Journal of Health Practice, Technology, and Education (J Health Pract Technol Educ) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal committed to the principles of publication ethics, scientific integrity, transparency, accountability, impartiality, and editorial independence. The journal adopts the principles and recommendations of internationally recognized organizations and guidelines in scholarly publishing, including the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), the Council of Science Editors (CSE), the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, and the TR Dizin Journal Evaluation Criteria. All parties involved in the publication process, including authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, and the publisher, are expected to conduct all procedures in accordance with these ethical standards.

Responsibilities of Authors

Authors submitting manuscripts to the journal acknowledge that their manuscripts are original, scientifically reliable, and have not been published elsewhere. Authors should not submit their work simultaneously to another journal for consideration and should report their research findings accurately, completely, objectively, and transparently. Scientific ethical violations such as data fabrication, data falsification, selective reporting, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, duplicate publication, and similar forms of misconduct are unacceptable. When deemed necessary, authors are expected to share raw data, ethics committee documents, or other supporting documents related to the research with the editorial office.

Authorship Principles

The authors of a manuscript should consist only of individuals who have made meaningful scientific contributions to the study. Individuals who have contributed to the design of the research, data collection, analysis and interpretation, writing of the manuscript, or critical revision of the manuscript should be listed as authors. Guest authorship, gift authorship, ghost authorship, or listing individuals who have not contributed to the study as authors is considered unethical. All authors must approve the final version of the manuscript and share academic responsibility for the content of the study.

Ethics Committee Approval and Informed Consent

For studies conducted with human participants, human biological materials, or personal data, approval from the relevant ethics committee is mandatory. Studies involving human participants must be conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Informed voluntary consent must be obtained when necessary, and the confidentiality and privacy of participants must be protected. In clinical studies, clinical trial registration information is expected to be submitted in accordance with relevant regulations. Studies conducted on animals must comply with relevant legal regulations, ethics committee decisions, and animal welfare principles.

Conflict of Interest and Financial Support Statement

Authors are obliged to clearly declare any financial or non-financial relationships that may affect their work. Financial support, sponsorship, institutional or organizational support, consultancy relationships, commercial connections, or other potential conflicts of interest that may affect academic evaluation should be stated in the manuscript. If there is no conflict of interest, this should also be clearly declared.

Use of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence-based tools or language models cannot be listed as authors, as authorship requires scientific responsibility and accountability. If artificial intelligence tools have been used in manuscript preparation, language editing, data analysis, visual production, or similar processes, this use should be appropriately disclosed. Even when artificial intelligence tools are used, authors remain fully responsible for the scientific accuracy, originality, ethical compliance, and final content of the study.

Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers should conduct their evaluations in accordance with the principles of impartiality, confidentiality, and scientific objectivity. Reviewers must not share information and documents obtained during the review of a manuscript with third parties and must not use such information for personal benefit. Reviewers should inform the editorial office of any situation that may constitute a conflict of interest and should withdraw from the review process when necessary. They are also expected to notify the editor of any suspicions regarding plagiarism, data inconsistency, lack of ethics committee approval, duplicate publication, or other ethical issues.

Responsibilities of Editors

Editors make decisions regarding manuscripts submitted to the journal solely on the basis of scientific content, methodological adequacy, originality, relevance to the journal’s aims and scope, and publication ethics principles. The authors’ institution, nationality, gender, ethnic origin, personal characteristics, or academic position cannot influence editorial decisions. Editors are responsible for maintaining editorial independence, ensuring that the peer review process is conducted fairly and impartially, complying with the principle of confidentiality, managing conflicts of interest, and carefully evaluating possible ethical violations.

Research Ethics

The journal considers compliance with national legislation, international ethical standards, and relevant institutional regulations as a fundamental requirement in human and animal research. In studies involving human participants, ethics committee approval, informed voluntary consent, protection of personal data, confidentiality, and privacy principles must be observed. In animal experiments, animal welfare, prevention of unnecessary pain and distress, appropriate experimental design, and ethics committee approval are among the essential requirements.

Publication Malpractice and Ethical Violations

The journal does not accept publication malpractice such as plagiarism, self-plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, duplicate publication, salami publication, citation manipulation, inappropriate authorship practices, research conducted without ethics committee approval, and similar ethical violations. Cases involving suspected ethical violations are evaluated in accordance with COPE recommendations. When deemed necessary, authors may be requested to provide raw data, ethics committee documents, institutional permissions, clinical trial registrations, or institutional investigation reports.

Correction, Retraction, and Expression of Concern

If an error, omission, or ethical issue affecting the scientific content of a published article is identified, the journal carries out the necessary editorial procedures. In this context, corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern may be published when deemed appropriate. Correction, retraction, and expression of concern processes are conducted in accordance with COPE guidelines and international publishing standards.

Appeals and Complaints

Authors, reviewers, or readers may submit appeals and complaints regarding editorial decisions, the peer review process, or ethical evaluations to the editorial office together with their justifications. All applications submitted to the journal are evaluated fairly, impartially, confidentially, and transparently. The principles of editorial independence, academic integrity, and impartiality are taken as the basis in appeal and complaint processes.

Confidentiality

Manuscripts submitted to the journal, reviewer reports, editorial correspondence, and all information and documents related to the publication process are considered confidential. Editors, reviewers, and individuals involved in the publication process may use this information only for purposes required by the evaluation and publication process. The principle of confidentiality is maintained at all stages of manuscript evaluation.

Ethical Oversight

The journal reserves the right to request ethics committee documents, clinical trial registrations, financial support statements, data availability information, conflict of interest disclosures, and other supporting documents when necessary to protect publication ethics and research integrity. This approach is part of the journal’s responsibility to maintain scientific reliability, publication quality, and academic integrity.