ETHICAL PRINCIPLES AND PUBLICATION POLICY
Biological Diversity and Conservation is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and takes all possible measures against publication malpractice. The journal follows internationally accepted ethical principles and guidelines, including the recommendations and Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, and relevant international standards. The journal is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access journal that publishes high-quality scientific research in biodiversity, conservation biology, ecology, life sciences, environmental sciences, and related health sciences.
Responsibilities of Authors
❖ Authors are expected to submit original work that has not been published previously and is not under consideration elsewhere. The author(s) should state that a study submitted to the Biological Diversity and Conservation journal has not been submitted to another journal for simultaneous publication.
❖ The authors should write the sources they used in the article correctly and according to the journal writing rules (according to the APA 7th Edition citation system).
❖ Authors must fill in the “Copyright and Licensing Form” completely and this form must be signed by all authors.
❖ All authors must fill and sign the “Conflict of Interest Form (ICMJE Form)” for the article.
❖ All authors must fill out and sign the "Author Contribution Form" for the article.
❖ Authors must ensure that all data presented are accurate and obtained ethically. If the study requires ethics committee permissions, the author(s) should obtain the relevant “Ethics Committee Approval” for the article and upload this document to the system with the application of the article.
❖ Plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, duplicate publication, and inappropriate authorship are unacceptable.
❖ All authors must have made substantial contributions to the study and approve the final version of the manuscript.
❖ Any potential conflicts of interest and sources of financial support must be disclosed.
❖ Studies involving humans or animals must comply with relevant ethical standards and include information regarding ethical approval where applicable.
❖ If there are copyrighted materials (pictures, figures, tables, etc.) in the article, the authors should obtain the necessary permissions for them and indicate this.
❖ All authors must have contributed to the article, have read and approved the final version of the article. If there are other lesser contributors to the article, they should be included in the "Acknowledgements" section.
❖ The author(s) endorsed the article to the STROBE guidelines for observational original research studies, the STARD guidelines for diagnostic accuracy studies, the PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews and meta-analysis, the ARRIVE guidelines for experimental animal studies, the TREND guidelines for nonrandomized public behaviour studies and the CONSORT rules for random research studies. Medical articles should be prepared in accordance with the ICMJE Recommendations.
❖ The author(s) must upload all necessary forms to the journal's web system, together with the Full Text article. Articles with missing forms will not be evaluated.
Responsibilities of Editors
❖ The editor should evaluate the articles regardless of the ethnic origin, gender, religious belief and political philosophy of the authors, and should be objective and fair.
❖ The editor should fill out the necessary forms completely and reject the study and studies that do not comply with the purpose and scope of the journal in the absence of the necessary ethics committee approval and permissions for experimental research. In case of ethical violation, necessary actions should be taken.
❖ The editor should initiate the double-blind refereeing and evaluation process in accordance with the publication policy of the journal regarding the appointment of referees and convey their expectations to the referee(s).
❖ The editor should take care to protect the personal data of the author(s) and referee(s).
❖ Editors are responsible for making publication decisions based solely on the scientific merit, originality, and relevance of submitted manuscripts.
❖ Journal editors must maintain confidentiality of the peer review process.
❖ Journal editors should strive to process articles promptly.
❖ Journal editors must not use data presented in a submitted article in their own research without the author's permission.
❖ Editors maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and manage conflicts of interest appropriately. Allegations of misconduct are handled according to COPE guidelines.
Responsibilities of Reviewers
❖ Evaluation of an article in the journal Biological Diversity and Conservation is carried out in accordance with the principles of double-blind peer review, and the referee(s) must be unbiased and confidential during the evaluation process.
❖ Reviewer(s) should evaluate the articles regardless of the ethnic origin, gender, religious belief and political philosophy of the authors and should be objective, unbiased and fair.
❖ Referee(s) should not agree to evaluate studies that do have conflicts of interest in their field of expertise.
❖ The referee who examines the article should be careful in his/her criticisms, avoid rude and offensive criticism, and use a constructive style.
❖ The referee(s) should not exchange information about the article and its authors with third parties.
❖ Reviewers should provide constructive comments, identify relevant published work not cited by the authors, and disclose any conflicts of interest.
❖ Reviewers should not use data presented in a submitted article in their own research without the author's permission.
❖Reviewers should make every reasonable effort to evaluate submitted articles promptly.
❖Reviewers must not use data presented in a submitted article in their own research without the author's permission.
❖ Reviewers can download and use the journal's "Reviewer Review Form" from the system during the evaluation process, and if they have made corrections to the original article, they must submit it to the journal along with the review form.
❖ The referee(s) should evaluate the article in the given time, and if this is not possible, they should inform the journal editor as soon as possible.
Publisher Ethical Responsibilities
❖ The publisher should accept that the publication process is the responsibility of the referee and the editor and should not get involved in this process.
❖ The publisher should comply with all ethical principles regarding the journal and protect the copyright of every work it publishes.
❖ If a publisher detects any unethical activity in published or submitted articles, they must report it to the editor.
❖ If the publisher identifies a violation of ethical principles concerning editors, reviewers, authors, and other staff working at the Journal of Biological Diversity and Conservation, this must be reported immediately to the Editor.
(Please read "INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS" for details.)