The Karamanoglu Mehmetbey University Journal of Engineering and Natural Sciences (KMUJENS) requires authors, readers, researchers, the publisher, reviewers, and editors to observe ethical rules throughout the publication process. All parties must comply with the rules and responsibilities set out below, which are based on the publication ethics guidelines issued by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
In this text, "manuscript" refers to any work submitted to the journal, and "Editorial Board" refers to the board that conducts the publication processes of the journal.
1. ACTIONS CONTRARY TO SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION ETHICS
Under the YÖK Directive on Scientific Research and Publication Ethics, the following actions constitute ethical misconduct.
a) Plagiarism: Presenting the ideas, methods, data, practices, writings, figures, or works of others as one's own, in whole or in part, without citation in accordance with scientific ethical rules.
b) Fabrication: Producing data not based on research; arranging or altering a submitted or published work by basing it on data that are not genuine; reporting or publishing such data; presenting research that was never conducted as though it had been.
c) Falsification: Distorting research records and the data obtained; presenting methods, devices and materials not used in the research as though they had been used; disregarding data that do not fit the research hypothesis; manipulating data or results to fit the relevant theory or assumptions; distorting or shaping research results in line with the interests of the persons or institutions providing support.
d) Duplicate publication: Presenting more than one work containing the same results of a single piece of research as separate works.
e) Salami slicing: Dividing the results of a single piece of research into parts in an inappropriate manner that breaks the integrity of the research, and producing multiple publications without cross-citation.
f) Unfair authorship: Adding persons who have made no active contribution to the list of authors; omitting persons who have made an active contribution; changing the order of authors without justification and in an inappropriate manner; removing the names of contributors from the work at the time of publication or in subsequent editions; having one's name included among the authors by using influence, despite having made no active contribution.
g) Other forms of ethical misconduct: Failing to state clearly the persons, institutions or organizations that provided support for the research and the nature of their contribution; failing to observe ethical rules in research conducted on humans and animals; failing to respect patient rights in publications; sharing information contained in a work assigned for review before that work is published; using resources, premises, facilities and equipment provided for scientific research for purposes other than those intended; making an unfounded, unwarranted and deliberate allegation of ethical misconduct.
2. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PARTIES
a) Responsibilities of the editors
The editor and the associate editors of KMUJENS carry out the duties and responsibilities set out below on the basis of the COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors, published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
The editors are responsible for every manuscript published in KMUJENS.
The authority to accept or reject a manuscript rests with the editors, who exercise this authority without undue delay.
The editors may not have a conflict of interest in relation to the manuscripts they accept or reject.
The editors accept manuscripts that are original and contribute to their field, and reject, without regard to any external influence, incomplete or flawed manuscripts that do not meet the policy, publication rules and scholarly standard of the journal.
The editors allow incorrect, incomplete or problematic manuscripts to be withdrawn before or after the reviewer reports, or to be published once corrected.
The editors see that manuscripts assessed by at least two reviewers are examined under a double-blind peer review system and keep the identities of authors and reviewers confidential from one another.
The editors conduct their work without compromising intellectual property rights or ethical standards.
The editors conduct similarity screening of submitted manuscripts in accordance with Section 3.
The editors consider the knowledge, skills, and experience required by readers, researchers, and practitioners, and ensure that published issues are original and beneficial to these groups.
The editors inform Editorial Board members about publication policies and guidelines, interact with them regularly, and ensure that members assess manuscripts independently.
The editors direct manuscripts to the Editorial Board members and reviewers whose expertise matches the subject of the manuscript.
The editors contribute to the appointment of new Editorial Board members.
The relationship between the editors and the publisher rests on the principle of editorial independence. Under the written agreement between the editors and the publisher, all decisions of the editors are independent of the publisher and of the owner of the journal.
The editor and the associate editors may not publish more than four (4) of their own works in KMUJENS.
b) Responsibilities of the Authors
Manuscripts submitted by authors are expected to be original. Where use is made of other works, complete and accurate citation is required.
Persons who have made no intellectual contribution to the content of the manuscript may not be listed as authors.
Any circumstances and relationships that may give rise to a conflict of interest must be stated explicitly in manuscripts submitted for publication.
Authors may be asked to provide the raw data relating to the manuscript during the review process. Authors must be prepared to submit such data to the Editorial Board.
Authors must hold the rights to use the data employed and the permissions required for the research and analyses or must provide documentation showing that participant consent was obtained.
Where authors become aware of an error in a manuscript of theirs that has been published or is under review, they inform the editors or the publisher and cooperate with the editors in the correction or retraction procedure.
A manuscript may not be under consideration at more than one journal at the same time; a new submission may be made only after the previous one has been concluded. A work that has already been published in another journal may not be submitted to the journal.
