MUSTAFA KEMAL UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OF FACULTY OF EDUCATION ETHICAL PRINCIPLES AND PUBLICATION POLICY

Our journal adopts the principle that scientific publishing processes are conducted in accordance with the principles of honesty, transparency, neutrality, independence, and accountability. It is essential that the studies published in our journal comply with Research and Publication Ethics principles.

While establishing its publication ethics policies, our journal takes as a basis the Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers and Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

1. Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are responsible for the scientific and ethical integrity of their studies. Authors submitting papers to the journal are expected to comply with the following principles:

1.1. Originality and Publication Status

• Studies submitted to the journal must be original.
• The work must not have been previously published or be under evaluation in another journal.
• The same research results should not be published in more than one article with substantially the same content.
• Ideas, data, expressions, figures, and tables taken from other studies must be used by providing appropriate citations.
• Plagiarism, self-plagiarism, redundant publication, and misleading citation are not accepted.

1.2. Accuracy of Research Data

• Authors are responsible for ensuring that the data they present are accurate and reliable.
• Data fabrication, falsification, or presenting research results in a misleading manner is not accepted.
• Findings should not be selected or modified in a way that portrays the research results differently than they are.

1.3. Authorship

• Individuals designated as authors must have made a significant scientific contribution to the study.
• Individuals who have not made a significant contribution to the study should not be listed as authors.
• The authorship rights of individuals who have made significant contributions to the study must not be disregarded.
• All authors must approve the final version of the article and bear responsibility for the integrity of the work.

1.4. Ethics Committee and Research Permissions

• In researches requiring ethics committee approval, necessary permissions must be obtained before the research begins.
• The name of the ethics committee, decision date, and issue number must be stated on the first/last page of the manuscript and in the methodology section, and the document showing the ethics committee decision must be uploaded to the system along with the article submission. The rights, privacy, and safety of individuals participating in the research must be protected.
• Ethics committee approval is not required for review articles. However, in articles that do not require an ethics committee decision, it must be stated on the first/last page and in the methodology section that an ethics committee decision is not required.
• Informed consent must be obtained when necessary.

1.5. Conflict of Interest and Financial Support

• Authors must declare any existing or potential conflicts of interest that could influence the study.
• Financial support provided for the research and the institutions or organizations contributing to the study must be explicitly stated.

1.6. Intellectual Property and Copyright

• Ideas, works, data, scales, visuals, and other materials belonging to other researchers must be used appropriately, and necessary permissions must be obtained.
• Necessary permissions must be obtained from the relevant copyright holders for materials subject to copyright.

2. Ethical Responsibilities of Authors Regarding the Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools

When artificial intelligence and AI-assisted tools are used in research and publication processes, the following principles apply:

• Artificial intelligence tools cannot be listed as authors. Human authors are responsible for the final content and scientific responsibility of the study.
• Authors must disclose the nature and scope of their use of AI tools in the manner specified by the journal.
• Texts, data analyses, visuals, tables, codes, or other content generated by artificial intelligence must be checked and verified by the authors.
• Authors are responsible for the incorporation of erroneous, fabricated, or unverified information and sources produced by AI tools into the article.
• The use of artificial intelligence cannot be used to justify plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, or any other research and publication ethics violation.
• Authors must not upload confidential research data, personal data, unpublished manuscripts, or confidential information belonging to third parties to inappropriate AI tools.
• The use of AI tools does not remove the authors' responsibility for scientific evaluation and decision-making.

3. Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers are responsible for maintaining the neutrality and reliability of the scientific peer-review process.

3.1. Neutrality and Objectivity

• Reviewers must evaluate studies solely on the basis of scientific criteria.
• Personal, academic, institutional, or other biases must not influence the evaluation.
• The authors' institution, academic title, gender, nationality, religion, or other personal characteristics must not influence the evaluation decision.

3.2. Expertise

• Reviewers should only accept to evaluate studies in areas where they possess adequate expertise.
• When they realize they lack the necessary expertise to evaluate a study, they should inform the editor.

3.3. Conflict of Interest

• Reviewers must inform the editor if there are any personal, academic, professional, or financial conflicts of interest regarding the manuscript under review.
• The reviewing task should not be accepted in cases where a conflict of interest could influence the evaluation.

3.4. Confidentiality

• Manuscripts sent to reviewers for evaluation and related information must be kept confidential.
• Article content must not be shared with third parties without the editor's permission.
• Reviewers must not use unpublished ideas, data, or methods obtained during the evaluation process in their own work.

