The article acceptance and publication processes implemented at OPUS form the basis for the impartial and reputable development and distribution of information. The processes implemented in this regard directly reflect the quality of the work of authors and the institutions that support them. Peer-reviewed studies are those that embody and support the scientific method. At this point, it is important that all stakeholders in the process (authors, readers and researchers, publishers, referees and editors) comply with ethical principles standards. Our journal adheres to the International Principles of Ethical Publishing published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).
Actions Contrary to Scientific Research and Publication Ethics
a) Plagiarism: Presenting the ideas, methods, data, applications, writings, figures, or works of others, either partially or entirely, as one's own work without properly citing the original authors in accordance with scientific rules.
b) Fabrication: Producing data that is not based on research, editing or altering a submitted or published work based on false data, reporting or publishing such data, presenting research that has not been conducted as if it had been conducted,
c) Distortion: Falsifying research records and obtained data, presenting methods, devices, and materials not used in the research as if they had been used, excluding data that does not fit the research hypothesis from evaluation, manipulating data and/or results to fit relevant theories or assumptions, distorting or shaping research results in line with the interests of the persons and organisations providing support,
ç) Duplicate publication: Presenting multiple works containing the same results of a research as separate works in associate professorship examination evaluations and academic promotions,
d) Salami slicing: Presenting the results of a study as separate works in associate professorship examination evaluations and academic promotions by dividing them into parts in an inappropriate manner that disrupts the integrity of the study and publishing them in numerous publications without cross-referencing each other,
e) Unfair authorship: Including individuals who have not made an active contribution among the authors, not including individuals who have made an active contribution among the authors, changing the order of authors without justification and in an inappropriate manner, removing the names of those who have made an active contribution from the work during publication or in subsequent editions, including one's name among the authors by using one's influence despite not having made an active contribution,
Other types of ethical violations include:
a) Failing to acknowledge the individuals, institutions, or organisations that provided support for research conducted with such support, or their contributions, in publications resulting from such research,
b) Using theses or studies that have not yet been submitted or defended and accepted as a source without the permission of the owner,
c) Failing to comply with ethical rules in research conducted on humans and animals, failing to respect patient rights in publications,
c) Acting contrary to the provisions of relevant legislation in biomedical research involving humans and other clinical research,
d) Sharing information contained in a work assigned for review with others prior to publication without the express permission of the author,
e) Using resources, premises, facilities and equipment provided or allocated for scientific research for purposes other than those intended,
f) Making unfounded, unwarranted, and deliberate allegations of ethical violations,
g) Publishing data obtained without the explicit consent of participants in surveys and attitude studies conducted as part of scientific work, or without the additional consent of the institution if the research is to be conducted at an institution,
h) Harming animal health and ecological balance in research and experiments,
ı) Failing to obtain the necessary written permissions from the competent authorities before commencing research and experiments.
i) Conducting research and experiments that violate the provisions of legislation or international agreements to which Turkey is a party regarding the relevant research and experiments.
j) Failure by researchers and officials to comply with the obligation to inform and warn interested parties about potentially harmful practices related to the scientific research being conducted,
k) In scientific studies, failing to use data and information obtained from other persons and institutions to the extent and in the manner permitted, failing to respect the confidentiality of this information and failing to ensure its protection.
l) Making false or misleading statements regarding scientific research and publications in academic appointments and promotions.
Principles of Research Ethics
• Scientific integrity, transparency, and academic quality must be upheld at all stages of the research; ethical violations such as fabricating, falsifying, or plagiarizing data must be avoided. Research processes must be documented in a manner that allows for verification when necessary.
• Participants must be informed in a clear and understandable manner about the purpose, method, potential risks, and benefits of the research; the informed consent process must be conducted based on free will.
• The confidentiality of participants’ personal data must be protected; actions must align with the principles of anonymity, privacy, and data security. Data must be used solely for scientific purposes and stored securely.
• Participation in research must be voluntary; participants must be able to withdraw from the study at any time without providing a reason.
• Necessary precautions must be taken to prevent participants from suffering physical, psychological, social, or economic harm; special attention must be paid to ethical guidelines and legal regulations in studies involving vulnerable groups.
• Researchers must maintain their scientific independence; conflicts of interest, financial support, and sponsorships must be clearly disclosed.
