The Journal of Academic Tourism Analysis (Journal ATA) adopts universal scientific and publishing ethics standards, including the RESPECT Guidelines for Socio-Economic Research in the EU, the “Best Practices in Academic Publishing and Transparency” and the “Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers” established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Additionally, our journal complies with the Higher Education Institutions Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Guidelines. Based on these principles and rules, specific responsibilities and guidelines have been established for the parties involved in our publication processes. These responsibilities are detailed under the headings “Journal Roles and Responsibilities,” “Editor Roles and Responsibilities,” “Reviewer Roles and Responsibilities,” and “Author Roles and Responsibilities.”

• Transparency: The journal commits to ensuring transparency throughout all publishing processes.
• Neutrality: The journal commits to managing published content independently from conflicts of interest and ensuring that editors make decisions in an unbiased environment.
• Protection of Freedom of Expression: The journal commits to respecting the freedom of expression of both authors and reviewers and avoiding censorship.
• Access to Published Content: The journal commits to using appropriate archiving systems to ensure long-term access to published content and making these resources accessible to the academic community.
• Confidentiality and Data Protection: The journal commits to protecting the confidentiality of authors, reviewers, and participants, and to securely storing their data.
• Plagiarism and Publication Ethics Violations: The journal adopts a zero-tolerance policy toward plagiarism, data fabrication, and other ethical violations and commits to taking necessary actions upon detecting such violations.
• Artificial Intelligence Use: The journal monitors the use of artificial intelligence and permits its use only for appropriate purposes, including translation, text labeling, visual labeling, data quality assessment, language control, error detection, bias detection, and data analysis (using models trained by the authors). The journal does not accept any AI usage beyond these approved applications. The journal reserves the right to reject manuscripts if AI usage does not comply with ethical standards.
• Correction of Publication Errors: The journal commits to clearly addressing any errors in published articles, including corrections or retractions, as required.

• Transparency and Neutrality: Editors should act in accordance with the principles of transparency and neutrality in publishing. They should clearly define the roles of authors and reviewers and manage potential conflicts of interest effectively.
• Conflict of Interest Management: Editors must take care to prevent conflicts of interest in the publishing process. They should identify and manage potential conflicts between authors and reviewers. If a conflict exists, editors should isolate it appropriately and make objective decisions.
• Protection of Freedom of Expression: Editors must respect the freedom of expression of authors and reviewers, avoiding censorship. The work of authors should be evaluated solely based on scientific and academic merit.
• Confidentiality and Anonymity: Editors must protect the confidentiality of authors, reviewers, and participants. Anonymity should be maintained in the review process, and all research data should be securely stored.
• Ethical Approval and Informed Consent: Editors must ensure that submitted articles have received approval from ethics committees. Informed consent must be obtained from individuals participating in the research, and these consents should be documented in the article.
• Research Integrity: Editors should verify the accuracy of research data in the articles to be published and ensure that researchers have collected and reported data truthfully. Misleading information should not be allowed.
• Social Responsibility: Editors must ensure that the published content benefits society and that the social responsibility of the research is taken into account.
• Correction of Publication Errors: If errors are identified in published articles, editors must initiate correction or retraction processes and carry them out transparently.
• Application of Ethical Principles: Editors must ensure compliance with the journal’s ethical principles and publication policies. It is the editor’s responsibility to ensure that published content adheres to ethical guidelines.
• Plagiarism and Publication Ethics Violations: Editors must address any instances of plagiarism, data fabrication, or other ethical violations, taking appropriate actions. Necessary procedures should be followed when ethical violations are reported.
• Monitoring Artificial Intelligence Usage: Editors must ensure that the journal's ethical standards regarding artificial intelligence usage are properly followed. They should carefully review any suspicious cases of inappropriate AI use in submitted articles and request authors to explain how and for what purposes AI was used.
• Adherence to Authorship Policies: Editors must ensure that the journal’s authorship policies are adhered to. If issues such as authorship disputes or ghostwriting are identified, the editor must intervene according to the journal’s policies. Any suspicious authorship issues must be investigated, and necessary adjustments should be made.
