POLICIES

Policies - Open Access Policy
yedi is an open access journal. No fees are charged to authors for article submission, evaluation or publication, and readers can access the journal's electronic publication free of charge.

yedi’s Open Access Policy adopts the principles set forth by the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI). The journal shares the fundamental principle of the BOAI, which states: "[t]he literature that should be freely accessible online is that which scholars give to the world without expectation of payment." Open access means that scientific literature is freely accessible “on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers.”

(Budapest Open Access Initiative Declaration, 2020)
https://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read/

Policies - Indexing and Archiving: yedi is indexed in TR Dizin and EBSCO.
All issues of the journal are archived in the DergiPark interface provided by Tubitak ULAKBİM. To this end, the editor-in-chief is responsible for uploading the full issue of the journal to the DergiPark system by the end of the last month of the journal's publication period. Thus, the entire archive of past issues is made accessible. Additionally, journals indexed in TR Dizin are required to upload their full issues and the process files of two randomly selected articles from each issue and a process file of a rejected article, to the system by the specified deadline.

Policies - Submission Fees: yedi follows a free publication policy. No fees are charged to authors or institutions under any circumstances.
No fees are requested from authors for article submission, evaluation, or publication, and readers can access the electronic publication of the journal for free.

Policies - Evaluation Process
yedi is an academic journal that stands out with its commitment to scientific publishing standards and ethical principles. In this context, all article proposals submitted to the journal undergo a rigorous evaluation process. This process involves preliminary assessment and double-blind peer review stages to evaluate the article in terms of format, content, and scientific merit.

