ETHICAL PRINCIPLES
The publication processes followed by the Trabzon Theology Journal form the foundation for the impartial and reputable development and dissemination of knowledge. The processes implemented in this regard directly reflect the quality of the work produced by authors and the institutions that support them. Peer-reviewed studies are those that embody and support the scientific method. In this regard, it is crucial that all stakeholders in the process—including authors, readers, researchers, the publisher, reviewers, and editors—adhere to ethical standards. Within the scope of its publication ethics, the Trabzon Theology Journal expects all stakeholders to uphold the following ethical responsibilities. Our journal’s ethical principles and publication policy have been prepared in accordance with the guidelines and policies published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Authors’ Responsibilities
1. Accurate and Transparent Reporting of Research
Authors are obligated to present the research process and the findings obtained in a truthful, clear, and complete manner. The study’s purpose, methodology, findings, and conclusions must be communicated in accordance with the principles of scientific accuracy; the research’s contribution to the field must be evaluated from an objective perspective. Articles must include sufficient detail to ensure the reproducibility of the methods used, and all sources consulted must be cited completely.
2. Preservation and Accessibility of Research Data
Authors must securely store the raw data used in the research for an appropriate period of time. The editorial board or, if deemed necessary, the peer review process may request that this data be submitted for review. Authors are obligated to respond to such requests within a reasonable timeframe.
3. Originality and Avoiding Plagiarism
All works submitted to the journal must be original. If ideas, data, tables, figures, or text belonging to other researchers are used, the relevant sources must be cited in accordance with scientific standards. Any form of plagiarism, fabrication of data, manipulation of data, or similar ethical violations is unacceptable. In this context, authors may be required to submit a similarity report with their manuscript submissions.
4. Duplicate and Simultaneous Submissions
Submitting a manuscript to our journal that has already been published in another journal or is currently under review elsewhere is inconsistent with the principles of ethical publishing. Authors should not submit the same work to another journal before the review process is complete, nor should they present a previously published article as a new study.
5. Authorship Criteria
The list of authors should include only those individuals who have made a meaningful scientific contribution to the research. Contributing to the planning, conduct, data collection, or analysis of the research; contributing to the preparation of the manuscript or the development of its scientific content; and approving the final manuscript and agreeing to its publication are the fundamental criteria for authorship. The corresponding author is responsible for declaring that all authors meet these criteria and have approved the final version of the manuscript.
6. Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest and Funding Sources
Authors must disclose to the editorial office at the time of submission any financial, institutional, or personal conflicts of interest that could affect the impartiality of the research. All financial support received for conducting the research must be clearly stated, including project numbers or funding information, if available.
7. Cooperation with the Peer Review and Editorial Process
Authors must cooperate effectively with the editorial office and reviewers during the review process. Upon request, raw data, ethics committee approvals, participant consents, and other necessary documents must be submitted in a timely manner. For manuscripts requiring revisions, the necessary changes must be made within the specified timeframe, taking into account the reviewers’ and editors’ comments, and the revised manuscript must be re-uploaded to the system.
8. Errors and Corrections After Publication
If a significant error or omission is identified in a published study, authors must notify the editorial office without delay and cooperate with the journal to carry out the necessary corrections, clarifications (errata), or retractions. Similarly, if a serious error is reported to the editorial office by a third party, the authors are obligated to provide the necessary explanations and submit any requested information or documents.

Reviewer Responsibilities
1. Contributing to Editorial Decisions
Reviewer evaluations are intended to contribute to the editors’ scientific and editorial decision-making processes. Reviewers should prepare their evaluations in a constructive, well-reasoned, and guidance-oriented manner; they should offer suggestions that will enhance the scientific quality of the work. Any deficiencies identified in the manuscript—such as missing references, relevant literature, methodological issues, citation omissions, or deviations from scientific standards—must be clearly stated.
2. Timely completion of the review process
Reviewers must promptly decline invitations for studies outside their areas of expertise or those they believe they cannot review within the specified timeframe and must inform the editorial office. This ensures that new reviewers can be assigned to keep the review process running smoothly.
3. Principle of Confidentiality
All manuscripts submitted for peer review are considered confidential. The content of these manuscripts must not be shared with third parties, discussed, or used for any purpose without the editor’s knowledge and permission. This obligation also applies to reviewers who decline the invitation to review.
4. Impartiality and Objectivity
Reviewers must base their evaluations solely on the scientific merit of the work. Review reports should be prepared in an objective, respectful, and constructive tone; statements targeting the authors’ personalities should be avoided. Criticisms should be of a nature that contributes to the improvement of the work.
5. Identification of Sources and Reporting of Ethical Violations
Reviewers must notify the editorial board of any significant publications that should have been cited in the work but were omitted, and should recommend this to the authors. Furthermore, if they identify significant similarities between the work under review and other works they know to be published or currently under review, or if they detect a potential ethical violation, they must report this to the editorial board without delay.
6. Avoiding Conflicts of Interest
Reviewers must not participate in the review process if they have any financial, institutional, academic, or personal conflict of interest regarding the work they are reviewing, and they must report the situation to the editorial office. Reviewer assignments should not be accepted in situations where impartiality could be compromised.