• Authorship and Contribution Statement: Editors should ensure that authors provide an accurate statement of their contributions to the article, requesting that authors clarify their specific contributions to the work.
• Timely Decision Making: Editors must make decisions regarding articles (acceptance, revision, rejection) within a reasonable time frame and in accordance with the journal’s policies. Timely feedback should be provided to authors and reviewers.
• Monitoring the Revision Process: It is the editor’s responsibility to ensure that revisions required for articles are made in a timely manner by authors. Editors should closely monitor this process and review the necessary adjustments.

• Accepting or Rejecting Review Invitations: Reviewers should evaluate whether the manuscript aligns with their area of expertise before accepting the review. If they do not have sufficient knowledge or expertise, they should decline the review. If they cannot contribute to the evaluation process or complete it on time, they should inform the editor as soon as possible and decline the review.
• Content of the Review Report: Reports should be clear, structured, and well-justified. Reviewers should use a constructive and developmental language when providing criticism, ensuring that feedback points out areas where authors can make improvements.
• Qualified Evaluation: Reviewers should evaluate only within their area of expertise. They should focus on the scientific quality of the research and point out its strengths and weaknesses.
• Timely Feedback: Reviewers should complete the evaluation process within the specified time frame. If there is a delay, they should inform the editor.
• Multiple Evaluations and Conflicting Roles: Reviewers who have previously evaluated a version of the same manuscript in another journal should inform the current journal and should not accept the review unless explicitly permitted.
• Objectivity: Reviewers should provide an impartial evaluation, free from personal bias.
• Constructive Feedback: Comments should be constructive and help authors improve their work, avoiding personal criticism.
• Improving the Quality of the Manuscript: Reviewers should not only evaluate the scientific accuracy of the manuscript but also inform authors about writing issues, logical errors, and omissions. Reviewers' suggestions should help improve the quality of the manuscript.
• Identification of AI Usage: Reviewers should report to the editor if they notice any inappropriate use of artificial intelligence in the manuscript. They should also check whether the AI techniques used in the manuscript are transparently and correctly stated.
• Language and Cultural Sensitivity: Reviewers should respect cultural and linguistic diversity, avoid biased comments toward authors, and use constructive language that pays attention to cultural sensitivities.
• Confidentiality: Information from the evaluation process should not be used for personal gain or shared. Information obtained during the review process should not be shared with others or used in the reviewer's own research.
• Avoiding Conflicts of Interest: Reviewers should not accept a review if there is a conflict of interest (e.g., personal or professional relationships with the authors).
• Sensitivity to Plagiarism and Misleading Information: If reviewers identify data fabrication, manipulation, or unethical conduct in a manuscript, they should report it to the editor immediately.
• Reporting Doubts about Authorship: Reviewers are obligated to report any concerns regarding the authorship process of the manuscript. If they detect any issues related to guest authorship or ghostwriting, they must inform the editor.
• Improvement: It is important for reviewers to stay updated on research methodologies, ethical standards, and new developments to perform their role effectively in the evaluation process.
• Contributing to Publication Ethics: Reviewers are expected to actively contribute to maintaining the journal’s publication ethics. This ensures the dissemination of reliable and valid information within the academic community. Journal ATA encourages reviewers to act honestly, ethically, constructively, and within the framework of confidentiality.

• Research Integrity and Accuracy: Authors must collect, analyze, and report all data accurately and honestly. They should avoid presenting misleading or manipulated data.
• Identifying the Target Audience: Authors should use clear, understandable, and readable language to ensure that their work is accessible not only to the academic community but also to the intended audience.
• Plagiarism and Citation: Authors must properly cite sources when referencing others’ works and avoid plagiarism. Ideas or data from other research must be used with proper attribution. It is the author’s responsibility to verify the validity and reliability of the sources.
• Intellectual Property Rights: Authors must comply with all legal regulations concerning intellectual property rights. The work should not infringe upon anyone’s copyright, and authors must obtain all necessary permissions.
