Mediterranean Journal of Humanities (MJH) is committed to applying publication ethics at the highest standards and to adhering to the principles outlined below throughout all publishing processes. These principles are based on recommendations and guidelines developed for journal editors by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Council of Science Editors (CSE).

MJH expects all stakeholders to uphold ethical responsibilities within the scope of publication ethics. Accordingly, MJH undertakes to follow COPE’s Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and Core Practices.

Following the COPE Guidance for Editors is the responsibility of the editors, while observing the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers is the obligation of the journal’s reviewers.

The publication processes implemented at MJH rest on the impartial, transparent, and reputable development and dissemination of knowledge. These processes directly reflect on the scientific quality of the work of authors and their supporting institutions. Peer-reviewed articles are regarded as one of the most concrete indicators of the scientific method and are supported as such. At this point, it is crucial that all stakeholders in the process (authors, readers, researchers, publisher, reviewers, and editors) act in accordance with standards of ethical principles.

1. Journal Publication Principles and Governance

• Manuscripts submitted to MJH must fall within the journal’s scope and either (i) be original methodological studies that fill a gap in the field, including new findings and approaches, or (ii) be analytical reviews that evaluate previously published studies and present noteworthy perspectives on the topic.
  
• For a submission to be eligible for publication, it must not have been published elsewhere (journal/book) nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere.
  
• Manuscripts must be prepared in accordance with the journal’s author guidelines and the MJH Submission Template.
  
• The scientific content and language of published articles are entirely the responsibility of the authors; the journal and editors accept no responsibility in this regard.
• MJH does not charge any fee for manuscript submission or publication.
  
• MJH is an open-access journal; articles may be used freely provided proper attribution is given. By submitting their work, authors are deemed to have accepted MJH’s Open Access and Copyright Policy.

a) Journal Management

MJH is administered in accordance with the principles set out in the Journal Bylaw. All parties involved in the publication process—editors, reviewers, authors, etc.—must comply with the publication ethics guidelines and misconduct statements described below. Otherwise, publication in MJH is not possible:

• Submitted manuscripts are reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief, Journal Editor(s), and Section Editors.
  
• Initial checks are performed by Assistant Editors. Manuscripts that do not conform to the MJH Submission Template, exceed the similarity threshold (see Plagiarism Policy), or lack properly completed submission forms (Publication Principles Compliance and Undertaking Form, Copyright Transfer Form) are returned to the authors for correction.
  
• Articles by the same author(s) may not be published in consecutive issues.
  
• All manuscripts submitted to MJH are evaluated under a double-blind peer-review process. Author and reviewer identities remain confidential. The MJH Peer-Review Policy is explained in detail on the journal website.
  
• Works from private collections are not published.
  
• Research involving human or animal subjects requires ethics committee approval, which must be appended to the manuscript.
  
• The views expressed in articles are those of the authors and do not reflect the official opinion of the journal, either directly or indirectly.
  

b) Publication Conduct and Management of Unethical Practices

• The publisher and editors investigate research misconduct (plagiarism, fabrication, falsification of data, duplicate/redundant publication, etc.).
  
• Appropriate measures are taken to prevent the publication of manuscripts in which scientific misconduct is detected.
  
• The journal management and editors do not encourage or knowingly permit such ethical violations under any circumstances.
  
• The journal management, publisher, and editors take all necessary steps to clarify ambiguities or suspicious situations in a manuscript, to amend the manuscript where appropriate, and to eliminate alleged or proven scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication, plagiarism, or improper editor–author collaboration. If such a case arises, it must be resolved beyond doubt with evidence—with the help of reviewers, editors, and the editorial board—or the article must be retracted.

c) Participation and Investigations

• MJH is obliged to respond to all allegations and suspicions of misconduct related to a published article raised by readers, students, academics, reviewers, or other editors.
  
• Potential plagiarism or duplicate/redundant publication will be evaluated by the journal.
  
• Where necessary, the journal may request an investigation by the relevant institution or other competent bodies and may assist legal and administrative inquiries by providing information and documents from its records.
  
• Any report of unethical publishing behavior will be investigated, even if discovered years after publication.
  
• Responsibility for the content of published works/articles rests with the authors.

d) Post-Acceptance Production and Publication

• Manuscripts that pass peer review and are accepted are subject to technical editing and language checks.
  
• After the authors approve the final digital proofs, the article is prepared for publication.
  
• A DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is assigned to all articles.
  
