Sinop University Social Sciences Journal is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core Practices, the COPE Guidelines, the ICMJE Recommendations, and internationally accepted principles of scholarly publishing. All parties involved in the publication process—including authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher—are expected to comply with these ethical standards.

1. Authors' Responsibilities

Authors are expected to:

• submit original, unpublished work that is not under consideration by another journal;
• ensure that all sources are appropriately cited and referenced in accordance with academic standards;
• refrain from plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, duplicate publication, and any other form of research misconduct;
• include as authors only those who have made a significant scholarly contribution to the study;
• obtain ethics committee approval where required and provide the relevant approval information in the manuscript;
• disclose all sources of financial support and any potential conflicts of interest;
• cooperate with the editorial and peer review process and submit revisions within the requested time frame;
• promptly notify the Editorial Office if a significant error or inaccuracy is identified after submission or publication.

2. Reviewers' Responsibilities

Reviewers are expected to:

• evaluate manuscripts objectively, fairly, and confidentially;
• provide constructive, evidence-based, and professional comments;
• decline the review invitation if they have any conflict of interest or lack the necessary expertise;
• inform the Editor of any suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, ethical misconduct, or substantial similarity with previously published work;
• complete the review within the agreed review period;
• maintain the confidentiality of all information obtained through the peer review process.

3. Editors' Responsibilities

Editors are responsible for:

• making editorial decisions impartially and solely on the basis of the scientific merit of the manuscript;
• ensuring a fair, objective, and confidential peer review process;
• evaluating manuscripts without discrimination based on nationality, gender, ethnicity, religion, institutional affiliation, or political beliefs;
• managing conflicts of interest in accordance with COPE recommendations;
• investigating allegations of research misconduct following the COPE flowcharts and guidelines;
• responding appropriately to ethical complaints, appeals, and requests for corrections or retractions;
• ensuring that all manuscripts undergo plagiarism screening before peer review.

4. Plagiarism and Research Misconduct

All submitted manuscripts are screened using plagiarism detection software before entering the peer review process.

Similarity reports are evaluated not only according to the overall similarity percentage but also by considering the nature, context, and source of the matched text. Editorial decisions are based on professional judgment rather than a fixed similarity threshold.

Manuscripts containing evidence of plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, duplicate publication, inappropriate authorship, citation manipulation, or other forms of research misconduct may be rejected at any stage of the editorial process.

If ethical misconduct is identified after publication, the journal will take appropriate editorial action in accordance with the COPE Retraction Guidelines, which may include the publication of a correction, an expression of concern, or a retraction.

5. Commitment to Research Integrity

Sinop University Social Sciences Journal expects all authors, reviewers, editors, and members of the editorial board to uphold the principles of honesty, transparency, fairness, accountability, and academic integrity throughout every stage of the publication process.