Publication Ethics Principles
Pay attention to the following points during article submission to ensure a healthy and scientific evaluation process.
1- The article to be submitted to the Journal must not have been published anywhere before and must not be in the publication process of another journal. It is unethical to send the article to another publication without the knowledge of the Journal before the process is completed. If this situation is detected, none of the articles of the article owner will be evaluated in the following process.
2- The article submitted to the Journal is sent to two referees after being examined for suitability for publication (articles that are not deemed suitable for publication are not included in the process). The article that receives two publishable reports due to the referees' evaluations is published in an issue deemed appropriate by the journal management. If one of the referee reports is positive and the other is negative, the article is sent to a third referee. In this case, the article's publication is decided according to the third referee's report.
3- If the manuscripts have been previously presented as a paper in a congress, symposium, or meeting, they may be published if deemed appropriate by the editorial board, provided that the date and place are specified. All responsibility in this regard belongs to the authors.
4- Manuscripts should be a maximum of 9.000 words, excluding references, including notes, tables, figures, graphs, and footnotes. Articles exceeding 9,000 words are subject to the evaluation of the editors. Figures, photographs, graphics, and drawings should be given a sequence number, and this sequence should be indicated in the text. The title should be written on it; if it is transferred, the source should be written in the footnote.
5- If the article is produced from academic studies (Master's, Doctorate, Associate Professorship, or Scientific Meetings), it must be stated.
6- It is obligatory to comply with grammar rules (spelling, punctuation, clarity, comprehensibility, etc.) in the works submitted to the Journal. Therefore, the author is fully responsible for any problems and criticisms that may arise.
7- Authors are notified of the articles whose referee process has been completed 1 month before the issue is decided to be published and are asked to check the articles and send the final version.
8- The Turkish Journal of Social Work has the right to publish or not publish the submitted articles and to make corrections when necessary. The legal responsibility of an article published in the Journal belongs to the author and does not bind the Journal. The author submitting an article to the Journal is deemed to have accepted these principles. Articles that do not comply with these principles will not be evaluated.
9- Articles that are not received between the dates announced on the Journal's website will not be evaluated.
10- The Turkish Journal of Social Work checks the manuscripts submitted for review for plagiarism: Pre-checked articles are scanned for plagiarism using iThenticate software. Authors are informed if plagiarism/self-plagiarism is detected. If necessary, editors may check the article for plagiarism at various stages of the review or production process. High similarity rates may result in a manuscript being rejected before or even after acceptance. This rate is expected to be less than 20%. Those with a similarity rate of 30% or more are rejected outright. A maximum of 5% is tolerated in the "remove citations" section of the iThenticate report.
11- If it is detected that the data used in the articles are manipulated, distorted, and fabricated, the institution where the author of the article works will be officially notified of this situation, and the article will be rejected. The Turkish Journal of Social Work has the right to request output files of the analysis results from the authors according to the feedback given by the editor and/or referees.
12- If the study prepared for publication is produced from a book chapter, unpublished communiqué text, or master's or doctoral thesis, this should be stated on the study's first page.
13- The publication processes applied in the Turkish Journal of Social Work constitute the basis for the impartial and reputable development and distribution of knowledge. The processes applied in this direction directly reflect the quality of the authors' work and the institutions that support the authors. Peer-reviewed studies are studies that embody and support the scientific method. At this point, it is important that all stakeholders of the process (authors, readers, researchers, publishers, referees, and editors) comply with the standards for ethical principles.
14- For the articles produced from the Communiqué to be evaluated, the author must submit their article with a wet-signed undertaking stating, "My work has not been published before and will not be published. Because duplication/republication / scientific misrepresentation / multiple publications is a crime, according to the TÜBİTAK Publication Ethics Committee, republication is submitting or publishing the same research results to more than one Journal for publication. Any other publication is considered a republication if an article has already been evaluated and published.
15- The editorial board may approve the publication of articles that exceed the upper word limit in cases deemed necessary
Publication Principles
The Journal adheres to national and international standards of research and publication ethics. It complies with the Press Law (a), the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works (b), and the Directive on Scientific Research and Publication Ethics of Higher Education Institutions (c). It has also adopted the International Ethical Publishing Principles (d) published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), and Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA).
a) Press Law
b) Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works
c) Higher Education Institutions Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive
d) Transparency and Best Practice Principles in Academic Publishing
The following ethical duties and responsibilities have been prepared in open access following the guidelines and policies published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (see COPE Guidelines) COPE Workflow Diagrams (Turkish).
