ETHICAL PRINCIPLES

The ethical principles and publication policy of our journal have been prepared in accordance with the guidelines and policies published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

Actions Contrary to Scientific Research and Publication Ethics
• Plagiarism: Presenting the original ideas, methods, data or works of others as one's own, in whole or in part, without proper scientific attribution.
• Fabrication: Using data that does not actually exist or has been falsified in scientific research.
• Distortion: Altering research records or obtained data, presenting equipment or materials not used in the research as if they had been used, altering or shaping research results in line with the interests of the individuals and organisations providing support,
• Duplicate publication: Presenting duplicate publications as separate publications for academic appointments and promotions,
• Salami slicing: Dividing the results of a research study into parts in an inappropriate manner that compromises the integrity of the research and publishing them as multiple publications, presenting these publications as separate publications for academic appointments and promotions,
• Unfair authorship: Including individuals who have not made an active contribution among the authors or excluding those who have, changing the author order in an unjustified and inappropriate manner, removing the names of those who have made an active contribution from subsequent editions, or 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 resulting in publications,
b) Using theses or studies that have not yet been submitted or defended as sources without the owner's permission,
c) Sharing information contained in a work assigned for review with others prior to publication without the express permission of the author,
ç) Using resources, premises, facilities, and equipment provided or allocated for scientific research for purposes other than those intended,
d) Making unfounded, inappropriate, and deliberate allegations of ethical violations,
e) Publishing data obtained without the explicit consent of participants in surveys and attitude studies conducted as part of scientific work, or without the additional permission of the institution if the research is to be conducted at an institution,
f) Failure to comply with the obligation to inform and warn those concerned about possible harmful practices related to scientific research conducted by researchers and officials,
g) 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,
h) Making false or misleading statements regarding scientific research and publications in academic appointments and promotions,

Principles of Research Ethics
• Scientific integrity, transparency, and quality must be the guiding principles in research processes; all stages must be documented.
• Participants must be clearly informed about the purpose, methodology, potential risks, and benefits of the research.
• The confidentiality of participant data must be protected; actions must comply with the principles of anonymity, privacy, and data protection.
• Participation in research must be voluntary, and participants must be able to withdraw from the study at any time.
• Necessary precautions must be taken to prevent participants from suffering physical, psychological, social, or economic harm; ethical committee approval and legal permissions must be obtained for special groups.
• Researchers must maintain their scientific independence; conflicts of interest and financial support must be clearly disclosed.
• Research should be conducted with the approval of an ethics committee and institutional permissions when required.

Ethics Committee Approval
For all research conducted in all scientific fields requiring ethics committee approval, an ethics committee decision must have been obtained, and information regarding the decision must be stated in the article text. Our journal does not consider works without an ethics committee decision. In studies requiring ethics committee approval, information regarding the approval (committee name, date, and number) must be included in the article text. In accordance with the decisions taken by Ulakbim TR Index, Ethics Committee Approval is required for studies to be published from 2020 onwards.
Studies Requiring Ethics Committee Approval
In our journal, studies requiring ethics committee approval include the following:
• All research conducted using qualitative or quantitative approaches involving data collection from participants through methods such as surveys, interviews, focus group studies, observation, and discussion techniques,
• Retrospective studies within the framework of the Personal Data Protection Law.
For such studies to be considered for evaluation, the relevant ethics committee approvals must have been obtained and these approvals must be clearly stated in the article text.

Plagiarism Check
Plagiarism is presenting others' ideas, methods, data, applications, writings, figures, or works as one's own, either partially or entirely, without properly citing the original authors according to scientific rules. TAHKİK scans all submitted studies to prevent plagiarism. Submitted studies are checked for plagiarism using the intihal.net software. The similarity rate in the works should be less than 15%.

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 obliged to protect the intellectual property rights of all published articles and to defend the rights of the journal and the author(s) in the event of possible infringements.

Protection of Participants' Personal Data
All personal data submitted to our journal is protected in accordance with legal regulations and ethical rules.

Complaints
Should any unethical situation be identified in our journal, it should be reported to tahkikdergisi@haciveyiszade.org.tr. Complaints are assessed in accordance with COPE flowcharts.

