Publication policies
The CC BY 4.0 policy applies to all manuscripts submitted for the October 2026 issue (Volume 6, Issue 2) and subsequent issues.
These policies govern manuscripts handled by USSMAD Review of Public Finance and Economics. The Turkish and English versions express the same requirements. Authors, reviewers and editors should consult this website for the current author guidelines, publication terms and editorial procedures.
Open access
The CC BY 4.0 policy applies to all manuscripts submitted for the October 2026 issue (Volume 6, Issue 2) and subsequent issues. Published research under this policy is freely available without an embargo, subscription, payment or reader registration. Readers may read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, link to and computationally analyse the full text, and reuse it for lawful purposes under CC BY 4.0. Access does not depend on membership of the publisher. The publication archive remains openly accessible through the original article records. Articles in issues preceding October 2026 retain the reuse terms of our previous policy, as stated in their original records.
Copyright and publishing permission
The CC BY 4.0 policy applies to all manuscripts submitted for the October 2026 issue (Volume 6, Issue 2) and subsequent issues. Authors retain copyright and all rights in their work without restriction. They grant the journal a non-exclusive right of first publication and permission to distribute the published article under CC BY 4.0. Authors are not required to transfer copyright, exclusive publishing rights or exclusive commercial rights to the journal or publisher. Authors must hold the necessary rights and obtain any permissions required for third-party material. The corresponding author confirms that all co-authors approve the publication terms. Copyright in unpublished manuscripts and confidential review reports is unaffected by the publication licence. Website ownership and copyright are separate from copyright in scholarly articles.
Article licensing and reuse
The CC BY 4.0 policy applies to all manuscripts submitted for the October 2026 issue (Volume 6, Issue 2) and subsequent issues. Accepted articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0). The licence permits sharing and adaptation, including commercial reuse, with appropriate credit, a link to the licence and an indication of changes. No additional legal or technical restrictions may be imposed that conflict with the licence. Third-party material outside the licence must be identified with its rights and permission information. The applicable licence and copyright holder must be identified on each published article and its full text.
Our previous policy: Articles published in issues preceding the October 2026 issue (Volume 6, Issue 2) retain the licence and copyright terms stated in their original publication records. The current CC BY 4.0 policy does not retrospectively change the terms of those earlier issues.
Author charges
The journal charges no submission, editorial processing, peer-review, article processing, publication, page, colour, DOI, correction or withdrawal fees. No paid language editing, translation, membership, subscription or purchase is required for submission or publication. Authors may obtain independent editing at their own discretion; using such a service has no bearing on editorial decisions. There is no fee-waiver scheme because there are no author charges. Any future change would be published in advance and would not be applied retrospectively to manuscripts already submitted under this policy.
Publication languages and language priority
The publication languages of USSMAD Review of Public Finance and Economics are English and Turkish. To enhance the journal’s international visibility, accessibility and scholarly exchange, manuscripts written in English are given priority in the assessment and publication processes. Manuscripts submitted in Turkish must include an extended abstract in English. Submissions in both languages are assessed in accordance with the journal’s standards of scholarly quality, originality and publication ethics.
Editorial assessment and peer review
Research, review and conceptual articles are screened for scope, completeness, originality, research integrity and anonymity. Suitable manuscripts undergo double-anonymous peer review by at least two independent experts who are outside the editorial team and free of relevant competing interests. Authors and reviewers are not told each other’s identities. Review covers the manuscript and relevant supplementary material. Reviewers provide reasoned reports; the handling editor evaluates the evidence, author responses and any conflicting reports, and may obtain an additional independent assessment. The authorised editor makes the decision and communicates the reasons. Editorials and announcements that do not undergo external review are labelled as such and are not presented as peer-reviewed research. No acceptance or publication time is guaranteed.
Editorial independence and competing interests
Decisions depend on scholarly merit, relevance and research integrity, independently of author nationality, institutional affiliation, publisher membership, funding or commercial interests. Authors, reviewers and editors must disclose relevant financial and non-financial interests. An editor with a conflict involving a manuscript, close collaborator, family member or institutional relationship must recuse themselves; an independent editor manages assessment and the decision. Reviewers should decline or seek advice where a conflict may prevent an impartial assessment. Source of funding does not determine acceptance. The publisher does not direct individual academic decisions.