Article Evaluation Process Schema

Preliminary Evaluation
Formatting: The article proposal is evaluated in terms of format and content according to the journal's publication guidelines and writing rules. At this stage, the article is checked for format, grammar, spelling mistakes and overall academic writing style. Articles rejected during the preliminary evaluation are communicated to the authors along with reasons for rejection.
Detailed Rejection: Articles rejected following preliminary evaluation are returned to the author with reasons for rejection, which may include the article not being suitable for the scope of the journal, not adhering to the required formatting and writing rules, or lacking sufficient originality and scientific quality.
Resubmission: Rejected articles, even if revised, will not be accepted if resubmitted. This policy helps manage the burden on reviewers due to an excessive number of article submissions.
Double-Blind Peer-Reviewing
● Independent Evaluation: After passing the preliminary evaluation, the accepted manuscript proposal undergoes a double-blind peer review process. In this process, at least two peer reviewers independently evaluate the content and scientific merit of the article.
● Appointing Peer-Reviewers: Reviewers are selected among academics who are experts in the relevant field of the journal. It is ensured that reviewers do not have any conflict of interest with the authors or the content of the article.
● Reviewers’ Evaluation Report: Reviewers evaluate the article based on criteria such as scientific originality, methodology, consistency of findings and conclusions, relation to the literature, and overall academic contribution. Each reviewer prepares a peer review report that details their evaluations comprehensively.
● The Third Reviewer: If the paper receives one acceptance and one rejection from the reviewers, a third reviewer's opinion is sought. This ensures that the paper is evaluated from different perspectives and a more objective decision is made.
● Decision Making: The journal, based on peer review reports, decides whether to accept the manuscript as is, accept it with minor revisions, or require major revisions before publication. Acceptance decisions are made by the handling editor in consultation with the Editor-in-Chief, while rejection decisions are made at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief based on the recommendations of the handling editors.
● Feedback: Feedback based on reviewers' evaluations and the decision of the editorial board is communicated to authors. This feedback serves as an essential source for authors to improve their manuscripts and achieve greater success in future publications.
Procedure Following Approval by Peer-Reviewers
yedi meticulously handles the penultimate stage in the publication of articles that have received peer approval. This stage includes checking the revised text submitted by authors, editing and formatting, language control, and final proofreading.
Reviewers’ Comments: Review reports are shared anonymously with the authors. These reports serve as a valuable source for authors to improve their articles and make them more scientifically robust.
Revision: Authors revise their manuscripts based on reviewers' suggested corrections within a specified period and resubmit them to the journal. During this process, authors are expected to thoroughly consider all the reviewers' suggestions and make the necessary corrections rigorously.
Formal Check by Assistant and Manuscript Editors
Appropriate Formatting: The article is reviewed for compliance with the journal's publication format and template. At this stage, elements such as page layout, typeface, and the formatting of tables, graphs, and images are checked.
Appropriate Spelling: The article is reviewed for adherence to the journal's writing guidelines. During this stage, elements such as grammar, spelling, punctuation, and academic writing style are checked.
• Citations and Bibliography: The citations and references in the article are rigorously checked. A dual check is performed to examine the consistency and accuracy of the information in the citations and references.
• Reporting (on Formal Qualities): Assistant Editors and Copy Editors provide authors with a detailed report following the formal review process. This report specifies the identified errors and the necessary corrections in detail.
Foreign Language Check, Proofing and Page Layout
Language Editors: If the article is in English, Language Editors review the entire text. If the article is in Turkish, they review the Abstract and English title sections for grammar, spelling, punctuation, and academic writing style.
Assistant Editor: The errors and necessary corrections identified by the Language Editors are applied to the text by the Assistant Editors.
Communicating with the Author: If necessary, Assistant Editors communicate with the author to address any missing or erroneous sections. This ensures the manuscript is of the highest linguistic quality.
Page Layout: The article is arranged according to the journal's layout format. During this stage, it is ensured that the manuscript has an aesthetically pleasing and balanced visual appearance.
Proofreading
• Final Check: The article undergoes a final review before publication. During this stage, the Editor-in-Chief reviews the manuscript one last time for grammar errors, spelling errors, punctuation, and overall format, and then submits it for author approval.
• Publication: Articles that pass the final review are first published with a DOI number on the journal's website as an early view (online first). They are then published electronically in the upcoming issue along with other articles.
• The average time for an article to be published electronically by the journal is approximately six (6) months.
Policies - Plagiarism Policy
yedi enforces a strict policy against plagiarism and unethical publishing practices. If plagiarism is detected, the journal reserves the right to reject the article, withdraw it if published, and refuse to accept future submissions from the author.
Authors are required to submit a similarity report obtained from one of the internationally accepted plagiarism detection programs (IThenticate, Turnitin, İntihal Net) when submitting articles to yedi.
The following rules are observed during the similarity ratio detection process:
a) The overall text similarity of the article must be 15% or below.
b) Bibliographic materials (references, citations, etc.) are not included in the scan.
c) The editor can perform a similarity check at any stage of the publication process.
d) All authors submitting articles are deemed to have accepted the above-mentioned rules.
Policies - Retraction Policy
As per yedi's publication policies, the duties and responsibilities of authors and the editorial board during the withdrawal/correction of a study or an article are as follows:

Authors’ Responsibilities in the Retraction Process
In accordance with the DergiPark withdrawal process, authors who submit an article to the journal have the authority to withdraw the article while its status is listed as “new submission.” If the article has been reviewed by at least one reviewer, authors can request to withdraw it with the approval of the editor. If the editor does not respond to the request within 15 days, the article will be automatically withdrawn.

However, if the submission is already in the publication process, authors will only be able to send a request, and the 15-day condition will not apply.

1. Declaration of false or misleading facts: Authors are responsible for following the relevant retraction procedure in cooperation with the journal editor, if they detect any errors or incorrect information during the initial submission, evaluation and preview stages or in their published work, and if they notice anything that is contrary to publication ethics and may compromise the integrity of the journal.

2. Retraction request: Authors who wish to request the withdrawal of a study must first submit their request using the “Withdraw Article” button on the “Article Metadata” tab on the DergiPark system. Then, they must fill out the Withdrawal Form on the Forms tab on the yedi website and send a scanned version, with the wet-ink signature of each author, to yedi@deu.edu.tr via e-mail.

