1. ETHICAL PRINCIPLES
1.1. General Principles
The International Journal of Public Finance (IJPF) adopts the impartial, reliable, transparent, and ethical production, evaluation, and publication of scientific knowledge as its fundamental principle of publication.
IJPF's publication ethics and editorial processes are conducted taking into account the fundamental principles and best practices adopted by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA), World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI), and the Turkish Higher Education Council's Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive. For the principles expressed under the title "Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing," please refer to: https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines-new/principles-transparency-and-best-practice-scholarly-publishing
These principles apply to all stakeholders in the publication process, including the publisher, editors, editorial board, advisory board, reviewers, authors, and readers.
IJPF adheres to the principle that editorial decisions should be based solely on the academic quality, originality, methodological adequacy, ethical compliance, suitability to the journal's aims and scope, and scientific contribution of the work.
Authors' nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, gender, worldview, political views, institutional affiliation, or similar personal characteristics cannot influence editorial decisions.
The principles of confidentiality, impartiality, transparency, accountability, and scientific integrity are adhered to throughout the publication process.
1.2. Publisher's Ethical Responsibilities
IJPF is published by the International Public Finance Conference/Türkiye. The publisher's representative and copyright holder is Prof. Dr. Adnan Gerçek.
The publisher:
• Guarantees the editorial independence of the journal,
• Does not interfere with the scientific decisions of the editors and editorial board for commercial, personal, institutional or political reasons,
• Supports the implementation of the journal's publication ethics policies,
• Ensures the integrity of scientific records,
• Supports the investigation of violations of scientific publication ethics,
• Ensures the implementation of correction, clarification, expression of concern or retraction processes when necessary,
• Ensures the long-term accessibility and preservation of the journal's published content,
• Adopts transparency regarding the journal's ownership, management, funding model and publishing structure.
Publishing, sponsorship or funding relationships do not influence editorial decisions.
1.3. Ethical Responsibilities of the Editorial Board
The Editorial Board:
• Contributes to maintaining the scientific quality and academic reputation of IJPF,
• Oversees the journal's operation in accordance with its publication ethics principles,
• Contributes to the final evaluation of studies that have completed the peer review process,
• Provides suggestions to improve the journal's national and international visibility,
• Protects author, reviewer, data, content, and other confidential information related to submitted works,
• Reports potential plagiarism, conflicts of interest, copyright infringement, or other ethical violations to the editors,
• Supports corrections, clarifications, expressions of concern, or retractions when necessary.
Editorial Board members withdraw from the process if a conflict of interest is identified regarding the works they are evaluating.
1.4. Editorial Independence
IJPF editors make editorial decisions on submitted works according to scientific and academic criteria. Publishers, sponsors, funders, universities, public institutions, professional organizations, or other individuals and institutions cannot interfere with editorial decisions regarding the acceptance or rejection of an article.
Editors recuse themselves from the evaluation process of works in which they or individuals with whom they have a close academic, personal, or institutional relationship are authors. Editors, associate editors, and members of the editorial board may submit articles to IJPF. However, the individual concerned cannot participate in the editorial evaluation, peer-review selection, or final decision-making process for their own article. An independent editor with no conflict of interest conducts the work.
1.5. Ethical Duties and Responsibilities of Editors
Editors are responsible for:
• The implementation of IJPF's ethical principles and publication policies,
• Evaluating the suitability of articles to the journal's aims and scope,
• Ensuring that the peer review process is fair, independent, impartial, and timely,
• Selecting reviewers with appropriate expertise,
• Preventing potential conflicts of interest between reviewers and authors,
• Protecting the confidentiality of author and reviewer information,
• Ensuring the security of personal and research data,
• Checking for ethics committee approval and other necessary permissions,
• Investigating allegations of research and publication ethics violations,
• Carrying out corrections, clarifications, expressions of concern, or retractions when necessary.