Responsibilities of Editors
1. Editors have full responsibility and authority to accept or reject a manuscript.
2. Editors must not have any conflict of interest regarding the manuscripts they accept or reject. Editors evaluate submitted manuscript proposals based on their relevance to the journal’s scope and the importance and originality of the research. Editors do not consider the race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, nationality, or political views of the authors submitting the manuscript proposals. No institutions other than the journal’s editorial board may influence decisions regarding revision or publication. Editors ensure that published issues contribute to readers, researchers, practitioners, and the scientific community and maintain a high standard of originality.
3. Only articles that contribute to the field should be accepted.
4. When errors are found, editors should support the publication of a correction or the retraction of the article.
5. Editors do not share information regarding a submitted manuscript with anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, and the editorial board. They ensure that articles, which are evaluated by at least two reviewers, are assessed according to a double-blind peer review system. Editors keep the identities of reviewers confidential and prevent plagiarism and fabrication of data.
6. The peer review process is central to the success of scientific publishing. Safeguarding and improving the peer review process is part of our commitment, and the Trabzon Theology Journal has a duty to assist the scientific community in all matters related to publication ethics—particularly in cases of suspicious or duplicate publications, or instances of plagiarism.

Actions Contrary to Scientific Research and Publication Ethics
a) Plagiarism: Presenting the ideas, methods, data, applications, writings, figures, or works of others—in whole or in part—as one’s own without properly citing the original authors in accordance with scientific standards,
b) Fabrication: Generating data not based on research; manipulating or altering a submitted or published work by basing it on false data; reporting or publishing such data; or presenting an unconducted study as if it had been conducted,
c) Falsification: Tampering with research records and obtained data; presenting methods, devices, and materials as having been used when they were not; excluding data inconsistent with the research hypothesis from analysis; manipulating data and/or results to conform to relevant theories or assumptions; or distorting or shaping research results in accordance with the interests of individuals or institutions providing support,
ç) Duplicate Publication: Submitting multiple works containing the same research results as separate works in associate professor examinations and academic promotions,
d) Salami-slicing: Presenting the results of a single study as separate works in associate professor examination evaluations and academic promotions by dividing them into parts in an inappropriate manner that compromises the integrity of the research and publishing them as numerous separate publications without cross-referencing them,
e) Unjustified authorship: Including individuals who made no active contribution among the authors; failing to include individuals who made an active contribution among the authors; altering the author order in an unjustified and inappropriate manner; removing the names of those who made an active contribution from the work at the time of publication or in subsequent editions; or using one’s influence to have one’s name included among the authors despite having made no active contribution,

Other types of ethical violations include the following:
a) Failing to acknowledge the individuals, institutions, or organizations that provided support, as well as the nature of their contributions, in publications resulting from research conducted with such support;
b) Using theses or studies that have not yet been submitted or defended and accepted as sources without the author’s permission;
c) Sharing information contained in a work assigned for review with others prior to publication without the explicit permission of the author,
ç) Misusing resources, facilities, equipment, and materials provided or allocated for scientific research,
d) Making unsubstantiated, unfounded, or deliberate allegations of ethical violations,
e) Publishing data obtained from surveys and attitude studies conducted as part of a scientific study without the participants’ explicit consent, or—if the research is to be conducted at an institution without the institution’s permission,
f) Failing to comply with the obligation to inform and warn relevant parties about potential harmful practices related to the scientific research being conducted, as required of researchers and officials,
g) In scientific studies, failing to use data and information obtained from other individuals and institutions only to the extent and in the manner permitted, failing to respect the confidentiality of such information, and failing to ensure its protection,
h) Making false or misleading statements regarding scientific research and publications in the context of academic appointments and promotions,

Principles of Research Ethics
• The principles of integrity, quality, and transparency must be upheld in the design, review, and conduct of research.
• The research team and participants must be fully informed about the purpose, methods, and anticipated uses of the research; the requirements for participation; and any associated risks, if any.
• The confidentiality of information provided by research participants and the anonymity of respondents must be ensured. Research must be designed to protect the autonomy and dignity of participants.
• Research participants must participate voluntarily and must not be subject to any coercion.
• Harm to participants must be avoided. Research must be planned in a way that does not expose participants to risk.
• There must be clarity regarding the independence of the research; any conflicts of interest must be disclosed.
• Consent must be obtained from the legal guardian of children, individuals under guardianship, or those with a diagnosed mental illness.
• If the study is to be conducted at any institution or organization, approval must be obtained from that institution or organization.

Detecting Plagiarism
• Articles submitted to the Trabzon Theology Journal for publication are subject to a  double-blind peer review process by at least two reviewers. Additionally, specialized software is used to verify that the articles have not been previously published and do not contain plagiarism.

