Research and Publication Ethics

Peer-reviewed studies are those that incorporate and adhere to the scientific method, thereby ensuring quality standards, improved performance, and reliability in science. Consequently, it is essential that all stakeholders (authors, readers, researchers, publishers, reviewers, and editors) comply with ethical principles and standards. Within this framework, Bitki Koruma Bülteni expects all stakeholders to fulfill the following ethical responsibilities as part of publication ethics.

The ethical duties and responsibilities presented below have been prepared in accordance with the guidelines and standards published as open access by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

Authors submitting manuscripts to Bitki Koruma Bülteni are expected to comply with the following ethical responsibilities:

• The manuscript must not have been previously published in another journal or submitted simultaneously to more than one journal for evaluation.
• The manuscript must be an original work that falls within the aims and scope of Bitki Koruma Bülteni.
• The author(s) must provide complete and accurate citations to other studies.
• The manuscript submitted for publication must not violate scientific publication ethics (including plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate publication, salami slicing, unjustified authorship, etc.). In the event of any ethical violation, the Publisher reserves the right to reject and/or withdraw the manuscript even if it has previously been accepted. The author(s) may not object to the decision made by the journal.
• If the manuscript submitted for publication is subject to any conflict of interest or relationship, the author(s) must disclose it.
• The author(s) should be prepared to provide the raw data evaluated in the manuscript, as well as any relevant information requested by the Editorial Board during the evaluation process.
• All authors listed in the study must have made sufficient contributions to the design, execution, analysis, or interpretation of the scientific study and therefore share public responsibility for all findings.
• Any change in authorship during the publication process must be approved by all authors of the manuscript, and these approvals must be submitted. In addition, the reasons for the authorship change must be explained. Changes in authorship or the order of authors cannot be made after the manuscript has entered the review process.
• If the author(s) notice any error or inaccuracy in a manuscript that has been published online ahead of print or is in the publication process, they are obliged to notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the Editor-in-Chief to correct or withdraw the manuscript.
• Author(s) are required to fully disclose all sources of funding received for the research submitted to Bitki Koruma Bülteni.

Ethical Duties and Responsibilities of Editors

Bitki Koruma Bülteni takes into consideration the open-access guidelines and standards of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) when defining the ethical duties and responsibilities of its Editors and Associate Editors.

1. General Duties and Responsibilities

The Editors of Bitki Koruma Bülteni are responsible for all published articles and are obliged to:

• Strive to meet the information needs of readers and authors,
• Ensure the continuous development of the journal,
• Manage processes aimed at maintaining and improving the quality of publications,
• Uphold academic integrity,
• Support freedom of expression,
• Maintain editorial processes without compromising intellectual property rights and ethical standards,
• Be open to publishing corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies.

2. Relations with Readers

Editors should ensure that published studies contribute to readers, researchers, practitioners, and the scientific literature and that they are original in nature.

Editors should take into account feedback from readers, researchers, and practitioners and provide explanatory and informative responses.

3. Relations with Authors

Manuscripts submitted to Bitki Koruma Bülteni are evaluated solely on the basis of their intellectual content, regardless of the author(s)' gender, race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, or political beliefs.

Editors' decisions to accept or reject a manuscript for publication should be based on the manuscript's importance, originality, clarity, scientific validity, and relevance to the journal's scope.

Editors are responsible for making publication decisions within the framework of the journal's editorial policies and copyright regulations, taking into account the contribution of the manuscript to researchers and readers as well as the reviewers' comments.

Editors may reject manuscripts without sending them to reviewers if they consider that the submissions do not comply with the journal's policies due to ethical concerns or insufficient academic originality.

If an ethical violation is identified in a published manuscript or in a manuscript under publication or review, editors shall withdraw the manuscript from the evaluation process and return it to the author(s), providing detailed documentation of the identified issues.

Editors should not reverse acceptance decisions unless serious problems are identified.

Author(s) should be provided with clear, informative, and constructive feedback.

New editors should not overturn publication decisions made by previous editors unless serious problems are identified.

Author(s) should receive clear, informative, and timely notifications and responses.

The Double-Blind Peer Review and Evaluation Process is used to evaluate manuscripts submitted for publication in Bitki Koruma Bülteni. Within this process, the identities of both authors and reviewers must remain confidential.

Manuscripts submitted to the journal must not be shared with anyone other than the reviewers without the author's permission until a publication decision has been made.

4. Relations with Reviewers

The confidentiality of reviewers' identities and other details is ensured under the blind review process.

Practices and policies that improve reviewer performance are developed.

Reviewers are encouraged to evaluate manuscripts impartially, scientifically, and objectively.

Necessary steps are taken to update and expand the reviewer pool.

Efforts are made to prevent discourteous and unscientific evaluations.

Manuscripts are sent to at least two reviewers according to their content and the reviewers' areas of expertise. Reviewers may be selected from those listed by the Associate Editors in the Conflict of Interest and Reviewer Suggestion Form, from the reviewer pool of Bitki Koruma Bülteni, or from experts in the relevant field, provided that they are not affiliated with the same institution.

Editors provide reviewers with all necessary information and guidance, including the requirement that submitted manuscripts be handled confidentially.

5. Relations with the Editorial Board

Editors ensure that Editorial Board members conduct processes in accordance with the journal's publication policies and guidelines.

Editorial Board members are expected to evaluate manuscripts impartially and independently.

New Editorial Board members should be selected based on their qualifications and potential contributions.