No change of authorship (adding an author, changing the order of authors, removing an author) may be proposed for a manuscript whose review process has begun.
c) Responsibilities of the Reviewers
Reviewers conduct their assessments impartially.
There may be no conflict of interest between reviewers and the authors of the manuscript they assess.
Reviewers state in their reports any missing sources and citations in the manuscript.
Reviewers keep the content of the manuscript they assess confidential and may not share it with third parties.
Under the double-blind peer review system, authors' and reviewers' identities are not disclosed to one another.
3. PLAGIARISM POLICY
Since August 2020, KMUJENS has screened manuscripts submitted for publication using plagiarism-detection software (Turnitin, iThenticate, or İntihal.net). Manuscripts with a similarity rate above 25% are not taken into evaluation and are returned to the author. If a manuscript published in the journal is found to contain plagiarism, the Editorial Board retracts the manuscript and initiates the necessary proceedings.
4. PROTECTION OF PERSONAL DATA
The editors observe the protection of personal data relating to the persons and the images included in the manuscript under evaluation.
5. ETHICS COMMITTEE, HUMAN AND ANIMAL RIGHTS
The editors observe the protection of human and animal rights in the manuscripts under evaluation. The editors reject manuscripts that lack the ethics committee approval required for the study or, in the case of experimental research, the required permissions. In studies requiring ethics committee approval, the details of the approval (name of the committee, date, and decision number) are stated in the methods section and also on the first or last page of the manuscript. In case reports, the manuscript states that an informed consent form was signed.
6. PREVENTION OF MISCONDUCT
The editors take precautions against potential misconduct. In identifying and assessing complaints of this kind, the editors conduct an objective investigation and share the findings with the competent authorities.
7. INTEGRITY OF ACADEMIC PUBLICATION
The editors provide for the prompt correction of errors, inconsistencies and misleading statements that come to light in published manuscripts.
8. PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
The editors take the measures required to protect the intellectual property rights of published manuscripts, defend the rights of the journal and the authors in the event of infringement, and ensure that published manuscripts do not infringe the intellectual property rights of other publications.
9. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM AND OPENNESS TO DISCUSSION
The editors consider criticism directed at manuscripts published in the journal and adopt a constructive attitude in line with the journal's aim and scope. Authors of criticized manuscripts have the right of reply.
10. COMPLAINTS
The editors review complaints and respond to authors, reviewers or readers in an explanatory manner. Readers and research stakeholders may report any plagiarism, duplicate publication, inaccuracy, or suspicious content they observe in manuscripts published in the journal to fbeditor@kmu.edu.tr. The editorial board shares the investigation findings with the involved parties and follows up closely on the necessary actions.
11. POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL CONCERNS
Neither the owner nor the publisher of the journal, nor any other political or commercial actor, may influence the independent decisions of the editors.
12. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
The editors assure authors and reviewers that the publication process is conducted independently and impartially.
13. CERTIFICATES OF CONTRIBUTION
Editors, authors, and reviewers who contribute to the journal may request a certificate attesting to their contribution.
KMUJENS PUBLICATION POLICY AND PUBLICATION PROCESS
1. Section policies of the journal
The journal publishes research articles, review articles, short articles, technical notes, case reports, and scientific letters to the editor.
2. Open access policy
KMUJENS provides open access so that its content remains permanently and freely available. All manuscripts published in the journal are openly accessible at https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/mdfbe/archive. They are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0); commercial use of the content falls outside the scope of the license. Manuscripts may be used provided that the author and the original source are cited.
3. Fee policy
KMUJENS charges no fee at any stage of submission, evaluation, or publication. Authors pay no article processing charge for the manuscripts they submit to the journal.
4. Evaluation process
KMUJENS is published twice a year electronically, in June and December. Manuscripts are published together in an issue with its own table of contents.
a) Manuscripts are prepared in accordance with the KMUJENS author guidelines and uploaded to the journal system by the corresponding author.
b) The associate editors examine the submitted manuscript in terms of format and forward it to the editor (2 to 5 days).
c) A manuscript examined by the editor and found suitable for evaluation is sent, according to its subject, to at least two (2) reviewers from the relevant field (5 to 10 days).
d) If the reviewers disagree, the manuscript is sent to a third reviewer. If more than two reviewers have been consulted, the majority view prevails.
e) Authors are informed within one month at the latest after the reviewer reports have been completed.
f) Manuscripts for which revision is requested must be revised in accordance with the reports and returned within one month at the latest.
g) Manuscripts that receive acceptance from the reviewers are published in the following issue upon the approval of the editor.
h) The publication decision process is concluded within an average of 2 to 4 months from the submission of a manuscript to the journal.