• Where required, approval from an ethics committee and institutional permissions must be obtained before the research begins; the research process must be conducted in accordance with national and international ethical standards.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF STAKEHOLDERS
Authors' Ethical Responsibilities
• Submitted works must be original. If authors draw upon or use other works, they must provide complete and accurate citations and/or quotations.
• Any potential conflicts of interest or relationships that may arise in connection with works submitted for publication must be disclosed.
• Authors may be requested to provide raw data related to their articles during the review process; in such cases, authors should be prepared to submit the expected data and information to the editorial board and scientific committee.
• Authors must possess documentation demonstrating that they hold the rights to use the data employed, have obtained the necessary permissions for research/analysis, or have completed the permission procedures for subjects involved in experiments.
• If the author(s) notice an error or mistake in their published, advance view, or review-stage work, they are obliged to inform the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor in the correction or retraction process.
• Authors may not submit their work to more than one journal simultaneously. Each submission may be initiated after the previous submission has been completed. Work published in another journal may not be submitted to OPUS-International Journal of Social Research.
• Changes to author responsibilities (such as adding authors, changing author order, or removing authors) cannot be proposed for a work that is already in the review process.
Ethical Duties and Responsibilities of Editors
General duties and responsibilities
• Striving to meet the information needs of readers and authors,
• Ensuring the continuous development of the journal,
• Implementing processes to improve the quality of studies published in the journal,
• Supporting freedom of thought,
• Ensuring academic integrity,
• Continuing work processes without compromising intellectual property rights and ethical standards,
• Demonstrating openness and transparency in publishing matters requiring correction or clarification.
Relationships with readers
• Editors should make decisions taking into account the information, skills, and experience expectations of all readers, researchers, and practitioners.
• They should ensure that published works contribute to readers, researchers, practitioners and scientific fields and are original in nature.
• Editors are also obliged to take into account feedback from readers, researchers and practitioners and to provide explanatory and informative feedback.
Relationships with authors
• Editors should make positive or negative decisions based on the importance, original value, validity, clarity of presentation, and the aims and objectives of the journal.
• They should accept studies that are suitable for publication for preliminary review, provided they do not have serious problems.
• Editors should not disregard positive referee recommendations unless there is a serious problem with the study.
• New editors should not change decisions made by previous editors regarding studies unless there is a serious problem.
• Authors should be provided with explanatory and informative notifications and feedback.
Relationships with authors
• Editors should make positive or negative decisions based on the importance, original value, validity, clarity of expression, and the aims and objectives of the journal.
• Works that are suitable for publication should be accepted for preliminary review unless there are serious problems.
• Editors should not disregard positive referee recommendations unless there is a serious problem with the work.
• New editors should not change decisions made by previous editors regarding studies unless there is a serious problem.
• Authors should be provided with explanatory and informative notifications and feedback.
Relationships with Reviewers
• Reviewers should be selected according to the subject of the study.
• The journal is responsible for providing referees with the information and guidance they need during the evaluation process.
• The journal must ensure that there is no conflict of interest between authors and referees.
• Referees should be encouraged to evaluate the work in an impartial, scientific and objective manner.
• Referees should be evaluated based on criteria such as timeliness of feedback and performance.
• It should establish practices and policies to enhance the performance of referees.
• It should take the necessary steps to ensure that the pool of referees is continuously and dynamically updated.
• It should prevent discourteous and unscientific evaluations.
Ethical Responsibilities of Referees
• They should only accept to evaluate work related to their area of expertise.
• They should evaluate impartially and confidentially.
• Should they believe they have a conflict of interest during the evaluation process, they should decline to review the work and inform the journal editor.
• In accordance with the principle of confidentiality, they should destroy the works they have reviewed after the evaluation process. They may only use the final versions of the works they have reviewed after publication.
• They should evaluate objectively and solely on the basis of the content of the work. They should not allow nationality, gender, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or commercial concerns to influence their evaluation.
• They should conduct the evaluation in a constructive and polite manner. They should not make derogatory personal comments that contain hostility, slander, or insults.
• They should evaluate the work they have accepted in a timely manner and in accordance with the above ethical responsibilities.
PUBLICATION ETHICS PRINCIPLES
ETHICS COMMITTEE APPROVAL
Our journal requires that all studies in scientific fields requiring ethics committee approval have obtained the relevant ethics committee decision. In this context, information regarding ethics committee approval (committee name, date, and decision number) must be clearly stated in the article text.
