Ethical Principles
The Black Sea Journal of Communication Studies is committed to applying the highest standards of publication ethics and to complying with the following principles of the Publication Ethics and Abuse Statement. This statement is prepared by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), Council of Science Editors (CSE), World Association of Medicine Editors (WAME) and International Committee of Medical Journal It has been prepared based on the recommendations and guidelines developed by the organizations called Editors (ICMJE) for journal editors.
• Manuscripts submitted to the journal for publication should not have been previously published in another journal (including abstracts presented at scientific meetings and published in full text ) or should not have been sent to any journal simultaneously for publication.
• Manuscripts submitted to the journal are reviewed by an Editor and at least two referees, and a double-blind peer review ( double-blind) peer The right is reserved for the submitted articles to be reviewed for plagiarism at any stage using software designed for the purpose. For this purpose, articles that are subject to unauthorized citations or fabricated data, forgery ( fabrication or manipulation of tables, figures or research data) and inappropriate use of human or animal material in the research and that do not comply with the standards will not be published in the journal. This rule also applies in cases where the non-compliance with the standards is detected at the post-publication stage and requires the withdrawal of the article from publication. Our journal reminds us of the responsibility to be able to report cases of suspected plagiarism or double publication, as required by publication ethics.

The publication processes applied in the Black Sea Journal of Communication Studies form the basis for the impartial and respectful development and distribution of knowledge. The processes applied in this direction directly reflect on the quality of the work of the authors and the institutions that support the authors. Peer-reviewed studies are studies that embody and support the scientific method. At this point, it is important that all stakeholders of the process (authors, readers and researchers, publisher, referees and editors) comply with the standards regarding ethical principles. Our journal expects all stakeholders to have the following ethical responsibilities within the scope of publication ethics.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF EDITORS
Editors are responsible for every publication published in the journal. In the context of this responsibility, editors have the following roles and obligations:

• Making an effort to meet the information needs of readers and authors ,
• Ensuring the continuous development of the journal,
• Carrying out processes aimed at improving the quality of studies published in the journal,
• Supporting freedom of thought,
• Ensuring academic integrity,
• Continuing business processes without compromising intellectual property rights and ethical standards,
• Demonstrating openness and transparency in terms of publication on issues requiring correction and explanation.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF REFEREES
The evaluation of all studies with "Blind Refereeing" directly affects the quality of the publication. This process provides trust with the objective and independent evaluation of the publication. The evaluation process of the Black Sea Communication Research Journal is carried out with the principle of double-blind refereeing. Referees cannot communicate directly with authors; evaluations and comments are communicated through the journal management system. During this process, reviewer comments on evaluation forms and full texts are communicated to the author(s) through the editor. In this context, reviewers who evaluate studies for our journal are expected to have the following ethical responsibilities:

• They should only accept to evaluate studies related to their field of expertise.
• They should evaluate impartially and confidentially.
• If they think they are faced with a conflict of interest during the evaluation process, they should refuse to review the study and inform the journal editor.
• They should destroy the studies they have reviewed after the evaluation process due to the principle of confidentiality. They can only use the final versions of the studies they have reviewed after they are published.
• They should evaluate objectively and only regarding the content of the study. They should not allow nationality, gender, religious beliefs, political beliefs and commercial concerns to affect the evaluation.
• They should evaluate constructively and with a polite language. They should not make derogatory personal comments containing hostility, slander and insult.
• They should carry out the studies they have accepted to evaluate on time and in accordance with the above ethical responsibilities.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF AUTHORS
Authors who submit a study to the Black Sea Journal of Communication Research are expected to comply with the following ethical responsibilities:

• The studies submitted by the author(s) are expected to be original. In cases where the author(s) benefit from or use other studies , they must refer to and/or quote them completely and accurately.
• Individuals who do not contribute intellectually to the content of the study should not be indicated as authors.
• Any situations and relationships that may constitute a conflict of interest, if any, of all studies submitted for publication should be disclosed.
• Raw data regarding their articles may be requested from the author(s) within the framework of the evaluation processes, and in such a case, the author(s) should be ready to present the expected data and information to the editorial board and scientific board.
• The author(s) must have a document showing that they have the rights to use the data used, the necessary permissions regarding the research/analysis, or that the consent of the experimental subjects has been obtained.
• If the author(s) discover an error or mistake in their published, early view or under review work, they have the obligation to notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor in the correction or retraction process.
• Authors cannot have their work in the application process of more than one journal at the same time. Each application can be initiated following the completion of the previous application. Work published in another journal cannot be sent to us.
• It is not possible to propose changes to author responsibilities (such as adding authors, changing the order of authors, removing authors) for a study that has started the evaluation process.
• An article that has received revision must be re-uploaded to the system within 15 days after making the necessary adjustments . An article that has not been corrected within this period will be dropped from the system. During the preparation and typesetting stages for publication, authors may be asked to make edits. In order for the article to be published, authors are obliged to make the requested edits at the requested time.
The Process of Retracting an Article
Authors who wish to request a withdrawal of an article that is in the evaluation phase or has been published are obliged to cooperate with the editorial board of the journal and the publication. According to the ethical principles and publication policy of the Black Sea Journal of Communication Studies, the duties and responsibilities of the authors and the editorial board in the event of an article being withdrawn are stated below.

Retraction of an unpublished article:
An article may be withdrawn by the authors before publication. In order for an article that is in the pre-control phase or evaluation phase to be withdrawn, the authors must fill out the “Retraction Form” and a scanned version signed by each author and sent to the journal editor and editorial board via e-mail. In addition, the journal reserves the right to withdraw an article in the event of plagiarism, copyright, incorrect data use or other violations of ethical rules. Article Retraction Form You can access it here .

Retraction status of published article:
In order to retract a published article, authors are required to fill out the “Retraction Form” and send a scanned version signed by each author to the editor and editorial board via e-mail. The retraction form should clearly and explicitly explain the reason or reasons for retraction of the article. The editor and editorial board will review the retraction request and respond to the authors within 15 days at the latest. Authors cannot send their articles to another journal for evaluation unless the withdrawal request is approved by the editor and editorial board for articles whose copyrights have been transferred to the Black Sea Journal of Communication Studies during submission.
RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE READER
Editors should make decisions by taking into account the knowledge, skills and experience expectations of all readers, researchers and practitioners. They should take care that the published studies contribute to the readers, researchers, practitioners and scientific

literature and are original. In addition, editors are responsible for taking into account the feedback from readers, researchers and practitioners and providing explanatory and informative feedback.

RELATIONSHIP WITH THE AUTHOR
The duties and responsibilities of editors towards authors are as follows:

• Editors should make positive or negative decisions based on the importance, original value, validity, clarity of expression and the aims and objectives of the journal.
• Studies that are suitable for the scope of publication should be taken to the preliminary evaluation stage unless there is a serious problem.
• Editors should not ignore positive referee suggestions unless there is a serious problem with the study.
• New editors should not change the decisions made by the previous editor(s) regarding the studies unless there is a serious problem.
• The "Blind Refereeing and Evaluation Process" must be published and editors must prevent deviations that may occur in the defined processes.
• Editors must publish an "Author Guide" that includes in detail every subject that authors will expect from them. These guides must be updated at certain intervals.
• Authors must be notified and responded to in an explanatory and informative manner.

RELATIONSHIPS WITH REFEREES
The duties and responsibilities of editors towards referees are as follows:

• They must determine referees in accordance with the subject of the study.
• They are responsible for providing the information and guides that referees will need during the evaluation phase.
• They must monitor whether there is a conflict of interest between authors and referees.
• They must keep the identities of referees confidential in the context of
blind refereeing.
• They should encourage referees to evaluate the work in an impartial, scientific and objective manner.
• They should evaluate referees with criteria such as timely response and performance.
• They should determine practices and policies that will increase the performance of referees.
• They should take the necessary steps to dynamically update the referee pool.
• They should prevent rude and unscientific evaluations.
• They should take steps to ensure that the referee pool consists of a wide spectrum.