3. Grounds for retraction: The retraction request must include a clear and concise statement of the reason for the retraction. The statement must detail the nature, extent, and potential effects of the erroneous or incorrect information or anything else that contradicts principles of ethical publication.

4. Consent of co-authors: A retraction request must be made with the consent of all authors. Each author must understand the rationale for the retraction and its potential consequences.

5. Communication with the journal: Authors must communicate openly with the journal editor during the retraction process. They must provide all necessary information, documentation, and a retraction form in a timely manner.

6. Long-term Impact of Retraction: Retraction of an article can have a long-term impact on the reputation of its authors and their future research prospects. Authors should carefully consider these consequences and ensure that a retraction is necessary.

7. Alternative Solutions: In some cases, instead of retracting an article, alternative solutions such as publishing a correction or an addendum may be considered. Authors should discuss these options with the journal editor.

Responsibilities of the Editor and the Editorial Board in regards to Requests to Retract Unpublished Articles

1. Evaluation of Retraction Requests: Retraction requests submitted by authors in accordance with the procedure specified under "Authors’ Responsibilities in the Article Retraction Process" will be evaluated by the editorial board within 15 business days at the latest and authors will be contacted. Retraction requests not evaluated within 15 days will be implemented automatically.

2. Copyrights: Once their copyrights have been transferred to yedi, authors can submit their work to another journal if and only if they file a request to withdraw their article first and the request is approved by the editorial board.

3. Evaluation Process: Retraction requests are meticulously evaluated by the editorial board. Factors such as the grounds for retraction, the potential impact of the retraction on the article and the journal, and authors' responsibilities are taken into consideration during the evaluation.

4. Decision Making: The editorial board may approve or reject the retraction request after evaluating it. The decision is communicated clearly and concisely to authors.

5. Communication: The editorial board undertakes to communicate openly and transparently with authors throughout the retraction process.

6. Ethical Responsibilities: The editorial board undertakes to evaluate all retraction requests in accordance with ethical principles and standards of scientific integrity.

Responsibilities of the Editor and the Editorial Board in regards to Requests to Retract Published Articles
The yedi editorial board examines retraction requests sent by authors in accordance with the procedure specified under the heading "Authors’ Responsibilities in the Retraction Process" and initiates the necessary evaluations. If the editorial board finds the reasons for retraction justified, it carries out the retraction process in accordance with the procedures below.

Retraction Procedure
The procedures for withdrawn articles are listed as follows:

Access Restriction: The phrase "Withdrawn:" is added in front of the title of the study accessed via electronic media.

Retraction Information: Instead of the Abstract and Full Text links in the electronic media, the reasons for the withdrawal of the study, if any, are clearly stated together with the notices of the institutions and organizations to which the authors are affiliated.

Retraction Announcement: The withdrawal is publicly announced on the homepage of the journal website.

Retraction Record: Retractions, formatted with the title “Withdrawn: Study Title,” are added to the table of contents of the electronic copy of the first issue following the withdrawal date. Starting from the first page, reasons for the withdrawal and relevant citations are shared with the public and the scientific community.

Updating Citation Indices: Withdrawal notices listed above are sent to the institutions and organizations where the journal is indexed, as well as to the General Directorate of the National Library for registration in indices and catalogs.

Notification to Authors' Institutions: Retraction notices are sent to the institutions to which authors are affiliated.

Ethical Principles: The editorial board of yedi is committed to evaluating and implementing all retraction requests in accordance with ethical principles and standards of scientific integrity.

Corrections and Authors’ Responsibilities in Published Articles

Limited Correction Policy: yedi permits only very limited corrections due to the meticulous control processes involved in the publication decision. This restriction adheres to the journal's publication policy and principles of scientific integrity.

