Publication Ethics
The ethical duties and responsibilities specified for the “International Journal of Tokat Medical Sciences” (formerly “Gaziosmanpaşa University Faculty of Medicine Journal”) have been prepared by taking into consideration the guidelines published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
The journal's publication processes are executed in accordance with the guides, International Medical Journals Editors Board (ICMJE), World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), Council of Science Editors (CSE), Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), European Association of Science Editors (EASE) ,National Information Standards Organization (NISO) and DOAJ-Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing.

In drug studies, it should be stated that the study is carried out in accordance with the relevant regulations of the Ministry of Health and ethics committee permission has been obtained. For studies requiring board approval, if this approval is not submitted, the article will not be published. In addition, in all studies, the principles specified in the "Declaration of Helsinki", "Good Clinical Practices Guide" and "Good Laboratory Practices Guide" must be followed, and written or verbal consent must be obtained from the patients after they are informed.
The journal's editorial and publication processes are carried out in accordance with the Transparency and Best Practice Principles in Academic Publishing (https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/file/22). The Editorial Board of the journal handles all objection and complaint cases (https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/eeder/page/11853) within the scope of COPE guidelines.

Referee Evaluation Process

The evaluation of articles submitted to our journal is based on independent, impartial, double-blind reviewer reports. Submitted articles are meticulously evaluated by the members of the Editorial Board in terms of their originality, methodology and the importance of the topic discussed. This is followed by impartial double-blind peer review by two or more independent experts in the relevant scientific field. Submitted articles are first reviewed by at least two advisory board members, whose names remain confidential. Then, the reviews of the articles completed by the advisory board are discussed in the editorial board. Reviewers are unaware of the identity of the authors and authors are unaware of the identity of the reviewer. For all submissions, the Editorial Board is the final authority in the decision-making process.

Author's Ethical Responsibilities

Author(s) who submit manuscripts to our journal should consider the following ethical principles:
1. The stages, including publication evaluation and publication, followed after the manuscript is submitted to the journal, are based on the development and transmission of information in an impartial and respectful manner. Peer-reviewed studies are articles that embody and support the scientific method. Within the scope of journal publication ethics, all authors are expected to bear the following ethical responsibilities.
2. The manuscripts submitted by the author(s) are expected to be original. If the author(s) use other studies, they must cite and/or cite them completely and accurately.
3. Ones who do not contribute scientifically to the content in the creation of a scientific article should not be listed as authors.
4. Situations and relationships that may constitute a conflict of interest, if any, must be disclosed in all scientific articles submitted for publication.
5. Raw data regarding their research may be requested from the author(s) during the evaluation processes. In this case, the author(s) must present the relevant data and information to the editorial board and scientific committee.
6. The author(s) must have a document showing that they have the usage rights of the data used, the necessary permissions regarding the research/analysis, or that the consent of the experimental subjects has been obtained.
7. If the author(s) notice an mistake regarding their published or under-evaluation work, they have the obligation to cooperate with the editor in informing, correcting or retracting the journal editor or publisher.
8. Authors cannot submit their studies to multiple journals simultaneously. Each submission can be made only after the previous one is completed. Each application can be started following completion of the previous application.
9. Author responsibilities given in a study (e.g.: adding an author, reordering of author names) whose review process has begun cannot be changed.



Ethical Responsibilities of Editors
The editor and field editors of International Journal of Tokat Medical Sciences should hold the following ethical responsibilities that are based on the guides "COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" and "COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" published as open Access by Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
General duties and responsibilities Editors are responsible for each study published in International Journal of Tokat Medical Sciences. In this respect, the editors have the following roles and responsibilities:
1. In order for the studies to contribute to the scientific literature and be original, they should always act dynamically for the continuous development of the journal.
2. Managing the procedures aimed to improve the quality of the studies published in the journal.
3. Supporting freedom of expression.
4. Ensuring academic integrity.
5. Intellectual property rights and ethical standards should be taken into account throughout the publication process.
6. Being transparent and clear in issues that require correction or explanation.
7. Editors are obliged to take into account the feedback they receive and provide descriptive and informative feedback.

Relationships with Authors
Editors have the following duties and responsibilities in their relations with authors:
1. Editors must make positive or negative decisions about the studies' importance, originality, validity, clarity in wording and suitability with the journal's aims and objectives.
2. Editors must accept the studies that are within the scope of publication into pre review process unless there are serious problems with the study.
3. Editors must not ignore positive suggestions made by reviewers unless there are serious problems with the study.
4. "Blind Review and Review Process" must be published and editors must prevent possible diversions in the defined processes.
5. Authors should be provided with explanatory and informative feedback.


Relationships with Reviewers
Editors have the following duties and responsibilities in their relations with reviewers:
1. Reviewers should be determined in accordance with the topic of the study.
2. Provide the information and guidance reviewers may need during the review process.
3. Observe whether there are conflicting interests between reviewers and authors.
4. Keep the identities of reviewers confidential in blind review.
5. Encourage the reviewers to review the manuscript in an unbiased, scientific and objective tone.
6. Develop practices and policies that increase the performance of reviewers.
7. The reviewer pool should be updated based on scientific performance.
8. Prevent unkind and unscientific reviews.



Relationships with the Editorial Board
Editors must make sure that the members of the editorial board follow the procedures in accordance with the publication policies and guidelines. Editorial board must inform the members about the publication policies and developments. In addition, editors must;
1. Ensure that the members of the editorial board review the manuscripts in an unbiased and independent manner.
2. Select the new members of the editorial board from those who can contribute to the journal and are qualified enough.
3. Editorial board members should submit studies that are in line with their area of expertise for evaluation.
4. Regularly communicate with the editorial board.
5. Arrange regular meetings with the editorial board for the development of publication policies and the journal.



Relationships with the Journal's Owner and Publisher

The relationship between editors and publisher is based on the principle of editorial independence. In accordance with the written agreement between the editors and the publisher, all decisions taken by the editors are independent of the publisher and the journal owner.


Editorial and Blind Review Processes
Editors; is responsible for implementing the "Blind Review and Evaluation Process" policies included in the journal's publication policies. In this context, editors ensure that the evaluation process of each manuscript completed in a fair, impartial and timely manner.
Quality Assurance
Editors; is responsible for the publication of every article published in the journal in accordance with the journal publication policies and international standards.





Protection of Personal Information
Editors; is responsible for ensuring the protection of personal data regarding the subjects or images included in the reviewed studies. Unless the explicit consent of the individuals used in the studies is documented, it is the duty to refuse the study. Furthermore, editors are supposed to protect the personal information of the authors, reviewers and readers.

Ethics committee, human and animal rights
Editors are obliged to ensure that human and animal rights are protected in the studies reviewed. Ethics committee approval regarding the subjects used in the studies is responsible for rejecting the study in cases where there is no permission for experimental research.

Precautions against possible Abuse and Malpractice
Editors are supposed to take precautions against possible abuse and malpractice. In addition to conducting a meticulous and objective investigation to identify and evaluate complaints regarding this situation, sharing the relevant findings is among the editor's responsibilities.


Ensuring Academic Integrity

Editors must make sure that the mistakes, inconsistencies or misdirections in studies are corrected quickly.


Protection of intellectual property rights
Editors are obliged to protect the intellectual property rights of all published articles and to defend the rights of the journal and the author(s) in case of possible violations. In addition, editors are obliged to take the necessary precautions to ensure that the contents of all published articles do not violate the intellectual property rights of other publications.





Constructiveness and Openness to Discussion
Editors must
1. Pay attention to the convincing criticism about studies published in the journal and must have a constructive attitude towards such criticism.
2. Grant the right of reply to the author(s) of the criticized study.
3. Not ignore or exclude the study that include negative results.

Complaints
Editors must evaluate the complaints from authors, reviewers or readers and respond to them in an explanatory and enlightening manner.


Political and Economic Apprehensions
Neither the owner of the journal, publisher or any other political or economical factor can influence the independent decision taking of the editors.


Conflicts of interest
Editors ensure that the publication process of studies is completed independently and impartially, taking into account conflicts of interest between the author(s), referees and other editors.

Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers
Evaluation of all manuscripts by "Blind Reviewer" directly affects the quality of publication. This process ensures confidentiality by objective and independent review. The evaluation process of the “International Journal of Tokat Medical Sciences” (formerly “Gaziosmanpaşa University Faculty of Medicine Journal”) is carried out on the principle of double-blind review. Reviewers can not contact the authors directly, and the reviews and comments are conveyed through the journal management system. In this process, evaluation forms and reviewers comments on manuscripts are conveyed to the author(s) through the editor. Accordingly, reviewers who evaluate studies for the journal are expected to have the following ethical responsibilities:
1. Agree to review only in their subject of expertise.
2. Review in an unbiased and confidential manner.
3. If authors think that they are faced with a conflict of interest during the evaluation process, tehy should decline to review the study and inform the journal editor.
4. The review should be made objectively only in relation to the content of the study. Nationality, gender, religious beliefs, political beliefs and commercial concerns should not be allowed to influence the evaluation.
5. The evaluation should be made in a constructive and scientific manner. Reviewers must not make derogatory personal comments that include hostility, slander or insults.
6. They must carry out the manuscript they have agreed to review in a timely manner and with the above ethical responsibilities.


Ethical Responsibilities of Publisher
Editors and Editorial Board of “International Journal of Tokat Medical Sciences” (formerly “Gaziosmanpaşa University Faculty of Medicine Journal”) act with the awareness of the following ethical responsibilities:
Editors are responsible for all processes of the studies submitted to the "International Journal of Tokat Medical Sciences" (formerly "Gaziosmanpaşa University Faculty of Medicine Journal"). In this context, editors are the decision-makers, regardless of economic or political gains.
It undertakes to have an independent editorial decision made.
The publisher protects the intellectual property rights of all the articles published in journal and holds the responsibility to keep a record of each published article. The publisher has the responsibility to take precautions against all kinds of scientific misconduct, citation fraud and plagiarism regarding editors.