RELATIONSHIP WITH THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Editors should ensure that all editorial board members proceed with the processes in accordance with the publication policies and guidelines. They should inform the editorial board members about publication policies and keep them informed of developments. They should train new editorial board members about publication policies and provide them with the information they need.
In addition, editors should;

• Ensure that the editorial board members evaluate the work impartially and independently. • They should identify new editorial board members who can contribute and are suitable.
• They should submit studies that are in line with the expertise of the editorial board members for evaluation.
• They should interact with the editorial board regularly.
• They should hold meetings with the editorial board at regular intervals to develop the publication policies and the journal.

Editorial and blind peer-review processes
Editors; The journal is obliged to implement the "Blind Review and Evaluation Process" policies included in the publication policies. In this context, editors ensure that each study is evaluated fairly, impartially and on time.

Quality assuranceEditors are responsible for the publication of each article published in the journal in accordance with the journal publication policies and international standards.

Protection of personal dataEditors are responsible for ensuring the protection of personal data regarding subjects or images in the evaluated studies. They are responsible for rejecting the study unless the explicit consent of the individuals used in the studies is documented. In addition, editors are responsible for protecting the individual data of the authors, referees and readers.
Ethics committee, human and animal rightsEditors are responsible for ensuring the protection of human and animal rights in the evaluated studies. They are responsible for rejecting the study in cases where there is no ethics committee approval for the subjects used in the studies and permissions for experimental research. Precautions against possible abuse and misconduct

Editors are responsible for taking precautions against possible abuse and misconduct. In addition to conducting a meticulous and objective investigation into the determination and evaluation of complaints regarding this situation, it is among the editor's responsibilities to share the findings on the subject. Ensuring the integrity of academic publicationsEditors should ensure that any errors, inconsistencies or misleading judgments in studies are promptly corrected. Protection of intellectual property rightsEditors are responsible for protecting the intellectual property rights of all published articles and defending the rights of the journal and author(s) in the event of any possible violations. In addition, editors are responsible for taking the necessary precautions to ensure that the content of all published articles does not violate the intellectual property rights of other publications.

Constructiveness and openness to discussionEditors should;
• Take into consideration convincing criticisms of the works published in the journal and display a constructive attitude towards these criticisms.
• Give the author(s) of the criticized works the right to reply.
• Should not ignore or exclude studies that contain negative results.

Complaints
Editors are responsible for carefully examining complaints from authors, referees or readers and responding in an enlightening and explanatory manner.

Political and Commercial ConcernsThe journal owner, publisher and no other political or commercial elements affect the independent decision-making of the editors.

Conflicts of InterestEditors; take into account the conflicts of interest between the author(s), referees and other editors, and guarantee that the publication process of the studies is completed independently and impartially. PUBLISHER'S

ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES

The Journal Board of Directors acts with the awareness of the following ethical responsibilities:
• Editors are responsible for all processes of the studies sent to the journal. In this context, the editors are the decision-makers regardless of economic or political gains.
• It undertakes to form independent editorial decisions.
• The Black Sea Journal of Communication Studies protects the ownership and copyright of every published article and undertakes the obligation to keep a record of every published copy.
• It has the responsibility to take measures against all kinds of scientific misconduct, citation ganging and plagiarism regarding editors.

If You Encounter an Unethical Situation... If you encounter any unethical behavior or content in our journal outside of the ethical responsibilities mentioned above, please report it to ekiad@gmail.com via e-mail. Journal Policy The Black Sea Journal of Communication Studies does not charge any application or publication fees from authors. The evaluation period for articles sent to the journal is an average of three (3) months. After preliminary checks, submitted articles are sent to two blind referees. Requests from referees are forwarded to the author through the system and he/she is asked to make the relevant corrections within the specified period.

When uploading your study to our journal, you must upload your Ethics Committee document along with your article file. If your study is not included in the study group that requires ethics committee approval, you must sign the declaration form indicating this situation and state the relevant situation in your article text.