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:

1. Qualitative or quantitative studies involving the collection of data from human participants through questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, observations, experiments, or similar research methods.
2. Experimental or other scientific research involving human participants or animals, including the use of human or animal materials and data.
3. Clinical research involving human participants.
4. Research involving animals.
5. 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:

1. Submitted manuscripts must be original, and the research methods and findings must be reported accurately and transparently.
2. 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.
3. Manuscripts must comply with the journal's Author Guidelines.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. All authors must approve both the authorship and the order of authors and confirm this by signing the Copyright Transfer Agreement.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. Authors must appropriately acknowledge and accurately cite all sources used in the preparation of the manuscript.
10. References should not be cited indirectly without consulting the original source.
11. Direct quotations from other publications must appear within quotation marks and be accompanied by appropriate citations.
12. Manuscripts submitted to the journal must not have been published previously or be under consideration for publication elsewhere.
13. Research findings must be presented honestly and must not involve fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, or inappropriate manipulation of data.
14. The submitted manuscript must be original and must not have been published previously in any language.
15. Copyrighted materials (including tables, figures, photographs, maps, or extensive quotations) may only be reproduced with the appropriate permissions.
16. Images, figures, tables, and other visual materials must not be manipulated in a misleading manner that could misrepresent the original findings.
17. 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.
18. All sources of financial support, research funding, equipment, materials, and any other assistance must be fully disclosed.
19. 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.
20. Authors are expected to respond to reviewers' comments professionally, constructively, and within the specified time frame.
21. 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:

1. Editors shall evaluate every manuscript submitted for publication in an impartial and unbiased manner.
2. Editors are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts are assessed solely on their scholarly merit, without regard to the authors' race, religion, ethnicity, gender, seniority, institutional affiliation, or any other personal characteristics.
3. Editors shall make fair, objective, and independent editorial decisions and ensure that all manuscripts undergo an equitable and appropriate peer review process.
4. Editors shall prevent any actual or potential conflicts of interest involving authors, reviewers, or members of the editorial team.
5. Editors must protect the confidentiality and anonymity of reviewers throughout the peer review process.
6. Editors shall appoint reviewers with appropriate subject expertise while avoiding individuals who may have conflicts of interest.
7. Editorial decisions shall be based exclusively on the academic quality, originality, scientific merit, and relevance of the manuscript to the scope of the journal.
8. Editors have full authority to appoint reviewers and are responsible for making the final decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of manuscripts.
9. Editors should ensure that published articles make a meaningful and original contribution to the field of geography.
10. Editors reserve the right to screen all submitted manuscripts using plagiarism detection software.
11. Editors shall investigate and respond appropriately to all allegations or suspicions of research misconduct, ethical violations, plagiarism, or publication malpractice raised by readers, reviewers, authors, or other editors.
12. Editors shall require authors to obtain explicit written consent for the publication of identifiable images of individuals. Participants must be informed of the journal in which the work is intended to be published.
13. Editors should normally transmit reviewers' comments to authors in their entirety. However, in exceptional circumstances—such as when a review contains offensive, defamatory, or inappropriate language—editors may remove or redact such content. This editorial discretion must never be used to suppress legitimate scientific criticism.
14. Editors may reject a manuscript without external peer review if it is clearly outside the journal's scope or does not satisfy the journal's editorial standards. Such decisions must be made fairly, consistently, and without bias.
15. When changes to authorship are requested for legitimate reasons, editors shall require written consent from all listed authors, including any author whose name is to be removed from the manuscript.
16. If significant errors are identified in published articles by authors, readers, or editors, appropriate corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions shall be issued as promptly as possible.
17. Editorial correspondence is normally conducted through the corresponding author. Nevertheless, editors should ensure that all authors are informed of major editorial decisions, particularly at the initial submission and final acceptance stages.
18. Editors must not oversee the peer review or editorial decision-making process for manuscripts in which they are authors or have a conflict of interest. In such cases, editorial responsibility shall be delegated to another editor or a member of the Editorial Advisory Board.

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:

1. Reviewers should accept invitations to review only manuscripts that fall within their area of expertise.
2. Reviewers who feel unqualified to evaluate a manuscript or who cannot complete the review within the requested timeframe should promptly notify the Editor and decline the invitation.
3. Reviews should be completed objectively and submitted within the agreed review period.
4. All manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shared, discussed, or disclosed to any third party without the prior authorization of the Editor.
5. Reviewers must ensure that their evaluations are free from discrimination based on religion, race, gender, ethnicity, political views, seniority, institutional affiliation, or any other personal characteristics.
6. Reviews should be objective, constructive, and supported by clear scholarly arguments. Comments should be expressed respectfully and professionally.
7. Reviewers should evaluate manuscripts solely on their scientific quality, originality, methodological soundness, and contribution to the field.
8. Reviewers must decline to review manuscripts where any actual or potential conflict of interest exists, including those arising from competitive, collaborative, financial, institutional, or personal relationships with any of the authors or affiliated organizations.

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 do not satisfy the journal's editorial standards, publication policy, or scientific quality criteria may be rejected without external peer review (desk rejection).

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.