Declaration of False or Misleading Facts: Authors are responsible for following the correction procedure in cooperation with the journal editor if they detect any error or incorrect information in their published work.

Correction Request: Authors who wish to request corrections in their article should fill out the “Article Correction Request Form” and send a scanned version signed by each author to yedi@deu.edu.tr.
Grounds for Correction: The request for correction must include a clear and concise explanation stating the reason for the correction. The explanation should explain in detail the nature, scope and potential effects of the erroneous or incorrect information.

Evaluation by the Editorial Board: The editorial board meticulously evaluates requests for corrections and addenda. Factors such as the necessity of the correction, its impact on the journal and scientific literature, and the responsibilities of the authors are taken into consideration in the evaluation process.

Decision Making: Upon evaluation, the editorial board may decide to approve or reject requests for corrections. The decision is communicated to the authors clearly and concisely.

Correction Procedures: If a correction request is approved, the editorial board makes the necessary corrections in the relevant sections of the article and publishes it in the next issue. In the first issue of the article, the phrase “Correction:” is placed in front of the title and the same procedure as in retractions is followed. The correction text is marked in a way that it can be clearly distinguished from the original text of the article.

Correction Notification: The correction notices are sent to the institutions and organizations where the journal is indexed.

Responsibilities of the Editor and the Editorial Board in regards to Authors’ Correction Requests
The online published version of an article is considered the final and complete version. In case any incorrect or inaccurate information is detected in this version, the editor and the editorial board will implement the following procedures.

Limited Correction Policy: yedi permits only very limited corrections due to the meticulous control processes involved in the publication decision. This restriction adheres to the journal's publication policy and principles of scientific integrity.

Evaluation of Correction Requests: Correction requests submitted by authors in accordance with the procedure specified in the "Corrections and Authors’ Responsibilities in Published Articles" section are meticulously evaluated by the editor and the editorial board. If necessary, expert opinions may also be sought during the evaluation process.

Corrections Criteria: At least one of the following criteria must be met for a correction to be published:

• Scientific Accuracy Errors: There must be a significant error in the scientific accuracy of the study that substantially affects the findings, conclusions, or interpretations.

• Reputation of the Author and the Journal: There must be a situation that negatively impacts the reputation of both the author and the journal.

Decision Making: The editor and the editorial board evaluate correction requests and decide to approve or reject them. The decision is then communicated to the authors clearly and explicitly.

Corrections: If a correction request is approved, the editor and the editorial board make the necessary corrections in the relevant sections of the article. The correction text is marked in a way that can be clearly distinguished from the original text of the article.

Publication of Corrections: The correction text is published in the next issue of the journal or electronically. The correction notification is also notified to the institutions and organizations where the journal is indexed.

Ethical Responsibilities: The editor and the editorial board undertake to evaluate and implement all correction requests in accordance with ethical principles and standards of scientific integrity.



Policies - Conflict of Interest
The journal’s conflict of interest policy aims to ensure that articles submitted to the journal are evaluated and published fairly and impartially. This policy contributes to the preservation of scientific integrity and the journal's publication standards.

Authors
In accordance with the journal’s publication policy, only individuals who have genuinely contributed to the work should be listed as authors.

Authors must ensure and clearly declare that they have no personal or financial conflicts of interest related to the study.

Peer-reviewers
yedi has a strict conflict of interest policy to ensure that reviewers can provide impartial and objective evaluations. This policy ensures that reviewers have no personal or financial conflicts of interest related to the article they are reviewing, and that such conflicts do not affect their evaluation. A conflict of interest is any situation that may compromise the impartiality or objectivity of a reviewer. These situations may include:

Personal or Professional Relationship with the Authors: For example, working at the same institution, participating in joint research projects, or having a close friendship or family relationship.
Financial Interests: For example, being sponsored by the authors or institutions with which the authors are affiliated, or receiving royalties or patent income.

Competing Interests: For example, personal or professional opinions or beliefs that could influence the findings or conclusions of the article.