• Research Participants' Safety: If human subjects are involved, the author must take all necessary precautions to protect their safety and rights. If animal subjects are involved, ethical guidelines must be followed.
• Ethical Approval and Informed Consent: Authors must obtain ethical approval from relevant committees and ensure that informed consent has been acquired from all research participants. These consents must be clearly stated in the article.
• Detection of Data Manipulation: Authors must report any fraudulent activities (such as plagiarism, data fabrication, or manipulation) to the journal and provide explanations. Authors are also responsible for identifying ethical violations.
• Disclosure of Artificial Intelligence Usage: Authors should clearly indicate any data, analyses, or written content derived from artificial intelligence. AI-generated content should be properly cited, and if AI was used for research data, text writing, or analysis, this should be disclosed to the journal.
• Responsibility for AI-Generated Content: Authors must evaluate whether the content provided by AI is ethically sound and reliable. They must ensure that the AI-generated data is accurate, trustworthy, and suitable for the research.
• Responsibility for Published Content: Authors bear full responsibility for the content of the published article and must continuously ensure that the work adheres to academic and ethical standards.
• Social Responsibility of Research Findings: Authors should ensure that the results of their research contribute positively to society and consider their social responsibilities.
• Innovation and Contribution to the Field: Authors should clearly state the contribution of their research to the literature, demonstrating its originality and innovation. The work must be clearly differentiated from previously published studies.
• Data Access and Sharing: Authors should securely store research data and provide open access to it when necessary. Proper data management systems should be used to ensure that others can verify the data.
• Declaration of Conflicts of Interest: Authors must disclose any financial, professional, or personal conflicts of interest related to their work. Transparency in declaring potential conflicts of interest is essential.
• Author Contributions: Authors must accurately report the contributions of all individuals involved in the work, clearly defining each author’s role. The order of authorship should reflect the level of contribution, and authors should adopt a fair and transparent approach. Authors should not include individuals who did not contribute significantly to the work.
• Permissions from Other Authors: Authors must obtain full consent from all other contributors regarding the publication and submission of the content. Authors should respect the contributions of others and act in agreement with them.
• Authorship Waiver: In the case of articles based on master's or doctoral theses, the student and advisor (and secondary advisor, if applicable) are considered the primary authors. If the student wishes to prepare a single-author article based on the thesis, they must submit a "Waiver of Authorship" from the advisor along with the article. Similarly, if the thesis advisor wishes to prepare a single-author article, a "Waiver of Authorship" from the student must be submitted. If authors wish to withdraw from authorship before publication, this must be clearly stated, and agreement with all involved parties (other authors and editors) must be obtained. No new authors can be added in place of the withdrawn author.
• Article Process and Timeline: Authors must contribute to the article’s evaluation process on time. All revision requests should be responded to after submission, and authors should adhere to the provided timeline.
• Article Withdrawal and Correction: If authors discover an error in a published article, they should inform the journal and make the necessary corrections. If the article needs to be retracted, the proper procedures should be followed.
• Avoiding Duplicate Publication and Submission: Authors should avoid submitting the same work to multiple journals simultaneously. If a work has been published elsewhere, the author must inform the journal and follow the appropriate procedure.

• Journal Definition and Frequency: The Journal of Academic Tourism Analysis (Journal ATA) is a peer-reviewed, international scientific journal published bi-annually. The journal is available in both English and Turkish and is accessible through the TÜBİTAK ULAKBİM DergiPark system: Journal ATA.
• Open Access: The journal follows an open-access policy, promoting the dissemination of knowledge to the academic community and researchers. All articles are freely available without requiring user registration.
• Fees: All articles are published openly and accessible to everyone without any fees. The journal does not charge authors any submission or publication fees, and it also does not pay any fees to authors.
• Ethical Guidelines: Journal ATA adheres to universal scientific and publishing ethics standards. Every phase of the publication process, from submission to publication, is based on academic integrity, transparency, originality, and impartiality. The journal enforces a zero-tolerance policy towards plagiarism, data fabrication, ethical violations, and authorship manipulation. Furthermore, it publishes using a double-blind peer review system, ensuring the transparent and reliable dissemination of scientific knowledge.