Plagiarism Action Plan
• If an author is suspected of plagiarism in a submitted or published article, or if a report of plagiarism is received, the Ethics Editor of the journal first reviews the work. The work is then reviewed by the Editorial Board. Subsequently, the journal contacts the author to request a written response within 10 days. If the journal does not receive a response from the author within the specified timeframe, it will contact the author’s university to request an investigation into the allegation.
• The journal will take the following measures against published articles found to contain plagiarism:
- The journal will contact the author’s university.
- The journal will remove a copy of the published article from its website and disable all links to the full-text article. The phrase “Plagiarized Article” will be added to the title of the published article.
- The journal will reject all future submissions from the author for a period of 2 years.

Ethics Committee Approval
Our journal requires that studies in all scientific disciplines requiring ethics committee approval have obtained the relevant ethics committee decision. In this context, information regarding ethics committee approval (committee name, date, and decision number) must be clearly stated in the article text.
In accordance with the regulations implemented by Ulakbim TR Index starting in 2020, studies without ethics committee approval will not be considered for publication in our journal.

Research Requiring Ethics Committee Approval
In our journal, research requiring ethics committee approval includes the following studies:
• All research conducted using qualitative or quantitative approaches that involve collecting data from participants through methods such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, and other interview techniques,
• Retrospective studies conducted within the framework of the Personal Data Protection Law.
For such studies to be considered for publication, the relevant ethics committee approvals must have been obtained, and these approvals must be clearly stated in the article text.

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 the journal owner.

Protection of Personal Information
All personal data submitted to our journal is protected in accordance with legal regulations and ethical guidelines.

Protection of Intellectual Property Rights
Our journal is obligated 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 any potential infringements.

Conflicts of Interest
Our journal ensures that the publication process is completed independently and impartially, taking into account conflicts of interest among authors, reviewers, and other editors. Our journal adheres to the COPE guidelines (1-2) regarding potential conflicts of interest.

Author Changes
Changes are accepted only before the article is accepted for publication. Authors must carefully review the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscripts and provide the final list of authors at the time of initial submission. Our journal adheres to the COPE guidelines (1-2-3-4-5) regarding such changes.

Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern
Editors may consider publishing a correction if minor errors are identified in a published article that do not affect the findings, interpretations, or conclusions. Editors should consider retracting an article when major errors or violations that invalidate the findings and conclusions are present. The COPE Principles (1,2,3,4,5,6) are taken into account regarding corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern.

NOTE: The Trabzon Theology Journal is committed to transparency and scientific ethical principles in its publication processes. Readers who identify a significant error, ethical violation, plagiarism, duplicate publication, or a similar issue in a study published in the journal, or who wish to submit any comments, suggestions, or complaints regarding the editorial process, may contact the editorial office at trabzonilahiyatdergisi@trabzon.edu.tr. Our journal follows the procedure outlined in the COPE Guidelines (1,2) regarding complaints.

PUBLICATION PRINCIPLES
• Trabzon Theology Journal is published by the Faculty of Theology at Trabzon University.
• Trabzon Theology Journal publishes original academic works—including articles, translations, book reviews, and evaluations of symposia, seminars, and conferences, as well as interviews—that make original contributions to Islamic thought and culture, primarily in the field of theology but also in the social and humanities sciences.
• The journal accepts submissions in Turkish, English, and Arabic.
• The journal is published twice a year, in June and December. The submission deadlines are February 1–28 for the June issue and August 1–31 for the December issue. If the number of articles reaches a sufficient level, the submission process may be closed before these dates.
• Original, unpublished manuscripts that are not under review at another journal, and whose content and submission have been approved by each author, are accepted for review.
• Authors’ biographical information must be included in the text upon initial submission.
• Only one article per author may be accepted for processing during the same publication period and published if it passes peer review. However, since not all articles can be included in a single issue, articles that have received peer review approval are ranked by the editorial board and assigned to issues accordingly.
• Articles by the same author cannot be published in two consecutive issues. Additionally, if an article by the same author is accepted for publication during the same time period, the author cannot submit an article to both a Special Issue and a Regular Issue simultaneously.
• Manuscripts must be prepared in accordance with the journal’s style guidelines. Articles that do not comply with the journal’s style guidelines will be rejected without review.
• Once an article has been submitted to the journal for publication, no author’s name may be removed from the author list, no new name may be added as an author, and the order of authors may not be changed without the written consent of all authors.
• Articles must be submitted electronically via the “Submit Article” tab on the journal’s website.
• The space allocated for translations may not exceed half of the journal’s total number of pages.

PUBLICATION POLICIES
You can access detailed information regarding our journal’s publication policies via the links below.
1- Article Review Process | Click here.
2- Copyright Policy | Click here.
3- Open Access Policy | Click here.
4- Archiving Policy | Click here.
5- Artificial Intelligence Usage Policy | Click here.
6- Special Issue Policy | Click here.
7- Fee Policy | Click here.