Pamukkale University Journal of Social Sciences Institute (PAUSBED) is an open-access, peer-reviewed academic journal published electronically six (6) times a year, featuring original and scientifically qualified studies in the field of Social Sciences. The entire responsibility for the scientific content and statements in an article published in the journal belongs to the authors.

Pamukkale University Journal of Social Sciences Institute can be accessed online free of charge at [https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/pausbed](https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/pausbed). All articles published in the journal are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).

The ethical duties and responsibilities in PAUSBED have been prepared by taking into account the publication policies of journals indexed in national and international fields, as well as the guides and policies published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) as open access.

PAUSBED also adheres to the *Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing* published jointly by COPE, the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), and the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA). The ethical standards summarized below serve as a guide for editors, reviewers, and authors contributing to the Pamukkale University Journal of Social Sciences Institute.

PAUSBED uses a double-blind peer review system. Applications deemed appropriate are directed to two or three reviewers working in relevant fields. The names of the reviewers are kept confidential, and reviewer reports are archived. If one of the reviewer reports is positive and the other is critical, the article may be sent to a third reviewer for further examination, or the Editorial Board may make a decision depending on the nature of the three reports. Authors are obliged to revise their articles in line with the comments and suggestions of the reviewers and the Editorial Board. If they feel uncomfortable at any point, they may object by stating their reasons appropriately.

We expect all authors to read and understand our publication policy before submitting an article to our journal. This is part of our commitment to preventing ethical misconduct, which we recognize as a growing problem in academic and professional publications. It is important to note that most cases of plagiarism, duplicate publication, copyright infringement, or similar incidents stem from a lack of information rather than fraudulent intent. Our policy is focused on prevention, not persecution. If you have any questions, please contact the editorial office.

Submission of an article to PAUSBED implies that all authors have read and accepted the content of the article and that the article complies with the journal's policies.

Human participants, human material, or human data must have been used in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and an appropriate ethics committee must have approved the study. All articles reporting such research must include a statement explaining this after the article, including the name of the ethics committee and the reference number, if applicable. If a study has been exempted from the ethics approval requirement, this must be stated in the article (including the name of the ethics committee granting the exemption). Upon request, supplementary materials and documents must be made accessible to the Editor. If the Editor believes that the research was conducted outside an appropriate ethical context, the manuscript may be rejected. In exceptional cases, the Editor may contact the ethics committee for further information.

Editors are responsible for:

* Ensuring the development of the journal in the national and international arena,

* Managing processes to increase the quality of published studies,

* Executing the processes of applying ethical rules for all stakeholders of the journal,

* Updating publication and ethical policies to contribute to the development of the journal,

* Organizing the journal's website and keeping it up to date.

Editors are obliged to:

* Take into account reader feedback regarding journal publication, scope, and ethics,

* Improve the studies published in PAUSBED by considering the interests and needs of the readers,

* Answer questions from readers, provided they remain within the framework of ethical rules.

Editors are responsible for:

* Submitting studies sent to the journal to the publication board, which decides whether to send them to reviewers,

* Informing authors about publication and ethical policies,

* Preventing possible conflicts of interest between authors and reviewers,

* Ensuring an impartial evaluation by conducting the "Blind Review" concept effectively,

* Evaluating authors' requests regarding conflicts of interest and requests not to send their work to specific reviewers with appropriate justifications,

* Positively responding to authors' requests to withdraw their studies while they are still in the evaluation process,

* Evaluating authors' objections to reviewer and editor decisions/reports and initiating a new evaluation process if deemed appropriate.

Editors are responsible for:

* Determining a reviewer suitable for the subject of the study,

* Providing the information and guidance reviewers will need during the evaluation phase,

* Observing whether there is a conflict of interest between authors and reviewers,

* Keeping information regarding the evaluating reviewer confidential,

* Encouraging reviewers to be impartial,

* Answering reviewers' questions regarding publication and ethical policies,

* Making updates to improve the reviewer pool,

* Reminding reviewers regarding the evaluation period,

* Encouraging reviewers to evaluate in a constructive, polite, and appropriate language.

Editors are responsible for:

* Holding meetings with the Editorial Board at certain intervals,

* Providing the information and guidance the Board will need regarding PAUSBED's publication and ethical policies,

* Improving the journal by taking into account feedback from the Board,

* Ensuring that Board members are impartial,

* Encouraging the Board to evaluate studies within the framework of scientific criteria.

