Publication Ethics Principles

Publication ethics can be defined as a self-regulation mechanism that insists on honesty on behalf of authors, reviewers, and publishers to establish higher editorial processing standards. Ethical standards for publication are in place to ensure high-quality scientific publications, public confidence in scientific findings, and respect for people's ideas.
• Honest researchers do not engage in plagiarism.
• They do not misrepresent sources.
• They do not hide objections that they cannot refute.
• They do not distort opposing views.
• They do not destroy or conceal data.

Peer-reviewed studies are works that support and implement the scientific method. At this point, it is of great importance for all parties involved in the publication process (authors, readers and researchers, publisher, referees and editors) to adhere to ethical principles. Uludag Journal of Theology adheres to national and international standards on research and publication ethics. Uludag Journal of Theology complies with the Press Law (a), Intellectual and Artistic Works Low (b), and the Higher Education Institutions Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive (c). Additionally, it has adopted the International Ethical Publishing Principles (d) published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA) and commits to complying with the Turkish Editors Workshop Decisions (e).
      a) Press Law (National Legislation)
      b) Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works (National Legislation)
      c) Higher Education Institutions Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive (National Legislation)
      d) Transparency and Best Practice Principles in Academic Publishing (International Criteria)
      e) Turkish Editors Workshop Decisions (National Criteria)

Republication
Republication is the publication of the same article or substantially similar articles in more than one journal. The editor will return such articles without review. After that, the editor may impose an embargo on the author attempting republication for a certain period, announce to the public (perhaps as a simultaneous announcement with the editor of the journal that previously published the article) that the author has published the same work before, or apply all of these measures together.


Simultaneous Submission of the Same Work to Multiple Journals
Authors cannot submit the same article to multiple journals at the same time. If the editor becomes aware of possible simultaneous submissions, they reserve the right to consult with other editors who have received the article. Additionally, the editor may return the article without review, reject it without considering the reviews, or make this decision by discussing it with the relevant other editor(s) and may decide not to accept article submissions from the authors for a certain period. They may also write to the authors' employers or implement all of these measures together.

Plagiarism Prevention:
Plagiarism is presenting someone else's ideas, methods, data, practices, writings, figures, or works as one's own without proper attribution according to scientific rules.
Uludag Journal of Theology scans all submitted articles to prevent plagiarism. The studies submitted for review are checked for plagiarism using the iThenticate software, and a similarity rate of less than 15% is expected. The main measure of similarity is the author's compliance with the citation and referencing rules. Even if the similarity rate is 1%, plagiarism may still be possible if citations and references are not properly made. In this respect, authors should be aware of and carefully follow citation and referencing rules: www.isnadsistemi.org. 

Plagiarism, duplication, false authorship/ denied authorship, research/data fabrication, article slicing, slicing for publication, copyright infringement, and concealment of conflicts of interest are considered unethical behaviours. All articles that do not comply with accepted ethical standards are removed from publication. This includes articles with possible irregularities and inconsistencies detected after publication.

Forgery
Forgery involves generating non-research-based data, creating or modifying a presented or published work based on simulated data, reporting or publishing them, and portraying uncompleted research as completed.

Manipulating research records and obtained data, presenting methods, devices, and materials not used in the research as if they were used, not considering data that does not fit the research hypothesis, manipulating data and/or results to fit the relevant theory or assumption, and distorting or shaping research results in line with the interests of supported individuals and organizations are considered forgery.

Protection of Participants' Personal Data
Uludag Journal of Theology requires all research containing personal or sensitive data or materials related to non-public human participants to undergo formal ethical review.

Handling Allegations of Research Misconduct
Uludag Journal of Theology complies with COPE's Ethics Toolkit for a Successful Editorial, https://publicationethics.org/files/cope-ethics-toolkit-journal-editors-publishers.pdf . The editors of the Uludag Journal of Theology will take measures to prevent the publication of articles that involve plagiarism, citation manipulation, data falsification, data fabrication, and other forms of research misconduct. Under no circumstances will the editors of Uludag Journal of Theology knowingly allow such misconduct to take place. If the editors of Uludag Journal of Theology become aware of an allegation of research misconduct related to an article published in their journal, they will follow COPE's guidelines regarding the allegations.