Editors do not make ethical violation decisions based solely on suspicion. They evaluate allegations fairly and impartially, within the framework of confidentiality, based on information and documents. Editors have the right to withhold from authors any statements made by reviewers that are contrary to academic etiquette, insulting, or lack scientific merit, and to reject the reviewer's report if necessary.
1.6. Ethical Duties and Responsibilities of Reviewers
The review process at IJPF is conducted on a double-blind, peer-review basis. Reviewers are not informed of the authors' identities or institutional affiliations; authors are also not informed of the reviewers' identities. Reviewers;
• Reviewers must only accept to evaluate studies within their area of expertise,
• Respond to peer review invitations within a reasonable time,
• Complete the evaluation within the specified time,
• Conduct their evaluations impartially, objectively, evidence-based, and constructively,
• Avoid insults, personal criticism, or statements unrelated to scientific evaluation,
• Keep the articles they evaluate and any unpublished information contained therein confidential,
• Do not use information obtained during the evaluation process for personal or academic gain,
• Withdraw from the peer review process by informing the editor if any conflict of interest arises with the authors or the study,
• Inform the editor if they notice plagiarism, data manipulation, duplicate publication, inappropriate citations, or other ethical issues,
• Do not make requests for citations to themselves, colleagues, or specific publications without scientific justification.
Reviewers cannot communicate directly with authors. Reviewer opinions and revision requests are communicated to authors through the editorial office.
1.7. Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Peer Review Process
Manuscripts in the peer review process are confidential scientific documents. Reviewers and editors may not upload the entire article under review, or any unpublished text, data, tables, figures, or other content, to third-party generative AI systems whose confidentiality is not guaranteed.
Generative AI tools cannot replace the scientific evaluation of the reviewer or the decision-making responsibility of the editor. The relevant human reviewer and editor are responsible for the scientific content of the peer review report and the accuracy of editorial decisions.
1.8. Authors' Ethical Responsibilities
Authors must:
• Submit only original works to IJPF,
• Not submit the same work to more than one journal simultaneously,
• Not present a previously published work as a new work,
• Cite their sources completely and accurately,
• Report research data accurately and honestly,
• Avoid data fabrication, data distortion, misleading data presentation, or inappropriate data manipulation,
• Obtain necessary ethics committee approvals, institutional permissions, and informed consent,
• Disclose funding sources and conflicts of interest,
• Be able to provide information, documents, and raw data related to the research if requested by the editorial board,
• Respond to criticism and suggestions from editors and reviewers in a scientific and reasoned manner,
• Immediately inform the editorial board if they notice a significant error in their work during the evaluation or publication process,
• Cooperate with the editorial board in correction or retraction processes when necessary.
1.9. Authorship and Contribution Policy
Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made a significant intellectual contribution to the research and article. The individuals listed as authors are expected to:
1. Have made a significant contribution to the conceptualization, design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation of the study;
2. Have contributed significantly to the preparation or scientifically significant revision of the article;
3. Have approved the final text to be published;
4. Have accepted responsibility for the scientific integrity and accuracy of the study.
Simply providing funding, data collection, technical support, general supervision, or administrative assistance does not, in itself, confer authorship rights. Individuals who do not meet the authorship criteria but have contributed to the study may be mentioned in the "Acknowledgements" section, provided their permission is obtained.
The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all authors approve the content, submission, and author order of the article. Requests to add, remove, or change the author order after the article has been submitted must be justified. The written consent of all authors is required for any changes to be made.
1.10. Behaviours Contrary to Research and Publication Ethics
IJPF considers the following practices to be contrary to research and publication ethics:
Plagiarism: Using the ideas, methods, data, texts, visuals, or other materials of others without proper attribution.
Self-plagiarism/text recycling: Presenting previously published text or content as new and original content without the necessary explanation and proper attribution.
Falsehood/data fabrication: Creating and reporting data or findings that were not actually obtained.
Distortion/data falsification: Misleadingly altering research data, records, visuals, or results to present scientific findings deceptively.
Repeated publication: Publishing the same or largely identical work in multiple places without the necessary explanation.
Slicing: Unnecessarily dividing a single research study into multiple publications in a way that disrupts its integrity.
Unfair authorship: Listing individuals who did not contribute as authors, removing contributors, or unethically altering the author order. Citation manipulation: Encouraging or forcing authors, reviewers, or editors to cite specific individuals, publications, or journals without scientific justification.
Concealment of conflict of interest: Failure to disclose financial, academic, personal, or institutional relationships that could affect the evaluation of research.
Copyright infringement: Using copyrighted content without obtaining the necessary permissions.
In addition, other behaviours defined as contrary to scientific research and publication ethics in the Turkish Higher Education Council's Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive (including unauthorized use of data, use of unpublished work, and making false statements to ethics committees or regarding research permissions) are also considered ethical violations by the IJPF.
1.11. Similarity and Plagiarism Check Policy
Submissions to IJPF are checked using iThenticate or equivalent similarity detection software before peer review and at other stages as deemed necessary.
At IJPF, a 20% similarity rate is used as a general indicator for editorial pre-checking. Submissions with similarity rates above 20% are subject to editorial review and, if deemed necessary, returned to the author for revision. The final decision on plagiarism is not based solely on the numerical similarity rate.
In cases of inappropriate similarity, the submission may be returned to the author for revision, rejected outright, or, in cases of suspected serious ethical violations, subjected to a detailed review in accordance with COPE principles.
1.12. Ethics Committee Approval and Research Permissions
In research requiring ethical committee approval, authors must obtain the relevant ethical approval before commencing the research. In such studies, the name of the ethical committee, the date of the decision, and the decision or application number must be clearly stated in the article text.
Research requiring ethical committee approval includes surveys, interviews, discussions, focus groups, observations, experiments, and research involving the use of personal data. For studies that do not require ethical committee approval, the editorial board may request a reasoned statement of ethical committee exemption from the authors if deemed necessary. Studies lacking the necessary ethical committee approval or research permission may not be considered or may be rejected.
If the research is to be conducted within an institution or organization and requires permission under relevant legislation or institutional policies, the necessary institutional permission must be obtained before commencing the research.
1.13. Informed Consent, Privacy and Personal Data
In studies involving human participants and requiring consent under legislation, informed voluntary consent must be obtained. Personal information that could directly or indirectly identify participants should not be published without the necessary permission.
Authors are responsible for obtaining the necessary publication permissions when publishing photographs, documents, interview recordings, or other identifying materials that could reveal a person's identity. Authors must comply with applicable legislation when collecting, storing, processing, and sharing personal data.
1.14. Data Accuracy, Storage and Sharing
Authors are responsible for the accuracy, reliability, and integrity of the data used in their studies. Fabrication, falsification, selective data extraction, or data manipulation that could mislead results are not permitted in research data.
The editorial board may request anonymized raw data, analysis files, questionnaires, research documents, or other materials supporting the authors' results as part of the evaluation or ethical review of the research. Where appropriate, authors are encouraged to include a Data Availability Statement in their articles.
Authors must store research data in accordance with good scientific practices and relevant legislation. If data cannot be openly shared for ethical, legal, contractual, or confidential reasons, this reason and its justification must be explained.
1.15. Conflict of Interest
Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any existing or potential conflicts of interest—financial, academic, institutional, personal, or other—that could affect the conduct, evaluation, or interpretation of a study.
Even if authors have no conflicts of interest, this must be clearly stated in the article. If a conflict of interest arises for a reviewer or editor, that individual must withdraw from the review process.
1.16. Financial Support
Authors must disclose all financial support received for conducting the research or preparing the article.
If the funding institution had any role in the research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation of results, preparation of the article, or publication decision, this must be clearly stated.
If no financial support was received, a statement to that effect should be included in the article.
1.17. Use of Generative AI and AI-Powered Tools
Human authors are solely responsible for the accuracy, originality, ethical compliance, accuracy of sources, and final content of the article. Generative AI or AI-powered tools cannot be credited as authors or co-authors. Research data or research findings cannot be generated using generative AI, nor can existing scientific data be misleadingly altered.
