Publication Ethics
GERMENICA Journal of Physical Education and Sports Sciences' publication processes are based on the impartial production, development and sharing of information using scientific methods.
Peer-reviewed articles are studies that ensure the application of the scientific method and impartiality. In order to carry out scientific production, all components of the publication process; publisher, editors, authors, referees and readers must comply with ethical principles. In this context, the publication ethics and open access policy of GERMENICA Journal of Physical Education and Sports Sciences also require all components of the publication process to comply with ethical principles in line with the guidelines and policies published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) on open access (e.g. "Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" and "COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors").
If any data manipulation, distortion or use of fabricated data is detected in the articles, the institution where the author of the article works will be notified through official channels and the article will be rejected. Our journal has the right to request the output files of the analysis results from the authors based on the feedback given by the editor and/or referees.
Publisher's Ethical Responsibilities
The publisher of GERMENICA Journal of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University, is a non-profit public education institution that pursues the public interest.
GERMENICA Physical Education and Sports Sciences started scientific publishing in 2020 as a journal of sports sciences and health under the management of the editorial board or editorial board.
The Editorial Board of GERMENICA Physical Education and Sports Sciences consists of 4 people from Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University School of Physical Education and Sports and 1 person from Gazi University Faculty of Sports Sciences. The members of the Editorial Board are assigned for three years, considering different areas of sports sciences. An editor is appointed as the head of the Editorial Board and, depending on the situation, one or more assistant editors and field editors are determined. A new member is assigned instead of the member who leaves. The term of the member whose term has expired may be extended. Depending on the subject of the article, the editor may send articles to faculty members who are not members of the Editorial Board to review as field editors when necessary.
Responsibilities of the Editorial Board of the GERMENICA Journal of Physical Education and Sports Sciences
• The Editorial Board of the GERMENICA Journal of Physical Education and Sports Sciences is responsible for every article submitted to the GERMENICA Journal of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, and even for all processes after its publication, and the Editorial Board is aware of this responsibility. This responsibility requires making decisions on issues related to the journal, considering only the public interest and without considering personal gain, independently. The relationship between the Publisher and the Editorial Board is based on the principle of independence, and all decisions taken by the editors are independent of the publisher and other persons and organizations.
• GERMENICA Journal of Physical Education and Sports Sciences Editorial Board strives to continuously develop the Journal and increase the quality of publication.

• GERMENICA Journal of Physical Education and Sports Sciences Editorial Board ensures the determination and implementation of journal policies such as publication, blind refereeing, evaluation process, ethical principles.
• GERMENICA Journal of Physical Education and Sports Sciences Editorial Board protects the copyright of the authors of articles published in GERMENICA Journal of Physical Education and Sports Sciences.
• GERMENICA Journal of Physical Education and Sports Sciences Editorial Board is responsible for taking precautions regarding intellectual property rights, unethical-scientific behaviors, plagiarism, and referral (citation) scams during the article and journal publication process.
• GERMENICA Journal of Physical Education and Sports Sciences Editorial Board prepares an “Author Guide” containing the information requirements of the author(s) and a “Referee Guide” containing the information that the referees will need during the evaluation phase, and updates it when necessary.
• GERMENICA Journal of Physical Education and Sports Sciences Editorial Board determines policies that motivate the referees and author(s).
• The Editorial Board of the GERMENICA Journal of Physical Education and Sports Sciences keeps records of each article and correspondence related to the journal in electronic or printed form.
Ethical Responsibilities of the Editor, Assistant Editors and Field Editors
• Editors strive to meet the information needs of referees, author(s), researchers, practitioners and readers, to provide feedback when necessary, and to act according to the principles of openness in matters requiring correction and explanation during the publication process.
• When deciding on the publication of articles, editors take care to ensure that the articles are original and contribute to the scientific literature, readers, researchers and practitioners.
• When making positive or negative decisions about articles, editors take into consideration the original value of the articles, their contribution to the field, the validity and reliability of the research method, the clarity of the narrative and the purpose and scope of the journal.
• Unless there are significant problems with submitted articles, editors take them into the preliminary evaluation stage, take into account positive referee suggestions and do not change the decisions made by previous editors unless there are serious problems.
• Editors implement the blind refereeing and evaluation process policies, which are among the publication policies of the journal, keep the identities of the referees confidential and ensure that each article is evaluated impartially and within the time limit.
• Editors send articles by taking into consideration the expertise of the editors and referees who receive the articles and support the impartial and independent evaluations.
• Editors take into consideration whether there is a conflict of interest or unity of interest between editors, referees and author(s) for an impartial evaluation of the article.
Editors are in search of a wide range of referee pools and their continuous updating.
Editors prevent unscientific evaluations that do not comply with academic etiquette.