Reporting Ethical Violations
Readers who notice a significant error or mistake in an article published in the Uludag Journal of Theology, or who have any complaints related to editorial content (such as plagiarism, reproduced publication, etc.), may report their concerns by sending an email to ilahiyatdergisi@uludag.edu.tr. We welcome such submissions as an opportunity for growth and will respond promptly and constructively.

Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern
Editors may consider issuing a correction if minor errors are detected in the published article that do not affect the findings, interpretations, and conclusions. Editors should consider retracting the article in case of major errors/violations that invalidate the findings and conclusions. If there is a possibility of research or publication misconduct by the authors, or if there is evidence that the findings are not trustworthy and the authors' institution has not investigated the matter or the investigation seems unfair or inconclusive, the editors should consider issuing an expression of concern. COPE guidelines are followed regarding corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern.

Publication of Studies Based on Survey and Interview
Uludag Journal of Theology adopts the "Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" and the "Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers" principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) to ensure ethical assurance in scientific publishing. Accordingly, the following points should be followed in the studies submitted to the journal:

1) Ethics committee approval should be obtained for research conducted in all disciplines that require ethics committee approval, and this approval should be stated and documented in the article.
2) In research requiring ethics committee approval, information about the permission (committee name, date, and number) should be included in the methodology section, and in case reports, information about signed informed consent form should be given on the first/last pages of the article.

Special Issue Publication Policy
A special issue may be published once a year in our journal upon the request of the Publication Board. Articles submitted to be included in the special issue are first subjected to editorial pre-review. Then, they are evaluated in terms of compliance with the journal's writing rules, and a similarity scan is performed to prevent plagiarism. After these stages, they are subject to the peer review process using the double-blind review model.

Editorial Confidentiality Obligation
The editors of Uludag Journal of Theology treat all submitted articles as confidential documents, meaning that they will not disclose information about an article without the author's permission. During the article review process, the following people can access the articles: Editors, Reviewers, Editorial Board Members. The only situation in which details about a manuscript may be passed on to a third party without the consent of the authors is when the editor suspects serious research misconduct.

Scientific Misconduct Allegations-Suspicions
There are different definitions of scientific misconduct. While following the guidance created by major publication ethics organizations, Uludag Journal of Theology handles these problems on a case-by-case basis. If the editor suspects an ethical violation or there is an allegation of misconduct, the editor is obliged to take action. This duty covers both published and unpublished articles. The editor should not simply reject articles that raise possible ethical issues. They must follow up on the alleged ethical violations. When appropriate, the editor should follow COPE flowcharts. Editors should first seek a response from those suspected of misconducts. If they are not satisfied with the response, they should request that the relevant employer or institution conduct an investigation. The editor should make every reasonable effort to ensure that an appropriate investigation is conducted regarding the alleged misconduct; if not, the editor should persist in making every reasonable effort to find a solution to the problem. This is a laborious but essential task.

Uludag Journal of Theology adheres to the ethical guidelines set forth by COPE for successful manuscript management. The editors of the Journal will take measures to prevent the publication of articles containing plagiarism, citation manipulation, data falsification, data fabrication, and other forms of research misconduct. Under no circumstances will the editors of the Journal knowingly permit such misconduct to occur. If the editors of Uludag Journal of Theology become aware of any allegations of research misconduct related to an article published in their journal, they will follow the guidelines of COPE.

When referees suspect research or publication misconduct, they must inform the editor. The editor is responsible for taking necessary actions in accordance with COPE guidelines.
Uludag Journal of Theology commits to applying COPE flowcharts when faced with allegations of misconduct in the following or similar areas:

     • Suspected duplicate publication
     • Suspected plagiarism
     • Suspected data fabrication
     • Requests for changes in authorship
     • Suspected undisclosed conflict of interest
     • Suspected false or ghost authorship
     • Suspected ethical problem in an article
     • When a suspicion of ethical violation is directly reported via email or other means
     • When a suspicion of ethical violation is announced via social media

Complaint Procedure
This procedure applies to complaints related to content, procedures, or policies for which Uludag Journal of Theology or our editorial team is responsible. We aim to respond quickly, kindly, and constructively to complaints, which can provide an opportunity for improvement and encouragement.

