ETHICAL PRINCIPLES AND PUBLICATION POLICY

Igdir University Journal of Sports Sciences is committed to maintaining the highest ethical standards in scholarly publishing. The journal strictly adheres to the ethical guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Council of Science Editors (CSE), and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

1. Duties of Editors:
- Impartiality: Manuscripts are evaluated solely on their academic merit, scientific originality, and relevance to the journal's scope, without regard to the authors' nationality, gender, ethnic origin, religious belief, or institutional affiliation.
- Confidentiality: Editors ensure that manuscript files and peer-review communications remain strictly confidential.
- Integrity: Editors protect the integrity of the published record by issuing corrections, clarifications, retractions, or apologies whenever necessary.

2. Duties of Reviewers:
- Impartial Evaluation: Reviewers agree to assess submissions objectively, constructively, and within the agreed timeframe.
- Confidentiality: Reviewers must treat all submitted manuscripts as confidential documents.
- Disclosure of Conflicts: Reviewers who suspect a conflict of interest or who are unable to review a submission must decline promptly.

3. Duties of Authors:
- Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must submit entirely original work. Any text, idea, or data taken from other sources must be appropriately cited. Plagiarism, redundant publication, and data fabrication/falsification represent severe scientific misconduct.
- Authorship Criteria: All listed authors must have made significant contributions to the conceptualization, execution, or interpretation of the study.
- Ethics Committee Approval: For research involving human participants (surveys, interviews, clinical/performance tests), ethics committee approval must be obtained prior to the study and documented in the methodology.
- Declaration of Interest: Authors must explicitly disclose any financial support or personal relationships that could influence the study.

4. Peer Review Process:
The journal employs an independent, double-blind peer-review model where both reviewer and author identities remain anonymous. Each submission is evaluated by at least two external subject-matter experts.

5. Ethical Concerns and Reporting:
Any suspected breaches of publication ethics, conflict of interest, or misconduct should be reported directly to the Editorial Office at: ahmet.dinc@igdir.edu.tr.