It is crucial for all stakeholders engaged in the publication process of scientific journals—namely authors, readers, researchers, publishers, referees, and editors—to uphold ethical standards. The Turkish History Education Journal (TUHED) strictly follows both national and international guidelines concerning research and publication ethics. The journal complies with the Press Law,¹ the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works,² as well as the Higher Education Institutions Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Guidelines³ and the Turkish Editors' Workshop.⁴ Furthermore, TUHED has embraced the International ethical publishing principles set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)⁵, the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ),⁶ and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI).⁷
Our publication ethics and publication malpractice statement are mainly based on the COPE’s Core Practices.⁵ Accordingly, TUHED journal implements policies for ethical oversight that address ethical research conduct using human subjects and animals, publication consent, handling confidential data, and ethical business and marketing practices. The journal has a clear process for handling all allegations of misconduct, regardless of how they are brought to its attention. It takes allegations of misconduct seriously, both before and after publication.

Journal Practices

• Authorship and Contributorship: TUHED has clear policies regarding authorship and contributorship requirements. Under this policy, authors of multi-authored works are required to include a statement of contribution at the end of the article. These policies ensure transparency about who contributed to the work and their capacity, and they include processes for managing potential disputes.
• Conflicts of Interest: The journal has clear definitions of conflicts of interest. It has processes for handling conflicts of interest for authors, reviewers, editors, and publishers, whether identified before or after publication.
• Complaints and Appeals: TUHED has a clearly described process for handling complaints against the journal, its publisher, staff, or editorial board.
• Data and Reproducibility: TUHED endorses the principles of data availability and reproducibility set forth by COPE. Consequently, authors are required to submit precise and comprehensive data, methods, and materials to facilitate the reproducibility of their research. We urge authors to render their data as openly accessible as feasible, while adhering to ethical and legal standards.
• Artificial Intelligence Usage Policy: Authors may use generative artificial intelligence in the research and article writing process (in creating text, images, graphics, tables, etc., analyzing data, and conducting literature reviews) provided they indicate the name and section. When multiple artificial intelligence tools are used in this process, their areas of use and names must be indicated separately. All scientific and ethical obligations related to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the research and article writing process are the responsibility of the author(s).
  
• Intellectual Property: TUHED clearly describes all policies on intellectual property, including copyright and publishing licenses. All costs associated with publishing are obvious to authors and readers. The journal specifies what constitutes plagiarism and redundant or overlapping publication.
• Peer Review: The journal's peer review process is transparently described and well-managed. It provides training for editors and reviewers and has policies on various aspects of peer review.
• Post-Publication Discussions and Corrections: TUHED allows for post-publication debate on its site, through letters to the editor. It has mechanisms for correcting, revising, or retracting articles after publication.⁵

Journal Information & Business Practices

• Ownership and Management: TUHED's website clearly indicates information about the journal's ownership and management.
• Author Fees: TUHED does not charge authors any fees before or after publication. This is clearly stated on the “Price Policy” page of the journal's website.
• Other Revenue Sources: TUHED does not have any subscription, sponsorship, or advertising models or revenue sources, and this is clearly stated on the magazine's website.
• Access: TUHED provides full and unrestricted open access to its content without requiring membership for all users. This is clearly stated on the Open Access Policy page of the journal's website.
• Licensing and Copyright: The journal clearly states the copyright terms for published content on its website and on all published articles.
• Website: TUHED maintains a secure and well-supported website that uses HTTPS. The website does not contain misleading information or copy the site, design, or logo of another journal. It clearly displays the journal's aims, scope, target readership, and the types of manuscripts it considers.⁵