• Articles are published online in the relevant issue of the journal.
  

e) Corrections, Retractions, and Withdrawals

Corrections (Errata): If minor errors are identified in a published article that do not affect the results, interpretations, or conclusions, the editors will publish a correction note. This note is linked to the article and remains permanently accessible.
Retractions: If serious issues are identified after publication—such as plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification, unethical research practices, or major errors that invalidate the findings—the editors reserve the right to retract the article. The retraction notice will clearly state the reasons and will remain permanently accessible in place of the original article.
Withdrawals: In rare cases, accepted but not yet published online articles may be withdrawn at the authors’ request or by the editors. In such cases, a withdrawal notice explaining the reason will be issued.
Responsibilities: When authors discover a significant error in their published work, they must inform the editors immediately. The editors and publisher are responsible for taking corrective action to ensure transparency, fairness, and the reliability of the scholarly record.

f) Waiver

The MJH management, editors, associate editors, and editorial board are not responsible for the opinions expressed by authors or for the content of articles published in the journal. Originality, readability, and individual errors are the responsibility of the authors. All manuscripts submitted to Mediterranean Journal of Humanities—including research articles, review articles, critiques, etc.—are subject to double-blind peer review in terms of originality, ethical issues, and scholarly contribution. Reviewers’ decisions are decisive and the sole mechanism for publication in the journal.

2. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors evaluate submissions according to criteria of originality, scholarly contribution, methodological soundness, and academic quality. Editors ensure that all submissions undergo a fair and timely peer-review and editorial process. Even if a manuscript has successfully passed peer review, full responsibility for the publication decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief; acceptance or rejection depends on the Editor-in-Chief’s decision.

Editors are responsible for all material published in MJH. Within this framework, editors carry the following roles and obligations:

General Duties and Responsibilities
Editors are obliged to uphold the highest academic and scientific standards of the journal. In this regard, they:

• Strive to meet the information needs of readers, researchers, and authors in line with the methodological and theoretical requirements of the fields the journal covers.
  
• Follow established principles within the relevant disciplines while keeping track of current developments and innovations, thereby contributing to the scientific advancement of the journal.
  
• Conduct editorial processes effectively to continuously enhance the quality of published work and provide necessary support.
  
• Safeguard academic freedom of thought in published work and do not allow personal tendencies, biases, or reasons contrary to scientific methodology to influence decisions.
  
• Adhere to intellectual property rights and ethical principles at every stage of publication, ensuring a transparent and fair process.
  
• Act with clarity, transparency, and responsibility when corrections, clarifications, or revisions are required, and implement necessary changes.

Relations with Journal Users
In selecting and evaluating manuscripts for publication, editors must consider the scientific expectations and needs of the journal’s audience—readers, researchers, and practitioners.

• Published work should not only contribute to the field but also generate value in terms of originality, currency, and interdisciplinary engagement.
  
• Editors consider user feedback regarding the journal and published articles and, where necessary, provide clear, guiding, and transparent information.
  
• Communication with users should strengthen the journal’s scholarly reputation and serve a continuous quality-improvement approach.

Relations with Authors
When evaluating all submissions, editors are responsible for making decisions based on the scientific merit of the work, methodological rigor, originality, currency, and clarity of presentation.

Relations with Reviewers
Editors should carefully select reviewers. Reviewers should be experts who are directly relevant to the subject and scope of the work and are competent in the field.

Relations with the Advisory/Editorial Board
Editors are responsible for ensuring that all members involved in processes from submission to publication fully comply with the journal’s publication policies and guidelines. Editors also regularly inform board members about the journal’s policies and any updates to those policies.

Relations with the Journal Owner and Publisher
The relationship between the journal owner/publisher and the editors is conducted on the basis of editorial independence. Accordingly:

Editorial and Double-Blind Peer-Review Processes
Editors are responsible for rigorously implementing the Peer-Review Policy established within the framework of journal policies. In this context:

Quality Assurance
Editors are responsible for ensuring that all published work complies with journal policies in terms of scholarly integrity, methodological soundness, and ethical standards.

Protection of Personal Data
Editors are responsible for protecting personal data relating to subjects, participants, or images contained in submitted work. Editors and the editorial team share information about submitted manuscripts only with individuals directly involved in the process.

Ethics Committee, Human and Animal Rights
Editors are responsible for ensuring that human and animal rights included in evaluated submissions are protected. Editors must reject work that lacks ethics committee approval for studies involving human or animal subjects, or that lacks required permits for experimental research.