Editors ensure that journal publication processes are carried out in accordance with publication policies and guidelines, inform those responsible for the process about developments in publication policies, and prepare training programs when necessary.

Editors are in effective communication with everyone responsible for the publication process and organize meetings at regular intervals.
Editors ensure that personal data in evaluated articles is protected; they protect the individual data of authors, referees and readers.
Editors are careful to protect human and animal rights in articles, they care about documenting the explicit consent of the participants of the article, and they reject articles when they do not have ethical committee approval or permissions in experimental research.
Editors take precautions against misconduct. When there are complaints about misconduct, they conduct an objective investigation and share their findings on the subject.
• Editors ensure that errors, inconsistencies or misdirections in articles are corrected.
• Editors protect the intellectual property rights of published articles and defend the rights of the journal and author(s) in case of violation. They also take the necessary precautions to ensure that the content of published articles does not violate the intellectual property rights of other publications; they perform originality-similarity checks.
• Editors take into consideration consistent criticisms of articles published in the Journal and grant the author(s) of the criticized articles the right to reply.
• Editors also consider studies that include negative results.
• Editors examine complaints sent to the Journal and make the necessary explanations.
Ethical Responsibilities of Referees
The principle of two-way blind review is applied in the article evaluation process of GERMENICA Journal of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, where the author(s) do not know the referees and the referees do not know the authors; referees cannot communicate directly with the authors; article evaluation forms, notes stated on the text and correction requests are sent to the author(s) by the editors through the journal management system. Referees who will evaluate the articles submitted to GERMENICA Journal of Physical Education and Sports Sciences must have the following ethical responsibilities:
• Referees must accept to evaluate only articles related to their field of expertise.
• Referees must conduct the evaluation impartially and confidentially. According to this principle, they must destroy the articles they have reviewed after the evaluation process, but use them only after they are published. Nationality, gender, religious belief, political belief and commercial concerns must not compromise the impartiality of the evaluation.
• Referees must refuse to evaluate the article when they understand that there is a conflict of interest or common interest and inform the editors.
• Referees should evaluate in a constructive manner, in accordance with academic etiquette; they should avoid insulting and hostile personal comments.
• Referees should evaluate the article they accept to be evaluated within the time limit.
Authors' Ethical Responsibilities
Ethical responsibilities of author(s) who submit an article to GERMENICA Journal of Physical Education and Sports Sciences:
• Author(s) should not submit more than one article at a time, or an article they have published elsewhere or sent for publication, to GERMENICA Journal of Physical Education and Sports Sciences.
• Author(s) should submit an original article to GERMENICA Journal of Physical Education and Sports Sciences.
• Author(s) should correctly reference (refer) the sources they have used during the writing of the article in accordance with ethical principles.
• Names of people who have not contributed to the article should not be written as authors, and changing the order of authors, removing authors, or adding authors to an article submitted for publication should not be suggested.
• The editors should be informed about the persons who have a conflict of interest or common interest regarding the article for which publication application is made.
• In case information or raw data is requested from the author(s) regarding their articles during the evaluation process, they should provide the expected information to the Editors.
• The author(s) should document that the usage rights of the data they use in their articles, permissions regarding the research-analysis or the approval of the participants they conducted research on have been obtained.
• When the author(s) notice an error regarding their article in the evaluation and early appearance stage or published electronically, they should contact the editor to inform, correct or withdraw.
• The author(s) should indicate that they have received ethics committee approval for research requiring data collection with quantitative or qualitative methods such as experiments, surveys, scales, interviews, observations, focus groups, etc. that require an ethics committee decision; the ethics committee name, decision date and number should be indicated on the first and last pages and in the method section of the candidate article, and the document showing the ethics committee decision should be uploaded to the system together with the application of the article. In addition, information regarding the receipt of the informed consent/approval form in case reports should be included in the article.
• Authors must provide evidence in the article that they have been careful about ethical principles during the data collection process (such as obtaining permission from others to use their scales, surveys, photographs, etc.). Articles must state that research and publication ethics and copyright regulations for intellectual and artistic works have been complied with. If the research was conducted on human and animal subjects, it must be stated that the research was conducted in accordance with international declarations, guidelines, etc.
• Ethics committee approval is not requested from the author(s) for compilation articles. However, in articles that do not require an ethics committee decision, it must be stated on the first and last pages of the article and in the method section that an ethics committee decision is not required.
Reporting a Situation That Does Not Comply with Ethical Principles to the Editor
If a behavior that does not comply with ethical principles is encountered regarding editors, referees, authors in GERMENICA Journal of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, or an unethical situation is encountered regarding an article in the evaluation process, in early view, or published, it should be reported to germenicabesbd@ksu.edu.tr via e-mail.