Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The Journal of Tourism Theory and Research (JTTR) is committed to fostering a publication culture that is ethically responsible, intellectually rigorous, and globally respectful. JTTR's editorial practices adhere to internationally accepted standards and are grounded in transparency, fairness, and scholarly integrity.

Ethics and Policies
JTTR fosters a research environment characterized by mutual respect, academic freedom, and intellectual honesty. JTTR adheres to the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines and expects all parties—authors, reviewers, editors, and readers—to uphold the highest standards of scholarly conduct throughout the publication cycle.

In alignment with COPE (https://publicationethics.org/), the Journal of Tourism Theory and Research:

• Adopts COPE’s Core Practices and utilizes its support tools and case archive,
• Implements transparent authorship and contributorship policies (e.g., CRediT, ORCID),
• Uses explicit peer review models and communicates reviewer ethics,
• Defines clear workflows for handling allegations of misconduct, corrections, and retractions,
• Safeguards editorial decisions against commercial or other undue influences,
• Promotes ethical citation practices and avoids manipulation,
• Leverages COPE’s flowcharts, guidelines, and training tools to inform policies and educate the editorial team.

Ethics in Publishing
Plagiarism, data fabrication, salami slicing, and any form of unethical academic behavior are not tolerated. All manuscripts are screened using similarity detection tools. Authors must ensure their work is original and properly acknowledges the contributions of others through accurate citation and referencing practices.

Submission Declaration
By submitting a manuscript to JTTR, authors declare that:
- The work is entirely original and has not been previously published or submitted elsewhere.
- Any overlapping material is transparently disclosed and justified.
- All co-authors have approved the final version and consented to its submission.

Authorship
Authorship must reflect substantial contributions to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the research. JTTR discourages honorary, guest, or ghost authorship. Individuals who provided auxiliary support (e.g., editing, translation, data entry) should be acknowledged but not listed as authors.

Changes to Authorship
Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors must be submitted before acceptance and accompanied by:
- A formal justification for the change,
- Signed consent from all original and proposed authors,
- Editorial board approval.
Post-publication authorship changes will only be considered in exceptional circumstances and must comply with COPE recommendations.

Declaration of Competing Interests
All authors are required to disclose any relationships—financial, institutional, personal, or ideological—that could be perceived as influencing their work. Where no conflicts exist, the manuscript should state: “The authors declare no competing interests.”

Funding Sources
Authors must clearly indicate all sources of financial support, including grant numbers, funding institutions, or sponsorship arrangements. If the research received no specific funding, this should also be declared.

Preprints
JTTR accepts submissions of manuscripts that have been previously posted on reputable preprint platforms (e.g., SSRN, arXiv). Authors must disclose any such postings at the time of submission and ensure that the preprint version is appropriately cited within the manuscript.

Use of Inclusive Language
JTTR values inclusive scholarship. Authors are expected to use language that is free from bias, stereotypes, and discriminatory assumptions related to race, gender, ability, nationality, or culture. When applicable, terminology should reflect respect for local communities and the identities of the subjects.

Reporting Sex- and Gender-Based Analyses
Where research involves human participants, data should be analyzed and reported with attention to sex and gender dimensions where relevant. Authors should justify the absence of such analysis if not included.

Jurisdictional Claims
Maps, institutional affiliations, and geographical references should be presented neutrally and in accordance with internationally recognized designations. JTTR maintains a non-political stance and does not endorse any jurisdictional claims made by authors.

Ethics Committee Approval Form
By national and international research ethics standards, and in line with the requirements of TR Dizin, the JTTR requires authors to obtain and declare Ethics Committee Approval for any research involving:
- Human participants (e.g., surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations),
- Use of personal data or archival material not publicly available,
- Institutional documents involving third-party rights or confidentiality,
- Animals or biological materials.

Authors must clearly indicate in the manuscript (typically within the methodology or acknowledgments section):
- The name of the ethics committee,
- Approval number/document ID,
- Date of approval,
- A statement confirming that the study adhered to ethical research practices.

If Ethics Committee Approval is not required (e.g., theoretical papers, publicly available secondary data, literature reviews), the authors must include a statement such as:

“This study does not require ethics committee approval as it does not involve human participants, animals, or sensitive data, in accordance with the guidelines of the Journal of Tourism Theory and Research.”

Authors are solely responsible for the accuracy and completeness of ethical declarations and for ensuring compliance with national laws and institutional policies.