Ethical Principles and Publication Policy

Intellectual Property

The Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Journal of Health Sciences Institute uses the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) for all published articles. This means authors keep their copyright but allow us to publish their work. We collaborate with authors to ensure accurate attribution and citation, enabling readers to freely share, adapt, and build upon the articles with proper acknowledgment. Our use of the CC BY license reflects our commitment to open access and open science, fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing within the scientific community. This ensures free access to our articles and promotes the advancement of research.

You are free to:

Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.

Under the following terms:

Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

Notices:

You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.

All scientific responsibility of the articles belongs to the authors. The authors of the submitted article must have a specific contribution to the work. Authors' name ordering should be a joint decision. Corresponding author is considered to accept the author sorting by filling in "Author Responsibility and Publication Transfer Form" on behalf of all authors. All of the authors should be listed under the title of article.

Editorial Policy

Originality, high scientific quality, and citation potential are the most important criteria for a manuscript to be accepted for publication. Manuscripts submitted for evaluation should not have been previously presented or already published in an electronic or printed medium. The journal should be informed of manuscripts that have been submitted to another journal for evaluation and rejected for publication. Manuscripts that have been presented in a meeting should be submitted with detailed information on the organization, including the name, date, and location of the organization.

On receipt of the paper by the Editorial Board, the paper is evaluated for compliance with the format rules and the authors are informed about the result in four weeks. In the event that the paper is not found to comply with the general publication principles of the journal from the standpoint of either technical characteristics or general scope, the paper is rejected. Alternatively, the author(s) may be asked to re-submit the paper in accordance with the writing requirements. Papers resubmitted are passed through a similar technical examination and, if found to comply with the rules, are passed on for peer review. The paper is sent to two reviewers selected by the board without the title-page to maintain anonymity of the applicants. Reviewers then assess the paper for scientific content and format compliance. When necessary the Editorial Advisory Board can send the paper to third reviewers. The selection of reviewers is ultimately at the discretion of the editor, associate Editors and/or the editorial board. The appropriate reviewers can be selected from journal’s international database of reviewers listing or, if needed; independent reviewers can be determined from inland or abroad. Thereafter the Editorial Advisory Board carries out the final editing, taking the reports of the reviewers into consideration, and, when necessary, communicating with the author(s).

The Editorial Board assumes that the author(s) are obliged not to submit the paper to another journal before completion of the assessment process. The authors should inform the editorial board if they decide to withdraw the manuscript. The editor may consult editorial executive board about a manuscript if they deem necessary.

Compliance with the Helsinki Declaration Principles is mandatory in all clinical studies (http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/index.html).
In such studies, the authors are expected to state that they conducted the study in the method section in accordance with the principles and that ethical councils and other persons participating in the study received an "informed consent form".
In experimental animal studies, authors should protect animal rights and obtain ethical committee approval in accordance with the principles of the Laboratory Animals Care and Use Guide. (http: //www. nap.edu/catalog/5140.html).
Informed consent forms of the patient should be obtained in case reports.
Ethics committee approval information should be specified in the method section, along with the name, date and number of the committee.
In addition, this journal is compatible with all content specified by the "SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND PUBLISHING ETHICS DIRECTIVE for COUNCIL of HIGHER EDUCATION". In case of any incompatibility, the responsibility belongs to the authors regarding the study. https://www.yok.gov.tr/Sayfalar/Kurumsal/mevzuat/bilimsel-arastirma-ve-etik-yonetmeligi.aspx

Conflict of Interest

Authors are required to disclose any existing or potential conflicts of interests, including financial, consultant, and institutional, that might lead to potential bias or a conflict of interest. Any financial grants or other support received for a submitted study from individuals or institutions should be disclosed to the Editorial Board. Cases of a potential conflict of interest of the editors, authors, or reviewers are resolved by the journal’s Editorial Board within the scope of COPE and ICMJE guidelines.

The Editorial Board of the journal handles all appeal and complaint cases within the scope of COPE guidelines. In such cases, authors should get in direct contact with the editorial office regarding their appeals and complaints. The Editor in Chief is the final authority in the decision-making process for all appeals and complaints.

Publication Fees

Publication in this journal is free. There are no publication charges, no submission charges, no article processing charges and no surcharges based on the length of an article, figures or supplementary data. Editorial items (Editorials, Corrections, Additions, Retractions, Letters, Comments, etc.) are published free of charge.

Plagiarism policy

Manuscripts submitted to Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Journal of Health Sciences Institute is evaluated in terms of plagiarism using iThenticate by CrossCheck. Even if you are the author of the phrases or sentences, the text should not have an unacceptable similarity with the previously published data. When you are discussing others' (or your own) previous work, please make sure that you cite the material correctly in every instance.

In the event of alleged or suspected research misconduct, e.g., plagiarism, citation manipulation, and data falsification or fabrication, the Editorial Board will follow and act in accordance with COPE guidelines (https://publicationethics.org/guidance/Guidelines).

Ethical responsibility

The Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Journal of Health Sciences Institute upholds the highest standards of impartiality, respect, and scientific integrity throughout its publication process. Dedicated to the accurate dissemination of knowledge and the advancement of science, the journal expects all participants (authors, reviewers, editors, and advisory board members) to adhere to ethical guidelines. These ethical duties and responsibilities are aligned with the recommendations and policies of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). It an be accesses with this link: https://publicationethics.org/guidance/Guidelines

Responsibility of Authors

The authors are responsible for their compliance with the ethical rules. In experimental studies on animals or humans, it should be noted that the study protocol has been approved by the appropriate experiment ethics committee at the institution where the study was conducted. Authors should submit the ethics committee's approval with the article. If there are previously published text, tables, pictures, etc. in the article, the authors have to get written permission from the copyright holder and the authors should specify and indicate the used material in the manuscript. In the course of the manuscript evaluation, the authors may be requested to submit the research data and / or the ethics committee approval document if deemed necessary.

Responsibility of Section Editors

The final content of the journal must align with its stated aims and scope. A critical aspect of publication is maintaining integrity and objectivity, adhering to established industry standards. This includes selecting expert reviewers in the specific manuscript area to ensure rigorous evaluation. All editorial activities should be conducted in accordance with the COPE short guide to ethical editing, available at https://publicationethics.org/files/A_Short_Guide_to_Ethical_Editing.pdf.

Responsibility of Reviewers

Reviewers play a crucial role in scholarly publishing. Their responsibilities to authors include providing timely, unbiased, and constructive feedback on the work's merits, clarity, conciseness, scientific accuracy, originality, and relevance, while avoiding personal criticism and maintaining confidentiality. Toward editors, reviewers must promptly communicate their availability, disclose any conflicts of interest, adhere to review guidelines, and provide a thorough, fair, and informative critique. This critique should assess the work's scientific merit, originality, and scope, suggest improvements, and, if requested, recommend acceptance or rejection. Reviewers should also identify any ethical concerns, such as violations of research ethics or plagiarism, and refrain from direct contact with the authors.

Last Update Time: 18 April 2026