Bulletin of Economic Theory and Analysis (BETA) is committed to the highest standards of scientific ethics at every stage of the publication process. The journal adopts the international ethical principles and standards published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Council of Science Editors (CSE), the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). The journal also undertakes to comply with the Higher Education Council’s “Directive on Scientific Research and Publication Ethics” and with the ethical rules of TÜBİTAK ULAKBİM TR Dizin. This page sets out the journal’s principles regarding research ethics, publication ethics and legal/special permission requirements, as well as the ethical responsibilities of authors, reviewers and editors.
All submissions are screened with plagiarism-detection software (iThenticate/Turnitin) during the preliminary evaluation. Manuscripts with a similarity ratio above 15% are returned to the author(s) without being processed.
Research Ethics
Within the framework of ethical rules, studies that require Ethics Committee Approval in order to be evaluated by the journal are as follows:
• All qualitative or quantitative research that requires data collection from participants through surveys, interviews, focus group studies, observation, experiment or interview 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;
• Retrospective studies under the Personal Data Protection Law.
For studies requiring ethics committee approval, information about the approval (name of the committee, decision date and number) must be stated in the method section and on the first/last page of the article, and the approval document must be uploaded to the system during submission. A statement confirming compliance with research and publication ethics must be included in the article. Retrospective ethics committee approval is not required for studies that use research data from before 2020 or that are derived from master’s/doctoral theses (provided this is indicated in the article).
Legal / Special Permission Documents
• For case reports, the article must state that an “Informed Consent Form” was obtained.
• Permission must be obtained from the owners for the use of scales, questionnaires and photographs belonging to others, and this permission must be stated in the article.
• Compliance with copyright regulations must be stated for the intellectual and artistic works used.
Publication Ethics
The journal adopts the international standards set by COPE for editors and authors. Compliance with publication ethics is not the responsibility of authors alone; the journal has clearly defined the course of action it will follow on ethical matters (see “Procedure in Case of Non-Compliance with Ethical Principles”). The ethical responsibilities of authors, reviewers and editors are set out below.
Ethical Principles for Authors
1. All responsibility arising from non-compliance with ethical rules in submitted scientific studies belongs to the author(s).
2. Submitted studies must be original.
3. Submitted studies must not be under simultaneous consideration for publication elsewhere.
4. Previously published studies cannot be submitted for republication in the journal.
5. Everyone who has contributed to the study must be listed as an author, and those who have not contributed must not be listed. Once the evaluation process has begun, no authors may be added or removed and the order of authors may not be changed.
6. Authors must declare any conflicts of interest and any financial support/acknowledgements related to the study.
7. Authors must be able to provide the raw data of the study to the editorial board upon request.
8. If authors notice a significant error in their published work, they must immediately notify the journal editor and cooperate in the correction/retraction process.
Ethical Principles for Reviewers
1. After editorial evaluation, submissions are sent to at least two reviewers under the double-blind peer review system; in the case of one acceptance and one rejection, a third reviewer’s opinion is sought.
2. Studies are evaluated by confidential, independent and expert reviewers; reviewers may not share any information about the study they review with third parties.
3. Studies may be published with the positive opinion of at least two reviewers.
4. Reviewers must evaluate impartially and objectively and must prepare their assessments in a constructive, reasoned manner free of personal criticism.
5. Reviewers must decline to evaluate studies in which they have a conflict of interest and must notify the editor.
Ethical Principles for Editors
1. The editor has the right to accept or reject original studies submitted, in line with the aim and scope of the journal.
2. The editor ensures that studies are sent to reviewers who are experts in their field.
3. The editor ensures that studies are evaluated fairly, impartially and as quickly as possible, and does not use the authors’ race, gender, religious belief, ethnic origin, nationality or political view as a criterion in evaluation.
4. The editor has the authority to make the final decision on publication based on the reviewers’ opinions.
5. The editor protects the confidentiality of information during the evaluation process and manages conflict-of-interest situations.
Procedure in Case of Non-Compliance with Ethical Principles
In the event of an allegation or finding of ethical misconduct such as plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, salami slicing, duplicate publication or unfair authorship, the journal follows the flowcharts published by COPE. If the editor and editorial board detect copyright infringement or plagiarism in a study under evaluation or already published, they will initiate the necessary action within 15 days. Where required, a correction (erratum) is published or the study is retracted; the situation is reported to the author’s institution and, where necessary, to the institutions and organisations in which the journal is indexed. Allegations of ethical misconduct may be sent to editor@betajournals.org.
