The Karadeniz Journal of Economic Research (KARED) is committed to the production, evaluation, and dissemination of scientific knowledge in accordance with national and international ethical standards. The journal adopts an impartial, transparent, accountable, and quality-oriented publication policy and conducts all editorial and publication processes in line with internationally accepted principles of scholarly publishing.

KARED follows the principles, guidelines, and recommendations published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) throughout all stages of its publication processes. In addition, the journal complies with the national legislation governing research and publication ethics in higher education institutions as well as internationally recognized standards of academic publishing.

All manuscripts submitted to the journal are evaluated solely on the basis of their scientific merit. During the evaluation process, authors' academic titles, institutional affiliations, nationality, gender, ethnicity, religion, political views, or any other personal characteristics are not taken into consideration. Editors and reviewers conduct their evaluations exclusively on the basis of scientific quality, originality, and compliance with ethical principles.

KARED maintains a zero-tolerance policy against plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate publication, salami publication, inappropriate authorship, undisclosed conflicts of interest, and all other forms of research and publication misconduct. Any manuscript suspected of violating publication ethics is handled in accordance with the COPE guidelines. Where necessary, the evaluation process may be suspended, the manuscript rejected, or, in the case of published articles, a correction, retraction, or editorial notice may be issued.

By submitting a manuscript to KARED, authors declare that their work is original, has not been published previously, has not been accepted for publication elsewhere, and is not under consideration by another journal. Submission of the same manuscript to another journal before the completion of KARED's editorial and peer-review process is considered a breach of publication ethics.

The opinions and scientific findings expressed in articles published in the journal are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views or official positions of Karadeniz Technical University, the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, the Editor, the Editorial Board, or the Publisher.

KARED is committed to ensuring transparency, accountability, and academic integrity throughout all stages of the publication process and aims to provide an ethical, trustworthy, and internationally recognized scholarly publishing environment for authors, reviewers, and editors.

1. Review Process

All manuscripts submitted to KARED undergo an initial editorial assessment. During this stage, the Editor evaluates whether the manuscript falls within the journal's aims and scope, possesses sufficient scientific quality, complies with the journal's formatting requirements, conforms to ethical principles, and satisfies the basic submission requirements. Manuscripts that fail to meet these criteria may be returned to the authors for revision or rejected without being sent for peer review.

Manuscripts that successfully pass the initial editorial assessment are screened for plagiarism using the iThenticate similarity detection software. The Editor evaluates the similarity report not only in terms of the overall similarity percentage but also with regard to the scientific context and the appropriateness of citations and references. Manuscripts found to violate publication ethics are not considered for further evaluation.

Following the successful completion of the initial assessment and plagiarism screening, manuscripts are evaluated through a double-blind peer review process. Under this system, the identities of authors and reviewers remain anonymous to one another, thereby ensuring an impartial, independent, and objective review process.

Each manuscript is evaluated by at least two independent experts in the relevant field. If one reviewer recommends acceptance while the other recommends rejection, the manuscript is referred to a third reviewer. The final editorial decision is made by the Editor-in-Chief/Editorial Board after careful consideration of all reviewer reports.

Reviewers are expected to provide objective, constructive, and well-reasoned evaluations while maintaining strict confidentiality throughout the review process. When deemed necessary, the Editor may request additional reviews or appoint additional reviewers.

Authors are required to submit all requested revisions within the specified time frame. If the requested revisions are not completed satisfactorily or are not submitted within the prescribed period, the Editor reserves the right to terminate the evaluation process.

The average review period at KARED is approximately two months, although the actual duration may vary depending on the time required for peer review, revisions, and editorial evaluation.

Upon request, authors of manuscripts that have successfully completed the peer-review process and have been accepted for publication may be provided with a formal Letter of Acceptance signed by the Editor. A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is assigned to all accepted articles.

2. Manuscript Acceptance and Rejection Criteria

All manuscripts submitted to KARED are subject to editorial evaluation following the initial assessment, ethical screening, and peer-review process. Decisions regarding the acceptance or rejection of manuscripts are based solely on scientific merit. Authors' academic titles, institutional affiliations, gender, nationality, ethnicity, religion, or political views shall not influence editorial decisions in any way.

2.1. Acceptance Criteria

For a manuscript to be accepted for publication, it is expected to meet the following criteria:

• Be within the aims and scope of the journal;
• Make an original and significant contribution to its field;
• Be prepared in accordance with the principles of research and publication ethics;
• Employ a scientifically sound and appropriate research methodology;
• Present reliable, valid, and clearly reported findings;
• Draw conclusions that are consistent with the findings obtained;
• Be supported by an up-to-date and relevant literature review;
• Comply with the journal's author guidelines and formatting requirements;
• Be free from plagiarism and all other forms of publication misconduct;
• Receive favorable evaluations through the peer-review process.

