes in accordance with the principles of research and publication ethics, scientific integrity, impartiality, transparency, accountability, editorial independence, academic quality, confidentiality, open access, and the free circulation of scientific knowledge.
Submissions to the journal are evaluated through a double-blind peer-review system. At all stages of the publication process, authors, reviewers, editors, field editors, Editorial Board members, and the publisher are required to act in accordance with the principles of scientific research and publication ethics.
1. International Standards and Fundamental Principles
The journal’s publication ethics and editorial processes are conducted with due consideration of the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), 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), Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI), and relevant national/international principles of scholarly publishing.
All parties involved in the publication process, including authors, reviewers, editors, field editors, Editorial Board members, and the publisher, are required to act in accordance with ethical principles.
2. Publication Policy
Bartın University Journal of Woman, Child and Family Studies (BARU-JWCFS) publishes original research articles, case reports, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, letters to the editor, and bibliometric studies developed within the framework of women, children, and family that demonstrate high scientific quality, originality, and contribution to the field.
Submissions to the journal must:
not have been previously published,
not be under simultaneous consideration by another journal,
comply with the journal’s aims and scope,
be prepared in accordance with the principles of scientific research and publication ethics,
comply with the journal’s author guidelines and standards of scholarly publishing.
Submissions that fall outside the journal’s aims and scope, are considered scientifically inadequate, provide limited original contribution, are methodologically insufficient, contain incomplete ethical declarations, or are not prepared in accordance with the author guidelines may be rejected without being sent for peer review.
The scientific, ethical, legal, and linguistic responsibility for works published in the journal rests with the authors.
3. Research Ethics, Ethics Committee Approval, and Permissions
All submissions to the journal must have been conducted and reported in accordance with the principles of research ethics.
For studies involving human participants and requiring ethics committee approval, including surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, experiments, clinical applications, interventions, use of personal data, or similar methods, the necessary approval must be obtained from the relevant ethics committee.
For studies requiring ethics committee approval, at least the following information must be clearly stated in the manuscript:
name of the ethics committee,
decision date,
decision number.
For studies that do not require ethics committee approval, this status and its justification must be clearly stated in the manuscript.
Where required, informed consent must be obtained in research involving human participants, and participants’ privacy, personal data, and identifying information must be protected. Authors are responsible for fulfilling the relevant ethical and legal obligations in studies involving children and other sensitive or vulnerable groups.
Authors are responsible for obtaining the necessary permissions for the use of copyrighted photographs, images, tables, figures, scales, measurement instruments, archival documents, datasets, or other materials belonging to third parties.
Submissions requiring ethics committee approval or another legal or ethical permission but lacking the relevant information or documentation may not be considered for evaluation or may be returned to the authors.
At the time of manuscript submission, the Ethics Committee Approval Declaration Form, signed by all authors, must be uploaded to the system. If the study falls within the scope of ethics committee approval, the relevant Ethics Committee Approval Document must also be included in the submission files. Detailed explanations concerning studies that require and do not require ethics committee approval are provided in the Ethics Committee Declaration Form. Authors are advised to review this document before submission.
4. Publication Ethics
BARU-JWCFS does not accept conduct contrary to scientific research and publication ethics, including but not limited to:
plagiarism and self-plagiarism,
data fabrication,
data falsification or distortion,
misleading or selective reporting of results,
duplicate or redundant publication,
inappropriate fragmentation of research for publication,
improper, gift, honorary, or ghost authorship,
unauthorized use of data or materials,
concealment of conflicts of interest,
deliberate misrepresentation of sources,
manipulative or unnecessary citation practices.
Submissions to the journal must be original and must not have been published elsewhere. The same work may not be submitted simultaneously to another journal.
Authors must cite all sources used in their work accurately, completely, and in accordance with academic citation principles. Ideas, text, data, images, tables, figures, or findings belonging to others may not be used without the necessary attribution and permission.
5. Ethical Responsibilities of Authors
Authors are deemed to acknowledge that the work submitted to the journal is original, scientific, and compliant with ethical principles.
The primary responsibilities of authors are as follows:
Preparing the work in accordance with scientific research and publication ethics,
Declaring that the work has not been previously published and is not simultaneously under consideration by another journal,
Citing all sources used accurately and completely,
Obtaining the necessary ethics committee approvals, informed consents, and other legal permissions,
Clearly disclosing conflicts of interest and sources of funding,
Taking responsibility for the accuracy and reliability of the data used in the work,
Obtaining the necessary permissions for copyrighted materials,
Responding to reviewer and editor comments in a scientific and constructive manner,
Informing the editorial office without delay if a significant error or inaccuracy is identified in the manuscript,
Not submitting the work to another journal while the evaluation process is ongoing.
All authors share collective responsibility for the scientific and ethical content of the manuscript.