Responsibilities of the Peer-Reviewers
All reviewers invited to review articles by yedi must fulfill the following responsibilities:

Disclosure of Conflict of Interests: Reviewers must clearly disclose any conflict of interest that they have to the journal and the editor.

Decline to Peer-Review: Reviewers must decline to review a paper if they determine that they have a conflict of interest and report it to the editor.

Responsibilities of the Editorial Board
yedi will fulfill the following responsibilities to ensure that reviewers comply with the conflict of interest policy:

Conflict of Interest Assessment: The journal will carefully assess any conflict of interest reported or identified by reviewers and take the necessary measures.

Confidentiality: The journal will keep the identity of reviewers and their evaluations confidential.
Editors
yedi attaches great importance to the protection of scientific integrity and ethical principles. In this context, it implements a strict policy to ensure that journal editors act impartially and objectively, and do not have any conflicts of interest. This policy aims to ensure that editors avoid any personal or financial conflicts of interest that may affect their decisions regarding the evaluation and publication of articles.
Responsibilities of Editors
Disclosure of Conflict of Interest: In case of a conflict of interest, editors must disclose this to the editorial board. In the disclosure, they must state the nature, scope and potential effects of the conflict of interest in detail.
Decline to Review: If editors determine that there is a conflict of interest, they must decline to review the article and notify the editorial board to ensure an impartial and objective evaluation of the article.
Impartiality and Objectivity: Editors must act impartially and objectively when evaluating all articles and making publication decisions. This means not allowing their personal opinions, beliefs or biases to affect their evaluation.
Confidentiality: Editors must keep the identity of reviewers, their reviews, and other relevant information confidential.
 
Responsibilities of the Editorial Board
yedi will fulfill the following responsibilities to ensure that editors comply with the conflict of interest policy:
Evaluation: The editorial board will rigorously evaluate any conflict of interest reported or identified by the editors and take the necessary precautions. These precautions may include removing the editor from the review of the article, appointing another editor, or removing the article from the review process.
Changing the Editor: If necessary, the editorial board may appoint another editor or reviewer who can act impartially and objectively to review the article.

ETHICS

Ethics - Research Ethics
Arts and design research is a field in which ethical principles should be upheld rigorously. This section explains the journal’s ethical research principles and the procedures that authors should follow in order to comply with them.

Basic Principles
Originality: The research should be original and based on findings and ideas that have not been published before. In accordance with principles of ethical research, authors should confirm that their research is original. Moreover, they should cite their sources and refrain from presenting these citations as their own ideas.

Factuality: In order to uphold research integrity, data used in the research should be accurate and authors should avoid data bias. To this end, they should clearly state their sources, methods of data collection and analysis, as well as the impartiality of their findings. Data accuracy means data should not be wrong or fabricated. Data sources should be reliable, data collection and analysis methods should be applied in the correct manner and data consistency should be affirmed. To avoid data bias, researchers should refrain from distorting or selectively presenting data to support any idea or opinion they might have held previously. Researchers should evaluate all data objectively and present their findings impartially.

Transparency: The research methods employed, the sources used and any financial aid received should be clearly stated. Doing so ensures the research is transparent and reliable. Stating the research methods used requires researchers to clearly express their methods of collecting and analyzing data, as well as how they have reached their findings. The sources used should be clearly cited and researchers should explain how they have used each individual source. Disclosing any financial aid that researchers have received helps clarify whether the research has been guided by any commercial or private interests and whether the researchers are in a conflict of interest.
 