Materials Used in Articles
When items discovered in excavations or surveys or objects held in museums are being published for the first time, editors must ensure that authors have the necessary research permissions and that no rights have been violated; they must inform authors accordingly with a positive or negative decision.

Prevention of Possible Misconduct and Malpractice
Editors are obliged to take precautions against possible misconduct and malpractice. In addition to carefully and objectively investigating complaints and evaluating them, editors are responsible for sharing findings related to the issue. Editors evaluate submissions based on problem statement, originality, quality, and intellectual content—rather than the identity of the person or institution, political orientation, or personal needs. Editors must not be influenced by race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, citizenship, political opinion, or personal disputes.

Ensuring Scholarly Integrity
Editors must ensure that errors, inconsistencies, or misleading statements identified in articles are corrected promptly.

Protection of Intellectual Property Rights
Editors are responsible for protecting the intellectual property rights of all published articles and for defending the rights of the journal and authors in the event of potential infringements. Editors must also take necessary measures to ensure that the content of published articles does not violate the intellectual property rights of other publications.

Constructiveness and Openness to Debate
Editors should:
Consider persuasive critiques of articles published in the journal and respond constructively.
Allow authors of criticized work the right to reply.
Do not ignore or exclude studies with negative results.

Complaints
Editors must carefully review complaints from authors, reviewers, or readers and respond in an informative and explanatory manner.

Political and Commercial Considerations
Neither the journal owner, publisher, nor any political or commercial motive may influence editors’ independent decision-making.

Conflicts of Interest
Editors guarantee that publication processes are completed independently and impartially, taking into account conflicts of interest among authors, reviewers, and other editors. Unpublished materials, ideas, or hypotheses disclosed in a submission must not be used by editors or editorial board members for their own research purposes without the author’s explicit written consent. Information or ideas obtained through review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Editors must require all contributors/authors to disclose relevant conflicts of interest. If conflicts of interest or competing interests emerge after publication, corrections will be issued or other appropriate actions, including retraction, will be taken.

3. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors may be asked to provide the raw data of their study for editorial review and, where feasible, should be prepared to make the data publicly available. In all cases, provided that participant confidentiality is protected and legal rights concerning proprietary data are not violated, authors should ensure that these data remain accessible to other qualified professionals for at least 10 years after publication (preferably via an institutional or subject-based repository or another data center).

a) Originality and Plagiarism

• Authors must ensure that they write and submit only entirely original works and, if they have used the work and/or words of others, that these should be cited with proper references.
• Publications and periodicals that are influential in defining the nature of the cited work should also be indicated.
  
• Any unethical publishing behavior—such as copying parts of one’s own previous works (article/book), theses (MA/PhD) or parts of another article or book without citation (paraphrasing), or attributing to oneself results obtained by others—will not be accepted by the journal and its management.
  
• Articles derived from theses must clearly indicate, either in the first footnote or directly beneath the author’s information, which thesis forms the basis of the article.
  
• Submissions to MJH must be original and not plagiarized. All accepted works are examined—within the framework of the Plagiarism Policy—using plagiarism-prevention/analysis software such as Turnitin, iThenticate, and intihal.net, with attention to academic integrity and ethical rule violations.
• For preliminary checks, a “similarity report” generated by one of these tools must accompany the submission. Manuscripts with a similarity index above 15% may be returned to the author after editorial evaluation.
  
• If plagiarism or any misconduct is identified and proven after publication, the article will be retracted immediately and removed from the website. Subsequently, the author(s) involved will be deemed ineligible to submit any work to MJH for five years.( See Plagiarism Policy)

b) Acknowledgment of Sources

• Authors must ensure they properly understand and cite the work of others and also reference publications that are influential in defining the nature of the reported work.
  
• Information obtained privately (through conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties) should not be used or reported without explicit written permission from the source. Authors should not use information obtained during confidential services—such as manuscript reviewing or grant applications—without the express written consent of the authors of the work involved.
  
• Abbreviations for ancient sources used in the article, as well as abbreviations for standard and periodical publications cited in the text, are provided in the relevant sections of the publication policies on the journal’s website (Ancient Sources Abbreviation List).

c) Authorship of the Paper
Authors who meet the following criteria should be listed in the article so they can take public responsibility for its content:

• First, authors must have made substantial contributions to the conception, design, execution, acquisition of data, or analysis/interpretation of the study.
  
• Second, the manuscript must have been critically revised by the author(s) for important intellectual content—offering general assessments of the topic, clarifying problems with examples, synthesizing, proposing hypotheses, or providing analytical solutions to the topic.
  
