Publication Ethics refers to a self-regulatory mechanism that insists on integrity on behalf of authors, reviewers, and publishers to establish higher editorial standards. Ethical standards in publishing exist to ensure high-quality scientific publications, maintain public trust in scientific findings, and give due credit to individuals' ideas. Peer-reviewed studies support and implement the scientific method. Therefore, it is crucial for all parties involved in the publication process (authors, readers and researchers, publishers, reviewers, and editors) to adhere to ethical principles. ETÜ Sentez Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences adheres to national and international standards concerning research and publication ethics. It complies with the Press Law, the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works, and the Higher Education Institutions Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive.​

Duplicate publication involves publishing the same or substantially similar articles in more than one journal. The editor will return such articles without review. Subsequently, the editor may impose a temporary embargo on the author attempting duplicate publication, publicly disclose this situation (possibly in coordination with the editor of the journal where the article was previously published), or implement all these measures concurrently.​

Authors must not submit the same article to more than one journal simultaneously. If the editor becomes aware of a possible simultaneous submission, they reserve the right to consult with the editor(s) of the other journal(s). The editor may return the article without review, reject it without considering the reviews, or make this decision in consultation with the relevant editor(s). Additionally, the editor may decide not to accept article submissions from the authors for a certain period, inform the authors' employers, or implement all these measures concurrently.​

Presenting others' ideas, methods, data, practices, writings, figures, or works as one's own without proper citation, either partially or entirely, constitutes plagiarism. To prevent ethical violations, articles submitted to the journal are scanned using plagiarism detection software (iThenticate). The similarity report is reviewed by the editor to check for proper citation and quotation practices. If unethical situations inconsistent with academic writing are detected in the text, the work is returned to the author(s). For articles derived from theses, the editor compares the similarity rates between the thesis and the article.​

Plagiarism, duplication, false authorship/denial of authorship, research/data fabrication, slicing articles into smaller parts (salami publication), copyright infringement, and concealment of conflicts of interest are considered unethical behaviors. All articles not complying with accepted ethical standards are retracted, including those found to contain irregularities after publication.​

Fabrication involves producing data not based on research, organizing or altering a submitted or published work based on non-existent data, reporting or publishing such data, or presenting a non-conducted study as if it were conducted. This includes manipulating research records and obtained data, presenting unused methods, devices, and materials as if they were used, excluding data not aligning with the research hypothesis, adjusting data and/or results to fit relevant theories or assumptions, and distorting or shaping research results in line with the interests of supporting individuals or institutions.​

ETÜ Sentez Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences requires that all research involving human participants, which includes personal or sensitive data or materials not legally public, undergo official ethical review.​

The editors of ETÜ Sentez Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences will take measures to prevent the publication of articles where plagiarism, citation manipulation, data falsification, data fabrication, or other research misconduct has occurred. Under no circumstances will the journal's editors knowingly allow such misconduct to occur.

Readers who notice a significant error or inaccuracy in an article published in the ETÜ Sentez Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences, or have any complaints regarding editorial content (e.g., plagiarism, duplicate articles), may report their concerns by sending an email to one of the journal's editors.

Editors may consider publishing a correction if minor errors that do not affect the findings, interpretations, or conclusions are detected. In cases of major errors or violations that invalidate the findings and conclusions, retraction should be considered. If there are indications of potential research or publication misconduct by the authors, or if the findings are unreliable and the authors’ institutions have not investigated the case—or any such investigation seems unfair or inconclusive—editors may consider issuing an expression of concern. COPE and ICMJE guidelines are taken into account when deciding on corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern.

To ensure scientific ethical assurance, the ETÜ Sentez Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences adheres to the principles of COPE’s 'Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors' and 'Code of Conduct for Journals'. In this context, submissions to the journal must comply with the following:

1) For research in all scientific fields requiring ethical committee approval, such approval must be obtained, indicated in the article, and documented.

2) In studies requiring ethical approval, information about the approval (name of the board, date, and approval number) must be included in the methods section, and also on the first or last page of the article. For case reports, it must be stated that an informed consent form was signed.

Editors of the ETÜ Sentez Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences treat all submitted manuscripts as confidential documents, meaning they will not disclose any information about a manuscript without the author's permission. During the review process, only editors, reviewers, and editorial board members may access the manuscript. The only exception is if the editor suspects serious research misconduct, in which case the details may be disclosed to a third party.