Ethical Responsibilities of the Stakeholders

a) Editors’ Responsibilities

• The editorial board is responsible for deciding which of the submitted articles will be published in the journal. The editorial board makes this decision by evaluating positive feedback from reviewers and the responsible field editor. The editorial board is also responsible for determining the publication date of articles deemed suitable for publication.
• To ensure transparency and accountability, members of the editorial board are required to utilize only the forms and communication tools supplied by the journal when engaging with authors or fellow members.
• The editorial board members will evaluate manuscripts without regard to the authors' gender, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, citizenship, political philosophy, or the institution where they work. The decision will be based on the paper’s importance, originality and clarity, and the study’s validity and its relevance to the journal's scope. In accordance with the principle of transparency, standard forms are used in this process.
• The editor and members of editorial board must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.
• Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted paper will not be used by the editor or the members of the editorial board for their own research purposes without the author's explicit written consent.⁵

b) Reviewers' Responsibilities

• The peer-review process supports the editor and the editorial board in their decision-making, while also helping the author to improve the quality of the manuscript.
• A reviewer who feels unqualified to evaluate the research outlined in a manuscript, or who recognizes that providing a timely review is not possible, should notify the editor and withdraw from the review process.
• All manuscripts submitted for review must be regarded as confidential documents. They should not be shared or discussed with others unless authorized by the editor.
• To protect confidential information regarding articles and/or authors, reviewers should avoid uploading such information to artificial intelligence (AI) tools and should not seek assistance from artificial intelligence tools during the review process.
• Reviews ought to be performed impartially. Personal attacks on the author are unacceptable. Referees should articulate their opinions clearly, supported by appropriate arguments.
• Reviewers must identify instances where relevant published works mentioned in the paper have not been included in the reference list. They should indicate whether observations or arguments derived from other sources are properly attributed. Reviewers will inform the editor of any significant similarities or overlaps between the manuscript under review and any other published work they are aware of.
• Confidential information or ideas acquired through the peer review process must remain private and not be utilized for personal gain.
• Reviewers should refrain from evaluating manuscripts where they have conflicts of interest due to competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors, companies, or institutions linked to the papers.⁵

c) Authors' Responsibilities

• Authors are responsible for ensuring that the articles they submit for review are original works that do not violate ethical publishing principles. In this context, the following will be considered ethical violations by the editorial board:

            - Plagiarism,
            - Duplication,
            - Ghost or Gift authorship,
            - Data fabrication,
            - Slicing,
            - Copyright infringement,
            - Concealing a conflict of interest,
            - Works entirely generated by AI or where AI assistance is not explicitly stated.

• All works and individuals referenced in the study must be cited properly. The author(s) are responsible for any copyright infringement.
• The author(s) are responsible for obtaining written permission from the copyright holder for any third-party data collection tools or visuals that are protected by copyright.
• The author(s) are required to retain the original data related to the study for a period of 5 years and to provide it upon request. 
• In general, research articles that fundamentally cover the same study should not be published in multiple journals. Submitting an identical article to more than one journal is regarded as unethical publishing conduct and is prohibited. Articles that have already been published elsewhere with copyright or are currently in the publication process cannot be submitted. Furthermore, articles that are under review by TUHED should not be submitted to other journals until this review process is finalized.
• Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Authors of multi-authored works are required to include a statement of contribution at the end of the article.
• Authors of multi-authored works are required to designate a corresponding author. The corresponding author is responsible for following up on the article process and facilitating communication between the journal and the other authors. The corresponding author ensures that all contributing co-authors and no uninvolved person is included in the author list. The corresponding author will also verify that all co-authors have approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.
• Authors should include a statement disclosing any financial support they received for the study.
• Authors should include a statement disclosing any conflicts of interest that may be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript.
• Authors should include a statement disclosing any use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the creation of the texts, images, graphs, tables, analysis of data, and identification of relevant literature (sources) in this article.
• When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and to cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper in form of an erratum.⁵

d) Publisher's Responsibilities

• Support editors in making independent decisions without interference from business interests.
• Collaborate with editors to correct, retract, or clarify articles when necessary.
• Establish clear policies for handling misconduct, conflicts of interest, and ethical breaches.
• Maintain clear guidelines for authorship, peer review, and editorial processes.
• Disclose funding sources, conflicts of interest, and affiliations.
• Encourage best practices in peer review and editorial decision-making.
• Promote reproducibility and transparency in research data.
• Ensure long-term preservation of published content.
• Provide access to content through sustainable archiving solutions.⁵

References: 

1. Press Law,
2. Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works,
3. Higher Education Institutions Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Guidelines
4. Turkish Editors' Workshop-4 Decisions
5. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), Core Practices
6. Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Principles of Transparency and best practice in scholarly publishing
7. Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI).