PUBLICATION ETHICS

İnönüArt aims to adhere to the guidelines and core practices set forth by several organizations, including the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (joint statement by COPE, DOAJ, OASPA, WAME). These guidelines and recommendations are designed to promote transparency, integrity, and best practices in scholarly publishing.

By adhering to these standards, the journal aims to ensure that the research it publishes is of high quality and meets the ethical standards of the scientific community.

Ethics Approval and Informed Consent Policy

1. Ethics Committee Approval

All research involving human participants must be reviewed and approved by a recognized ethics review board (e.g., Institutional Review Board [IRB], Ethics Committee) prior to the commencement of the study.

Authors must include in the Methods section:

• The name of the ethics committee.
• The approval number and date of approval.
• A copy of the ethics approval may be required during manuscript submission.

If a study was exempted from ethics approval, authors must:

• Provide a formal exemption letter from the ethics committee.
• Clearly explain the reason for exemption in the manuscript.

2. Handling Submissions Without Ethics Approval

If a manuscript is submitted without prior ethics approval, İnönüArt will review it according to the COPE’s Research, Audit and Service Evaluations guideline to assess:

• Ethical risks
• Justification for absence of review.
• Compliance with accepted ethical standards.
• The journal reserves the right to reject manuscripts lacking proper ethical oversight.

3. Informed Consent

For all studies involving human subjects, written informed consent must be obtained and documented. This includes:

General Research: Consent from all participants.

Research Involving Minors (under 18 years): Consent from a parent or legal guardian.

Surveys/Interviews:

Confirmation that participants consented to participate.

Consent for recording and use of personal data.

If direct quotes or identifiable data are included:

Either data must be deidentified, or

Explicit consent must be obtained to disclose identities.

Consent details should be described in the Methods section of the manuscript.

4. Participant Anonymity and Image Publication

To protect participant privacy:

• Anonymity must be preserved, especially when personal data or images are published.
• If photographs or images that may identify participants are included:
• Authors must obtain signed release forms from the individuals or their legal representatives.
• Releases must grant permission for publication and specify any restrictions.

Publication consent for images must be stated in the Methods section.

AUTHORSHIP CRITERIAS

Authors of submissions reporting research findings must meet all four criteria established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE):

1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work;
2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content;
3. Final approval of the version to be published;
4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Before submission, authors should determine who qualifies for authorship and in what order authors will be listed. The editors of the İnönüArt do not resolve authorship disputes. Any changes to the number or order of authors after the initial submission must be explained in writing to the Editor-in-Chief. The editors reserve the right to refer any authorship irregularities to the research officer or appropriate academic ethics authority at the institution or employer of the first or corresponding author.

Authors may use CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) to provide information about individual contributions at the time of submission.

AUTHOR RESPONSIBILITIES

Authors are responsible for:

• Ensuring ethical approval and informed consent are obtained.
• Protecting participant confidentiality and data.
• Complying with international ethical research standards.
• Failure to adhere to these guidelines may result in editorial rejection or retraction of the manuscript.

PLAGIARISM AND ETHICAL MISCONDUCT

All submissions undergo multiple screenings during the peer review and/or production processes using similarity detection software. When citing previous works, ensure that all material is properly referenced. Copying text, tables, or illustrations from any source (journal articles, books, theses, electronic media, etc.) and presenting them as one's own is considered plagiarism, even if a reference is provided. Listing the source in the 'References' section does not absolve authors of responsibility for plagiarism.

Authors are strongly encouraged to avoid any form of plagiarism or ethical misconduct, as illustrated below:

• Citation Manipulation: Refers to inflating citation counts through self-citation, excessive citation of the same journal, or citation stacking, which distorts academic recognition.
• Self-Plagiarism (Text Recycling): Involves reusing sections or sentences from an author's prior work without proper citation, constituting a form of plagiarism.
• Salami Slicing: The unethical practice of publishing multiple articles using the same data set, hypotheses, and methods from a single study.
• Data Fabrication: The creation of false data not supported by actual research or experiments, considered a serious breach of research integrity.
• Data Manipulation/Falsification: Involves altering data, such as modifying images or removing outliers, to mislead or misrepresent findings.

In cases of suspected misconduct (e.g., plagiarism, citation manipulation, or data falsification), the Editorial Board will follow COPE guidelines to ensure fair, transparent, and consistent handling of allegations.

ADVERTISING POLICY

İnönüArt accepts digital advertisements on its website, provided they are approved by the journal's Editorial Board and management. All advertisements must be clearly labeled as such. Advertisers have no influence on editorial decisions or advertising policies.

For advertising inquiries, please contact the Editorial Office (inueditorial@inonu.edu.tr).

Declaration of Interests

Any potential financial or non-financial competing interests, including relationships with editorial associations, commercial editing companies, medical communications companies, or other organizations interested in the submission, must be disclosed at the end of the manuscript, just before the References section.

Financial Disclosure

All sources of funding must be acknowledged at the end of the manuscript. Authors should specify the role of the study sponsor(s), if applicable, in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, report writing, and the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. If the funding source had no involvement in these areas, the authors should clearly state this.

SELF-ARCHIVING POLICY

Authors are permitted to self-archive their published work on institutional or personal websites, as well as in open-access repositories. When sharing their articles, they must appropriately cite the original publication and include the DOI number. Additionally, authors are encouraged to provide a link to the publisher’s official website, ensuring the authenticity and integrity of the scientific record. The version published on the publisher’s website is considered the definitive version of record.

DISCLAIMER

The views and opinions expressed in published manuscripts belong solely to the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors, editorial board, or publisher. The editors, editorial board, and publisher are not responsible for the content of published manuscripts and do not endorse the views expressed within them.

Authors are fully responsible for the accuracy and integrity of their work. While the journal serves as a platform for disseminating research to the scientific community, it does not guarantee the validity of the content.