Editorial submissions and internal authorship
Editors, editorial-board members and reviewers may submit work, subject to the same scholarly standards and independent external review. An author-editor cannot select reviewers, access confidential reports through an editorial role or decide on their own submission. An independent editor with no relevant conflict manages the case. The editorial office must check the two most recent issues separately: research papers with at least one author who is an editor, editorial-board member or reviewer must not exceed 25% of the research papers in either issue. The same limit informs the planning of forthcoming issues. A paper is counted once even if several authors hold these roles. The office maintains the relevant authorship, role and review records.
Special issues and guest editors
Special issues must fall within the journal’s scope and remain under the Editor-in-Chief’s responsibility. Guest-editor expertise and competing interests are checked before appointment. Special-issue manuscripts receive the same screening, at least two independent external reviews and editorial oversight as regular submissions, and are clearly identified when published. Guest editors’ own manuscripts are handled by an independent editor and must make up no more than 25% of the issue’s content. The internal-authorship limit also applies. Guest editors cannot decide their own manuscripts, and invitations do not imply acceptance.
Research ethics and publication integrity
Authors must submit original work that is not simultaneously under consideration elsewhere. Plagiarism, fabricated or falsified data, misleading attribution and redundant publication are unacceptable. Human-participant research requires the relevant ethics approval and informed consent; authors must identify the committee, decision date and reference, or justify why approval was not required. The reported similarity rate must not exceed 20%. Submissions exceeding this threshold may be returned for correction or rejected during preliminary assessment. Similarity results support editorial judgement; a rate of 20% or below does not establish the absence of plagiarism or guarantee acceptance. Integrity concerns are assessed with appropriate reference to COPE guidance; the journal does not claim COPE membership. Relevant parties are given an opportunity to respond before a reasoned decision.
Plagiarism Policy
The journal requires original work and accurate attribution in research, review and conceptual articles in both publication languages. Plagiarism includes presenting another person’s wording, ideas, data, images or other scholarly material as one’s own without appropriate acknowledgement. Translated copying and close paraphrasing without attribution are also unacceptable. Reuse of an author’s own published material must be cited and disclosed; redundant publication and simultaneous submission are not permitted. Preprints and conference versions must be declared so that their relationship to the submission can be assessed.
Similarity threshold: maximum 20%. The similarity rate stated in a manuscript’s similarity report must not exceed 20%. Submissions above this threshold may be returned for correction during preliminary assessment or rejected by the editor. A rate of 20% or below does not establish the absence of plagiarism and does not guarantee acceptance. All overlap remains subject to editorial assessment.
Originality and similarity assessment. Originality is considered during editorial screening and may be examined again during review or after publication. Editors may use similarity reports and request relevant sources, earlier versions or supporting material. A similarity percentage is a screening aid, not a finding of plagiarism or a guarantee of acceptance. Editors assess the nature, extent, location and attribution of overlap, taking account of quotations, references, established terminology and method descriptions. Manuscripts and reports are handled confidentially by authorised staff.
Assessment before publication. Where a concern arises, the editor documents the relevant passages or material and considers the available evidence. The author is informed of the concern and given an opportunity to explain or respond before a reasoned decision is made. Limited attribution or quotation problems may require correction and further assessment. Substantial unattributed copying, misleading reuse or unresolved integrity concerns may lead to rejection. The response is proportionate to the evidence, with appropriate reference to COPE guidance and the journal’s complaints and appeals procedures.
Concerns after publication. Evidence concerning a published article is assessed by an editor without a relevant competing interest. Depending on the findings, the journal may publish a linked correction, expression of concern or retraction with reasons. Retraction notices remain accessible and the article is clearly marked; the publication record is preserved in accordance with the journal’s corrections and archive policies. Where warranted by the evidence, the journal may refer the matter to the relevant institution or rights holder.
Reporting and appeals. Send a concern to ussmad.journal@gmail.com, identifying the manuscript or article, the suspected source and the relevant evidence. Reports are handled confidentially and impartially. Authors may submit a reasoned appeal under the journal’s complaints and appeals policy.