Publication Ethics Statement
Correction, Retraction, Expression of Concern
Editors may consider publishing a correction if minor errors are identified in the published article that do not affect the findings, interpretations, and conclusions. Editors should consider retracting the manuscript if significant errors/violations invalidate the findings and conclusions. Editors should consider issuing a statement of concern if there is a possibility of research or publication misconduct by the authors, evidence that the findings are unreliable, and that the authors' institutions have not investigated the incident, or the potential investigation seems unfair or inconclusive. COPE guidelines are followed regarding correction, retraction, or expression of concern.
Plagiarism Action Plan and Journal's Measures
The Journal respects intellectual property and aims to protect and promote the original work of its authors. Plagiarized manuscripts contradict the standards of quality, research, and innovation. Therefore, all authors submitting manuscripts to the Journal are expected to adhere to ethical standards and avoid plagiarism in any form. If an author is suspected of plagiarism in a submitted or published manuscript, the Ethics Editor of the Journal will first review the manuscript. The paper is then reviewed by the Editorial Board. The Journal then contacts the author(s) to send a statement within two weeks. If the Journal does not receive a response from the author within the specified period, the Journal contacts the author's affiliated university and requests an investigation of the allegation.
The Journal will take the following serious measures against published manuscripts found to contain plagiarism:
1. The journal will immediately contact the author(s)' affiliating university to take definitive action against the author(s).
2. The Journal will remove the PDF copy of the published article from its website and turn off all links to the full-text article. The phrase Plagiarized Article will be added to the published article's title.
3. The Journal will deactivate the author's account and reject all future submissions from the author for 3 years.
This Journal checks for plagiarism in manuscripts submitted for review: Pre-checked manuscripts are scanned for plagiarism using iThenticate software. Authors are notified if plagiarism/self-plagiarism is detected. If necessary, editors may check the article for plagiarism at various stages of the review or production process. High similarity rates may result in a manuscript being rejected before or even after acceptance. This rate is expected to be less than 20%.
Publication of Studies Based on Surveys and Interviews
The Turkish Journal of Social Work adopts the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) "Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" and "Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers" to provide ethical assurance in scientific periodical publishing. In this context, the following points should be followed in the studies submitted to the Journal:
1) For research in all disciplines that require ethics committee approval (ethics committee approval must be obtained; this approval must be stated and documented in the article.
2) In studies requiring ethics committee approval, information about the permission (name of the committee, date, and number) should be included in the method section and on one of the first/last pages of the article; in case reports, information on the signing of the informed consent form should be included in the article.
Special Issue Publication Policy
A special issue may be published once a year upon the request of the Editorial Board. Articles submitted for inclusion in the special issue are first subjected to a preliminary editorial review. Then, they are examined for compliance with the Journal's spelling rules, and similarity screening is performed to prevent plagiarism. After these stages, they are taken into the peer review process using the double-blind model.
Actions against the ethics of scientific research and publication are as follows:
Plagiarism: Presenting the ideas, methods, data, applications, writings, forms, or works of others as one's own work, in whole or in part, without citing their owners following scientific rules,
Forgery: Producing data that is not based on research, editing or altering submitted or published work based on untrue data, reporting or publishing such data, presenting research that has not been conducted as if it has been conducted,
Distortion: Falsifying research records and data obtained. Falsifying methods, devices, and materials that were not used in the research, excluding data that do not follow the research hypothesis, manipulating data and/or results to fit relevant theories or assumptions, falsifying or shaping research results in line with the interests of the persons and organizations receiving support,
Republishing: Presenting more than one work containing the same results of research as separate works in associate professorship exam evaluations and academic promotions,
Slicing: Inappropriately dividing the results of research into parts in a way that disrupts the integrity of the study and presenting them as separate works in associate professorship exam evaluations and academic promotions by publishing a large number of publications without citing each other.
Unfair authorship: Including people who have not actively contributed, excluding people who have actively contributed, changing the order of authorship in an unjustified and inappropriate manner, omitting the names of active contributors from the work during publication or in subsequent editions, using one's influence to have one's name included among the authors when one has not actively contributed.
Other types of ethical violations are as follows:
1) Failure to specify the persons, institutions, or organizations providing support and their contributions in publications resulting from research conducted with support,
2) Using these or studies that have not yet been submitted or defended and accepted as a source without the permission of the owner,
3) Failure to comply with ethical rules in research on humans and animals, and failure to respect patient rights in publications,
4) Violating the provisions of the relevant legislation in human biomedical research and other clinical research,
5) Sharing the information contained in a work that they have been assigned to examine with others before publication without the express permission of the author,
6) To misuse the resources, spaces, facilities, and devices provided or allocated for scientific research,
7) Making baseless, unwarranted, and intentional allegations of ethical violations,
8) In surveys and attitude surveys conducted within the scope of a scientific study, publishing the data obtained without obtaining the explicit consent of the participants or, if the research is to be conducted in an institution, without obtaining the permission of the institution,
9) Damaging animal health and ecological balance in research and experiments,
10) In research and experiments, not obtaining the permissions required to be obtained before starting the studies in writing from the authorized units,
11) To conduct research and experiments contrary to the provisions of the legislation or international conventions to which Turkey is a party regarding the relevant research and experiments,
12) Failure by researchers and authorities to comply with the obligation to inform and warn those concerned about possible harmful practices related to the scientific research conducted,
13) Not using the data and information obtained from other persons and institutions in scientific studies to the extent and in the manner permitted, not respecting the confidentiality of this information, and not ensuring its protection.
