Mihman Journal aims to adhere to the guidelines and core practices set forth by several organizations, including the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (joint statement by COPE, DOAJ, OASPA, WAME). These guidelines and recommendations are designed to promote transparency, integrity, and best practices in scholarly publishing.

By adhering to these standards, the journal aims to ensure that the research it publishes is of high quality and meets the ethical standards of the scientific community.

Ethics Approval and Informed Consent Policy 

1. Ethics Committee Approval

All research involving human participants must be reviewed and approved by a recognized ethics review board (e.g., Institutional Review Board [IRB], Ethics Committee) prior to the commencement of the study.

Authors must include in the Methods section:

• The name of the ethics committee.
• The approval number and date of approval.
• A copy of the ethics approval may be required during manuscript submission.

If a study was exempted from ethics approval, authors must:

• Provide a formal exemption letter from the ethics committee.
• Clearly explain the reason for exemption in the manuscript.

2. Handling Submissions Without Ethics Approval

If a manuscript is submitted without prior ethics approval, Mihman will review it according to the COPE’s Research, Audit and Service Evaluations guideline to assess:

• Ethical risks
• Justification for absence of review.
• Compliance with accepted ethical standards.

The journal reserves the right to reject manuscripts lacking proper ethical oversight.

3. Informed Consent

For all studies involving human subjects, written informed consent must be obtained and documented. This includes:

• General Research: Consent from all participants.
• Research Involving Minors (under 18 years): Consent from a parent or legal guardian.
• Surveys/Interviews:
  
• Confirmation that participants consented to participate.
• Consent for recording and use of personal data.

If direct quotes or identifiable data are included:

Either data must be deidentified, or
Explicit consent must be obtained to disclose identities.

Consent details should be described in the Methods section of the manuscript.

4. Participant Anonymity and Image Publication

To protect participant privacy:

• Anonymity must be preserved, especially when personal data or images are published.
• If photographs or images that may identify participants are included:
• Authors must obtain signed release forms from the individuals or their legal representatives.
• Releases must grant permission for publication and specify any restrictions.

Publication consent for images must be stated in the Methods section.

Authors of submissions reporting research findings must meet all four criteria established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE):

1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work;
2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content;
3. Final approval of the version to be published;
4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Before submission, authors should determine who qualifies for authorship and in what order authors will be listed. The editors of the Mihman Journal do not resolve authorship disputes. Any changes to the number or order of authors after the initial submission must be explained in writing to the Editor-in-Chief. The editors reserve the right to refer any authorship irregularities to the research officer or appropriate academic ethics authority at the institution or employer of the first or corresponding author.

Authors may use CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) to provide information about individual contributions at the time of submission.

AUTHOR RESPONSIBILITIES

Authors are responsible for:

• Ensuring ethical approval and informed consent are obtained.
• Protecting participant confidentiality and data.
• Complying with international ethical research standards.

Failure to adhere to these guidelines may result in editorial rejection or retraction of the manuscript.

All submissions undergo multiple screenings during the peer review and/or production processes using similarity detection software. When citing previous works, ensure that all material is properly referenced. Copying text, tables, or illustrations from any source (journal articles, books, theses, electronic media, etc.) and presenting them as one's own is considered plagiarism, even if a reference is provided. Listing the source in the 'References' section does not absolve authors of responsibility for plagiarism.

Authors are strongly encouraged to avoid any form of plagiarism or ethical misconduct, as illustrated below:

• Citation Manipulation: Refers to inflating citation counts through self-citation, excessive citation of the same journal, or citation stacking, which distorts academic recognition.
• Self-Plagiarism (Text Recycling): Involves reusing sections or sentences from an author's prior work without proper citation, constituting a form of plagiarism.
• Salami Slicing: The unethical practice of publishing multiple articles using the same data set, hypotheses, and methods from a single study.
• Data Fabrication: The creation of false data not supported by actual research or experiments, considered a serious breach of research integrity.
• Data Manipulation/Falsification: Involves altering data, such as modifying images or removing outliers, to mislead or misrepresent findings.

In cases of suspected misconduct (e.g., plagiarism, citation manipulation, or data falsification), the Editorial Board will follow COPE guidelines to ensure fair, transparent, and consistent handling of allegations.

ADVERTISING POLICY

Mihman accepts digital advertisements on its website, provided they are approved by the journal's Editorial Board and management. All advertisements must be clearly labeled as such. Advertisers have no influence on editorial decisions or advertising policies.

For advertising inquiries, please contact the Editorial Office (inueditorial@inonu.edu.tr).

CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY

Mihman Journal adheres to international editorial standards, including those set by ICMJE, COPE, WAME, and other organizations, to ensure transparency and integrity in the publication process.

A conflict of interest arises when an author, reviewer, or editor has competing interests—such as financial, personal, political, or academic—that could unduly influence their objectivity in manuscript submission, review, or editorial decisions.

Disclosure Requirements:

Any conflicts, whether financial or otherwise, must also be stated at the end of the manuscript.

Reviewers and editors must disclose any conflicts that could affect their impartiality. If a reviewer or editor has a conflict of interest, they must recuse themselves from the manuscript's evaluation.

