The manuscript acceptance and publication processes applied in the Turkish Journal of Security Studies constitute the basis for the development and dissemination of knowledge in an impartial and reputable manner. The processes implemented in this direction directly reflect on the quality of the work of the authors and the institutions supporting the authors. Peer-reviewed studies are studies that embody and support the scientific method. At this point, it is important that all stakeholders in the process (authors, readers and researchers, publishers, referees and editors) comply with standards for ethical principles.
The Turkish Journal of Security Studies expects all stakeholders to carry the following ethical responsibilities within the scope of publication ethics. The following ethical duties and responsibilities have been prepared by taking into account the guidelines and policies published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) as open access.
Ethical Responsibilities of Authors
Author(s) submitting articles to the Turkish Journal of Security Studies are expected to comply with the following ethical responsibilities:
- The work submitted by the author(s) must be original, and if the author(s) utilize other works or use other works, they must fully and accurately cite and/or quote them.
- All manuscripts submitted for publication must disclose any conflicts of interest and relationships, if any.
- The author(s) may be requested to provide raw data on their manuscripts within the framework of the evaluation processes, in such a case, the author(s) should be ready to present the expected data and information to the editorial board and scientific committee.
- The author(s) should have a document showing that they have the rights to use the data used, have the necessary permissions for the research/analyses, or have carried out the permission procedures for the experimental subjects.
- In the event that the author(s) becomes aware of an inaccuracy or error in the published, early view, or under review manuscript, the author(s) has an obligation to notify the journal editor or publisher and to cooperate with the editor in correcting or withdrawing the manuscript.
- Authors cannot have their work in the submission process of more than one journal at the same time. Each submission can be initiated following the completion of the previous submission. Work published in another journal cannot be submitted to the Turkish Journal of Security Studies.
- It cannot be proposed to change the author responsibilities (such as adding an author, changing the author order, removing an author) of a study whose evaluation process has started.
Ethical Duties and Responsibilities of the Editor and Field Editors
The editor and field editors of the Turkish Journal of Security Studies should have the following ethical duties and responsibilities based on the "COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" and "COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in open access:
General duties and responsibilities
- The editors are responsible for every publication in the Turkish Journal of Security Studies. In the context of this responsibility, editors have the following roles and obligations:
- To endeavor to meet the information needs of readers and authors,
- Ensuring the continuous development of the journal,
- Carrying out processes to improve the quality of studies published in the journal,
- Supporting freedom of thought,
- Ensuring academic integrity,
- Maintaining business processes without compromising intellectual property rights and ethical standards,
- Demonstrating openness and transparency in terms of publication in matters requiring correction and clarification.
Relations with the reader
- Editors should make decisions by taking into account the expectations of knowledge, skills and experience needed by all readers, researchers and practitioners.
- They should pay attention to the contribution of the published studies to the readers, researchers, practitioners and scientific fields and that they are original.
- In addition, editors are obliged to take into account feedback from readers, researchers and practitioners and to provide explanatory and informative feedback.
Relations with authors
- The duties and responsibilities of editors towards authors are as follows:
- Editors should make a positive or negative decision based on the importance, original value, validity, clarity of expression and the aims and objectives of the journal.
- Unless there is a serious problem with the manuscript, it should be included in the preliminary evaluation stage.
- Editors should not ignore positive referee recommendations unless there is a serious problem with the study.
- New editors should not change the decisions made by the previous editor(s) unless there is a serious problem.
- They should prevent deviations that may occur in the blind review process.
- Authors should be notified and returned in an explanatory and informative manner.
Relations with referees
- The duties and responsibilities of the editors towards the reviewers are as follows:
- Determine the reviewers in accordance with the subject of the study.
- They are obliged to provide the information and guidelines that the reviewers will need during the evaluation phase.
- Monitor whether there is a conflict of interest between authors and reviewers.
- Keep the identity information of the reviewers confidential in the context of blinded reviewing.
- Encourage reviewers to evaluate the manuscript in an impartial, scientific and objective manner.
- Evaluate reviewers on criteria such as timeliness and performance.
- Determine practices and policies to improve the performance of reviewers.
- Take the necessary steps to update the referee pool continuously and dynamically.
- Prevent unkind and unscientific evaluations.
- Take steps to ensure that the referee pool consists of a broad spectrum.
Relations with the International Advisory Board
- The editor should ensure that all advisory board members carry out the processes in accordance with the publication policies and guidelines.
