Ethical Principles and Publication Policy

WLS is an international, peer-reviewed journal that publishes high-quality original scientific articles, article translations, book introductions, and reviews in the fields of language, literature, literary history, culture, language education, and applied linguistics in accordance with the ethical principles outlined below. Articles submitted to our journal undergo a double-blind review process and are published electronically with free access. The ethical principles and rules below have been prepared in accordance with the Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Guidelines of Higher Education Institutions and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Publication Ethics Committee guidelines.

Authors' Ethical Responsibilities

Articles submitted to our faculty journal must be within the specified fields.

Articles submitted to our journal must be original, not previously published elsewhere, and not under consideration for publication in another journal.

All sources used in the article must be appropriately cited in the references. Materials subject to copyright laws and agreements must be used with necessary permissions.

In the Copyright Agreement Form, for articles with two or more authors, the agreed-upon order of names and the acceptance of transferring the copyright of the published articles to the journal must be officially stated.

If authors detect an error in their article after publication, they must immediately inform the editorial board and cooperate in the correction or retraction process. All responsibility for the published article lies with the authors. No opinions or thoughts in the article can be attributed to the journal, editors, or reviewers.

All works accepted by our journal are checked using the iThenticate plagiarism detection program. Matches resulting from plagiarism checks are examined, and a similarity report is created for the article. Based on the report, authors may be asked to make corrections to certain parts of their work, or the work may be removed from the publication process.

Articles undergo a double-blind review process by either an editor or an assistant editor and at least two reviewers. Plagiarism, falsification, distortion, duplication, salami slicing, unjust authorship, copyright violations, and concealment of conflicts of interest are considered unethical behaviors.

Reviewers' Ethical Responsibilities

A double-blind review method is applied in evaluating the works submitted to our journal. Thus, to ensure an impartial, objective, and independent evaluation process, the identities of reviewers and authors are kept confidential.

Reviewers should only review works within their areas of expertise.

Reviewers must provide their opinions on the article, including justified decisions on whether the work should be published, in written form, without disclosing their names to avoid compromising the double-blind review process.

Reviewers are responsible for evaluating the articles impartially and objectively from a scientific standpoint.

Reviewers are expected to complete their evaluations within the assigned timeframe and to act in accordance with the journal's ethical principles.

Editors' Ethical Responsibilities

Editors evaluate the articles submitted to the journal objectively, following scientific and ethical principles, and organize the process of double-blind peer review to ensure fair assessment.

They ensure that all information and data related to the articles submitted to the journal remain confidential until the publication process is completed.

Editors are responsible for the overall quality of all content and publications in the journal. They may publish errata pages or make corrections when necessary.

Editors do not allow any conflicts of interest between authors and reviewers. They have full authority in assigning reviewers and are responsible for the final decision on the articles to be published in the journal.

Ethics Committee Approval

For studies requiring Ethics Committee approval, authors must indicate in the research method section of the article that they conducted their studies in accordance with the relevant principles, obtained Informed Consent Forms from the ethics committees of the institutions and participants involved, in line with the relevant regulations and obligations of the scientific research protocol.

All research requiring data collection from participants through qualitative or quantitative methods such as surveys, interviews, focus group discussions, etc., requires ethics committee approval.

When using scales, surveys, or photographs belonging to others, permission must be obtained from the owners, and this must be stated in the article.

If authors use copyrighted ideas or artistic works owned by third parties or organizations, they must indicate the permission documents for use in their articles.