Editors (including the Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor, and Section Editors) may submit their own manuscripts but are excluded from the editorial decision-making process for their work. Final acceptance of such manuscripts requires approval from at least two external reviewers.

To maintain a fair and unbiased peer-review process, authors must not contact section editors regarding their manuscripts. All inquiries should be directed to the editorial office. The journal follows a double-anonymized peer review, ensuring that authors and reviewers remain anonymous to each other.

Any potential conflicts of interest involving editors, authors, or reviewers will be addressed following COPE flowcharts and ICMJE recommendations.

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

Mihman Journal requires authors to disclose any financial support received for their research. This information must be included in the funding statement when submitting the manuscript.

The funding statement should specify:

• The names of funding agencies,
• Grant numbers (if applicable),
• The role of each funder in the research,

If a funder had no involvement in the research, this must also be clearly stated. Providing this information ensures transparency and helps readers assess potential biases or conflicts of interest.

Mihman Journal supports transparency and accountability in the use of AI tools during manuscript preparation, in line with best practices recommended by international publishing standards, including COPE , ICMJE, and WAME. Authors must comply with the following principles when using AI technologies:

1. Use of AI Tools in Manuscript Preparation

Authors must disclose any use of generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude) in the preparation of their manuscripts. This includes specifying the name, version, and purpose of the AI tool in the appropriate section (e.g., Acknowledgments for language support, or Methods for data processing). Authors remain fully responsible for the integrity, accuracy, and originality of their work.

AI tools cannot be listed as authors.

2. Authorship and Accountability

By COPE’s guidelines, authorship implies human responsibility and decision-making. While AI can be employed for language corrections during the article writing process (and this should be explicitly stated in the article), it cannot be included as an author, as it is essential to maintain the originality and quality of the article. As such, AI tools cannot fulfill authorship criteria and should never be listed as authors or co-authors.

3. Image Generation and Copyright

Mihman Journal is committed to adhering to current copyright laws and established best practices in publication ethics. Due to ongoing legal and ethical uncertainties surrounding AI-generated visual content, the use of such material in submissions is generally not permitted, except under the following specific conditions:

Licensed Content from Agencies: Images or artwork obtained from agencies with which the journal holds valid licensing agreements, provided that the content was created in a legally and ethically responsible manner.

Content Related to AI Research: Visual or video content that is directly discussed or analyzed within a manuscript focused on artificial intelligence. These submissions will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

All approved AI-generated content must be clearly labeled as “AI-generated” in the image or figure captions.

Authors are responsible for ensuring the accuracy, appropriateness, and ethical use of any AI-generated images. Additionally, the methodology and tools used for generating such content must be transparently described within the manuscript. All submitted content must comply with scientific standards and ethical guidelines.

POST-PUBLICATION CORRECTION REQUESTS AND RETRACTIONS POLICY

All post-publication correction requests are subject to editorial review. The Editorial Board evaluates the necessity and appropriateness of corrections based on the nature of the error, its impact on the article, and the supporting evidence. If approved, the correction will be made in the journal’s archive. The journal follows the COPE guidelines.

Article Withdrawal (Pre-Publication)

Withdrawal applies only to articles in press, which are early versions of articles that may contain errors, accidental duplicate submissions, or ethical violations (e.g., multiple submissions, fraudulent data, or plagiarism). Withdrawn articles will have their HTML and PDF content removed, replaced by a statement indicating the withdrawal and linking to the journal’s withdrawal policy.

Article Retraction (Post-Publication)

Retractions are issued for serious ethical violations, such as plagiarism, data fabrication, authorship fraud, or publication without co-author consent. Retraction notices include:

• A formal retraction note titled “Retraction: [Article Title],” published in a subsequent issue.
• A watermark on the PDF of the original article, marking it as "Retracted."
• A removal of the HTML version, ensuring transparency in corrections while preserving academic integrity.

Article Removal (Legal & Safety Concerns)

In rare cases, an article may need to be permanently removed from the journal’s online database due to legal issues, court orders, defamation, or significant health risks. While the metadata (title and authors) will be retained, the article content will be replaced with a legal notice explaining the removal.

Article Replacement

If an article poses a serious health risk, authors may request a replacement with a corrected version. In such cases, a retraction notice will be published with a link to the revised article, ensuring a transparent record of updates.

SELF-ARCHIVING POLICY

Authors are permitted to self-archive their published work on institutional or personal websites, as well as in open-access repositories. When sharing their articles, they must appropriately cite the original publication and include the DOI number. Additionally, authors are encouraged to provide a link to the publisher’s official website, ensuring the authenticity and integrity of the scientific record. The version published on the publisher’s website is considered the definitive version of record.

DISCLAIMER

The views and opinions expressed in published manuscripts belong solely to the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors, editorial board, or publisher. The editors, editorial board, and publisher are not responsible for the content of published manuscripts and do not endorse the views expressed within them.

Authors are fully responsible for the accuracy and integrity of their work. While the journal serves as a platform for disseminating research to the scientific community, it does not guarantee the validity of the content.