If generative AI tools are used for purposes such as literature review or synthesis, grammar or readability corrections, data analysis, or generating tables or visuals, this use must be transparently disclosed.
Where required, the AI usage statement should include the name and, if possible, the version of the tool used, the purpose of its use, the stage of the research in which it was used, and the extent of human supervision.
Authors are responsible for verifying the accuracy of sources, data, interpretations, or text generated by AI. The use of AI does not legitimize plagiarism, data fabrication, data distortion, misleading visual production, or other ethical violations.
1.18. Intellectual Property, Copyright and Third-Party Materials
Authors are responsible for obtaining the necessary permissions for any copyrighted materials used in their articles, including tables, figures, scales, surveys, visuals, photographs, extended quotations, or other materials. Authors are solely responsible for any legal, financial, and criminal liability arising from the infringement of intellectual property rights.
The copyright of works accepted for publication in the journal is transferred to IJPF. Authors are required to sign and upload the Copyright Transfer Form determined by IJPF in order for their article to be published. IJPF uses the transferred copyrights in accordance with the journal's open access and licensing policy.
The transfer of copyright does not relieve authors of responsibility for the scientific content of the article. Authors remain responsible for the accuracy, originality, and ethical suitability of the article and for obtaining the necessary permissions for third-party materials.
2. PUBLICATION POLICY
2.1. Open Access Policy
IJPF is a fully open-access electronic academic journal. Full texts of articles published in the journal are freely and continuously accessible without any subscription or access fees.
Users can read, download, copy, share, distribute, print, search, and link to published articles under the terms of the Creative Commons (CC BY-NC) license.
IJPF supports open-access scholarly publishing and adheres to the open-access principles developed by the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI).
2.2. Creative Commons License
Articles published on IJPF are openly accessible under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. While the copyright of the article belongs to IJPF, third parties may share, translate, or adapt the content under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license, provided they:
• properly cite the original manuscript and the first publication on IJPF,
• correctly indicate the authors and source, and
• do not use the work for commercial purposes.
The copyright holder and CC BY-NC 4.0 license information are clearly displayed in the full text of each published article.
2.3. Funding and Revenue Sources
IJPF's publication activities are funded by the International Public Finance Conference/Türkiye. The journal has no income from author fees, advertising, subscriptions, or article processing fees. The journal's funding source does not influence editorial decisions.
2.4. Publication and Application Fees
IJPF does not charge authors any fees at any stage of the article submission, evaluation, and publication processes.
The journal does not have any mandatory publication fees, such as article processing, application, peer review, page, figure or table, editing, or similar fees.
Authors' financial situation, institutional affiliation, or funding source does not influence editorial decisions in any way.
2.5. Originality and Simultaneous Submission
Submissions to IJPF must not have been previously published elsewhere or be simultaneously under review in another journal.
Studies previously presented at scientific congresses, symposia, or conferences and published as abstracts or papers may be considered, provided they have been significantly improved, and the previous presentation is clearly stated.
For articles derived from a thesis, research project, or other academic work, this must be clearly indicated.
2.6. Article Submission
Manuscripts must be submitted only through IJPF's DergiPark system [http://dergipark.org.tr/pub/ijpf]. Submissions sent via email or post outside of the journal system will not be considered.
The title page must include at least the following information: authors' full names, academic titles, institutional information, ORCID numbers, email addresses, corresponding author information, financial support information, conflict of interest statement, and other necessary ethical and academic statements.
2.7. Publication Language
Manuscripts can be submitted to IJPF in English or Turkish. For articles submitted in Turkish, it is mandatory to include an English title, an English abstract, and an English extended summary that conforms to the journal's writing guidelines.
2.8. Preliminary Evaluation
All submissions to the journal are first subjected to a preliminary evaluation by the editorial board. The preliminary evaluation considers the following: suitability to the journal's aims and scope, scientific quality, originality, ethical compliance, adherence to writing and formatting rules, similarity report, and the availability of necessary documents.
Submissions that fall outside the journal's scope, do not qualify as scientific publications, contain serious ethical problems, or do not meet the basic submission requirements may be rejected before being sent for peer review. The editorial board may return the article to the author for revisions before peer review if deemed necessary.
2.9. Double-Blind Peer Review Process
All types of scientific articles published in the journal are subject to double-blind external peer review. Reviewers do not know the authors' identities or institutions, and authors do not know the reviewers' identities. Articles that successfully pass the preliminary evaluation are sent to at least two independent external reviewers who are experts in the field.
Reviewers evaluate the works in terms of originality, scientific method, contribution to the literature, theoretical or applied importance, presentation of findings, scientific adequacy of the discussion, support of results with findings obtained, suitability of the sources used, and overall scientific quality.
If both reviewers give a positive opinion, the work is sent to the final editorial review. If one reviewer gives a positive opinion and the other a negative one, the editor or the editorial board may send the work to a third independent reviewer.
Reviewer reports are advisory in nature to the editor. The final publication decision is made by the Editor-in-Chief, taking into account the reviewer reports, the scientific quality of the work, and the journal's publication policies.
2.10. Revision Process
Authors are expected to carefully consider the opinions of reviewers or editors, respond to each comment point by point, clearly indicate the changes made, and provide scientific justification if they disagree with an opinion.
Authors must complete and upload the requested revisions to the system within one month. The editorial board may grant an extension if there is a justifiable and verifiable reason. Submissions that are not revised within the specified time may be removed from the process. Reviewers may request more than one revision for the same study.
2.11. Final Evaluation and Publication Decision
Manuscripts deemed suitable for publication after peer review undergo final editorial review. The Editor-in-Chief makes the final publication decision, considering the peer review reports, author revisions, the scientific quality of the work, its ethical suitability, and the journal's aims and scope. The Editorial Board may offer scientific and editorial opinions to the Editor-in-Chief when necessary; however, the final decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of the article rests with the Editor-in-Chief.
Articles deemed "publishable" are initiated for publication. The editorial board reserves the right to refuse publication of an article even with positive peer review opinions if a serious scientific, ethical, or editorial issue is identified.
2.12. Appeal Against Editorial Decision
Authors may submit a reasoned appeal if they believe there is a significant scientific or procedural error in the editorial decision. Appeals against editorial decisions must be submitted within one month from the date of the decision. Appeals are evaluated only once.
The appeal must clearly state which decision is being appealed, the scientific or procedural grounds for the appeal, and any supporting documents or evidence.
A decision being an undesirable outcome for the author alone does not constitute grounds for appeal. Appeals are reviewed, whenever possible, by an editor who was not directly involved in the initial decision. The appointment of a new reviewer or further evaluation is at the editorial board's discretion. The decision resulting from the appeal is final.
2.13. Complaints
Complaints regarding IJPF's publication process, editors, editorial board, reviewers, ethical practices, or published content should be sent to infoijpf@gmail.com. Applications will be confirmed within one month of receipt, and the complainant will be informed of the review process.
Complaints are evaluated within the framework of confidentiality, impartiality, and avoidance of conflicts of interest. If the complaint directly concerns the editor-in-chief or a relevant editor, the process will be handled by another editor, an editorial board member, or a publisher representative who has no conflict of interest. COPE guidelines and flowcharts will be considered where necessary.
2.14. Investigation of Allegations of Research and Publication Ethics Violations
The IJPF takes all allegations of research and publication ethics violations seriously, whether they arise in submitted, under review, accepted, or published works. Allegations of ethical violations are evaluated with the utmost confidentiality, impartiality, and fairness. Ethical violation investigations are conducted independently of the author's title, institution, academic position, or other personal characteristics.
The editorial board may, when deemed necessary, request clarification from authors, request raw data or other research documents, obtain peer review or independent expert opinions, contact the institution where the research was conducted or relevant ethics committees, temporarily suspend the review or publication process, reject the article, and initiate revision, expression of concern, or retraction processes for published works.
