Ethical Principles and Publication Policy

Publication Ethics and Ethical Principles

The Aegean Geographical Journal is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, transparency, impartiality, and ethical conduct in scholarly publishing. To ensure that all published research complies with internationally accepted ethical standards, the Editorial Board has established a comprehensive publication ethics policy governing the responsibilities of authors, editors, and reviewers.

The ethical principles and responsibilities adopted by the Aegean Geographical Journal have been developed in accordance with the editorial policies of nationally and internationally indexed scholarly journals and the principles, guidelines, and best practice recommendations published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Ethics Committee Approval

For research requiring ethics committee approval, submission of a valid Ethics Committee Approval Certificate is mandatory at the time of manuscript submission.

Ethics committee approval is required for, but is not limited to, the following types of research:

Qualitative or quantitative studies involving the collection of data from human participants through questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, observations, experiments, or similar research methods.
Experimental or other scientific research involving human participants or animals, including the use of human or animal materials and data.
Clinical research involving human participants.
Research involving animals.
Retrospective studies conducted in accordance with applicable legislation on the protection of personal data.

In addition, authors are required to ensure that:

informed consent has been obtained and stated for case reports;
permission has been obtained for the use of copyrighted questionnaires, scales, photographs, or other materials owned by third parties;
all intellectual property and copyright regulations have been observed for copyrighted materials used in the manuscript.

Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

Authors submitting manuscripts to The Aegean Geographical Journal are expected to adhere to the following ethical principles:

Authors are required to comply with the provisions of the journal’s Generative Artificial Intelligence Policy when using generative artificial intelligence and AI-assisted tools.
Submitted manuscripts must be original, and the research methods and findings must be reported accurately and transparently.
All authors must disclose any financial relationships, sources of funding, conflicts of interest, or competing interests that could influence the research findings or scientific evaluation.
Manuscripts must comply with the journal's Author Guidelines.
All listed authors share responsibility for the content of the publication. Where individual authors are responsible only for specific aspects of the study, their respective contributions should be clearly identified.
Individuals who have not made a substantial scholarly contribution to the work should not be listed as authors. Contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgements section.
All authors must have agreed to the author list and the order of authorship in the manuscript. The corresponding author is responsible for confirming that all authors have approved the final version of the work and its publication. Prior to publication, the Copyright and Publication License Declaration Form must be signed by the corresponding author with the knowledge and approval of all authors.
Any changes to the list or order of authors after submission require the written consent of all authors, including those removed from the author list.
The corresponding author is responsible for maintaining communication with the Editorial Office, informing all co-authors throughout the publication process, and involving them in significant editorial decisions.
Authors must appropriately acknowledge and accurately cite all sources used in the preparation of the manuscript.
References should not be cited indirectly without consulting the original source.
Direct quotations from other publications must appear within quotation marks and be accompanied by appropriate citations.
Manuscripts submitted to the journal must not have been published previously or be under consideration for publication elsewhere.
Research findings must be presented honestly and must not involve fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, or inappropriate manipulation of data.
The submitted manuscript must be original and must not have been published previously in any language.
Copyrighted materials (including tables, figures, photographs, maps, or extensive quotations) may only be reproduced with the appropriate permissions.
Images, figures, tables, and other visual materials must not be manipulated in a misleading manner that could misrepresent the original findings.
Written consent must be obtained for identifiable images of individuals. Participants should be informed of the journal in which the research is intended to be published.
All sources of financial support, research funding, equipment, materials, and any other assistance must be fully disclosed.
If authors discover a significant error in a submitted, accepted, or published manuscript, they must promptly notify the Editor and cooperate in issuing corrections or retractions where appropriate.
Authors are expected to respond to reviewers' comments professionally, constructively, and within the specified time frame.
Authors who decide to withdraw their manuscript during the review process or who choose not to submit a revised version following a conditional acceptance should promptly inform the Editor.