6. Authorship and Contribution Statement
Individuals listed as authors must have made a meaningful academic and scientific contribution to the work.
Individuals who have not made an academic contribution to the design of the study, conduct of the research, data collection, analysis, interpretation, writing of the manuscript, critical review, or approval of the final version should not be listed as authors.
Ghost, gift, and honorary authorship are not accepted.
In multi-authored works, the contributions of the authors must be clearly stated. Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship may, where appropriate, be acknowledged in the acknowledgements section.
Requests for adding an author, removing an author, or changing the order of authors after submission, during evaluation, or after publication are handled in accordance with COPE recommendations. The corresponding author must submit the request to the editorial office in writing together with its justification, and written approval from all authors must be obtained.
Authorship changes made to a published article are recorded in the scholarly record through a correction notice where necessary. Authorship disputes are not resolved by the journal; such disputes may be referred to the institutions with which the relevant authors are affiliated.
7. Conflict of Interest Policy
Authors, reviewers, and editors are required to disclose any existing or potential conflicts of interest that may affect the evaluation, interpretation, or publication of the work.
Conflicts of interest may be financial, institutional, academic, personal, professional, or of another nature.
Authors must explicitly state in the manuscript when no conflict of interest exists.
Reviewers who believe that they have a conflict of interest regarding a work they have been invited to review must decline the review invitation or withdraw from the evaluation process.
Editors may not participate in the evaluation or decision-making processes of works in which they have a conflict of interest. Such works are handled by an independent editor who has no conflict of interest.
Undisclosed conflicts of interest may be considered a breach of publication ethics.
8. Funding and Support Statement
Authors must clearly state in the manuscript all financial support provided for their work, project numbers, and supporting institutions or organizations.
If no financial support has been received, this must also be explicitly declared.
If the funding institution or organization has any role in the design of the research, data collection, data analysis, interpretation of the results, preparation of the manuscript, or decision to publish, this role must be clearly disclosed.
9. Data Sharing, Open Science, and Research Integrity
BARU-JWCFS adopts the principles of transparency, accessibility, and reusability in open science.
Research methods, analytical procedures, and materials used must be reported in sufficient detail to enable scientific evaluation of the research and, to the extent possible, its reproducibility.
Authors are responsible for the accuracy and reliability of the data used in their work and for ensuring that the data were obtained in accordance with ethical principles.
Where deemed necessary, the editorial office may request research data, analysis files, permission documents, or additional explanations from authors during the evaluation process in order to assess the reliability of the research.
Fabrication, alteration, falsification, selective reporting of data, or use of data in a manner intended to misrepresent research findings is considered an ethical violation.
Participant confidentiality, protection of personal data, intellectual property rights, ethics committee obligations, and legal restrictions take precedence over data sharing. Where such restrictions exist, failure to make data openly available is not considered an ethical violation.
The journal considers compliance with data-sharing and open-science practices during the editorial evaluation process.
10. Peer-Review Policy
Works submitted for publication in BARU-JWCFS and accepted for peer review are evaluated through a double-blind peer-review system.
Under the double-blind peer-review system, the identities of the authors are not disclosed to the reviewers, and the identities of the reviewers are not disclosed to the authors.
Submissions to the journal first undergo an editorial preliminary review. At this stage, the following are evaluated:
compliance with the aims and scope,
compliance with the author guidelines,
scientific and academic quality,
methodological adequacy,
originality,
ethics committee approval and other ethical declarations,
citation and referencing practices,
similarity status.
Each work that passes the preliminary review is sent to at least two independent reviewers who are experts in the relevant field.
Reviewers are selected by taking into account the subject matter and methodological characteristics of the work and the reviewers’ areas of scientific expertise. Scientific competence, independence, and avoidance of conflicts of interest are fundamental principles in reviewer selection.
Peer-review reports are confidential and are used solely for editorial purposes.
Based on reviewer reports, the following decisions may be made:
Accept,
Minor Revision,
Major Revision,
Reject.
Where necessary, an additional independent reviewer opinion may be obtained.
The final publication decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of a work is made by the Editor-in-Chief.
11. Revision Policy
For works for which revisions are requested, authors are expected to respond to reviewer and editor comments point by point and clearly indicate the changes made.
Where deemed necessary, the revised work may be sent again to the same or different independent reviewers.
The evaluation process may be terminated for works that are not revised within the specified period or for which sufficient explanations are not provided in response to reviewer/editor requests.
12. Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers
Reviewers must conduct their evaluations in accordance with the principles of confidentiality, impartiality, scientific objectivity, and academic courtesy.
