Anadolu University Journal of Communication Sciences Faculty (Kurgu) acts in accordance with national and international ethical standards in its publication processes. The journal adopts the principles of transparency, honesty and impartiality in the field of scientific publishing, and in line with these principles, it has adopted the Ethical Toolkit for Successful Editorial Work - known as COPE Core Practices - determined by the Committee on Publication Ethics - COPE for short.
1. Ethical Responsibilities of Authors
Authors are obliged to submit only original and previously unpublished works to our journal. They undertake that the submitted work has not been evaluated or published in another journal. All sources used in the manuscript must be cited correctly and completely. When ideas, methods, data or expressions belonging to others are used without citation, this is considered plagiarism and constitutes an offence. Authors are responsible for ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the data used in their work and should submit these data to the editorial board when necessary. If there is any potential conflict of interest in the submitted article, this should be clearly stated. Authors should contribute to the process of withdrawal or correction of the article by notifying the editor of the journal if they notice a significant error or inaccuracy in the study after publication. Changes in the author list of a manuscript under review (adding, removing, or changing the order of authors) can only be made with written approval and justification.
2. Ethical Responsibilities of Editors
The editors adopt a fair, impartial and confidential approach in the evaluation process of each submitted manuscript. A ‘blind refereeing’ system is applied during the evaluation process of the manuscripts and the identities of the referee and the author are kept confidential from each other. Editors have the right to reject manuscripts that do not comply with the journal's policies and scientific qualifications without taking them to the referee process. In addition, when ethical violations are suspected, they are responsible for conducting the necessary investigations and taking appropriate steps in line with the guidelines of COPE. In case of possible conflicts of interest, the editors withdraw from the evaluation process and ensure that the relevant study is evaluated by independent reviewers. In case of detection of ethical violations such as plagiarism, self-plagiarism, slicing, data fabrication, distortion, and unfair authorship, necessary procedures-applications are initiated in cooperation with the journal management and relevant institutions (see the Higher Education Council's Directive on Scientific Research and Publication Ethics of Higher Education Institutions, https://www.yok.gov.tr/Sayfalar/Kurumsal/mevzuat/bilimsel-arastirma-ve-etik-yonetmeligi.aspx).
3. Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers
Referees are obliged to evaluate the submitted manuscripts in an impartial, scientific and objective manner. Evaluations should focus on the scientific contribution and methodology of the study, and personal opinions should not influence the evaluation. Reviewers are obliged to inform the editor about any plagiarism, data falsification or ethical violations detected during the evaluation. The information provided during the evaluation process is kept confidential and not shared with third parties. Reviewers cannot use any information about the studies they evaluate for other purposes. Reviewers are obliged to complete the evaluation task they have accepted within the specified deadlines and should inform the editor if they have to extend the deadline.
4. Ethical Responsibilities of the Publisher
Anadolu University Journal of the Faculty of Communication Sciences (Kurgu) takes necessary precautions against plagiarism and ethical violations in published articles and initiates relevant legal processes in such cases. The journal manages an impartial and scientific publication process by protecting the independence of editors and referees. The publisher protects the intellectual property rights of published articles and provides access to scientific information within the framework of open access policy.
5. Plagiarism and Other Ethical Violations
Plagiarism is defined as using another person's ideas, methods, data or expressions without citing the source and is a serious ethical violation. Such violations constitute an offence under the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works of the Republic of Turkey. Fabricating data, producing data that is not based on research, distorting data, and falsifying research records are absolutely not accepted by our journal. In case of detection of such cases, necessary legal proceedings are initiated against the relevant author or authors and the publication of the study is suspended. Unfair authorship is defined as adding people who do not actively contribute to the author list or not including contributors in the author list. In case of detection of such violations, our journal removes the article from the evaluation process and contacts the relevant institutions.
6. Ethics Committee Permission and Research Ethics
Ethics committee approval is mandatory for research on humans or animals. For studies that require ethics committee approval, information about the approval (name of the committee, date and number of the committee) should be stated in the method section and at the end of the article. For studies that do not require ethics committee approval, authors are obliged to indicate this with a statement. For studies in which data are collected from participants (questionnaires, interviews, focus group studies, etc.), informed consent must be obtained and the confidentiality rights of the participants must be protected. Within the scope of the personal data protection law, the identity and private information of the participants are secured.
7. Notification and Processing of Violations of Publication Ethics
Readers who detect ethical violations or errors in the articles published in our journal can report the situation to the journal editor. Reported violations are meticulously investigated and, if necessary, necessary steps are taken in accordance with COPE guidelines. An article in which an ethical violation is detected is withdrawn from publication and this situation is publicly announced. Complaints about unethical situations reported by authors, reviewers or readers are handled confidentially and the parties are informed about the results.
8. Complaint and Appeal Process
Serious objections to decisions made by the editors or referees may be raised in writing by the authors to the journal management. The objections are examined impartially in accordance with COPE guidelines and, if necessary, the manuscript is referred to other referees for re-evaluation. A fast and constructive approach is adopted in resolving complaints, and the relevant parties are returned.
March 31, 2026
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