COPE guidance on suspected plagiarism ↗
Authorship, contribution and funding
Authorship requires a substantive scholarly contribution, approval of the final manuscript and accountability for the work. All qualifying contributors should be included; other assistance should be acknowledged with permission. Contributions should be described using clear roles, preferably the CRediT taxonomy. The corresponding author confirms author order, contact details and all authors’ approval. Changes in authorship require a reasoned request and agreement from all affected authors. All funding sources, grant identifiers and the funder’s role must be declared. Where no external funding or competing interest exists, state this explicitly.
Data availability and reproducibility
Each submission must include an accurate data-availability statement. Authors should identify data sources, versions, analytical materials and code, and provide persistent repository links where lawful and ethical. Public availability is encouraged; confidential or restricted data must not be disclosed contrary to consent, legal duties or licence terms. Explain any restriction and, where feasible, how qualified researchers may request access. State when no new data were generated or analysed. Methods and reporting must provide enough detail for scholarly scrutiny. Editors may request supporting evidence during assessment or an integrity investigation, with appropriate confidentiality safeguards.
AI and automated tools
Authors remain accountable for accuracy, originality, references and all submitted material. Substantive use of generative AI must be disclosed with the tool, purpose and extent of use, together with author verification; routine spelling, grammar or formatting assistance alone does not require a separate disclosure. AI tools cannot be authors and generative AI output must not be cited as a scholarly source. Reviewers and editors must not use generative AI to create their scholarly assessments or upload confidential submissions, personal data or reports to external services without the necessary permission and safeguards. Any permitted language editing of a report must be disclosed to the editor and preserve confidentiality. Human editors verify automated screening results; similarity or AI-detection scores alone do not determine a decision. Any routine automated editorial assessment will be disclosed.
Preprints, overlap and originality
Authors must disclose prior dissemination and related work so that editors can assess originality and overlap. A preprint or conference presentation does not by itself prevent consideration, provided its status is declared and the submitted article offers an appropriate scholarly contribution. Material already published as a journal article, redundant publication and simultaneous journal submission are not accepted. Editors may request earlier versions and an explanation of substantive differences.
Editorial decisions and revisions
Decisions may include desk rejection, external review, technical correction, minor or major revision, revise and resubmit, conditional acceptance, acceptance, rejection or withdrawal. The handling editor records the reasons and any revision deadline in the manuscript workspace. Reviewers advise; they do not make the editorial decision. Authors should provide an anonymous revised manuscript and a point-by-point response. A revision request, favourable report or conditional acceptance is not a guarantee of publication. Authors may request withdrawal by writing from their registered email address to the editorial contact and quoting the manuscript reference; the office records and confirms the request. Withdrawal is free, and no author blacklist is imposed for a good-faith withdrawal. A manuscript must not be submitted elsewhere while it remains under active consideration.
Complaints and appeals
Send a reasoned complaint or appeal to ussmad.journal@gmail.com. Identify the manuscript or article, the decision or conduct in question, and the supporting evidence. A member of the editorial team without a relevant conflict assesses the request; an editor does not adjudicate a complaint about their own conduct. Where necessary, the Editor-in-Chief arranges an independent assessment. Authors and affected parties are given an opportunity to respond. The office communicates the outcome and reasons and retains a confidential record. An appeal does not guarantee reconsideration or acceptance. Concerns about published research may be raised after publication.
Corrections and the published record
Substantive errors and integrity concerns are assessed proportionately with reference to COPE guidance. Where appropriate, the journal publishes a correction, expression of concern or retraction, linked to the affected article and identifying the reason and responsibility. Retraction notices remain accessible and the original article is marked; routine retraction does not mean silent deletion. Removal is considered only where compelling legal, privacy or safety reasons require it, with an explanatory notice where possible. Publication dates, version information and the scholarly record must be preserved. Authors are expected to report material errors promptly and cooperate with investigations.
Archive Policy
Published issues, individual articles and original full-text files are accessible through DergiPark. This website provides a searchable catalogue, issue contents and links to the original records and PDFs. Access to the published archive does not require payment, a subscription or a journal account.