Complaints must be related to content, procedures, or policies for which Uludag Journal of Theology or our editorial team is responsible. They should be sent directly to ilahiyatdergisi@uludag.edu.tr and will be treated confidentially. The editor will respond to complaints promptly and follow the procedures outlined in the COPE flowchart regarding complaints.

Complaints will be reviewed by the relevant member of the editorial team, and if they cannot be resolved, the following processes will be followed:
     • If the initial response is deemed inadequate, the complainant may request that the complaint be forwarded to a more senior member of the journal.
     • If the complainant is still dissatisfied, the complaint may be forwarded to the chief editor.
     • A full response will be provided within two weeks, if possible.

COPE publishes a code of practice for editors of scientific journals. This will facilitate the resolution of disputes between editors, journals, and publishers, but recourse to COPE can only be sought after exhausting the journal's own complaint procedures.

Appeal Process
We welcome serious objections to the evaluations made by editors and referees. If you believe that we rejected your article because we misunderstood its scientific content, please send an appeal message to our editorial team at ilahiyatdergisi@uludag.edu.tr. At this stage, please do not try to submit a revised version of your article. If we understand that your objection is justified after reading your appeal letter, we may invite you to submit a revised version of your article. Your work will then be resubmitted to the external referee process. Please include as many details as possible in your appeal letter. Finally, we can only consider one appeal per article, so please take the time and effort to write the letter in detail and make your objection clear. We have seen that prolonged discussions of rejected articles are generally not satisfactory for both authors and editors, so we do not consider multiple appeals for the same work.

Conflicts of Interest
Conflict of interest arises when professional judgment regarding a primary interest may be affected by a secondary interest (such as financial gain or personal competition). We believe that in order to make the best decision on how to handle an article, we need to know the competing interests of the authors, and readers should also know them if we publish the article.
It is important to disclose any financial or other interests that could potentially create conflicts of interest, compromising objectivity or providing an unfair advantage to any person or organization. Disclosure should include all sources of financial support received and the role of sponsors in conducting the research and preparing the article. If no funding was received, this fact should also be stated. Examples of potential conflicts of interest requiring disclosure include consultancies, salary receipt, and grants. Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed at the earliest possible stage.

Uludag Journal of Theology has a process established to handle submissions from editors, staff, or board members to ensure unbiased review. Such submissions are primarily directed to other journals. If this is not possible, the submission owner's duty to the journal is suspended. These submissions are reviewed through the double-blind review process.
The editor should not be involved in decisions about articles written by themselves or their family members. Additionally, such work should be subject to all ordinary procedures of the journal. The editor should follow COPE guidelines on disclosure of potential conflicts of interest by authors and referees.

Principles of Research Ethics
Uludag Journal of Theology upholds the highest standards of research ethics and adheres to the internationally recognized principles of research ethics described below. These principles include protecting the rights and dignity of research participants, ensuring research integrity, transparency and accountability, and protecting intellectual property rights. Compliance with ethical rules in articles is the responsibility of the authors.  

   • Principles of integrity, quality and transparency should be ensured in designing the research, reviewing the design, and conducting the research.
     • The research team and participants should be fully informed about the purpose, methods, and anticipated uses of the research, as well as the requirements and risks of participating in the research.
     • The confidentiality of the information provided by research participants and the anonymity of respondents must be ensured. The research must be designed to protect the autonomy and dignity of the participants.
     • Research participants should participate voluntarily and should not be under any coercion.
     • Harm to participants should be avoided. The research must be planned in a way that does not put participants at risk.
     • Transparency should be maintained regarding research independence, and any conflicts of interest should be disclosed.
     • In experimental studies involving human subjects, written informed consent must be obtained from participants who decide to participate in the research. The consent of the legal guardian must be obtained for children, custodians, or those with diagnosed mental illness.
     • If the study is to be conducted in any institution or organization, approval must be obtained from that institution or organization.
     • In studies involving human subjects, the "method" section must indicate that “informed consent” has been obtained from the participants and that the study has been approved by the ethics committee of the institution where it was conducted.