Ethical Responsibilities of Editors

Editors of the Aegean Geographical Journal are expected to uphold the highest standards of integrity, fairness, and transparency throughout the editorial process. Their responsibilities include the following:

Editors must ensure that all manuscripts submitted to the journal undergo a fair and impartial evaluation process based on scientific criteria. Editorial evaluations must be conducted independently of the author(s)’ race, ethnicity, religion or belief, gender, academic seniority, institutional affiliation, or any other personal characteristics unrelated to the scientific evaluation of the manuscript.
Editors must ensure that any conflicts of interest involving authors, reviewers, or editors are disclosed and appropriately managed.
Editors must protect the confidentiality of reviewers’ identities in accordance with the principles of double-blind peer review and ensure that confidential information related to the review process is not disclosed to unauthorized persons.
Editors must select reviewers with appropriate expertise in the subject matter and scientific field of the manuscript and must not appoint individuals who have a conflict of interest with the authors as reviewers.
Editors are responsible for the selection and appointment of reviewers and for overseeing the editorial evaluation process. The final decision on the publication of manuscripts is made in accordance with the principle of editorial independence, taking into account the reviewers’ evaluations, the scientific quality and originality of the work, and its relevance to the journal’s aim and scope.
The Editorial Office may, when necessary, use similarity detection software to assess submitted manuscripts for originality and compliance with publication ethics.
Editors must respond appropriately to any allegations, concerns, or suspicions of research or publication misconduct raised by readers, reviewers, or other editors.
For manuscripts containing identifiable images of individuals, editors must require authors to have obtained explicit consent for publication. Such consent must include informing the individuals concerned that their images may be published in the journal.
Editors should communicate reviewers’ comments to the authors in full. However, in exceptional circumstances, such as when a review contains insulting, offensive, or otherwise inappropriate language, it may be necessary to omit certain parts of the review. Such editorial discretion must not be used inappropriately to suppress legitimate critical comments.
Editors may reject a manuscript without sending it for peer review if it does not comply with the journal’s aim and scope or publication policies. Such decisions must be made fairly and impartially.
When changes to authorship are requested for appropriate reasons, editors must require written consent to the change from all authors, including any authors whose names are to be removed from the author list.
When errors in published works are identified by readers, authors, or editors, an appropriate correction should be published as soon as reasonably possible.
Editorial correspondence is generally conducted with the corresponding author. Editors communicate with all authors at the initial submission and final acceptance stages to ensure that all authors are aware of the submission and approve the publication.
Editorial Conflicts of Interest: Editors must disclose any personal, academic, professional, institutional, or financial conflict of interest related to a manuscript they are handling and must withdraw from the editorial process for that manuscript. In such cases, the review and decision-making process shall be handled independently by another editor who has no conflict of interest. Editorial decisions shall be based solely on the scientific quality and originality of the work, its relevance to the journal’s aim and scope, and the reviewers’ evaluations.
Submissions by Editors and Editorial Board Members: Editors and Editorial Board members of The Aegean Geographical Journal may submit manuscripts to the journal. However, manuscripts authored or co-authored by such individuals shall be subject to the same editorial and peer-review standards as all other submissions. If the Editor-in-Chief, an editor, or a member of the Editorial Board is among the authors of a manuscript, that individual shall not participate in any stage of the manuscript’s evaluation process and shall have no involvement in reviewer selection, correspondence with reviewers, or editorial decision-making. The evaluation process shall be handled by an independent editor who has no conflict of interest with the authors. The editorial position of the editor or Editorial Board member concerned shall confer no privilege or advantage in the evaluation of the manuscript.
Editorial Independence: Editorial decisions shall be made independently of the authors’ institutional affiliations, academic positions, or relationships with the journal or its publisher. The journal owner, publisher, editors, or other institutional bodies shall not interfere with editorial decisions in any manner that could compromise the independence of the scientific evaluation and peer-review process.
Corrections, Retractions, and Post-Publication Procedures: The Aegean Geographical Journal considers maintaining the accuracy and reliability of the published scholarly record to be one of its fundamental editorial responsibilities. If an error, misleading information, a breach of research or publication ethics, or any other issue that may affect the reliability of a published article is identified, the matter shall be investigated by the Editorial Office.
Correction: A correction may be published when a significant error is identified that requires amendment to ensure the accuracy of the scholarly record but does not invalidate the article’s main findings or overall scientific integrity. The correction shall be clearly linked to the relevant article.
Retraction: An article may be retracted when serious errors, fabrication or falsification of data, plagiarism, duplicate publication, ethically inappropriate research, or similar serious issues are identified that render the findings unreliable. The retraction decision and the reasons for it shall be made publicly available, and the retracted article shall be clearly identified as such. The bibliographic record of the retracted article shall remain accessible in order to preserve the scholarly publication record.
Complaints and Appeals: The Aegean Geographical Journal recognizes the right of authors, reviewers, and readers to submit complaints and appeals concerning the journal’s editorial processes, decisions, editors, reviewers, or the implementation of its publication policies.
Appeals against editorial decisions: Authors may appeal an editorial decision concerning a manuscript by clearly stating the scientific grounds for their appeal. Appeals are expected to be based on specific scientific or procedural grounds rather than merely requesting reconsideration of the decision. Wherever possible, the appeal shall be evaluated independently of the editor who made the original decision. The outcome of the appeal, together with the reasons for the decision, shall be communicated to the author.
Complaints: Complaints concerning the editorial process, peer review, publication ethics, conflicts of interest, confidentiality, or the journal’s practices may be submitted to the Editorial Office. Complaints shall be considered in accordance with the principles of impartiality, confidentiality, and fair evaluation.
If a complaint directly concerns the Editor-in-Chief, or if the Editor-in-Chief has a conflict of interest in relation to the complaint, the matter shall be handled by an independent editor or an authorized body with no conflict of interest in the matter.
The journal aims to resolve complaints and appeals as promptly as possible through a fair and impartial process that provides the parties concerned with an opportunity to present their views. Where appropriate, the journal may refer to the current guidelines and flowcharts published by COPE during the evaluation process.

Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers play a vital role in maintaining the scientific quality of the journal and are expected to observe the following ethical principles:

Reviewers should accept review assignments only for manuscripts that fall within their areas of expertise and for which they have sufficient scientific competence to provide an appropriate evaluation.
Reviewers should complete their evaluations within the timeframe specified by the journal. If a reviewer believes that they are unable to complete the review within the specified time or do not have sufficient expertise to evaluate the manuscript, they should promptly inform the Editorial Office and decline the review assignment or request that the manuscript be assigned to another reviewer.
Reviewers must conduct their evaluations impartially and confidentially. All manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents and must not be shown to or discussed with others unless authorized by the editor.
Reviewers must conduct their evaluations impartially, objectively, and on the basis of scientific criteria. The evaluation should relate solely to the scientific content of the work; the authors’ religion or beliefs, race, ethnicity, gender, political views, academic seniority, institutional affiliation, or any other personal characteristics unrelated to the scientific evaluation must not influence the review. Reviewers’ comments should be expressed clearly, with appropriate justification, constructively, and in accordance with the principles of academic courtesy.
Reviewers who believe that they have a personal, academic, professional, institutional, or financial conflict of interest with the authors of the manuscript, the institutions involved, or the study itself must inform the Editorial Office and decline the review assignment. If such a conflict becomes apparent after the review process has begun, it must be reported to the Editorial Office immediately.
Reviewers must comply with the provisions of the journal’s Generative Artificial Intelligence Policy regarding the use of generative artificial intelligence and AI-assisted tools during the review process. Reviewers must not upload manuscripts submitted for review, or any confidential information or documents related to them, to publicly accessible AI tools or to systems that may share data with third parties.

Editorial Policy

The Aegean Geographical Journal is committed to maintaining the highest standards of academic quality, editorial independence, impartiality, transparency, and publication ethics. The journal's editorial process is designed to ensure that only original, scientifically rigorous, and significant contributions that advance geographical scholarship are published.

Editorial Process

All manuscripts submitted to the Aegean Geographical Journal undergo an initial assessment by the Editor-in-Chief to determine whether they comply with the journal's basic submission requirements, including formatting, scope, and editorial policies.

Manuscripts that successfully pass the initial screening are assigned to the appropriate Associate Editor according to their subject area.

During the editorial pre-evaluation, the Associate Editor considers the following criteria:

Relevance to the journal's Aims and Scope;
Clarity of the research problem, objectives, and research questions;
Originality and potential contribution to the geographical literature;
Adequacy of the theoretical framework and literature review;
Scientific soundness and appropriateness of the research methodology;
Consistency between the research objectives, data, analytical methods, and findings;
Compliance with the journal's Author Guidelines and academic writing standards;
Compliance with publication ethics and research integrity principles.

Manuscripts that are deemed, during the editorial preliminary evaluation, not to comply with the journal’s aim and scope, publication policies, or scientific quality standards may be rejected by editorial decision without being sent for peer review.

This editorial screening process is intended to improve the efficiency of peer review, reduce the workload of reviewers, and maintain the scientific quality and academic standards of the journal.

Last Update Time: 24 September 2026