The primary responsibilities of reviewers are as follows:
Accepting for review only works that are consistent with their areas of scientific expertise,
Conducting the evaluation according to scientific and objective criteria,
Presenting their opinions in a reasoned and constructive manner,
Avoiding personal, derogatory, or offensive remarks directed at authors,
Maintaining the confidentiality of works under evaluation and related information,
Not sharing the content of the work with third parties,
Not using information obtained during the evaluation process for personal, academic, or commercial benefit,
Informing the editor when similarity, ethical misconduct, missing references, or significant scientific problems are identified,
Not evaluating works in which they have a conflict of interest,
Submitting review reports within the specified period.
13. Ethical Responsibilities of Editors
Editors are responsible for maintaining the academic and scientific quality of the journal and conducting publication processes in accordance with the principles of impartiality, transparency, confidentiality, and editorial independence.
Editors evaluate works according to scientific criteria, independently of the authors’ identity, institution, academic title, gender, language, religion, ethnic origin, nationality, political views, or other personal characteristics.
The primary responsibilities of editors are as follows:
Evaluating works in terms of aims and scope, originality, scientific quality, methodological adequacy, and ethical compliance,
Selecting scientifically appropriate and independent reviewers,
Safeguarding the impartiality and confidentiality of the peer-review process,
Evaluating reviewer reports and editorial assessments in accordance with scientific criteria,
Managing conflicts of interest,
Protecting editorial independence,
Carefully investigating allegations of ethical misconduct,
Initiating correction, expression of concern, or retraction procedures where necessary,
Evaluating complaints from authors, reviewers, and readers in an impartial and fair manner.
The final publication decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief.
14. Editorial Board and Field Editors
The Editorial Board and field editors contribute to the development of the journal’s scientific quality and to the conduct of publication processes in accordance with academic standards.
Editorial Board members and field editors may contribute to:
the development of the journal’s aims and scope,
supporting scientific evaluation processes,
recommending reviewers,
developing publication policies.
Works authored or co-authored by the Editor-in-Chief, an editor, field editor, Editorial Board member, reviewer, Guest Editor, or any other individual involved in the journal’s editorial processes are subject to the same scientific, ethical, and editorial evaluation criteria as other works.
In such cases, the individual concerned is completely excluded from all stages of reviewer selection, editorial evaluation, and the publication decision. The work is handled by an independent editor who has no conflict of interest and is evaluated by at least two independent reviewers.
Holding any editorial role within the journal does not confer any privilege in the evaluation or publication process.
15. Editorial Independence
Publication decisions at BARU-JWCFS are made solely on the basis of the scientific quality, originality, methodological adequacy, ethical compliance, contribution to the journal’s aims and scope, and reviewer evaluations of the work.
The publisher, institutional administrators, sponsors, or other third parties may not interfere with the evaluation or publication decisions concerning individual works.
The editorial office has the authority to make independent decisions in accordance with the principles of scholarly publishing and research ethics.
16. Similarity and Plagiarism Policy
All submissions to the journal are screened using Turnitin similarity detection software.
The acceptable overall similarity rate is 15%. Similarity from any single source must not exceed 3%.
Similarity reports are not evaluated solely on the basis of numerical percentages. The nature of the similarity, whether the source used has been properly cited, the appropriateness of direct quotations, and principles of academic writing are also taken into consideration in the editorial assessment.
Works in which plagiarism, self-plagiarism, improper quotation, use without citation, data fabrication, data falsification, or text/data manipulation is detected are rejected.
If an ethical violation is identified after publication, the necessary correction, expression of concern, or retraction procedures may be applied.
17. Correction, Retraction, and Expression of Concern Policy
If a significant error affecting the scientific content, accuracy of data, validity of findings, author information, ethical declarations, or bibliographic information is identified in a published work, a correction may be published.
If plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, unauthorized use, serious authorship misconduct, duplicate publication, or another ethical violation that undermines the scientific reliability of the work is identified, the work may be retracted.
An expression of concern may be published where an investigation into allegations is ongoing or where no definitive conclusion has been reached but serious concerns remain regarding the reliability of the published work.
These processes are conducted with due consideration of COPE guidelines and flowcharts.
18. Complaints and Appeals Policy
Authors, reviewers, readers, and other interested parties may submit complaints and appeals concerning the publication process, editorial decisions, allegations of ethical misconduct, or published content to the journal’s editorial office in writing.
Complaints and appeals are evaluated impartially. Where necessary, an opinion may be sought from an independent editor or subject expert who was not directly involved in the relevant process.
Authors’ appeals against editorial decisions must be based on scientific grounds.
The Editor-in-Chief has final decision-making authority in complaint and appeal processes.
19. Generative Artificial Intelligence Use Policy
The use of generative artificial intelligence tools by authors, reviewers, and editors is governed by the journal’s Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) Use Policy.
Generative artificial intelligence tools may not be listed as authors; scientific responsibility, ethical accountability, and copyright obligations rest with natural persons.