Editorial Board members are assigned manuscripts that match their areas of expertise.

Regular communication is maintained with the Editorial Board.

Regular meetings are held with the Editorial Board to improve the journal and its publication policies.

6. Relations with the Journal Owner and Publisher

The relationship between the editors and the publisher is based on the principle of editorial independence. All editorial decisions are made independently of the publisher and the journal owner, as required by the agreement between the editors and the publisher.

7. Editorial and Double-Blind Peer Review Processes

Editors are responsible for implementing the Double-Blind Peer Review and Evaluation Process policy included in the journal's publication policy. Therefore, editors ensure that every manuscript is reviewed fairly, impartially, and in a timely manner.

8. Protection of Personal Data

Personal data related to manuscripts shall not be shared with any individual or organization.

9. Ensuring Academic Integrity

Errors, inaccurate statements, or misleading information must be corrected promptly and with due diligence.

10. Promoting Ethical Standards and Protecting Human and Animal Rights

Editors are responsible for protecting human and animal rights in the studies under review and must reject experimental studies involving human or animal subjects that lack ethics committee approval or other relevant committee approval.

11. Protection of Intellectual Property Rights

Editors are responsible for protecting the intellectual property rights of all articles published in the journal and for safeguarding the rights of the journal and the author(s) in cases of infringement. Furthermore, editors should take the necessary measures to prevent the content of published articles from infringing upon the intellectual property rights of other publications.

12. Constructive Approach and Openness to Discussion

Editors should give careful consideration to well-founded criticisms of published studies and adopt a constructive attitude toward such criticisms.

Editors should provide the author(s) of the criticized study with the right to respond.

Editors should not ignore or exclude studies with negative results.

13. Complaints

Editors should examine complaints submitted by authors, reviewers, or readers and respond to them in a clear and informative manner.

14. Political and Commercial Considerations

The journal owner, publisher, or any political or commercial factor must not influence the independent decision-making processes of the editors.

15. Conflicts of Interest

Editors acknowledge that conflicts of interest may arise among editors, reviewers, and other editors, and they guarantee that the publication process of manuscripts will be completed independently and impartially.

Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers

The evaluation of all manuscripts through the Blind Peer Review process directly affects the quality of publication. This process ensures confidentiality through objective and independent assessment. The peer review process of Bitki Koruma Bülteni is conducted in accordance with the principle of double-blind peer review. Therefore, reviewers do not communicate directly with the authors, and all evaluations and comments are transmitted through the journal's editorial management system.

Before agreeing to review a manuscript, reviewers should observe the following principles:

• The manuscript submitted for review must be treated as a confidential document. This means that the information and ideas obtained during the review process must be kept confidential and must under no circumstances be used for competitive advantage.
• Reviewers must keep confidential any ideas obtained through the peer review process and must not use them for personal benefit.
• Reviewers should provide objective and constructive evaluations supported by clear and well-founded comments, express their criticisms and recommendations in a respectful manner, and complete the review process in a timely fashion.
• Reviewers should be experts in the subject area and decline the review invitation if they do not possess sufficient expertise. Furthermore, reviewers should not accept the review if they have any conflict of interest arising from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions associated with the manuscript under review.
• The evaluation of the manuscript should be conducted objectively and based solely on the content of the study. Nationality, gender, religious beliefs, political views, or commercial interests must not influence the review process.
• The manuscript should be reviewed in a constructive and courteous manner, avoiding personal remarks, including hostility, defamation, or insulting language.

After accepting the invitation to review the manuscript, reviewers should first determine whether the manuscript constitutes original research. If it does, the first step of the review should be to verify whether the methodology of the study satisfies the following conditions:

• The methodology is reliable and valid;
• Appropriate methods have been applied comprehensively;
• There are no inconsistencies between the reported results and the statistical or qualitative evidence presented in the manuscript.

Reviewers are required to complete the Bitki Koruma Bülteni Manuscript Evaluation Form. In addition, provided that their identities remain anonymous, they may indicate corrections and suggestions directly on the manuscript using the "Track Changes" function. If reviewers identify any ethical violation related to the manuscript under review, they must promptly inform the Editor.

Ethical Responsibilities of the Publisher

The Editors and Editorial Board of Bitki Koruma Bülteni acknowledge and undertake to comply with the following ethical responsibilities:

• Editors are responsible for all processes that manuscripts submitted to Bitki Koruma Bülteni undergo. Within this framework, editorial decisions are made independently of any economic or political interests.
• The Publisher undertakes to ensure editorial independence.
• The Publisher protects the intellectual property rights of all articles published in Bitki Koruma Bülteni and is responsible for maintaining records of every unpublished manuscript.
• The Publisher is responsible for taking all necessary measures to prevent scientific misconduct, fraud, and plagiarism.

Archiving

All articles published in Bitki Koruma Bülteni since its establishment in 1952 are available in PDF format at:

https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/bitkorb/archive

Rights Reserved by Bitki Koruma Bülteni

Bitki Koruma Bülteni reserves the right to reject a manuscript even after it has been accepted if serious problems are identified in its scientific content or if violations of the journal's publication policies are detected.

Ownership and Management

Bitki Koruma Bülteni is an academic research journal owned and managed by the Plant Protection Central Research Institute, Türkiye.

Sponsorship and Advertising

In accordance with its Publication Policy, Bitki Koruma Bülteni does not accept sponsorship or advertising.

Open Access Policy

All research articles published in Bitki Koruma Bülteni are fully open access, and the final published version of each article is made freely available to everyone.