Ethical Principles

• Takrir – Muş Alparslan University Journal of the Faculty of Theology is committed to applying publication ethics at the highest standards and adhering to the following principles. These principles are prepared based on the recommendations and guidelines developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Council of Science Editors (CSE) for journal editors.

• All stakeholders are expected to assume ethical responsibilities within the scope of publication ethics. In this context, Takrir – Muş Alparslan University Faculty of Theology Journal is licensed under  undertakes to follow the COPE Code of Conduct and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice. Compliance with the COPE Guidance for Editors is part of the editors’ responsibilities, while the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers must be followed by the journal’s referees.

• The publication processes implemented by the journal form the foundation for the impartial and reputable development and dissemination of knowledge. Accordingly, these processes directly reflect the quality of the authors’ work and the institutions supporting them. Peer-reviewed studies embody and support the scientific method. At this point, it is essential that all stakeholders in the process (authors, readers and researchers, publisher, referees, and editors) comply with ethical standards.

Actions Contrary to Scientific Research and Publication Ethics

• Plagiarism: Presenting others’ original ideas, methods, data, or works as one’s own, in whole or in part, without proper citation according to scientific standards.

• Fabrication: Using data that do not exist or have been falsified in scientific research.

• Falsification: Manipulating research records or data, presenting unused equipment or materials as used, or shaping research results in line with the interests of supporting individuals or institutions.
• Duplicate publication: Presenting the same work multiple times for academic appointments or promotions.
• Salami slicing: Dividing the results of a study inappropriately into multiple publications, disrupting the integrity of the research, and presenting them as separate works for academic promotion.
• Unjust authorship: Including individuals without active contribution or excluding contributors; altering author order without justification; removing names of active contributors in later editions; or adding names of those with influence but no contribution.

• Other types of ethical violations include:

-  Failing to acknowledge individuals, institutions, or organizations that provided support for research.

-  Using unpublished theses or studies without permission.

-  Violating ethical rules in research involving humans or animals and failing to respect patient rights in publications.

-  Acting against applicable regulations in biomedical and other clinical research involving humans.

-  Sharing information from a manuscript under review with others before publication without the author’s explicit consent.

-  Misusing resources, spaces, equipment, or facilities provided for scientific research.

-  Making unfounded or deliberate allegations of ethical violations.

-  Publishing survey or attitude research data without participants’ informed consent, or without institutional approval if conducted in an institution.

-  Harming animal health or ecological balance in research and experiments.

-  Failing to obtain required written permissions from relevant authorities before starting research or experiments.

-  Conducting research or experiments in violation of national legislation or international agreements to which Turkey is a party.

-  Failing to inform relevant parties of potential harmful outcomes of research.

-  Not properly using or protecting data and information obtained from other persons or institutions.

-  Making false or misleading statements regarding research and publications in academic appointments and promotions.

Note: Within the framework of ethical rules, the following research requires Ethics Committee approval for evaluation in the journal:

-  Any qualitative or quantitative study involving surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, experiments, or other data collection techniques.

-  Experimental or other scientific use of humans or animals (including materials or data).

-  Clinical research conducted on humans.

-  Research conducted on animals.

-  Retrospective studies under personal data protection laws.

Accordingly, manuscripts submitted to the journal must include:

-  In case reports, a statement that an “Informed Consent Form” was obtained.

-  Permission obtained and stated for using scales, surveys, or photographs belonging to others.

-  A statement confirming compliance with copyright regulations for used intellectual and artistic works.

Journal Plagiarism Action Policy

• Takrir – Muş Alparslan University Journal of the Faculty of Theology respects intellectual property and aims to protect and promote the originality of its authors’ work. Articles containing plagiarism violate quality, research, and innovation standards. Therefore, all authors submitting manuscripts to the journal are expected to adhere to ethical standards and avoid plagiarism in any form.

• The journal checks submitted manuscripts for plagiarism. Manuscripts undergoing preliminary review are scanned for plagiarism using iThenticate software. If plagiarism or self-plagiarism is detected, authors are notified. Editors may also subject manuscripts to plagiarism checks at various stages of the review or production process if necessary. High similarity rates may result in the rejection of a manuscript before or even after acceptance. The similarity rate is expected to be below 20%.

• If plagiarism is detected, the author’s account will be deactivated, and all future submissions by the author will be rejected for a period of 3 years.

• If plagiarism is detected in a published article, the journal will remove the PDF copy of the article from its website and disable all links to the full text. The label “Plagiarized Article” will be added to the title of the published article.

Publication Policy

• Takrir – Muş Alparslan University Journal of the Faculty of Theology is a peer-reviewed academic journal published twice a year, in June and December.

• Research articles, translations, book reviews, and case reports are accepted for evaluation.

• The language of publication is Turkish (Türkiye Turkish). However, articles written in English and Arabic may also be included, provided that they do not exceed one-third of each issue.

• Manuscripts submitted for publication must be compatible with the aims and scope of the journal.

• No fee is charged to authors for the evaluation and publication process. Likewise, no royalty or honorarium is paid to authors.

• The scientific, legal, and linguistic responsibility of the published articles belongs to the authors.

• Submissions must be original contributions to the field or review studies that evaluate previously published works and present new and noteworthy perspectives.

• All submitted manuscripts are screened for plagiarism using specialized software. The similarity rate must not exceed 20%.

• For translated works to be published, authors must submit a permission letter from the publishing institution. The original text must also be uploaded to the system.

• Manuscripts submitted to the journal must not have been previously published or submitted elsewhere for publication. Submissions that show substantial similarity to a previously published study (even if below the acceptable similarity rate) will not be considered.

• Papers previously presented at scientific meetings may be accepted, provided that this is clearly stated and that they have not been published in full text.

• Submissions are first reviewed by the Editorial Board for compliance with journal policies. Manuscripts not deemed suitable are returned to the authors for revision. Those found appropriate are sent to two referees in the relevant field. Referee identities are kept confidential, and reports are archived for five years. If one report is positive and the other negative, the manuscript may be sent to a third referee or the Editorial Board may examine the reports and make the final decision. Authors are required to consider the comments and suggestions of the referees and the Editorial Board. If they disagree with certain points, they have the right to object with justification. Rejected manuscripts are not returned to the authors.

• Book reviews must not be limited to a simple introduction of the book; they must include critical analysis and evaluation.

• If a submitted manuscript is based on field research data, the author must attach Ethics Committee Approval. Information regarding the ethics approval (committee name, decision/number, and date) must be included both on the first page of the manuscript and in the methodology section.

• The Copyright Agreement Form must be signed with a blue pen and uploaded to the system in PDF format. Authors affiliated with different institutions may complete separate copies; however, all signatures must be in blue ink and combined into a single PDF file before submission.

• Authors retain the copyright of their published works, and their articles are published under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.