This procedure applies to complaints about content, procedures, or policies that are the responsibility of the ETÜ Sentez Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences or its editorial staff. Complaints are seen as an opportunity for improvement and will be addressed promptly, politely, and constructively. Complaints should be sent directly to the editors’ email addresses and will be treated confidentially. The editor will respond immediately and follow the procedure outlined in COPE’s flowchart.

The ETÜ Sentez Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences welcomes serious appeals regarding evaluations made by editors and reviewers. If the article is believed to have been rejected due to a misunderstanding of the scientific content, an appeal message may be sent to the editorial team. At this stage, the revised version of the manuscript should not be submitted. If the appeal is accepted after being reviewed by the Editorial Board, the authors will be asked to submit a revised version, which will then be sent for external peer review. 

The appeal letter should be written as thoroughly and clearly as possible. Only one appeal per article will be considered. Therefore, it is important that the objection is presented in a clear and understandable manner. Based on experience, prolonged discussions over rejected manuscripts are often unsatisfactory for both authors and editors, and for this reason, multiple appeals for the same manuscript will not be processed.

A conflict of interest arises when professional judgment concerning a primary interest may be influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain or personal rivalry). In order to make the most accurate decision regarding how a manuscript should be handled, competing interests of the authors must be known and disclosed to readers upon publication. Conflicts of interest may include any financial or other types of interests that could compromise objectivity or create an unfair advantage for any individual or organization. All sources of financial support and the roles of sponsors during the research and manuscript preparation must be declared. If there is no funding source, this should also be stated. Examples include consultancies, employment, and grants. Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed as early as possible.

ETÜ Sentez Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences has a defined process to ensure impartial review of submissions by editors, staff, or editorial board members. Such submissions are primarily directed to other journals. If this is not possible, the individual’s role in the journal is suspended, and the submission is subject to double-blind peer review. Editors should not be involved in decisions concerning manuscripts they or their family members have authored. Such submissions are subject to the journal’s standard procedures. Editors must follow ICMJE guidelines regarding the disclosure of potential conflicts of interest by authors and reviewers.

ETÜ Sentez Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences is an open-access journal.

ETÜ Sentez Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences requires a Copyright Agreement and Author Contribution Form for each submission. By signing this form, authors retain the copyrights of their work. Authors hold the copyright of their studies published within the journal.

ETÜ Sentez Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences is funded by Erzurum Technical University. No fees are requested from authors during the review or publication process.

Manuscripts submitted for article publication and article processes in the journal must be prepared in accordance with the rules of research and publication ethics. ETU Sentez Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences follows the principles, standards and recommendations of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) on publication ethics. By adhering to these standards, ETU Sentez Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences aims to ensure that the research it publishes is of high quality and meets the ethical standards of the scientific community.
All research involving human subjects must be reviewed and approved by a review board, such as an ethics committee, before it is conducted. The name of the ethics committee that reviewed and approved the research, the ethics committee approval number and date must be included in the Methods section of the manuscript when submitted for publication. The journal also requires authors to submit a copy of the ethics committee approval as part of the manuscript submission process. This is to ensure that the research has been properly reviewed and approved and to enable the journal to verify that the research meets the ethical standards required for publication.

Where children under the age of 18 are participating in research, the child's parent or guardian must give informed consent on behalf of the child. This is necessary because children are a vulnerable population and may not fully understand the risks and benefits of participating in research.

If the article reports the findings of a survey or interviews, the authors should verify that participants gave informed consent to participate in the study and allowed their personal information to be recorded. If there are quotes or other attributable statements, these should be anonymized or it should be stated that the person has agreed to have their name included in the article.

It is the authors' responsibility to protect the anonymity of study participants and to ensure that the research is conducted respecting the principles of confidentiality. This is particularly important for photographs that may reveal the identity of the participants, as publication of such photographs without appropriate consent may violate the rights of the participants.

To protect the anonymity of participating patients, authors should obtain signed consent forms from participants or their legal representatives. These authorization documents should state that the participants consent to the publication of the photographs and specify any restrictions or conditions on the use of the photographs. Information about the consent for publication of the photographs should be provided in the manuscript.

Plagiarism and Unethical Behavior
All submissions are scanned with similarity detection software (iThenticate and, where necessary, Academic Plagiarism for confirmation) multiple times during the peer review and/or production processes. When discussing the previous work of others (or your own), we endeavor to ensure that you cite the material correctly in all cases. Authors are strongly advised to avoid plagiarism and unethical behavior, exemplified below.