3.5. Evaluation Reports

• Review reports must be clear, constructive, justified, and based on scientific criteria.
• Personal, derogatory, or aggressive expressions must not be used.
• Reviewers must not use the evaluation process to personally criticize authors or to prompt unnecessary citations to their own work.

3.6. Reporting Ethical Violations

• Reviewers must inform the editor when they have a reasonable suspicion of plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, redundant publication, or any other research/publication ethics violation during the evaluation process.

3.7. Timely Evaluation

• Reviewers must complete accepted evaluations within the specified timeframe; if they realize they cannot do so, they must inform the editor as soon as possible.

4. Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers Regarding the Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools

• Reviewers must not upload confidential manuscript texts or significant parts of manuscripts sent to them for evaluation purposes to generative AI tools without the explicit permission of the journal.
• Reviewers must not use AI-generated evaluations as a substitute for their own scientific assessments.
• If AI tools are utilized, the reviewer remains responsible for the accuracy and content of the final evaluation report.
• Recommendations obtained through AI tools must not compromise the confidentiality, neutrality, or reliability of the peer-review process.

5. Ethical Responsibilities of Editors

Editors are responsible for maintaining the scientific quality and publication ethics of the journal.

5.1. Fair and Impartial Decision Making

• Publication decisions must be made based on the scientific quality, originality, methodological rigor of the manuscript, and its relevance to the journal's scope.
• Editorial decisions must be independent of the personal or institutional characteristics of the authors.
• Editors must not engage in discriminatory or biased practices regarding any author or study.

5.2. Independence

• Editorial decisions must be based on scientific criteria and must be independent of inappropriate interventions by the journal owner, publisher, sponsor, or other individuals and institutions.

5.3. Selection of Reviewers

• Editors must assign reviewers whose expertise aligns with the subject and field of the manuscript.
• Principles of neutrality, expertise, diversity, and avoidance of conflicts of interest must be observed in reviewer selection.

5.4. Confidentiality

• Editors must not share manuscript, author, and reviewer information obtained during the evaluation process with unauthorized persons.

5.5. Conflict of Interest

• Editors must recuse themselves from the editorial decision process regarding manuscripts where they or close working associates have a conflict of interest.

5.6. Allegations of Ethical Violations

• Editors must take allegations of plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, redundant publication, inappropriate authorship, or other research and publication ethics violations seriously.
• When necessary, they should communicate with relevant institutions and take COPE guidelines and flowcharts regarding ethical violation situations into consideration.

5.7. Appeals and Complaints

• The journal must have a clear and transparent mechanism through which authors can submit their appeals and complaints regarding editorial decisions.

5.8. Corrections and Retractions

• When a significant error or ethical issue is identified in a published study, necessary corrections, errata, addendums, or retraction procedures must be carried out appropriately.

5.9. Manuscript of an Editor or Editorial Board Member

• If an editor or editorial board member submits a manuscript to the journal, a separate editorial evaluation process that prevents conflicts of interest and ensures independence must be applied.

6. Ethical Responsibilities of Editors Regarding the Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools

• Editors must not transfer the content of confidential manuscripts sent to them during the evaluation process to inappropriate AI tools.
• AI tools must not be the sole determinant of an editorial decision.
• When AI-assisted tools are used, author privacy, intellectual property rights, and the reliability of the evaluation process must be protected.
• Editors must not make editorial decisions without verifying information generated by AI tools.
• The use of AI does not remove the editor's editorial responsibility.

7. Publication Ethics Violations

Our journal considers the following situations as severe violations of research and publication ethics:

• Plagiarism
• Self-plagiarism
• Data fabrication
• Data falsification
• Redundant or overlapping publication
• Inappropriate authorship
• Ghost authorship or gift authorship
• Failure to obtain required ethics committee approval in studies requiring it
• Violation of research participants' rights
• Concealment of conflicts of interest
• Misleading use of sources
• Manipulation of the peer-review process
• Unauthorized use of unpublished data or ideas of another researcher

When a suspicion of ethical violation arises, editors evaluate the situation and, when necessary, communicate with relevant institutions. COPE’s relevant guidelines and flowcharts are taken into account during the process.

COPE’s Core Practices define handling allegations of research misconduct, authorship, conflicts of interest, editorial oversight, intellectual property, peer review, and post-publication discussions/corrections as core publication ethics areas.

References

• Committee on Publication Ethics. (2011). Code of conduct and best practice guidelines for journal editors.
• Committee on Publication Ethics. (2017). COPE Ethical guidelines for peer reviewers. https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.1.9
• Committee on Publication Ethics. (2024). Authorship and AI. https://doi.org/10.24318/cCVRZBms