Plagiarism: Any and all ideas and opinions borrowed from external sources should be cited in accordance with ethical principles and researchers should avoid plagiarism. Intellectual honesty is the ethical responsibility of researchers. All ideas and opinions borrowed from other sources should be cited clearly. This should be done in a manner that allows all citations to be traced back to their original sources, facilitates the verification of the research and ensures transparency. Plagiarism is an academic crime and to avoid plagiarism, researchers should:
● refer to the journal’s guidelines for appropriate citation methods;
● clearly distinguish between ideas they’ve borrowed and ideas of their own;
● include in their bibliography every source they have used;
● refrain from copying blocks of text word for word;
● cite their sources when paraphrasing and summarizing their ideas.
In accordance with the journal’s publication policies, authors should submit a similarity report along with their papers, showing no more than 15% similarity with existing texts.

Participants’ Rights: The rights and privacy of individuals participating in research must be respected, and all necessary permissions must be obtained. Researchers must respect and protect the rights of participants, to ensure that the research is conducted in an ethical manner and the results are reliable. Participants must be informed about the purpose, methods and risks of the research. Participants’ personal information should be kept confidential; research data should be stored securely and published accurately.

Conflict of Interest: If authors are in any conflict of interest, this should be declared openly. Conflict of interest can jeopardize the impartiality and reliability of the research. Therefore, researchers, authors, reviewers and editors should declare openly if they have a conflict of interest. When reviewers suspect that they might have a conflict of interest, they should inform the editorial board and, if necessary, refuse to review.

Obtaining a Legal/Ethics Committee Permit
In studies using humans and animals, and in studies using qualitative and quantitative methods such as field studies, focus group studies, surveys, observations and interviews, it should be stated in the article whether ethics committee permission and/or legal/special permission is required. If ethics committee permission is obtained, the following information should be clearly stated in the relevant section of the article:
● the name of the institution that granted the permission,
● the date the permission was granted, and
● the permit number.
In addition, permission should be obtained to use surveys, artworks, notations, and photographs belonging to other parties, and a statement of compliance with relevant copyright regulations should be included in the article.


Publication Ethics
yedi follows the recommendations and ethical principles set forth by the ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors) and COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics).
Authors submitting their papers to yedi undertake to comply with these principles. Papers of authors who are found not to comply with these principles will be rejected and no other work by those authors will be accepted.
yedi expects authors, reviewers, and editors to avoid the acts of scientific misconduct identified in the Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Guidelines set forth by the Inter-university Council (Turkish: Üniversiteler Arası Kurul, ÜAK). Should any party involved in the publication process be found guilty of scientific misconduct, their relationship with the journal will be terminated.

Acts that constitute scientific misconduct
a) Plagiarism: Presenting original ideas, methods, data or works of other researchers as one's own, in whole or in part, without citing them in accordance with ethical principles.
b) Academic fraud: Using non-existing or falsified data in scientific research.
c) Distortion of facts: Falsifying research records or obtained data, presenting devices or materials that were not used in the research as if they were used, falsifying research results in line with the interests of individuals and institutions that have aided the research.
d) Duplicate publication: To present duplicate publications as separate publications in academic appointment and promotion applications.
e) Slicing (Divided publishing): To split research results into separate parts in a manner that damages the integrity of the research and publish them separately, and present these publications as separate publications in academic appointment and promotion applications.
f) Unfair authorship: Including people who have not contributed to the article among the authors, not including researchers who have contributed, changing the order of authors inappropriately and without justification, removing the names of contributing researchers from the article in subsequent editions, or exerting influence to have one's name included among the authors despite not having contributed to the article (Inter-university Council Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Guidelines, Article 4[1]).
The following practices are also judged to be violations of publication ethics:
● failure to clearly state the contributions of individuals, institutions, and organizations that have supported the research, if any;
● citing theses/dissertations that have not yet been accepted or studies not yet published as sources without the permission of the owner;
● failure to comply with ethical principles in research conducted on human and animal subjects;
● carrying out research and experiments that are contrary to the relevant provisions of national legislation or international agreements to which Türkiye is a party;
● failure to inform and warn relevant parties about possible harmful practices related to scientific research conducted by researchers (Inter-university Council Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Guidelines, Article 4[2]);
● failure to use data obtained from other persons and institutions to the extent and in the manner permitted, and failure to uphold the confidentiality and integrity of the said data.
In addition to the aforementioned practices, yedi requires all parties involved in the publication process to fulfill the following responsibilities.