- The editor should inform the advisory board members about the publication policies and keep them informed of developments.
- Ensure that advisory board members evaluate the work impartially and independently.
- Identify new members of the board of advisors who can contribute and are of appropriate quality.
- Send for evaluation studies that are appropriate to the expertise of the members of the board of advisors.
Relations with the journal owner and publisher
The relationship between the editors (editor-in-chief and section editors) and the publisher is based on the principle of editorial independence.
Editorial and blind review processes
Editors ensure that each manuscript is reviewed in a fair, impartial and timely manner.
Quality assurance
Editors are responsible for the publication of each article published in the journal in accordance with the journal's editorial policies and international standards.
Protection of personal data
Editors are responsible for ensuring the protection of personal data regarding the subjects or images included in the evaluated studies. Unless the explicit consent of the individuals used in the studies is documented, they are responsible for rejecting the study. Editors are also responsible for protecting the personal data of authors, reviewers and readers.
Ethics committee, human and animal rights
Editors are responsible for ensuring the protection of human and animal rights in the studies evaluated. They are responsible for rejecting the study in the absence of ethics committee approval for the subjects used in the studies and permissions for experimental research.
Precautions against possible abuse and misconduct
Editors are obliged to take precautions against possible misconduct and malfeasance. In addition to conducting a rigorous and objective investigation in identifying and evaluating such complaints, it is among the editor's responsibilities to share the relevant findings.
Ensuring the integrity of academic publications
Editors should ensure that errors, inconsistencies or misleading judgments in manuscripts are corrected promptly.
Protection of intellectual property rights
Editors are responsible for protecting the intellectual property rights of all published articles and defending the rights of the journal and the author(s) in case of possible violations. Editors are also responsible for taking the necessary measures to ensure that the contents of all published articles do not violate the intellectual property rights of other publications.
Constructivism and openness to discussion
Editors should take into account the convincing criticisms of the works published in the journal and show a constructive attitude towards these criticisms.
They should give the author(s) of the criticized studies the right to reply.
They should not ignore or exclude studies with negative results.
Complaints
The editors are obliged to carefully review the complaints received from authors, reviewers or readers and respond in an enlightening and explanatory manner.
Conflicts of interest
The editors guarantee the independent and impartial completion of the publication process, taking into account conflicts of interest between the author(s), reviewers and other editors.
Ethical Responsibilities of Referees
The evaluation of all studies by "Blind Review" directly affects the quality of the publication. This process provides confidence through objective and independent evaluation of the publication. The evaluation process of the Journal of Security Studies is carried out with the principle of double blind reviewing. Reviewers cannot communicate directly with the authors, and evaluations and comments are communicated through the journal management system. In this process, reviewer comments on evaluation forms and full texts are communicated to the author(s) through the editor. In this context, referees reviewing for the Journal of Security Studies are expected to have the following ethical responsibilities:
- They should only accept to evaluate studies related to their field of expertise.
- Conduct the evaluation with impartiality and confidentiality.
- If they think that they are faced with a conflict of interest during the evaluation process, they should refuse to review the study and inform the editor of the journal.
- In accordance with the principle of confidentiality, they should destroy the studies they have reviewed after the evaluation process. They can only use the final versions of the studies they have reviewed only after publication.
- Evaluate objectively only with regard to the content of the study. They should not allow nationality, gender, religious beliefs, political beliefs and commercial concerns to influence the evaluation.
- Conduct the evaluation in a constructive and courteous manner. They should not make derogatory personal comments containing hostility, slander and insult.
- They should carry out the work they accept for evaluation in a timely manner and in accordance with the above ethical responsibilities.
Ethical Responsibilities of the Publisher
The Editorial Board of the Turkish Journal of Security Studies acts with the awareness of the following ethical responsibilities regarding the Turkish Journal of Security Studies:
Editors are responsible for all processes of the work submitted to the Turkish Journal of Security Studies. In this framework, the decision-makers are the Editor-in-Chief and Section Editors, regardless of economic or political gains.
It is committed to independent editorial judgment.
Protects the ownership and copyright of every article published in the Turkish Journal of Security Studies 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 mongering and plagiarism related to editors.
In case you encounter an unethical situation;
If you encounter any unethical behavior or content in the Turkish Journal of Security Studies other than the ethical responsibilities mentioned above, please report it via e-mail to guvenlikcalismalari@pa.edu.tr.
December 30, 2025
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