Pamukkale University Lycus Journal is an open-access, peer-reviewed academic journal published electronically twice a year. It features original and scholarly studies in the field of archaeology. The entire responsibility for the scientific content and statements of the articles published in the journal rests with the authors.

Lycus Journal can be accessed freely and online via https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/lycus. All articles published in the journal are licensed under the CC BY 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License).

The ethical duties and responsibilities adopted by Lycus Journal have been prepared in accordance with the publication policies of nationally and internationally indexed journals and the guidelines and policies published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) under the principles of open access.

Furthermore, Lycus Journal adheres to the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, jointly published by COPE, the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), and the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA). The ethical standards summarized below serve as a guide for editors, reviewers, and authors contributing to Lycus Journal.

Lycus Journal operates under a double-blind peer review process. Suitable submissions are sent to two or three referees who are experts in the relevant field. The identities of the referees are kept confidential, and all referee reports are archived. If one of the referee reports is positive and the other critical, the manuscript may be sent to a third referee for further evaluation, or the Editorial Board may make a decision based on the content and quality of the three reports. Authors are expected to revise their manuscripts according to the comments and suggestions of the referees and the Editorial Board. Should they have any objections, they may submit a justified appeal in an appropriate manner.

All authors are expected to read and understand our publication policy before submitting a manuscript to Lycus Journal. This reflects our commitment to preventing ethical misconduct, which we recognize as an increasingly significant issue in academic and professional publishing.

It is important to note that most cases of plagiarism, duplicate publication, copyright infringement, or similar issues arise not from fraudulent intent but from a lack of awareness. Our policy is therefore focused on prevention rather than punishment. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the editorial office.

Submission of a manuscript to Lycus Journal implies that all authors have read and approved the content of the paper and that the manuscript complies with the journal’s ethical and publication policies.

Ethical Approval
Human participants, human materials, or human data must be used in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and the study must be approved by an appropriate ethics committee. All articles reporting such research should include a statement after the manuscript indicating the name of the ethics committee and, if available, the reference number. If a study has been exempted from the requirement for ethical approval, this should be stated in the manuscript (including the name of the ethics committee that granted the exemption). Upon request, additional materials and documents must be made available to the Editor. The Editor may reject a manuscript if it is believed that the research was conducted outside an appropriate ethical context. In exceptional cases, the Editor may contact the ethics committee for further information.

ETHICAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF EDITORS
General Duties and Responsibilities
Editors are responsible for:
• Ensuring the development of the journal at national and international levels,
• Managing processes to improve the quality of published works,
• Overseeing the implementation of ethical principles among all stakeholders of the journal,
• Updating publication and ethical policies to contribute to the journal’s progress,
• Organizing and maintaining the journal’s website in an accurate and up-to-date manner.

Relations with Readers
Editors shall:
• Take into consideration readers’ feedback regarding publication, scope, and ethics,
• Develop the content of Lycus Journal by considering readers’ interests and needs,
• Respond to readers’ inquiries within the framework of ethical principles.
Relations with Authors
Editors are responsible for:
• Submitting manuscripts received to the Editorial Board, which decides whether they should be sent to reviewers,
• Informing authors about publication and ethical policies,
• Preventing potential conflicts between authors and reviewers,
• Ensuring an impartial evaluation by properly implementing the double-blind peer review process,
• Considering authors’ justified requests not to have their manuscripts sent to specific reviewers due to conflicts of interest,
• Accepting authors’ requests to withdraw their manuscripts during the review process,
• Evaluating authors’ objections to reviewer and editorial decisions and initiating a new review process if deemed appropriate.
Relations with Reviewers
Editors are responsible for:
• Assigning reviewers appropriate to the subject of the manuscript,
• Providing reviewers with the information and guidance they may need during the evaluation process,
• Monitoring possible conflicts of interest between authors and reviewers,
• Keeping reviewer identities confidential,
• Encouraging reviewers to act impartially,
• Answering reviewers’ questions regarding publication and ethical policies,
• Updating and improving the reviewer database,
• Reminding reviewers about deadlines for evaluations,
• Encouraging reviewers to provide constructive, polite, and appropriate feedback.
Relations with the Editorial Board
Editors shall:
• Hold meetings with the Editorial Board at regular intervals,
• Provide the Board with necessary information and guidance on publication and ethical policies,
• Improve the journal by considering feedback from the Board,
• Ensure that Board members act impartially,
• Encourage Board members to evaluate works according to scientific standards.

ETHICAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF AUTHORS
Authors must:
• Ensure that the submitted work has not been previously published and is not under consideration elsewhere,
• Accurately and completely cite all references,
• Include as authors only those who have made a direct contribution to the study,
• Clearly indicate quotations in quotation marks and cite them appropriately,
• Obtain ethical committee approval for studies involving human or animal subjects, surveys, interviews, or observations,
• Identify reviewers they do not wish to evaluate their manuscripts due to potential conflicts of interest or ethical concerns,
• Withdraw their manuscripts during the review process if necessary,
• Have the right to appeal reviewer reports or editorial decisions,
• Immediately notify the Editorial Board if an error is identified in their publication,
• Explicitly disclose any potential conflicts of interest.

ETHICAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF REVIEWERS
Manuscripts submitted to Lycus Journal are anonymously sent to at least two reviewers who are experts in the relevant field. In cases where the reviewers’ opinions are equally positive and negative, the editor or a third reviewer’s opinion is sought.
Lycus Journal employs a double-blind peer review system, in which both the reviewers and authors remain anonymous. Within this framework, reviewers are expected to adhere to the following ethical responsibilities:
• Read and understand the publication principles of Lycus Journal,
• Accept only manuscripts within their field of expertise; refrain from reviewing manuscripts merely to gain familiarity with the topic,
• Decline to review if they cannot remain objective,
• Complete the evaluation within the specified timeframe,
• Conduct evaluations objectively and confidentially,
• Refuse to review and notify the editor in case of a conflict of interest,
• Inform the editor if they discover that the manuscript has been submitted to another journal simultaneously,
• Provide evaluations in a constructive and respectful manner, avoiding hostility, insults, or defamatory remarks,
• Focus their comments solely on the content of the manuscript and remain sensitive to ensuring that factors such as belief, sect, race, gender, or political opinion do not influence the evaluation process.

OPEN ACCESS STATEMENT
Lycus Journal is a non-profit publication that adopts an open access policy. All published content is freely available to the public without charge. Users may read, download, copy, print, and link to the full texts of articles without prior permission from Lycus Journal, provided that proper citation is given. No fees are charged at any stage of the publishing process, including article submission, evaluation, or publication. In addition, Lycus Journal does not accept sponsorships or advertisements. All articles published in Lycus Journal are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

OPYRIGHT NOTICE

Authors who submit their manuscripts for publication agree to transfer the publication rights to Lycus Journal, published under the Pamukkale University Institute of Archaeology. The journal and its articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.en. Authors are free to make the PDF files of their own articles publicly available as they see fit. Accordingly, the journal permits self-archiving of the published version without any restrictions. Authors may reuse the entire or partial content (including text and figures) of their work, including modifications and adaptations, in other publications, provided that appropriate citation to the original publication in Lycus Journal is included. No copyright fees are paid to authors for published works. All possible scientific, ethical, and legal responsibilities arising from the published articles rest solely with the author(s). The journal assumes no liability in this regard. All content of Lycus Journal is openly accessible, in line with its open access policy. Authors who agree to these terms must sign and submit the Copyright Transfer Form to the editors. Manuscripts without this signed form will not be published.

PLAGIARISM POLICY
All submissions to Lycus Journal are subjected to a plagiarism screening process using Turnitin software before being included in the publication workflow. The detected similarities are examined, and a plagiarism report is generated. The maximum allowable similarity rate is 20%. Articles with a similarity rate below this threshold are accepted for publication. Manuscripts exceeding this rate are carefully reviewed by the Editors and may be rejected depending on the circumstances.

DOI NUMBER
The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) system enables the identification and access of electronically published works. Each accepted article in Lycus Journal is assigned a DOI number to ensure the authenticity and secure registration of its electronic publication record.

PROTECTION OF PERSONAL DATA
All submissions to Lycus Journal are protected under the Law on the Protection of Personal Data. No information belonging to authors or reviewers is shared with any third parties or institutions.

LANGUAGE OF PUBLICATION
Lycus Journal accepts scientific articles written in Turkish and English. Submitted manuscripts are expected to be ready for publication in terms of language accuracy and academic style. During the evaluation process, authors may be asked to make linguistic or stylistic revisions if deemed necessary.

PUBLICATION FREQUENCY
Lycus Journal is published twice a year, in June and December, in electronic format. Special issues may be published upon the decision of the Editorial Board when necessary.