14) Making false or misleading statements regarding scientific research and publications in academic appointments and promotions (YÖK Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive, Article 4).
Responsibilities of Stakeholders
Our readers and stakeholders can report any significant inaccuracies or violations of scientific research and publication ethics that they see in the articles published in the Turkish Journal of Social Work by sending an e-mail to istam@izu.edu.tr. We welcome such notifications as they will provide opportunities for improvement, and we aim to respond quickly and constructively.
a) Responsibilities of Editors
The editors and field editors of the Turkish Journal of Social Work adhere to the COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors, Based on the COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the principles of the Publication Ethics Flowcharts developed by COPE for possible cases of misuse or violation of publication ethics, the following ethical duties and responsibilities will be ensured:
Impartiality and Publisher's Freedom: Editors evaluate submitted manuscript proposals based on their relevance to the Journal's scope and the work's importance and originality. The editors do not consider the race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, nationality, or political views of the authors who submit the manuscript proposal. Institutions other than the Journal's editorial board cannot influence the decision to revise or publish. The editors take care to ensure that the published issues contribute to the reader, researcher, practitioner, and the scientific field and are of original quality.
Independence: The relationship between the editors (Editor and Associate Editors) and the publisher is based on the principle of editorial independence. According to the written agreement between the editors and the publisher, all editorial decisions are independent of the publisher and the journal owner. Editors should reject incomplete and erroneous research that does not comply with the journal policy, publication rules, and level without any influence.
Confidentiality: Editors do not share information about a submitted manuscript with anyone other than the corresponding author, referees, and editorial board. They ensure that articles evaluated by at least two referees are evaluated according to the double-blind review system and keep the referees confidential.
Disclosure and Differences of Opinion: Editors and editorial board members do not use unpublished information in an article submitted for their own research purposes without the express written permission of the authors. Editors should not have any conflict of interest regarding the manuscripts they accept or reject.
Publication Decision: The editors ensure that all articles accepted for publication are peer-reviewed by at least two referees who are experts in their field. The editors are responsible for deciding which manuscript to publish from the manuscripts submitted to the Journal based on the validity of the work in question, its importance to researchers and readers, the comments of the referees, and other legal requirements. Editors have the responsibility and authority to accept or reject articles. Therefore, they must use their responsibility and authority appropriately and promptly.
Ethical Concerns: Editors will take measures when ethical concerns arise regarding a submitted manuscript or published article. As a matter of fact, they continue their business processes without compromising intellectual property rights and ethical standards. Any reported unethical publishing behavior will be investigated, even if it occurs years after publication. Editors follow the COPE Flowcharts in case ethical concerns arise. If the ethical concerns are significant, a correction, retraction, or publication of the concerns in the Journal may be implemented.
Collaboration with Journal Boards: Editors ensure that all advisory committee members follow editorial policies and guidelines. Inform advisory committee members about publication policies. Ensure that advisory board members evaluate their work independently. Contribute to new advisory board members and make decisions as appropriate. Should submit work for evaluation that is appropriate to the expertise of advisory board members. Interacts regularly with the advisory board. Organizes regular meetings with the editorial board for editorial policies and journal development.
b) Responsibilities of Authors
Reporting standards: Authors of original research should ensure that the work and results are accurately presented, followed by an objective discussion of the significance of the work. The manuscript proposal should include sufficient detail and references.
Data access and storage: Authors must retain their work's raw data. When necessary, they should be made available for editorial review if the Journal requests.
Originality and plagiarism: Authors must submit entirely original work, and if they have used the work or words of others, this must be properly cited. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. For this reason, all authors submitting articles to the Journal request a similarity rate report.
Multiple, duplicate, redundant, or simultaneous submissions/publications: Authors should not submit an article already published in another journal for consideration. Simultaneous submission of an article to more than one Journal is unethical and unacceptable publishing behavior.