2.2. Rejection Criteria

A manuscript may be rejected for any of the following reasons:

• It falls outside the aims and scope of the journal;
• It lacks originality or fails to make a meaningful scientific contribution;
• It employs an inadequate or scientifically unsound research methodology;
• It contains significant methodological deficiencies affecting the reliability of the findings;
• It does not comply with the journal's formatting requirements and the required revisions are not completed;
• The required ethics committee approval has not been obtained for studies requiring ethical approval;
• Plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate publication, salami publication, or any other form of publication misconduct is detected;
• It is not recommended for publication based on the peer reviewers' evaluations;
• The revisions requested by the Editor are not completed within a reasonable period.

The final decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of a manuscript is made by the Editor-in-Chief/Editorial Board, taking into account the reviewers' reports, the editorial evaluation, and the journal's publication policies.

3. Publication Ethics

KARED is committed to conducting scholarly publishing in accordance with the principles of integrity, transparency, impartiality, and accountability.

The journal follows the principles and guidelines published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) throughout its publication processes and applies COPE flowcharts and recommendations when handling allegations of publication misconduct.

The following practices are considered violations of publication ethics and are strictly prohibited:

• Plagiarism;
• Fabrication;
• Falsification;
• Duplicate publication;
• Salami publication;
• Inappropriate authorship;
• Citation without proper attribution;
• Failure to disclose conflicts of interest;
• Misuse of the peer-review process;
• Any other practices that violate the principles of research and publication ethics.

Any manuscript suspected of ethical misconduct is investigated by the Editor. Where deemed necessary, authors may be requested to provide explanations and supporting documentation. If an ethical violation is confirmed, the manuscript will be rejected. If the article has already been published, a correction, retraction, or editorial notice may be issued, as appropriate.

4. Ethics Committee Approval

Ethics committee approval is mandatory for studies involving human participants, experimental animals, or any other research requiring ethical approval under the applicable regulations.

The manuscript must clearly state:

• the name of the ethics committee;
• the date of the approval decision; and
• the ethics approval reference/decision number.

Where deemed necessary, the Editor may request authors to submit the official ethics committee approval document.

For studies that do not require ethics committee approval, the reason for the exemption must be clearly stated in the manuscript.

5. Informed Consent

For research involving human participants, authors must obtain informed consent from all participants prior to the commencement of the study.

If photographs, audio recordings, video recordings, or any other personally identifiable information are to be published, authors must obtain the explicit consent of the individuals concerned.

Authors are responsible for clearly stating in the manuscript that the necessary consents and permissions have been obtained.

6. Conflict of Interest and Funding Statement

Authors, editors, and reviewers are required to disclose any financial, institutional, professional, or personal conflicts of interest that could influence the evaluation or publication process.

Any funding, grant, project, institution, or organization that has financially or otherwise supported the research must be clearly acknowledged in the manuscript.

If no conflict of interest exists, authors should include the following statement:

"The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest."

7. Plagiarism Policy

KARED considers the protection of academic integrity to be one of its fundamental publishing principles.

All manuscripts submitted to the journal are screened for similarity using iThenticate plagiarism detection software before being sent for peer review.

The overall similarity percentage alone does not constitute the sole criterion for editorial evaluation. The Editor assesses:

• the source of the similarities;
• whether appropriate citation and attribution have been provided; and
• the manuscript's compliance with the principles of research and publication ethics.

If plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, or any other form of publication misconduct is identified, the manuscript will not proceed to peer review, or, where applicable, the evaluation process will be terminated.

8. Open Access Policy

The Karadeniz Journal of Economic Research (KARED) is committed to the principles of open access publishing, supporting the unrestricted dissemination of scientific knowledge. All articles published in the journal are freely available in full text immediately upon publication without subscription, membership, or any other access fee.

All articles published in KARED are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License. Under this license, users are free to copy, distribute, reproduce, adapt, and use the published material, including for commercial purposes, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original work, a link to the license is provided, and any modifications are clearly indicated.

KARED supports the broad dissemination of scientific knowledge and encourages unrestricted public access to research findings in accordance with the principles of open access publishing.

9. Copyright and License to Publish

Copyright of all manuscripts accepted for publication in KARED remains with the authors.