Where authors use generative artificial intelligence tools, they are required to disclose such use in accordance with the journal’s relevant policy and are responsible for the accuracy, originality, citation, and ethical compliance of the submitted work.
Reviewers and editors may not upload confidential content of works under evaluation to third-party generative artificial intelligence systems in a manner that compromises confidentiality or data security.
Detailed provisions are set out on the journal’s Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) Use Policy page.
20. Open Access, Copyright, and Licensing Policy
BARU-JWCFS is an open-access journal. All works published in the journal are freely accessible from the moment of publication without any subscription, access fee, registration requirement, or embargo period.
Works published in the journal are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
Authors retain the copyright to their published works. By submitting their works to the journal, authors grant the Bartın University Journal of Woman, Child and Family Studies (BARU-JWCFS) the right of first publication and a non-exclusive publishing right to publish, archive, index, and distribute the published version in accordance with open-access principles.
Authors are required to submit the Copyright and Publication Agreement Form at the time of manuscript submission.
Details concerning open access, copyright, and licensing terms are additionally set out on the journal’s relevant policy pages.
21. Fee Policy
All manuscript submission, editorial evaluation, peer-review, and publication processes at BARU-JWCFS are free of charge.
Authors or their institutions are not charged any:
submission fee,
editorial processing fee,
peer-review fee,
article processing charge (APC),
publication fee,
page charge,
color figure charge,
DOI fee,
language editing fee,
withdrawal fee,
or any other fee under any name.
Readers are likewise not charged any fee to access the scholarly content published in the journal.
The absence of fees does not affect editorial or peer-review decisions; publication decisions are made solely on scientific and ethical grounds.
22. Archiving and Digital Preservation Policy
Works published in BARU-JWCFS are made accessible through the DergiPark infrastructure and are digitally archived.
The journal utilizes the LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) system to support the long-term preservation and accessibility of published scholarly content.
DOIs are assigned to published articles to support persistent and reliable access to scholarly content.
Authors may share the submitted, accepted, and published versions of their works in appropriate repositories without any embargo period in accordance with the journal’s Institutional Archiving Policy.
Further details regarding archiving and digital preservation are set out on the journal’s Archiving Policy and Institutional Archiving Policy pages.
23. Confidentiality Policy
Names, e-mail addresses, institutional information, and other personal information entered into the journal system are used solely for the purposes of conducting scholarly publication processes and are not shared with third parties except where legally required.
Works under evaluation, reviewer reports, editorial evaluations, and editorial correspondence are considered confidential.
Editors, reviewers, Editorial Board members, and other individuals involved in the publication process may not disclose such information to third parties or use it for personal, academic, professional, or commercial benefit.
Relevant legal and ethical regulations are taken into consideration in the processing and protection of personal data.
24. Reporting Ethical Misconduct
Where there is suspicion of a breach of research or publication ethics concerning a work published in or under evaluation by the journal, the editorial office may be notified.
Reports of ethical misconduct are evaluated in accordance with the principles of impartiality, confidentiality, and fair review.
Where necessary:
authors may be asked to provide explanations or documentation,
opinions may be sought from independent reviewers or subject experts,
relevant institutions or organizations may be contacted,
editorial action may be initiated in accordance with COPE guidelines.
The existence of an allegation of ethical misconduct does not, in itself, mean that misconduct has occurred. Allegations are examined objectively on the basis of the available information and documentation.
25. Special Issue Policy
BARU-JWCFS may publish a maximum of one special issue per year on topics deemed necessary by decision of the Editorial Board.
Special issues may include works addressing current scientific developments, interdisciplinary approaches, or a specific theme.
Works submitted to special issues are subject to the same scientific, ethical, and editorial standards as works submitted to regular issues. Works submitted within the scope of a special issue are evaluated through a double-blind peer-review system and are sent to at least two independent reviewers.
Individuals involved in the editorial processes of special issues are excluded from all evaluation and decision-making processes that may create a conflict of interest when their own works are under consideration.
Final editorial responsibility and the publication decision regarding special issues rest with the Editor-in-Chief.
26. Final Provisions
Authors who submit work to BARU-JWCFS are deemed to have accepted the journal’s ethical principles, publication policy, peer-review policy, open-access policy, copyright and licensing terms, and other relevant publication policies.
The editorial office reserves the right to update the ethical principles and publication policy in line with developments in national and international scholarly publishing standards, principles of research ethics, or relevant legislation.
Updated policies become effective as of the date on which they are published on the journal’s website.
If you notice a significant error or inaccuracy in a published article, or encounter any conduct or content that does not comply with the ethical responsibilities described above, please report it by e-mail to baru-jwcfs@bartin.edu.tr.
Bartın University Journal of Woman, Child and Family Studies