Publication records and versions. Original journal titles, authorship, publication dates, volume and issue information, pagination and DOI identifiers are preserved. Corrections, expressions of concern and retractions are linked to the affected article and form part of its publication record. Substantive changes must be documented; published research is not silently replaced or removed. Where removal is necessary for compelling legal, privacy or safety reasons, an explanatory notice is retained whenever possible.
Continuity of access. The Fiscal Research Association is responsible for maintaining access to the journal’s published record. If the journal moves to another platform, transfers to another publisher or ceases publication, the publisher must announce the arrangements for continuing access and preserve the relationship between article records, identifiers, files and publication notices. DergiPark is the journal’s current archive host.
Author deposits and reuse. Authors may deposit the submitted, accepted and published versions in an institutional or subject repository, or on their own website, without a journal-imposed embargo. Deposits should identify the version and link to the original article and DOI where available. CC BY 4.0 applies to the October 2026 issue (Volume 6, Issue 2) and subsequent issues; earlier issues retain their terms under our previous policy. Third-party rights and exclusions must be preserved.
Original archive on DergiPark ↗
Author self-archiving
The CC BY 4.0 policy applies to all manuscripts submitted for the October 2026 issue (Volume 6, Issue 2) and subsequent issues. Authors may deposit the submitted manuscript, accepted manuscript and published version in an institutional or subject repository, or on their own website, without a journal-imposed embargo. Identify the version, provide the original citation and include the DOI or original article link when available. State the applicable licence and preserve third-party exclusions. Published articles in the October 2026 issue and subsequent issues may be shared and reused under CC BY 4.0. For earlier issues, the original reuse terms under our previous policy continue to apply. Repository deposits should link to the version of record after publication.
Confidentiality and personal information
Unpublished manuscripts and reports are confidential. Access is limited to the submitting author, authorised editorial staff and, for assigned anonymous files, the relevant reviewer. Reviewer identities and confidential editorial comments are not published in the public author directory. Account and profile information is used for registration, manuscript handling, review and journal administration. Public reading does not require an account. Authors and reviewers should supply only information necessary for these purposes and may contact the editorial office about their personal information. Anonymous page views are counted on page loads and section navigation using random event identifiers, without recording country, IP address, member identity or a persistent browser identifier. Event identifiers are retained for 30 days; the aggregate count remains. The displayed counter continues from 2021 and includes 100,750 historical views supplied by the editorial office.
Funding, advertising and direct marketing
The Fiscal Research Association is the publisher. The journal receives no author fees and currently carries no paid advertising. The publisher is responsible for the journal’s publishing arrangements; any external funding, sponsorship or commercial support must be disclosed with the supporter’s role. Such support must not influence peer review or individual decisions. Announcements and invitations must accurately state the journal’s identity, scope, fees and submission route and must not promise acceptance, publication speed, an impact factor or unverified indexing. Editorial content and any future advertising must be clearly distinguished. Author selection is not a condition for purchasing services or membership.
Publisher, ownership and editorial contact
USSMAD Review of Public Finance and Economics is published by the Fiscal Research Association in Yenişehir, Diyarbakır, Türkiye. Owner and Editor-in-Chief: Assoc. Prof. Osman Geyik, Dicle University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. Editorial enquiries, complaints and appeals: ussmad.journal@gmail.com. Publisher contact: maliarastirmalardernegi@maliarastirmalar.org. The journal publishes in English and Turkish, in March and October. English-language manuscripts receive priority in assessment and publication; Turkish manuscripts must include an extended abstract in English. The same scholarly quality, originality and publication ethics standards apply to both languages. Manuscripts are submitted through the journal’s online submission system. Journal ownership does not confer a right to override independent scholarly assessment.
Publisher and editorial contact
Publisher: Fiscal Research Association, Yenişehir, Diyarbakır, Türkiye. Owner & Editor-in-Chief: Assoc. Prof. Osman Geyik. Editorial enquiries: ussmad.journal@gmail.com. Publisher contact: maliarastirmalardernegi@maliarastirmalar.org.