* The submitted work must not have been published previously and must not be under evaluation in another journal.

* All sources must be cited completely and correctly.

* Only persons who contributed directly to the study should be listed as authors.

* Citations must be given clearly in quotation marks and properly referenced.

* Ethics committee approval must be obtained for research involving human or animal experiments, surveys, interviews, or observations.

* Authors may identify reviewers to whom they do not wish their work to be sent due to conflicts of interest and/or ethical reasons.

* They may withdraw their unpublished studies while in the evaluation process.

* They have the right to object to reviewer reports and editor decisions.

* In case of an error detected in the publication, the author must inform the editorial board immediately.

* Possible conflicts of interest must be declared clearly.

Studies submitted to PAUSBED are sent anonymously to at least two reviewers in the relevant field. In case of equality of positive and negative opinions about the article in reviewer evaluations, the opinion of the editor or a third reviewer is sought.

A double-blind peer review process is adopted in PAUSBED; the author and the reviewer are unaware of each other's identities. In this context, reviewers evaluating studies in PAUSBED are expected to have the following ethical responsibilities:

* To read the publication principles of PAUSBED,

* To accept evaluating only studies related to their field of expertise. Not to accept evaluation just to have an idea about the subject of the article if it is not their field of expertise,

* To refuse to evaluate when they realize that they cannot be impartial,

* To complete the evaluation process within a specific timeframe,

* To evaluate within the framework of impartiality and confidentiality,

* To refuse evaluation and report the situation to the editor when they encounter a situation such as a conflict of interest,

* To report to the editor when they detect that the article they are evaluating has been sent to another journal at the same time,

* To make the evaluation in a constructive and polite language. Not to make personal comments such as hostility, insults, and slander,

* To ensure that evaluations are related to the content of the article. To be sensitive that factors such as belief, sect, race, gender, and political opinion do not influence the evaluation process.

PAUSBED is a non-profit journal that adopts an open-access policy. Published content is offered directly to open access free of charge. Users can read, save, print full-text articles, and link to articles from PAUSBED without permission, provided that the source is cited. No fee is charged for processes such as article submission, evaluation, and publication. Furthermore, PAUSBED does not accept sponsorship or advertising offers. All articles published in PAUSBED are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.

Authors allow their works to be published under the **Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)** license. Pamukkale University Journal of Social Sciences Institute does not assume the copyright of the publication in any way. Matters regarding copyright are regulated by the **Copyright Agreement Form**. Journals and articles are published under the **Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License**, accessible at [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.en](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.en).

Authors are free to make the pdf files of their articles accessible as they deem necessary. Therefore, the journal allows the published version to be self-archived without any restrictions. Authors are free to use all or part of their content (text and figures), including edits and adaptations, in other publications; however, the original publication in PAUSBED must always be cited. No royalties are paid to authors for published studies. Any scientific, ethical, and legal responsibility likely to arise from articles published in PAUSBED belongs to the author(s). The Journal does not accept any liability in this regard. The content of all articles in our journal, which adopts an open-source access policy, is open to access. Authors accepting these points must sign the Copyright Agreement Form and transmit it to the editors. Articles of authors who do not submit this form will not be published.

All studies submitted to our journal are taken into the publication process with a similarity screening report (intihal.net, Turnitin, or iThenticate). Matches resulting from the plagiarism check are examined, and a report is generated. Since the journal publishes in very different disciplines, there is no fixed maximum similarity rate. The examination is carried out by the Editors within the framework of ethical rules. At this point, if the work is significantly similar to a publication (single source) with or without citation, this is conveyed to the authors as it may constitute ethical accusations, and corrections are requested. Editors may issue a **desk rejection** decision due to a high total similarity rate or a high similarity rate specific to a certain work (single source) when deemed necessary.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI) enables the identification and access to the copy of studies published in the electronic environment. A DOI number is assigned to studies submitted to and accepted by PAUSBED, and the official information of the study in the electronic environment is secured.

Studies submitted to PAUSBED are under protection within the scope of the Law on the Protection of Personal Data. No information, process, or correspondence belonging to the author and reviewers is shared with third parties and institutions other than the legal means specified in the Law.

