1. Open Access Policy

The International Journal of Educational Sciences and Innovation (IJESI) adheres to the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) definition of open access. All published content is freely available to readers without charge. Articles are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).

2. Publication Frequency

IJESI follows a continuous publication model. Articles are published online immediately after acceptance and completion of the editorial process, without waiting for a specific issue date. All articles published within a calendar year are compiled under a single annual volume at the end of the year.

3. Peer Review Process

All manuscripts submitted to IJESI undergo a double-blind peer review process to ensure scientific quality. The identities of both authors and reviewers are kept confidential throughout the process.

• Initial Check: Manuscripts are screened by editors for scope, formatting compliance, and plagiarism before being sent to reviewers. 
• Reviewer Assignment: Eligible manuscripts are sent to at least two independent expert reviewers.
• Decision: A manuscript requires approval from at least two reviewers for publication. In case of disagreement between reviewers, a third reviewer is consulted.
• Review Period: The target review period is 15–60 days.

4. Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

IJESI is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics at all stages of the publication process. The journal adopts the guidelines and Code of Conduct established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

4.1 Ethical Responsibilities of Editors

• Fair Play: Editors evaluate manuscripts exclusively based on their academic merit and relevance to the journal's scope, without regard to the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.
• Confidentiality: Editors and the editorial board must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, and the publisher.
• Conflict of Interest: Editors must not evaluate manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors or institutions.
• Publication Decisions: Editors are responsible for deciding which manuscripts should be published, based on academic merit, reviewers' comments, and legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism.

4.2 Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers

• Contribution: Reviewers assist the editor in making editorial decisions and provide constructive feedback to help authors improve their manuscripts.
• Confidentiality: Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents and must not be shared with or discussed with others without the editor's authorization.
• Objectivity: Reviews must be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Views must be expressed clearly with supporting arguments.
• Acknowledgement of Sources: Reviewers must identify relevant published work not cited by the authors and notify the editor of any substantial similarity or overlap with other published work.
• Timeliness: Reviewers who feel unqualified to review a manuscript or are unable to complete the review within the specified time must notify the editor promptly.
• Conflict of Interest: Reviewers must not evaluate manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest.

4.3 Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

• Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must ensure that their work is entirely original. If the work or words of others have been used, they must be appropriately cited. Plagiarism and data fabrication are unacceptable ethical violations.
• Multiple Submission: The same manuscript must not be submitted to more than one journal simultaneously. Submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals constitutes unethical publishing behavior.
• Authorship: Authorship must be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. Honorary authorship is unethical.
• Ethics Committee Approval: For all research involving human participants (surveys, interviews, experiments, observations, etc.), Ethics Committee Approval must be obtained. The details of this approval (Committee Name, Date, and Number) must be clearly stated in the Method section and at the end of the article.
• Disclosure of Errors: If an author discovers a significant error in their published work, they must promptly notify the editor and cooperate to retract or correct the paper.
• Conflict of Interest: Authors must disclose any financial or personal relationships that could influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript.
• Data Sharing: Authors should retain raw data related to their manuscript and be prepared to share it if requested by the editor.

5. Plagiarism Policy

All submitted manuscripts are screened using plagiarism detection software (iThenticate, Turnitin, İntihal.net) before the review process begins. Manuscripts with a similarity index exceeding 20% (excluding references) will be returned to the author or rejected without review.

6. Retraction and Correction Policy

IJESI reserves the right to retract published articles in the following cases:

• Detection of plagiarism, data fabrication, or falsification
• Duplicate publication
• Serious ethical violations
• Errors that significantly affect the conclusions of the study

Corrections or retractions will be published transparently in accordance with COPE guidelines.

7. Conflict of Interest Policy

All authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any conflicts of interest that could influence the manuscript. If a conflict of interest exists, the relevant party must withdraw from the evaluation process.

8. Human and Animal Rights

All research involving human participants must comply with the ethical standards of the Declaration of Helsinki. Research involving animals must comply with national and international animal welfare guidelines. Ethics Committee Approval details must be stated in the manuscript.

9. Authorship and Contributorship

All individuals listed as authors must have made a significant intellectual contribution to the study. The roles of all authors must be declared using the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) framework or a similar statement of contributions.

10. Copyright Policy

Authors retain the copyright of their work but grant IJESI the right of first publication. Published articles may be freely used provided that the original work is properly cited. IJESI is not responsible for the views expressed in published articles; responsibility lies with the authors.

11. Fee Policy

IJESI does not charge any fees from authors at any stage of the submission, review, or publication process. No Article Processing Charge (APC) is applied.

12. Archiving Policy

IJESI ensures the long-term preservation of all published content through DergiPark's digital archiving infrastructure provided by TÜBİTAK ULAKBİM.

13. Contact

For questions regarding publication ethics or editorial policies:
ijesi@ihu.edu.tr, adem.yurdunkulu@ihu.edu.tr