• Participant Confidentiality: Confidentiality of participants must be strictly maintained in submitted studies. In cases where participants' identities are identifiable, informed consent must be obtained for publication, or information must be anonymized. The manuscript must explicitly state whether informed consent was obtained or if data was anonymized.
• Ethical Approval and Participant Consent: For research involving humans or animals, ethical committee approval is mandatory. Studies without participant consent or ethical committee approval will not be considered for review.
• Licensing: Journal ATA is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). This license allows the sharing, reproduction, and adaptation of the work for non-commercial purposes, provided the original work is appropriately attributed. Authors retain all commercial rights to their published articles.
• Manuscript Acceptance and Process: Journal ATA uses a double-blind peer review system. Manuscripts are first reviewed by editors for preliminary evaluation, and then sent to two or more independent reviewers who are experts in the relevant subject. Authors and reviewers are kept anonymous to each other. Reviewers assess the manuscripts anonymously, focusing rigorously on content and methodology. Authors are required to make necessary revisions based on the reviewers' comments. At least two reviewers must give a "publishable" decision for the manuscript to be accepted for publication. The timelines at each stage of this process are strictly followed in accordance with the principles of transparency and continuity: Timelines.
• Plagiarism and Similarity Checks: All submitted manuscripts are checked for plagiarism and similarity. Articles with detected plagiarism may be revised or rejected, depending on the severity. If plagiarism or ethical violations are identified in published articles, the paper may be retracted and publicly announced.
• Role of Reviewers: Reviewers evaluate manuscripts based on scientific, methodological, and ethical standards. Reviewers must act impartially and avoid conflicts of interest. They also ensure the originality of the work and assess ethical issues, including plagiarism and data manipulation. The identities of the reviewers are kept anonymous by both the authors and other reviewers.
• Conflict of Interest and Impartiality: The journal is strictly committed to the principles of impartiality and confidentiality. To avoid violating the principle of impartiality in the selection of reviewers, reviewers are not chosen from the same institution as the authors or from individuals with whom they have recently collaborated. If a member of the journal staff or their colleagues or relatives submits an article to the journal, they will not participate in any phase of the article's review process to ensure confidentiality, impartiality, and prevent conflicts of interest.
• Data Sharing and Research Transparency: The journal encourages the open sharing of data, when applicable. Authors may be requested to provide open-access links to research data, code, and materials used in their studies.
• Authorship and Contribution Declaration: The journal accepts only manuscripts submitted by the actual authors of the work. A contribution statement detailing each author's role is required. Ghost authorship or guest authorship is strictly prohibited, and such practices, if identified, will lead to article rejection.
• Corresponding Author and Author Changes: Changes to the author list must be made with written approval from all authors, and under normal circumstances, no changes can be made after article acceptance. The corresponding author is responsible for managing communication and the review process.
• Article Rejection and Withdrawal Process: Articles may be rejected following the peer review process. Authors must accept the rejection decision. Additionally, authors may request to withdraw their article, but if the evaluation process has started, such a request will only be accepted with the editor's approval.
• Updates to Published Articles: The journal evaluates requests for corrections, retractions, or error rectifications in published articles. Such requests are handled in line with the journal's transparency and accuracy policies and are subject to peer review and editor decisions.
• Artificial Intelligence Use: The journal only allows certain levels of AI use. These areas are translation, text tagging, image tagging, data protection, language control, error/inconsistency differences, difference differences, and data analysis (using models trained by the authors). Artificial intelligence use outside of these areas is strictly prohibited and related articles will not be published. The journal monitors compliance with this policy and if inappropriate uses are detected, the article will be rejected.
• Scope and Special Issues: The journal promotes innovative and original research on topics such as sustainable tourism, sustainable gastronomy, tourism-environment relationships, and interdisciplinary studies. The journal accepts articles for special issues based on predefined topics, which must align with the journal's general themes and publication policies.