ETHICAL PRINCIPLES

Articles sent to The Journal of Social Sciences Institute of Mersin University are evaluated by double-blind peer-review process and accepted ones are published electronically with free access.

• The Journal of Social Sciences Institute of Mersin University has adopted the principle of providing the highest level of international ethical standards (COPE - Committee on Publication Ethics).
• Ethics committee approval is required for all kinds of research conducted with qualitative or quantitative approaches that require data collection from participants using survey, interview, focus group work, observation, experiment and interview techniques.
•  It is obligatory to state that the "Voluntary Participation/Consent Form" has been received in the case presentations. It is necessary to obtain permission from the owners for the use of scales, surveys, photographs belonging to others and to indicate that the copyright regulations are respected for the intellectual and artistic works used.
•  If non-compliance with academic and ethical principles is detected at any stage of the studies submitted to our journal, the evaluation process is immediately stopped and returned to the author(s) with their justifications.
• The Journal Editor is obliged to ensure the confidentiality of all the manuscript submitted to the journal until they are published, and no information can be given to anyone other than the author(s) about the manuscript.
• Manuscript submitted to the journal are evaluated with a double-blind referee system. In case of conflicting or insufficient peer review, the journal editor may apply for additional peer review.
• The final decision regarding the manuscript to be published in the journal belongs to the Editorial Board. The journal is not obliged to provide justifications to the authors of unpublished studies.
• Authors are obliged to submit an original work to the journal and they have to cite the sources they use in their studies in accordance with academic criteria.
• The referees are obliged to respect confidentiality while making their evaluations and cannot use the information obtained during the evaluation process for their personal purposes and interests. Reviewers should be objective in their criticisms and avoid personal comments towards the author(s) by placing the work at the center of their evaluation.

Writer(s)

• All sources used in articles (authors, online pages, personal interviews, etc.) should be cited accurately and appropriately.
  
• It should be stated that the articles sent to the journal are not sent to another journal, and the Copyright Transfer Form is filled and signed by all authors with wet signature, will send together with the article in the first application.
• Persons who do not contribute intellectually to the article should not be mentioned as authors.
• Conflicts of interest regarding the submitted manuscript should be stated and the reason should be explained.
• All authors have seen the final version of the submitted manuscript and approved the results.
  
• Authors may be required to submit the raw data of their work to the editorial board while in the refereeing process, in which case the authors are expected to share their raw data with the editor.
• Authors are obliged to keep the data of a published article for 5 years.
• Authors will not send their manuscripts to another journal until the evaluation process is completed.
  
• When authors detect an error in their work, they should inform the editor and the editorial board and cooperate for the correction or withdrawal process.
  
• In translations, the translator must obtain permission from the author(s) of the relevant article. All copyright costs for translations belong to the translator. For translated articles, translators are responsible for the correspondence they have to make for the legal rights of the translation they will make. Translators can submit their articles, provided that they prove that they are proficient in the original language of the translation they have made and that they upload the official permissions they have obtained to the system.

Referees

All articles submitted to the journal are evaluated by double-blind peer-review process. Double-blind refereeing means keeping the authors confidential from the referees and the referees from the authors in order to ensure an impartial, objective and independent evaluation process. Articles are sent to the referees from the journal management system (dergipark) for evaluation. The referees are required to fill out a form that includes their decision on whether the article is publishable and the reasons for their decision. Translated articles; It is sent to 2 referees, language and related field experts, to be evaluated in terms of conformity with the original, appropriate use of field concepts and language.

• Referees are required to referee articles related to only their field of expertise.
• Reviewers are expected to agree to referee articles that do not have conflicts of interest. When reviewers realize any conflict of interest, they should notify the editor and refuse to referee the article.
• Reviewers should evaluate the articles impartially and objectively.
• The referees are required to fill in the Referee Evaluation Form for the articles they evaluate, and they are expected not to mention their names in the forms in order not to harm the double-blind refereeing process. In this form, the referees are required to state their decision on whether the article they are evaluating is publishable or not, and the reasons for their decision.
• The style used by the referees in their suggestions should be polite, respectful and scientific. Referees should avoid offensive, disrespectful and subjective personal comments. When it is determined that the referees make such non-scientific comments, they can be contacted by the editor or the editorial board to review and correct their comments.
• The referees are required to complete their evaluations within the time given to them and are expected to comply with the ethical responsibilities set forth herein.

Editor

The editor is responsible for all articles published in the journal. The ethical duties and responsibilities of the editor are as follows:

• The editor is responsible for making efforts to increase the quality of the journal and contribute to its development.
• The editor is required to support the freedom of expression of the authors.
• Editors should make their evaluations only within the framework of their intellectual and scientific values, without considering the race, color, gender, religious belief, ethnic origin, nationality and political views of the authors.
  