STAKEHOLDERS' RESPONSIBILITIES

Editorial Responsibilities
• The Editorial Board has full responsibility and authority to accept or reject an article.
• The Editorial Board has no conflict of interest regarding the articles it accepts or rejects.
• The Editorial Board evaluates manuscripts based on their scientific content, regardless of the authors' ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, religious beliefs, or political philosophy.
• Editors do not participate in decisions regarding articles written by themselves, their family members, or colleagues, or articles related to products or services in which the editor has an interest. Any such submission is subject to the journal's standard procedures.
• During the publication process, works are selected and evaluated according to scientific and academic criteria such as contribution to the field and originality.
• Supports the publication of corrections or retractions when errors or omissions are identified in published research.
• Ensures that all published research reports and reviews are examined by appropriately qualified referees.
• Adopts processes that encourage the accurate, complete, and clear preparation of published articles.
• Uses appropriate guidelines and checklists.
• The decision to accept or reject a manuscript submitted to the editor for publication is based on the manuscript's importance, originality, and clarity, the validity of the work, and its suitability for the journal's subject area.
• The editor does not permit any conflict of interest between authors, editors, and reviewers.
• The editor conveys the reviewers' opinions to the author as they are, unless they contain offensive or abusive language.
• The editor ensures that the referee database represents the academic community relevant to the journal's subject area and adds new referees as needed.
• The editor consults with the editorial board members regarding the management of the journal, informs them of changes in journal policies, and consults with them regularly twice a year (before each issue) to make plans for the future.
• The editorial board is responsible for the content and overall quality of the publication. The editor supports the publication of corrections or retractions when errors are found.
• As the journal employs double-blind peer review, the names of reviewers are kept confidential and are not published.
• The editorial board informs reviewers that the manuscripts are confidential and that this constitutes privileged communication. Reviewers and the editorial board may not discuss the manuscripts with others. In specific circumstances, the editorial board may share a reviewer's comments with other reviewers to clarify a particular point. 

Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers
• Reviewers' assessments of submissions must be impartial.
• Reviewers should be knowledgeable about the subject matter of the submissions sent to them for review; if they do not have sufficient knowledge of the subject, they should decline the review request.
• Referees must ensure that all information related to the submitted manuscripts is kept confidential and must inform the editor if they become aware of any copyright infringement or plagiarism on the part of the author.
• There should be no conflict of interest between referees and authors.
• The evaluation should be conducted solely within the scope of the subject matter and in a highly objective manner. Therefore, national, religious, political, or any other concerns should not be allowed to influence the evaluation.
• Reviewers should guide authors and avoid using offensive language regarding the work or the author.
• Reviewers should not have a conflict of interest with the research, authors, and/or research funders.
• Reviewers should indicate any relevant published works that have not been cited.
• Reviewers are given 14 days to evaluate an article. If additional time is requested by a reviewer, it may be granted if the journal's publication process allows.
• The final decision on articles that have completed the review process rests with the Editorial Board.

Ethical Responsibilities of Authors
• Authorship
All authors listed as research contributors must have made a significant contribution to the research. Other contributors should be listed as co-authors. Those who contributed to the research should be mentioned as “contributors”. In collaborative work, the corresponding author should submit the work to the journal with the consent of the other authors. Those who have not directly contributed to the research should not be listed as authors.
Once an article has been submitted to the Journal for publication, no author's name can be removed from the author list, no new name can be added as an author, and the author order cannot be changed without the written consent of all authors.
• Originality and Authenticity
Works submitted to the Journal must not have been published elsewhere or submitted for publication. The author should explain the research methods used and present the findings clearly and concisely.
• Multiple, Unnecessary or Simultaneous Publication
The work submitted by the author for publication should be original and should not have been published elsewhere in any language. If the research findings have been published previously, the article should be returned to the author.
• Originality and Authenticity
The work submitted to the journal must be entirely original. The author must not present the original ideas, methods, data, or works of others as their own, either in part or in whole, without proper scientific citation. The author must present an objective discussion of the significance of their work based on accurate data. If any evidence of plagiarism is found in the work, it will be rejected.
• Multiple, Unnecessary or Simultaneous Publication
The author should not attempt to publish the same research in more than one journal or republish a previously published article, and should comply with scientific research and publication ethics.
• Sources
It is mandatory to cite/refer to all sources used in the work.
• Disclosure and Conflict of Interest
All authors must clearly declare any potential financial and conflicts of interest that may influence the results or interpretation of the work. If financial support has been received for the work, the sources must be indicated.
• Corrections to Published Works
It is the author's responsibility to notify the editor if a significant omission or error is found in a published work. The author must cooperate with our journal's editorial team to take the necessary steps to rectify the situation.
• Retraction of Articles
The author may only withdraw their work under review by our journal during the pre-review stage. Studies cannot be retracted at other stages of the publication process.
• Originality and Plagiarism
Authors should aim to conduct and report original research. They should cite the studies they have used appropriately. Improper transfer from other publications, including the author's own work, is a serious ethical issue and a crime. If plagiarism is detected in a work submitted to our journal, it will be immediately removed from the publication process. If it is detected after publication in our journal, the relevant authorities will be informed about the author and the work.

***(The ethical principles and publication policy of our journal were developed and organised with reference to the Hittite Theology Journal.)