In line with the regulations implemented by Ulakbim TR Index since 2020, studies without ethics committee approval are not considered for publication in our journal.
Detecting Plagiarism
Our journal scans all submitted articles to prevent plagiarism. Studies submitted for review are checked for plagiarism using software such as Turnitin and iThenticate. If plagiarism is detected in an article submitted to or published in our journal, our journal acts in accordance with COPE principles (Plagiarism in a submitted manuscript - Plagiarism in a published article).
Use of Artificial Intelligence
The use of artificial intelligence in studies submitted to our journal is acceptable in processes that do not affect the originality of the article, such as literature review or language control. However, the use of artificial intelligence must be carried out within the framework of ethical rules and must not be used for unethical purposes such as fabricating data or manipulation. For studies involving the use of artificial intelligence, it is mandatory to inform our journal of this situation during the article submission stage. All responsibility regarding the use of artificial intelligence lies with the authors themselves.
Privacy Statement
All personal data submitted to our journal is protected. Data belonging to authors, referees, and other individuals is not shared with third parties or institutions.
Relationships with the Journal Owner and Publisher
The relationship between the editor and the publisher is based on the principle of editorial independence. Pursuant to the written agreement between the editor and the publisher, all decisions made by the editor are independent of the publisher and journal owner.
Corrections, Retractions, Expressions of Concern
Editors may consider publishing a correction if minor errors are found in a published article that do not affect the findings, interpretations, or conclusions. Editors should consider retracting an article when major errors/violations invalidate the findings and conclusions. The COPE guidelines are considered regarding corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern.
Protection of Intellectual Property Rights
Our journal is responsible for protecting the intellectual property rights of all published articles and defending the rights of the journal and author(s) in the event of possible infringements.
Complaints and Appeals to Our Journal
You may email your complaints and appeals regarding content, procedures, or policies under the responsibility of our journal or its editorial board members to editorialoffice@opusjournal.net. Complaints and appeals submitted to our journal are carefully reviewed and evaluated in accordance with COPE principles.
PUBLICATION POLICIES
A-Article Evaluation Process
The article evaluation process in our journal consists of four main stages: preliminary review, peer review, revision, and publication.
1. Preliminary Review
Submitted works are first evaluated by the editor for compliance with the journal's publication policies, academic writing principles, and the APA 7 Citation System. At this stage, plagiarism screening is performed using software such as Turnitin and iThenticate.
2. Peer Review Process
For works that meet the preliminary review criteria, a double-blind peer review process is initiated. The article is sent to two independent referees who are experts in the field. Both the author and referee identities are kept confidential throughout the review process; the process is conducted in accordance with ethical principles and confidentiality rules.
The work is accepted for publication based on positive reports from both referees. If one of the referees gives a negative opinion, the article is referred to a third referee for a final decision.
3. Revision Process
If revisions are requested by the referees, authors must submit the work with the suggested corrections marked in a different colour (e.g. red). The changes made are first reviewed by the editor and then re-examined by the relevant referees.
Works that have completed the referee process are also reviewed by the journal's language editors.
Where deemed necessary in terms of language and writing, authors are asked to make additional corrections. The linguistic revisions made are checked again and approved.
4. Publication Process
Articles that have completed all scientific, technical, and linguistic processes are prepared for publication after typesetting and layout. Approved works are published in the following issue.
B-Open Access and Copyright
The copyright of articles published in the journal belongs to the authors, while the commercial usage rights belong to our journal. All articles published in our journal are published as open access under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.
Licence Scope
Share: You may copy and redistribute the work in any medium or format.
As long as you comply with the licence terms, the licence holder cannot revoke these freedoms (the specified rights).
Under the following conditions:
Attribution: You must provide appropriate credit, link to the licence, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so appropriately, but this does not imply that the licence holder approves of you or your use.
Non-Commercial: You may not use this material for commercial purposes.
No Derivatives: If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
No additional restrictions: You may not restrict the rights granted by the licence to others through laws or technology.
C-Archiving Policy
Works published in our journal are digitally archived in LOCKSS. Our journal also allows authors to archive versions of their work on their own websites, institutional websites, and other repositories. As the journal is open access, there is no embargo period. Articles published in our journal can be accessed free of charge from our Archive page.
D-Special Issue Publication Policy
A special issue may be published once a year, subject to a decision by the Editorial Board. The publication and review principles for articles to be published in the special issue are applied in the same manner as for regular issues.