• Third, authors must have seen, checked, and approved the final version of the manuscript, agreed to its publication in the relevant issue of the journal, and signed the copyright declaration.
  
• Individuals who have made significant contributions to the reported work (technical help, writing/editing assistance, general support, unnecessary acknowledgments) but do not meet authorship criteria should not be listed as authors; after obtaining written permission, they should be acknowledged under “Acknowledgments.” In annual excavation/survey reports, the names of scholars working in the relevant subfields and disciplines should be written above the relevant section, and, in the footnote immediately below, the author’s biographical information together with the ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) number should be provided.
  
• The corresponding author must ensure that all appropriate co-authors (as defined above) are included in the author list and that no inappropriate co-authors are included, and must confirm that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and agreed to its submission. Only after such approval should the manuscript be submitted to the journal.
  
• Changes in authorship responsibilities (adding/removing authors, changing author order, etc.) cannot be proposed once the review process has begun.
  
• Authors must respect copyright for tables, figures, maps, and other materials not owned by them and must provide proper attribution or permissions.
  

d) Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication

As a rule, a manuscript describing essentially the same research should not be published in more than one journal. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. Withdrawal of a manuscript from the publication process—without good cause or even with cause—while peer review is ongoing is also considered within this scope as it results in unnecessary loss of time and effort for the journal and reviewers. Therefore, the author(s) in question will be deemed ineligible to submit to MJH for five years.

Manuscripts previously published elsewhere as copyrighted material cannot be submitted to the journal. Manuscripts under review by the journal should not be resubmitted to copyrighted publications. By submitting a manuscript, authors retain publication rights to the material; if published, they agree to allow use of their work under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license (see MJH Open Access and Copyright Policy). Under this license, parties may distribute, copy, build upon, and create derivative works from all articles and images published in MJH, provided proper attribution is given.

e) Disclosure, Conflicts of Interest, and Funding

Authors must disclose, at the earliest possible stage—preferably by adding a disclosure note at submission and by indicating this in the manuscript—any conflicts of interest that could be construed to affect the results or interpretations presented in the article. Examples of potential conflicts requiring disclosure include honorary positions, educational grants or other funding, participation in speakers’ bureaus, memberships, employment, consultancy, stock ownership or other equity interests, paid expert testimony, patent licensing arrangements, as well as non-financial matters such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge, or beliefs related to the materials discussed in the article. All sources of financial support for the study must be disclosed (including grant numbers or other reference numbers, if any). If the study was supported by a national/international grant or project, this must be indicated at the beginning of the article via an appropriate footnote.

f) Hazards and Human or Animal Subjects
If the study involves chemicals, procedures, or equipment that pose unusual hazards in their use, authors must clearly identify these in the manuscript. If the work involves the use of animals or human participants and relevant experiments, authors must ensure that all procedures were performed in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines and approved by the appropriate institutional committee. A statement to this effect must be included in the introduction of the article. Authors must also include a statement confirming that human participants were informed about the content of the experiments and that their consent was obtained. The privacy rights of human participants must always be protected.

In accordance with national and international index criteria since 2020, Ethics Committee Approval is required for publication in MJH in the following general cases:

• Use of humans and animals (including materials/data) for experimental or other scientific purposes,
  
• Clinical research on humans,
  
• Research on animals,
  
• Any research employing qualitative or quantitative methods that require collecting data from participants through surveys, interviews, focus groups, observation, experiments, or interview techniques,
  
• Retrospective studies under personal data protection laws.
  

g) Responsibilities in the Peer-Review Process

Authors must participate in the double-blind peer-review process and fully cooperate by promptly responding to editors’ requests for raw data, clarifications, ethics approvals, and copyright permissions. If the initial decision is “revisions required,” authors must systematically and in a timely manner address reviewers’ comments, revise the manuscript, and resubmit it by the specified deadline. An author cannot serve simultaneously as a blind reviewer and an author in the same issue of MJH. Where an author serves as a blind reviewer for an upcoming issue, that author’s manuscript cannot be published in the same issue. Likewise, the MJH editorial team cannot appoint an author of the same issue as a blind reviewer.

h) Fundamental Errors in Published Works

When authors discover significant errors or inaccuracies in their own published work, they must promptly notify the journal editors or publisher. If authors identify a mistake in their published, early-view, or under-review work, they are obliged to inform the editor or publisher and cooperate in the correction or retraction process. If the editors or publisher learn from a third party that a published work contains a significant error or inaccuracy, the author(s) must promptly correct the article, retract it, or provide evidence of its accuracy to the editors.