Istranca Journal of Historical Studies is committed to the principles of integrity, transparency, impartiality, and academic ethics in scholarly publishing. All editorial and publication processes of the journal are conducted in accordance with the TR Dizin Ethical Principles, the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) Directive on Scientific Research and Publication Ethics, and international standards of academic publishing. All stakeholders of the journal—including the publisher, editors, section editors, reviewers, and authors—are expected to comply with the ethical responsibilities set out below.

Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

Authors submitting manuscripts to the Istranca Journal of Historical Studies are deemed to have accepted the following principles:

Submitted manuscripts must be original and must not have been previously published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere at the same time.

All sources used in the manuscript must be cited completely and accurately in accordance with academic conventions.

Ethical violations such as plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, data manipulation, distortion, duplicate publication, salami publication, and unjustified authorship are unacceptable.

Individuals who have not made a scientific contribution to the manuscript must not be listed as authors, while all researchers who have made substantial contributions should be included among the authors.

Any financial, institutional, or personal conflicts of interest that may affect the preparation or publication of the study must be disclosed to the editor.

Authors must provide the editor or reviewers with any information and documentation related to the research when requested.

Manuscripts submitted to the journal must not contain any identifying information. Authors are required to comply meticulously with the rules of grammar, spelling, punctuation, clarity, and comprehensibility and to follow the latest edition of the Turkish Language Association (TDK) Spelling Guide. Authors bear full responsibility for any problems or criticisms arising from failure to comply with these requirements.

If a significant error is identified after the manuscript has been evaluated or published, the author must cooperate with the editor to initiate the appropriate correction or retraction process.

If AI-assisted tools have been used in the preparation of the manuscript, the nature and extent of such use must be clearly disclosed in the manuscript. AI systems cannot be listed as authors. Full responsibility for the scholarly content of the manuscript rests with the authors.

Papers presented at national or international symposia may be published in the journal provided that they have not been published elsewhere and that their prior presentation is clearly stated in a footnote. The author bears full responsibility in this regard. For studies supported by a research institution or funding agency, the name of the supporting organization and the relevant project/research number must be provided, and the funding information must be indicated in a footnote.

Authors bear full legal responsibility for any copyright-related consequences arising from the publication of works that have previously been published elsewhere but whose prior publication was not disclosed or could not be determined.

All legal responsibility arising from the content of articles published in the journal rests entirely with the author(s).

For each manuscript, the author must upload a plagiarism/similarity report to the submission system.

Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers

All manuscripts submitted to the Istranca Journal of Historical Studies are evaluated through a double-blind peer-review process.

Reviewers are expected to comply with the following principles:

Reviewers should accept manuscripts for evaluation only when they have sufficient expertise in the relevant subject area.

Reviews should be conducted objectively, impartially, and according to scientific criteria.

Reviewers should use constructive and academic language in their reports and refrain from personal criticism.

Information and documents obtained during the review process must be kept confidential and must not be shared with third parties.

Reviewers must notify the editor if they identify plagiarism, an ethical violation, or a significant scientific error in the manuscript.

If reviewers fail to complete their evaluations within the period specified by the Editorial Board, the Editorial Board may assign the manuscript to alternative reviewers. The identities of authors and reviewers are kept mutually confidential throughout the review process.

Reviewers should decline to evaluate manuscripts in which they perceive a conflict of interest.

Reviewers who accept an assignment must complete their evaluation within the specified period.

Information obtained during the peer-review process must not be used for personal or academic benefit.

Ethical Responsibilities of Editors

Editors are responsible for maintaining the scholarly quality of the journal and ensuring that publication processes are conducted in accordance with ethical principles.

In this regard, editors should:

Evaluate manuscripts solely on the basis of their scholarly merit and not be influenced by the authors' nationality, gender, institutional affiliation, religion, political views, or personal characteristics.

Select reviewers according to their areas of expertise and strictly apply the principle of double-blind peer review.

Evaluate reviewer reports impartially and make the final publication decision on the basis of scholarly and ethical considerations.

Protect the confidentiality of the identities of reviewers, authors, and editors.

Prevent conflicts of interest and, where necessary, transfer the editorial process to another editor.

Assess allegations or suspicions of plagiarism, data fabrication, or other ethical violations in accordance with COPE guidelines.

Where necessary, publish corrections, retractions, or editorial statements in order to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record.

Work continuously to improve the scholarly quality of the journal.

Ensure that publication processes are conducted transparently, fairly, and in a timely manner.

Ethical Responsibilities of the Publisher

The publisher:

Safeguards editorial independence.

Does not interfere with the scholarly decisions of the editors.

Provides the necessary technical and administrative support to ensure that publication processes are conducted in accordance with ethical principles.

Takes the necessary measures against practices that may compromise academic integrity.

Supports the journal's open-access policy and ensures the long-term preservation of published content.

The publication rights of works published in the journal belong to the Istranca Journal of Historical Studies, Department of History, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Kırklareli University. No material may be reproduced without proper citation. No copyright or royalty payments are made to authors. If a manuscript submitted for publication is not published, the copyright is deemed to be returned to the author(s).

Plagiarism Policy

All manuscripts submitted to the Istranca Journal of Historical Studies undergo a similarity check during the preliminary evaluation stage.

The similarity report is examined in detail by the editor. The similarity percentage alone is not considered a decisive criterion; rather, the nature of the quotations, citation practices, and the scope and context of the similarities are taken into account.

If plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, duplicate publication, or other ethical violations are identified, the manuscript's evaluation process will be terminated and its publication will be rejected. Where deemed necessary, the relevant institutions may be informed.