For a manuscript to be published, the corresponding author is required to complete and submit the License to Publish agreement to the journal. Where deemed necessary, the Editor may request the agreement to be signed by all authors.

By signing the License to Publish, the authors declare and warrant that:

• the manuscript is original;
• it does not infringe upon the copyright or other intellectual property rights of any third party;
• it has not been previously published and is not under consideration for publication by another journal; and
• they grant KARED permission to publish the manuscript.

All articles published in KARED are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License.

Under this license, published works may be copied, shared, reproduced, adapted, and used for commercial purposes, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original work, a link to the license is provided, and any modifications are clearly indicated.

The scientific opinions expressed in published articles, as well as all legal and ethical responsibilities arising from them, belong solely to the authors.

KARED does not pay royalties or any form of copyright remuneration to authors for published articles.

10. Publication Fee Policy

KARED is committed to the principle of diamond open access publishing, promoting equal opportunities in scholarly communication.

The journal does not charge any of the following fees:

• Submission fee;
• Manuscript evaluation fee;
• Peer-review fee;
• Editorial processing fee;
• Article Processing Charge (APC);
• Publication fee; or
• Any other similar charge.

Likewise, reviewers receive no financial compensation for their review services.

11. Confidentiality Policy

All manuscripts submitted to KARED are handled in strict confidence throughout the editorial and peer-review process.

All information and documents shared by authors, reviewers, and editors are used solely for the purposes of managing the publication process and shall not be disclosed to third parties.

Personal data stored in the journal's editorial system, including names, institutional affiliations, ORCID iDs, email addresses, and other personal information, are processed exclusively for editorial purposes and protected in accordance with the applicable data protection legislation.

12. Authors' Responsibilities

By submitting a manuscript to KARED, authors acknowledge and agree to the following responsibilities.

Originality

The submitted manuscript must be entirely original. All quotations, ideas, data, or other materials derived from previous works must be appropriately cited.

Simultaneous Submission

A manuscript must not be under consideration for publication by another journal at the time of submission.

Authorship

All listed authors must have made a substantial scholarly contribution to the research.

Individuals who have not made a significant academic contribution must not be listed as authors.

Data Accuracy

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of all data, analyses, and findings presented in the manuscript.

Where deemed necessary, the Editor may request access to the underlying research data.

Ethics Approval

For studies requiring ethics committee approval, authors must obtain the necessary approval before conducting the research.

Conflict of Interest

Authors must clearly disclose any potential conflicts of interest as well as all sources of financial support or funding in the manuscript.

Revisions

Authors are responsible for submitting all revisions requested by the Editor and reviewers within the specified time frame.

If a significant error or inaccuracy is discovered after publication, authors are required to notify the Editor without delay.

13. Editors' Responsibilities

The Editors of KARED conduct all editorial activities in accordance with the principles of impartiality, confidentiality, and academic integrity.

Editors shall:

• make publication decisions solely on the basis of scientific merit;
• treat all authors fairly and without discrimination;
• maintain the confidentiality of the editorial and peer-review process;
• manage actual or potential conflicts of interest appropriately;
• select reviewers according to their subject-matter expertise;
• evaluate allegations of publication misconduct in accordance with the COPE guidelines;
• publish corrections, retractions, or editorial notices whenever necessary; and
• ensure that the publication process is conducted fairly, transparently, and consistently.

Editors shall not participate in any editorial decision-making process from which they may derive personal benefit.

14. Reviewers' Responsibilities

Reviewers play a fundamental role in maintaining the quality and integrity of scholarly publishing.

Reviewers are expected to:

• accept review assignments only within their areas of expertise;
• conduct reviews objectively and impartially;
• maintain the confidentiality of all materials received for review;
• refrain from making personal or inappropriate comments;
• support their evaluations with objective scientific reasoning;
• decline review invitations where a conflict of interest exists; and
• promptly inform the Editor of any suspected ethical misconduct.

Reviewers must not use or disclose any confidential information or unpublished material obtained through the peer-review process for personal benefit or share it with third parties.

15. Conflict of Interest Policy

Authors, editors, and reviewers are required to disclose any financial, institutional, academic, professional, or personal conflicts of interest that could influence the evaluation or publication process.

Where a conflict of interest exists, the Editor shall take the necessary measures to ensure an impartial evaluation, including, where appropriate, assigning another editor or reviewer.

If no conflict of interest exists, authors are encouraged to include the following statement in their manuscript:

"The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest."

16. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

KARED supports the responsible, transparent, and ethical use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies in scholarly research and academic publishing.