- Citation manipulation: When an author manipulates the citation count of the journal or other publications in various ways, such as making his or her own citations, over-citing articles from the same journal, or adding honorary citations or stacks of citations.
- Self-plagiarism: The practice of using overlapping passages or sentences from an author's previous publications without proper attribution. This is considered a form of plagiarism, which means using someone else's work (in this case the author's own work) without proper attribution.
- Slicing: The use of the same data from a research study in several different papers. This is considered unethical as it means reporting the same hypotheses, population and methods in more than one paper.

- Data fabrication: Adding data to a study that did not occur during data collection or experiments. This is considered a form of research misconduct as it involves presenting false or misleading information as if it were real data.
- Data manipulation/falsification: Manipulation of research data to give a misleading impression. This can include manipulating images, extracting outliers or ‘unreliable’ results, changing data points and other forms of manipulation. This is also considered a form of research misconduct as it involves presenting false or misleading information as if it were real data.

In cases of alleged or suspected research misconduct, such as plagiarism, citation manipulation or data falsification/production, the Editorial Board will follow the appropriate COPE flowcharts to ensure that allegations or suspicions are dealt with in a fair, transparent and consistent manner.

Submissions to ETÜ Sentez Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences undergo a double-blind peer review process to ensure mutual anonymity between authors and reviewers. Each manuscript is reviewed by at least two external experts in the relevant field.

Initial checks are performed by editorial staff for compliance with journal guidelines. Submissions not meeting technical requirements are returned to authors for correction. Manuscripts are anonymized by removing any personal identifiers from the Word file.

Submissions that meet the journal's technical standards are evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief, who decides whether the manuscript fits the journal's scope and quality standards. Unsuitable submissions are rejected at this stage.

For suitable submissions, the Editor-in-Chief assigns Section Editors to manage the peer review process. Section Editors may decide to reject, continue the peer review process, or request revisions before review. They submit recommendations based on reviewer reports. Revised manuscripts are re-evaluated with the help of Associate Editors. The Editor-in-Chief makes the final publication decision.

Anonymous reviewer reports and editorial decisions are sent to the authors. Reviewer comments are confidential and must not be shared. Suspicions of unauthorized use of author data or ideas by reviewers will be handled according to COPE guidelines.

Reviewers must follow COPE's Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers. Suspected peer review manipulation will be handled using the appropriate COPE flowchart.

Potential reviewers must disclose any conflicts of interest before accepting review invitations. The journal appoints external editors for manuscripts submitted by editorial board members or Section Editors to maintain objectivity.

Authors of manuscripts requiring 'minor revision' or 'major revision' will receive a decision letter from the Editor-in-Chief. The letter will include reviewer and editor recommendations and a deadline for resubmission.

Authors must provide a detailed response to each reviewer comment, indicating how and where changes were made in the manuscript.

Revised manuscripts must be submitted by the specified deadline. If not received on time, the revision option may be canceled. If authors require an extension, they must request it before the original deadline.

Individuals listed as authors must meet the authorship criteria recommended by the International Committee of Journal Editors (ICMJE). ICMJE recommends that authors meet the following four criteria:
Significant contribution to the conceptual conception or design of the study or to the acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data for the study. Draft or critically revise the work for substantial intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published. Agreeing to be responsible for all aspects of the work to ensure that questions about the validity and accuracy of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Agreeing to take responsibility for all aspects of the work to ensure that questions about the validity and accuracy of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. In addition to taking responsibility for the parts of the work to which they have contributed, an author should also be able to identify which parts of the work other authors are responsible for. This ensures that the contributions of all authors are correctly and appropriately recognized. Using CRediT (Classification of Contributing Roles), authors can provide information on individual contributions at the time of submission. All authors are expected to agree on their individual contributions in accordance with the information shared by the lead author. The authors' statement of contribution will be published with the final manuscript and should accurately reflect the contributions made to the study. Authors must have confidence in the integrity of their co-authors' contributions. This means that they must trust that their co-authors conducted the research ethically and responsibly and that the data and results presented in the manuscript are accurate and reliable. Individuals who do not meet all four of the authorship criteria should not be included as authors on the manuscript. To recognize their contributions and provide transparency about their contribution to the research, they may be acknowledged on the title page of the article.

Requests to change authorship (add, remove, or reorder authors) must be submitted to the editorial office with a justification letter signed by all authors, including the removed author. The Editorial Board will evaluate such requests in line with COPE flowcharts to ensure transparency and consistency.