Before a final decision is made regarding an allegation of an ethical violation, the author(s) against whom the allegation is made are allowed to provide clarification on the allegations and the available evidence. Relevant COPE guidelines are used as needed in the investigation of allegations of ethical violations.
2.15. Corrections, Retractions, and Post-Publication Updates
IJPF is committed to maintaining the accuracy and integrity of scientific records. If an error is found in a published article that necessitates correction of the scientific record but does not invalidate the core results of the study, a Correction (Erratum) may be published.
Articles may be retracted if serious issues are confirmed, such as data manipulation, serious plagiarism, unethical research, unauthorized or duplicate publication, fictitious authorship, significant ethics committee or consent violations, or serious scientific errors that render the core results of the article unreliable.
Retractions are conducted in a way that preserves the scientific record as much as possible and transparently indicates the reason for the retraction. The bibliographic record of the retracted article is preserved, and the retraction is clearly indicated. If readers need to be informed of a significant issue while an ethical or scientific review is ongoing, an Expression of Concern may be published.
2.16. Post-Publication Scientific Discussion
IJPF supports scientific, evidence-based, and constructive discussion of published studies.
Readers may report scientific errors, methodological issues, data problems, ethical concerns, or differences in interpretation regarding published works to the editorial office.
Suitable scientific discussions may be published via letter to the editor, author response, or other publication formats determined by the journal. Serious ethical or scientific concerns regarding a published article may also be subject to the journal's ethics review procedure.
2.17. Archiving and Digital Preservation
IJPF is committed to ensuring that every scientific article published remains permanently accessible digitally, even if the journal ceases publication. To this end, "multiple backup" and "centralized archiving" strategies are implemented to prevent data loss.
IJPF supports the LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) system, which securely stores open-access scientific content on library servers worldwide. This system allows copying of journal content into a shared archive among libraries, ensuring restoration of content in the event of data loss.
IJPF operates through DergiPark, Türkiye's academic publishing infrastructure. All article files and their metadata are regularly backed up on TÜBİTAK ULAKBİM servers and in national academic archives. This integration creates a national-level digital protection shield.
Each published article is assigned a unique DOI (Digital Object Identifier) number via CrossRef. The DOI system ensures uninterrupted access and citations by providing the article's permanent identifier, even if web addresses change.
IJPF adopts the following self-archiving policy: Authors may share the final PDF version of their articles published in IJPF on their personal websites, institutional archives, and non-commercial academic archives without any embargo period, provided they cite the original publication in IJPF, specify the DOI link, and maintain the CC BY-NC 4.0 license terms.
2.18. Advertising Policy
IJPF does not accept advertising and does not publish commercial advertisements on the journal's website.
Advertising, sponsorship, or commercial relationships cannot influence editorial decisions in any way.
2.19. Direct Marketing and Calls for Papers
Calls for papers, email announcements, and other direct communication activities conducted on behalf of IJPF are carried out accurately, proportionally, and professionally.
No misleading, exaggerated, or unverified statements are made regarding the journal's indexed databases, academic quality, review period, acceptance rate, publication fees, or other characteristics.
2.20. Publication Schedule
IJPF is an academic journal covering all aspects of finance, published twice a year (June and December). The journal is committed to adhering as closely as possible to its announced publication schedule.
In the event of any significant changes to the publication schedule, this will be announced to readers and authors.
2.21. Length of the Peer Review Time
IJPF aims to complete studies within a reasonable timeframe without compromising the quality of academic evaluation.
Under normal circumstances, the preliminary review phase is expected to be completed in approximately 15 days, the peer review phase in approximately 2-3 months, and the final editorial review phase in approximately 15 days, with the total process expected to be completed within approximately 3-4 months.
These timeframes are estimated target periods and do not guarantee a final decision or acceptance. The process may be extended due to difficulties in finding reviewers, additional evaluations, extensive revisions, or ethical reviews.