Authors who have used AI-based tools (such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, or similar systems) during the preparation of their manuscripts are required to disclose such use appropriately within the manuscript.

AI tools:

• cannot be listed as authors;
• cannot hold copyright; and
• cannot assume responsibility for the accuracy, originality, or ethical integrity of the research.

Authors remain fully responsible for all scientific, legal, and ethical aspects of their manuscripts.

The use of AI tools for the following purposes is considered a violation of research and publication ethics:

• generating research data;
• manipulating or altering research findings;
• fabricating references; or
• creating misleading images, figures, or tables.

Where deemed necessary, the Editor may request additional information from the authors regarding the use of AI-assisted technologies during manuscript preparation.

17. Corrections, Retractions, and Editorial Notices Policy

KARED is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record by ensuring that errors or ethical violations identified after publication are addressed appropriately.

Correction

If a published article contains typographical, formatting, or technical errors that do not affect the scientific validity of the study, the necessary corrections may be published at the Editor's discretion.

Retraction

An article may be retracted under the following circumstances:

• plagiarism is identified;
• fabrication or falsification of data is detected;
• serious violations of publication ethics are confirmed;
• duplicate publication is established;
• the research findings are determined to be unreliable; or
• a court order or other legal requirement necessitates retraction.

Retracted articles are not removed from the journal archive. To preserve the integrity of the scholarly record, they remain publicly accessible and are clearly marked as "Retracted."

Editorial Notice (Expression of Concern)

If serious concerns regarding the ethical integrity of a published article arise but the investigation has not yet been completed, the Editor may publish an Expression of Concern, where appropriate.

All correction, retraction, and editorial notice procedures are conducted in accordance with the recommendations and guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

18. Appeals and Complaints Policy

KARED is committed to the principles of transparency and accountability throughout its editorial and publication processes.

Authors may submit reasoned appeals regarding:

• editorial decisions;
• peer-review reports; and
• ethical procedures.

All appeals are reconsidered by the Editor. Where appropriate, the manuscript may be assigned to a different Editor or additional reviewers for further evaluation.

Appeals concerning peer-review reports are expected to be supported by objective scientific justification.

Complaints concerning publication ethics, editorial procedures, or publication practices may be submitted to the Editor in writing.

All appeals and complaints are handled confidentially and resolved as promptly as possible.

19. Data Sharing Policy

KARED supports research transparency and the reproducibility of scientific findings.

Authors are encouraged, whenever possible, to preserve and make available:

• research data;
• analysis codes;
• survey instruments; and
• supplementary materials

through trusted data repositories, where appropriate.

Where deemed necessary, the Editor may request access to the underlying research data.

This policy does not apply to personal data, confidential commercial information, or materials subject to legal or contractual restrictions.

20. Archiving and Preservation Policy

All articles published in KARED remain continuously accessible in electronic format.

The journal's digital archiving processes are managed through the DergiPark infrastructure, with the aim of ensuring the long-term preservation of published content and maintaining its accessibility.

Within this framework, content published in KARED is archived for long-term digital preservation through the open-source LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) system, which enables libraries to create permanent and secure digital archives. The LOCKSS archiving manifest for the journal's content is accessible through DergiPark.

KARED supports the permanent accessibility of its published articles in accordance with its open access principles.

Authors may share their published articles on personal websites, institutional repositories, and open access databases without any embargo period, provided that appropriate attribution is given and a link to the article's DOI or the article's publication page on the journal's website is provided.

21. Publication Frequency

KARED is an international peer-reviewed academic journal published biannually, with two issues released each year in July and December since 2020.

Manuscript submissions are accepted throughout the year.

The journal does not issue calls for papers for specific issues. Accepted manuscripts are scheduled for publication in the appropriate issue according to the journal's editorial planning and production schedule.

22. Anti-Abuse Policy

Karadeniz Journal of Economic Research is committed to preventing all forms of publication abuse. The Journal does not tolerate plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, citation manipulation, peer-review manipulation, inappropriate authorship practices, paper mill submissions, duplicate publication, or any other form of publication misconduct. Allegations of misconduct are handled in accordance with the COPE Core Practices and relevant COPE guidelines. Where misconduct is confirmed, the Journal may reject the manuscript, retract the publication, publish corrections or editorial notices, and notify relevant institutions where appropriate.

23. Contact

Any questions, comments, or requests regarding the journal's publication policies, ethical principles, or editorial and peer-review processes may be directed to the Editorial Office at:

E-mail: iibf@ktu.edu.tr