Authors are required to disclose any relationships or interests that could potentially influence or bias their work. This should be done during manuscript submission through the journal’s online system. All individuals involved in the review process are also expected to disclose real or potential competing interests. The Editorial Board will handle such cases in accordance with COPE guidelines.

The journal follows COPE guidelines on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in manuscript preparation. Authorship includes tasks that only humans can perform. Authors are responsible for ensuring originality and for fulfilling authorship criteria. AI may be used for language editing (and must be disclosed in the manuscript), but AI cannot be listed as an author.

All requests for post-publication corrections are subject to editorial review. The editorial board will review the request and decide whether the correction is necessary and appropriate. The decision to publish a correction will be based on the nature of the error, its potential impact on the article, and supporting evidence. The editorial board may also consult with authors, reviewers and other experts as necessary to make its decision. If the request for correction is approved, the article will be corrected in the journal's archive. The Editorial Board will review cases in accordance with journal policies and COPE guidelines.
If allegations of violations are made directly by whistleblowers, the Editorial Board will follow the relevant COPE flowchart. When concerns are raised about an article published on a social media site, the journal will follow COPE's flowchart on how to respond to whistleblowers. In some cases, independent experts may be appointed for unresolved allegations.
The editorial board can share information with other editors-in-chief to investigate possible ethical violations and conduct investigations more efficiently and effectively. When communication with the editor-in-chief is necessary, the editorial board will follow the relevant COPE recommendations. Where necessary, the journal may contact institutions about suspected ethical violations by researchers and provide evidence to support these concerns. COPE guidelines will be followed in this process.

In case of concerns of ethical violations, the editors will investigate the case according to COPE guidelines. When the investigation confirms the concerns, the editors may issue a retraction notice. The retraction notice will be published in the journal and the record of the article will be updated to reflect the retraction. The article will remain in the journal's archive, but will be clearly marked as withdrawn. The record of the article will also be updated in the relevant indexes to reflect the withdrawal.

Retraction requests are reviewed by the editorial board of the journal before the article is published. To request a retraction, authors must send a letter to the journal editor, signed by all authors, stating their request and the reasons for retraction. The editorial board will then review the request and make a decision based on the reasons presented by the authors. If the request is accepted, the article will be withdrawn from the journal and the authors will be notified of the decision. Authors should not submit their work to another journal for consideration until the withdrawal request has been approved. This is done to avoid possible conflicts of interest or duplication of publications.

The editorial board of the journal is responsible for handling appeals and complaints in line with COPE's guidelines and recommendations. If an author has an objection or complaint, they should contact the editorial office directly. The editorial board will review the situation and make a decision according to COPE guidelines.

In the decision-making process, the editor-in-chief has final authority in all appeals and complaints. In some cases, a neutral representative is appointed for issues that the Editorial Board cannot resolve internally. The Journal follows a fair and transparent process for handling appeals and complaints and aims to protect the integrity of the scientific record.

Preprint Policy
ETU Sentez Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences does not view preprints as “pre-published works” but rather as an opportunity for authors to make their work accessible and discussable on a non-commercial preprint server prior to submission to the journal. However, authors are responsible for ensuring that their manuscript is placed on the preprint server and for providing the DOI number during the submission process. If the article is accepted and published in the journal, authors are responsible for updating the archived preprint and linking to the published version of the article. This helps to ensure that readers have easy access to the most up-to-date and accurate information. ETU Sentez Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences does not view preprints as “pre-published works” but rather as an opportunity for authors to make their work accessible and discussable on a non-commercial preprint server prior to submission to the journal. However, authors are responsible for ensuring that their manuscript is placed on the preprint server and for providing the DOI number during the submission process. If the article is accepted and published in the journal, authors are responsible for updating the archived preprint and linking to the published version of the article. This helps to ensure that readers have easy access to the most up-to-date and accurate information.

Permissions Policy
The contents of the journal are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 International License. Under this license, users may share, adapt, reproduce, and distribute the content of the journal for non-commercial purposes, provided that the original author and the journal are properly attributed.

Disclaimer
Statements or opinions in articles published in the journal are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors, editorial board and/or publisher. The editors, editorial board and publisher are not responsible for the content of the articles and cannot agree with the views expressed in these articles. It is the authors' responsibility to ensure that their work is accurate and well-researched and that the views expressed in their articles are their own. The editors, editorial board and publisher provide a platform for authors to share their work with the scientific community.