2.22. Special Issues and Invited Editors
When IJPF publishes a special or thematic issue, the scientific and ethical standards are the same as for regular issues. The Editor-in-Chief has ultimate editorial responsibility for all content published in IJPF, including special issues.
The scientific qualifications of invited editors are assessed prior to their appointment. The duties, authority, and responsibilities of special issue editors are clearly defined.
Invited editors cannot participate in the evaluation of studies with conflicts of interest, cannot manage the evaluation process of their own studies, and cannot lower the peer-review and ethical standards applied in regular issues.
Articles in which invited editors are authors or co-authors are supervised by an independent editor, and the total number of such articles cannot exceed 25% of the research articles in a special issue.
If a special issue has sponsorship or external funding, this information is disclosed transparently. Sponsors or funders cannot interfere with decisions regarding the acceptance or rejection of articles.
2.23. Articles by Journal Staff and Editorial Board Members
The editor-in-chief, editors, associate editors, editorial board, or advisory board members may submit a scholarly manuscript to IJPF.
In studies where these individuals are authors or co-authors, they cannot participate in the preliminary evaluation, peer-review selection, peer-review correspondence, revision review, or final publication decision.
Independent editors manage these studies and are subject to the same double-blind peer review and ethical standards as other studies. The principles of editorial independence and the avoidance of conflicts of interest are fundamental in this process.
2.24. Citation Ethics
Authors' source selections must be based on scientific grounds. Authors should appropriately cite studies directly related to the field, avoid excessive citations to themselves or specific researchers, and refrain from practices aimed at artificially increasing citation counts.
Reviewers and editors cannot request the inclusion of sources that are not scientifically necessary. Citing publications from a particular journal, reviewer, or editor should not be linked to article acceptance. Citation manipulation is considered an ethical violation.
2.25. Verification of References and Information
Authors must ensure that the references used in their articles contain genuine, accessible sources that support the information presented in the study. The references should only include studies that the authors can directly or reliably verify.
The authors must independently check the accuracy of references suggested by generative AI tools. Using non-existent, inaccurate, or misleading sources may be considered a breach of scientific responsibility.
2.26. Withdrawal of an Article
Authors who wish to withdraw their articles during the peer review process must submit a reasoned request to the editorial office. The withdrawal request must be made with the knowledge and consent of all authors.
The fact that the article is in the peer-review process does not preclude a withdrawal request; however, authors are expected to inform the editorial office of this process in a timely and honest manner.
Withdrawal of an article that has already begun ethical review does not automatically terminate the ethical review process.
2.27. Privacy Policy
Articles submitted to IJPF are treated as confidential documents. Authors, reviewers, and editorial board members are only permitted to share personal or scientific information related to the articles with those necessary for the publication process.
Editors, reviewers, and editorial board members may not use unpublished article content for personal research or academic gain. Compliance with relevant legislation regarding the protection of personal data is ensured.
2.28. The Journal's Principle of Impartiality
The views and opinions expressed in articles published in IJPF belong to the authors. Authors are responsible for the scientific, legal, and ethical statements in their studies.
The content of published articles does not represent the institutional views of the publisher, editors, or editorial board.
2.29. Updating Publication Ethics Policies
In line with scientific publishing standards, national and international ethical guidelines, and developments in digital publishing, IJPF's Ethical Principles and Publication Policy are reviewed periodically.
Necessary updates are made, taking into account COPE, DOAJ, and relevant national and international best-practice guidelines. Significant policy changes are published on the journal's website.
2.30. Ethical Notices and Communication
Any situation deemed to violate IJPF's publication ethics principles, significant scientific errors in a published article, or ethical concerns regarding the journal's editorial processes may be reported to the editorial office. Ethical notices are evaluated with the utmost confidentiality.
Scientific and ethical notices made in good faith are considered, and if deemed necessary, an investigation is initiated in accordance with COPE principles.
Contact: International Journal of Public Finance (IJPF)
Email: infoijpf@gmail.com
Address: Bursa Uludağ University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Finance, Room 407, Nilüfer / Bursa - Türkiye