• The editor should make an effort to match the published articles with the knowledge and skills of the journal readers.
• The editor is obliged to request that the referees state that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the article before evaluating an article.
• The editor is required to convey to the referees all necessary information regarding the referee evaluation process and what is expected from the referees.
• The editor should ensure that the peer-review process is carried out with double-blind peer-review and should not disclose the referees to the authors and the authors to the referees.
  
• The editor should evaluate the referees according to their timing and performance.
• The editor should create a database of referees and update the database according to the performance of the referees.
  
• The editor should remove the referees who make rude and unqualified comments or return late from the referee list.
  
• The editor should constantly renew and expand the list of referees according to the referees' fields of expertise.
  
• The editor should constantly update the editorial and writing guidelines and the sample template as to what is expected of the authors.
• The editor should evaluate the articles submitted to the journal in terms of journal writing rules, the importance of the work, and originality, and if he/she decides to reject the article during the first submission process, he/she should clearly and impartially convey to the the reason for this to the authors. During this process, if it is decided that the article needs to be revised in terms of grammar, punctuation and/or spelling rules (margins, appropriate reference, etc.), the authors should be informed about this and time should be given to make necessary corrections.
• Manuscripts must include dates of submission and acceptance for publication.
  
• When the authors request information about the status of their articles, the authors should be informed about the status of their articles in a way that does not disturb the double-blind peer-review process.
• The editor should evaluate the members of the editorial board and select the members who will actively participate in the development of the journal.
  
• The editor should inform the members of the editorial board about their roles and responsibilities.

Plagiarism and Unethical Behaviors

All articles sent to The Journal of Social Sciences Institute of Mersin University are scanned by Turnitin software program before printing. Articles with a similarity rate of 20% or less are accepted for publication. Articles exceeding this rate are examined in detail and sent back to the authors for revision or correction if deemed necessary. If plagiarism or unethical behavior is detected, they are rejected for publication. Listed below are some unethical behaviors:

• Mentioning those who did not contribute intellectually to the study as authors.
  
• Not specifying the people who contributed intellectually to the study as authors.
  
• Failure to indicate if the article was produced from the author's master's/doctoral thesis or a project.
  
• Slicing, that is, publishing more than one article from a single study.
  
• Not reporting conflicts of interest regarding submitted articles.
  
• Deciphering the double-blind refereeing process.

Manuscripts Requiring Ethics Committee Permission

Types of research that require authors to obtain 'ethics committee approval' include:

• Types of research that require authors to obtain 'ethics committee approval' include:
  
• All kinds of research conducted with qualitative or quantitative approaches that require data collection from the participants by using survey, interview, focus group work, observation, experiment, interview techniques,
  
• Studies in which humans and animals (including material/data) are used for experimental or other scientific purposes,
  
• Clinical studies on humans,
  
• Experimental research on animals,
• Retrospective studies in accordance with the personal data protection law.

In this respect, the details of the 'Ethics Committee Permission' should be included in the article and the 'Ethics Committee Approval Report' should be uploaded to the system when the article is sent to journql via DergiPark. The Editorial Board has the right to request detailed information from the author, if necessary. Studies that cannot submit a report even though they require the permission of the ethics committee will not be evaluated.

PUBLICATION POLICY

• The Journal of Social Sciences Institute of Mersin University, which publishes two issues a year (June, December) in electronic environment, is published as open access (Open Access) through the TÜBİTAK Dergipark system. With the decision of the Editorial Board and the Editor, a special issue can be published in addition to the current issues.
• The manuscripts that reach the journal are sent to the relevant referees (at least two referees) if they are found in accordance with the publication principles of the journal after the initial evaluation by the editor and the editorial board.
  
• The time given to the referees for the referee evaluation of the studies submitted to the journal is 15 days, and it can be extended for another 15 days if necessary.
• Authors should make the necessary corrections in line with the correction requests from the referees and upload the corrected versions of their studies in line with the referee's suggestions to the system within 15 days at the latest.
  
• Authors have the right to withdraw their articles uploaded to the journal at any stage.
  
• If requested after correction, the manuscripts are sent to the referee again, after the referee's evaluation, the relevant article is published with the approval of the journal management.
• Only one article of an author is published in the same year (with the exception of the invited and special issues). Even if the author submits another article and the article is accepted, it is queued for publication in an appropriate number in the following year.
• The articles to be sent for publication in our journal should be between 4000 and maximum 10000 words, including the abstract and references. Studies that do not meet these criteria are rejected by the editor.
• Authors should submit studies on subjects that are suitable for the scope of our journal while submitting articles. Articles out of scope are rejected by the editor.
  
• If the manuscript sent to the journal has been previously presented at a scientific meeting and the summary has been printed or produced from any thesis, this must be stated on the cover page. The journal cannot be held responsible for any deficiencies in this regard. In addition, studies published as full-text papers are not considered appropriate to be translated into articles and sent for publication in our journal.