Under no circumstances should generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools be listed as authors or co-authors of an academic article. The author(s) bear full responsibility for the content, accuracy, and originality of the submitted work. The use of AI tools does not eliminate the scientific, ethical, and intellectual responsibilities of the authors. PAUSBED strictly prohibits the use of AI to create fake authors or distort identity.

The use of any AI tool during research, writing, or processes must be clearly and transparently declared within the article. This declaration should be included in the "Methods" or "Acknowledgments" section where appropriate. It is necessary to specify in detail how and for what purpose these tools were used, along with the full names and version numbers of the AI tools used in the statement.

PAUSBED editors should not upload unpublished articles, files belonging to them, images, or any related information to AI tools. Protecting the confidentiality of submitted content and securing the intellectual property rights of authors are among the fundamental responsibilities of editors.

PAUSBED editors may use AI tools at certain stages of the editorial workflow—such as initial eligibility screening or reviewer selection—only with the explicit approval of the journal management. Such AI use must be transparently notified to the authors.

In case of uncertainty or concern regarding AI use, PAUSBED editors will establish open and transparent communication with the authors and may request supporting evidence if necessary.

PAUSBED editors are expected to carefully examine authors' statements regarding the use of AI tools and request clarification or additional information when necessary. It is the editors' responsibility to evaluate whether the declared AI use complies with the journal's established policies.

PAUSBED editors must closely follow developments in generative AI technologies and be informed about the journal's updated policies in this area.

Reviewers are encouraged to attempt to detect potential undeclared AI use in the articles they evaluate and to inform editors if they suspect such a situation. However, such evaluations must be based on clear and objective assessment criteria.

Reviewers must not, under any circumstances, upload unpublished articles or any related documents sent for peer review to generative AI platforms. Such action may violate confidentiality and infringe on intellectual property rights. The evaluation process must be conducted with the reviewer's own level of expertise and knowledge accumulation.

Reviewers must evaluate authors' AI use impartially; they should not allow personal opinions or biases to interfere with the journal's established policies. Any feedback or criticism regarding AI use should be constructive and compatible with the journal's official guidelines.

* Conceptual Diagrams and Explanatory Visuals: Generative AI can be used to visually express theoretical ideas, conceptual frameworks, or processes. Visuals created in this way must accurately reflect the author's own understanding and explanations.

* Data Visualization: Authors may use AI tools to improve the visual presentation of research data. These tools can be particularly useful in enhancing the design and comprehensibility of graphs, tables, and diagrams.

* Graphical Depictions and Representative Visuals: Visuals created with AI can be used as symbolic or explanatory representations to simplify and clarify complex ideas. Such visuals should support the reader's better understanding of the subject and should not distort or misrepresent the concepts described.

* Content Generation: It is not appropriate for AI to generate significant sections of an article—such as the abstract, introduction, literature review, or discussion. Content generated by AI should only be considered as a draft or suggestion and must be carefully reviewed, rewritten, and improved by the author(s) to ensure academic rigor and originality.

* Generation and Interpretation of Research Findings: AI tools should not be used for the purpose of generating, reporting, or interpreting research results. All responsibility regarding the accuracy, scope, and validity of data analysis belongs solely to the author(s).

* Reference Generation and Citation: Creating fabricated, unverifiable, or non-existent sources with AI tools is strictly prohibited. All cited sources must be verifiable in accordance with academic standards, correctly cited, and approved by the author(s).

* Academic Writing and Justification: The development of the article's fundamental arguments, theoretical contributions, and main thesis is solely the responsibility of the author(s). AI can only be used as an auxiliary tool in the writing process; it cannot replace the author's critical thinking or original academic contribution.

If the use of AI tools is not clearly declared or is used in violation of these guidelines, the article may be rejected during the evaluation process. If a violation is detected after publication, corrective actions such as publishing a correction or retracting the article may be applied. Repeated or serious violations of this policy may lead to the rejection of future submissions by the author(s) by the journal.

Pamukkale University Journal of Social Sciences Institute accepts scientific articles written in Turkish, English, French, and German. Submitted studies are expected to be at a level ready for publication in terms of grammar and academic style. During the evaluation process, linguistic and formal edits may be requested from the author(s) if deemed necessary.

Pamukkale University Journal of Social Sciences Institute is published electronically six times a year, in January, March, May, July, September, and November. Special issues may be published with the decision of the editorial board when necessary.