Authorship of the article: Only individuals who fulfill the authorship criteria should be listed as authors in the manuscript. These authorship criteria are as follows: (i) contributed to the design, implementation, data collection, or analysis, (ii) drafted or made significant intellectual contributions to or critically revised the manuscript, or (iii) saw, approved, and agreed to submit the final version of the manuscript for publication. The corresponding author must ensure that all authors (as defined above) are included in the list of authors, declare that they have seen the final version of the manuscript, and agree to its submission for publication.
Declaration and conflicts of interest: Authors should disclose conflicts of interest at the earliest possible stage (usually by submitting a disclosure form at the time of manuscript submission and including a statement in the manuscript). All sources of financial support for the study should be declared (including grant/fund number or other license number, if applicable).
Peer review process: Authors must participate in the peer review process and are obliged to cooperate fully by responding promptly to editors' requests for raw data, clarifications, and evidence of ethical approval and copyright permissions. In the event of an initial decision of "revision required", authors should revise and resubmit their manuscript by the deadline given for reviewers' comments in a systematic manner.
Fundamental errors in published works: When authors find substantial errors or inaccuracies in their own published work, they are obligated to notify the journal editors or publishers immediately and to cooperate with the journal editors or publishers to correct a typographical error (erratum) or to withdraw the manuscript from publication. If the editors or publisher learns from a third party that a published paper contains a significant error or inaccuracy, the author has the obligation to immediately correct or withdraw the paper or to provide evidence of the accuracy of the paper to the editors of the Journal.
c) Responsibilities of Reviewers
Contribution to editorial decisions: Assist editors in editorial decisions and help authors to improve their manuscripts through editorial communication. It should point out the completion of other articles, works, sources, references, citations, rules, and similar deficiencies related to the article.
Speed: Any reviewer who does not feel qualified to review the manuscript proposal or who knows that a review of the manuscript cannot take place on time should immediately notify the editors and decline the invitation to review so that a new reviewer can be appointed.
Confidentiality: All manuscript proposals submitted for review are confidential documents and should be treated as such. They should not be shown or discussed with others unless authorized by the editor. This also applies to reviewers who decline an invitation to review.
Standards of impartiality: Comments on the manuscript proposal should be made impartially, and suggestions should be made so that the authors can use them to improve the manuscript. Personal criticism of the authors is not appropriate.
Acceptance of sources: Reviewers should identify relevant published work not cited by the authors. The reviewer should also inform the editor of any significant similarities between the manuscript under review and any other article (published or unpublished).
Conflicts of interest: Conflicts of interest should be reported to the editor. There should be no conflict of interest between the reviewers and the stakeholders of the manuscript under review.
Blind Refereeing Processes
Editors must implement the "Blind Review and Evaluation Process" policies in the journal publication policies. In this context, editors ensure that each study's evaluation process is completed fairly, impartially, and in a timely manner.
Quality Assurance
Editors are responsible for publishing each article in the Journal according to the Journal's editorial policies and international standards.
Protection of Personal Data
Editors are responsible for protecting personal data regarding the subjects or images included in the evaluated studies. Unless the explicit consent of the individuals used in the studies is documented, they are responsible for rejecting the study. Editors are also responsible for protecting the personal data of authors, reviewers, and readers.
Precautions Against Possible Abuse and Misconduct
Editors are obliged to take precautions against possible misconduct and malfeasance. In addition to conducting a rigorous and objective investigation in identifying and evaluating such complaints, the editors are responsible for sharing the relevant findings.
Ensuring the Integrity of Academic Publications
Editors should ensure that errors, inconsistencies, or misleading judgments are corrected quickly.
Protection of Intellectual Property Rights
Editors are responsible for protecting the intellectual property rights of all published articles and defending the rights of the Journal and the author(s) in case of possible violations. In addition, editors are obliged to take the necessary measures to ensure that the content of all published articles does not violate the intellectual property rights of other publications.
Constructivism and Openness to Discussion
Editors should consider the convincing criticisms of the works published in the Journal and show a constructive attitude towards these criticisms. They should give the author(s) of the criticized studies the right to reply. They should not ignore or exclude studies with negative results.
Complaints
The editors must carefully review the complaints received from authors, reviewers, or readers and respond enlighteningly and explanatory.
Conflicts of Interest
The editors ensure that the publication process is completed in an independent and impartial manner, considering the conflicts of interest between the author(s), reviewers, and other editors. For multi-authored manuscripts, a statement of contribution rate, a statement of support and acknowledgment, if any, and a conflict statement should be included at the end of the refereeing process. In addition, when the referee process is completed, authors are asked to fill out the conflict of interest declaration form and upload it to the system.
If the members of our journal boards publish an article in our Journal, all their duties in the relevant issue will be suspended. Violation of the blind refereeing system is not allowed under any circumstances. Such publications cannot exceed 1/3 of the total articles in the issue.
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