Authors' Duties and Responsibilities

Authorship and Contribution

Authorship should be limited to those who have made significant contributions to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. If there are individuals who have made minimal contributions to the study, such as language editing, they should be mentioned in the acknowledgments section.

The corresponding author must ensure that all co-authors have seen the final version of the manuscript and approved its submission for publication. Authors are expected to carefully review the author list and order before submitting their manuscripts and provide a definitive author list during the original submission. Authors take joint responsibility for the work.

Author Change Requests

Adding names to the author list, removing names from the list, or rearranging the list can only be done before the manuscript is accepted and only if approved by the journal Editor. If such a change request is made, the Editor requests from the corresponding author:

• (a) The reason for the change in the author list
• (b) Written approval (email) from all authors that they accept the addition

The Editor will consider adding, removing, or rearranging authors after the manuscript has been accepted only in exceptional circumstances.

Manuscript Writing and Originality

Original Research

Those writing original research articles should address the topic in an original manner and with objective discussion. The manuscript should contain sufficient detail and references to allow others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly false statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Originality Assurance

The author must provide assurance that the manuscript is original, has not been published elsewhere before, and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere in another language.

Original Source Usage and Citation

Authors must ensure that they have written completely original works and that if they have used the works or words of others, this is appropriately cited in APA 7.0 format. Information obtained privately, such as in conversations, correspondence, or discussions with third parties, should not be used without the explicit written permission of the source.

Data Management and Transparency

Data Access and Preservation

Authors may be requested to provide the research data supporting their manuscripts for editorial review and/or to comply with the journal's open data requirements. Authors should be prepared to provide public access to such data where possible and to retain such data for a reasonable period after publication. Our journal recommends uploading research data to TÜBİTAK's Aperta Portal.

Multiple and Simultaneous Publication

An author should not publish a manuscript containing the same research in multiple journals. Submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously is unethical behavior. An author should not submit a previously published manuscript to another journal for consideration, except if it has been published in abstract form.

Ethics Committee and Permissions

Compliance with Ethical Principles

Süleyman Demirel University Journal of Social Sciences follows the publication ethics principles, standards, and recommendations established by COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) and the Higher Education Institutions Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive regarding publication ethics.

Authors' Ethical Responsibilities

• Authors are obliged to comply with the provisions of the Higher Education Institutions Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive
• They must declare that the submitted works are original and that they have not engaged in any actions contrary to publication ethics, including plagiarism
• All responsibility arising from unethical behaviors to be detected belongs to the authors

Ethics Committee Approval

For research conducted in all scientific disciplines requiring ethics committee permission:

• Ethics committee approval must have been obtained
• This approval must be stated and documented in the manuscript
• Information regarding the permission (committee name, date, and number) must be included in the methodology section
• It must also be stated on one of the first/last pages of the manuscript

Studies Not Requiring Ethics Committee

For studies not requiring ethics committee decision, the statement "Ethics Committee Permission is not required for this research" must be written, and during the manuscript submission process, a document signed by the corresponding author containing the relevant declaration must be uploaded. The file name should be "Declaration that Ethics Committee is Not Required."

Plagiarism Control

Manuscripts submitted to the journal:
• Are scanned through plagiarism detection platforms (iThenticate, Turnitin, intihal.net)
• Must have a similarity rate of at most 20%. 
• Publications that do not meet this condition are returned to authors without proceeding to the peer review process
• In cases where similarity rates are high in areas requiring verbatim quotation, evaluation will be conducted with expert opinion.

Declarations

Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest occurs when professional judgment regarding a primary interest can be influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain or personal competition). All sources of financial support received during the conduct of the research and preparation of the manuscript, and the role of sponsors in the study, must be explained. If there is no funding source, this must also be stated.

If there is no conflict of interest: "The author(s) declare that there is no conflict of interest in the study."

If there is a conflict of interest: It must be clearly stated.

Funding/Incentive Declaration

If there is no finance/incentive: "The author(s) declare that no finance/incentive was used in the study."

If there is finance/incentive: The person/institution providing the fund or incentive must be specified.

Author Contribution

In multi-author manuscripts, the "corresponding author" must be indicated on the cover (first) page of the manuscript. Each author's contribution to the manuscript must be stated. Which author took part in which stage of the manuscript must be clearly written. Detailed explanations regarding author contribution rates can be made using the initial letters of authors' names and surnames as follows.

Example: "A.B.: Conceptual design, data collection; C.D.: Analysis, writing; E.F.: Review, editing"

Research and Publication Ethics Declaration

"The author(s) declare that research and publication ethics have been adhered to in this manuscript."

Acknowledgments

Authors' acknowledgment statements for any person/institution should be included in this section.

Error and Correction

Error Reporting

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their published work, they must immediately notify the journal. The author is obliged to cooperate in retracting or correcting the manuscript if deemed necessary by the editor.

If it is learned from a third party that a published work contains errors, it is also the author's obligation to cooperate with the editor, including providing information to the editor.

Image Integrity

Enhancing, obscuring, moving, removing, or adding a specific feature in an image is unacceptable. Authors must comply with the policy established by the journal for graphic visuals.

Manuscript Submission Process

Pre-Submission Checklist

Before submitting your manuscript, ensure that the following documents are ready:

For All Manuscript Types:

• Main Text (3,000-8,000 words)
• Copyright Agreement
• Author Identity Information Form
• Similarity Report (should not exceed 2% in a single work, 20% in total)

If Required:

• "Ethics Committee Approval Document" or "Declaration that Ethics Committee is Not Required"
• Additional Files

File Upload Rules

• When uploading the manuscript file, ensure that this file does not contain any elements that would reveal the author's identity due to the double-blind peer review process
• In applications made, the corresponding author's account must be used
• All correspondence regarding the application is communicated to the corresponding author via electronic mail sent through the journal system

Manuscript Tracking

You can track your manuscript throughout the process by going to the author area in the journal system. The manuscripts you have submitted will be listed under the "Submitted Manuscripts" heading. When your manuscript is sent for peer review and when decisions regarding corrections (minor or major) are marked, you can find the reviewer comments in the decision letter and files tab.

Important Reminders

ORCID Requirement

All authors' ORCID IDs must be entered into the system during manuscript submission and stated on the first page of the manuscript.

Similarity Rates & Plagiarized

• All submitted manuscripts are routinely screened for plagiarism using professional similarity detection software (e.g., iThenticate/Turnitin). Any work found to contain plagiarism will be immediately rejected without review.
• Total similarity: Maximum 20%
• Similarity with a single source: Maximum 2%
• For works produced from open access master's and doctoral theses, single source similarity may be at most 5%

Language and Editing

Candidate manuscripts submitted should have a simple and clear language quality appropriate to grammar rules and scientific literature according to the writing language (Turkish and English). The final copy is checked by Turkish and English full-text language editors.

Peer Review Process

• SDU-SD journal uses a double-blind peer review system
• At least two reviewers from different institutions are assigned for each manuscript
• Attention is paid to the principles of impartiality and diversity
• Peer review reports are kept for at least five years