Authors’ Responsibilities
Authors pledge to the following regarding the work they submit to yedi:

1. Originality: Authors undertake that the submitted article is their original work and it has not been published or submitted for publication anywhere else beforehand.

2. Individual Contribution and Responsibility: Authors undertake that they have individually contributed to the work and that they take full responsibility for it. This entails being responsible for the accuracy and integrity of the content, methodology, results and interpretations of the article.

3. Review and Confirmation: Authors undertake that they have viewed and approved the final version of the submitted article. This entails verifying that all sections and elements of the article (text, tables, graphics, references, etc.) are complete and correct.

4. Copyright Infringement: Authors undertake that the text, figures and documents in the article do not infringe the copyrights of other parties. Authors declare that they have obtained the necessary permissions for the material they use and that they have correctly cited their sources. Authors also undertake to send to the journal editors the Journal Copyright Transfer Agreement signed by all authors for the submitted work.

5. Funding and Conflict of Interest: Research funds received and any conflicts of interest that the researchers may have should be clearly declared to help maintain the transparency and impartiality of the research.

6. Additional Commitments: Authors agree to comply with the journal's instructions and provide additional information or changes if the article is accepted. They also undertake to answer any questions regarding the article and to implement any correction suggestions made by the editors in accordance with the rules clearly stated in the journal writing guide within 3 (three) business days at the latest from the date they are notified to the author. yedi reserves the right to reject or return the article if the requested changes are not made within the designated period. In addition, authors agree to cooperate with any possible ethical concerns.

(COPE, Committee on Publication Ethics, 2010)

 
Editors’ Responsibilities
1. Accountability: Editors are responsible and accountable for everything they publish. This includes scientific integrity of articles, compliance with ethical principles, and the proper conduct of the peer-review process.

2. Impartiality: Editors must make fair and impartial decisions, independent of commercial interests. They also have a responsibility to ensure that the peer-review process is conducted in a fair and proper manner.

3. Transparency and Integrity: Editors should adopt editorial policies that encourage maximum transparency and full, honest reporting. This entails encouraging clear and detailed presentation of research methods, findings, and conclusions.

4. Integrity of Publication Records: Editors should maintain the integrity of the published record through corrections and retractions when appropriate, and should monitor suspected or alleged research and publication misconduct.

5. Appointment of Reviewers: Editors should ensure that a fair peer-review process is conducted, appointing two reviewers with expertise relevant to the content of the study. If one reviewer accepts and the other rejects the same article, editors should seek the opinion of a third reviewer. They must follow the procedure until any two reviewers agree, and then make a decision regarding publication. Editors should also monitor reviewer misconduct and take precautions against such situations.

6. Ethical Research: Editors should evaluate studies involving human and animal test subjects for compliance with ethical principles. This entails obtaining research approvals, protecting the rights of participants, and ensuring that animal experiments are conducted within the framework of ethical principles.

7. Clear Directives: Editors should clearly state what they expect from reviewers and authors. This entails communicating the criteria that reviewers must follow during the evaluation process and the format and ethical principles that authors must follow in their articles.

8. Conflict of Interest: Editors should implement policies to ensure that there are no conflicts of interest in their editorial decisions. This entails ensuring that personal relationships with authors or reviewers do not influence the evaluation process.

(COPE, Committee on Publication Ethics, 2010)

9. Additional Responsibilities: Editors should not breach confidentiality, should not share an article with parties other than the relevant authors, editors or reviewers, should not use any data from an article submitted to the journal but not yet published, and should not share the names of reviewers with authors.

Peer-reviewers’ Responsibilities
1. Expertise: If reviewers believe that the content of a submitted manuscript does not align with their field of expertise or if they cannot make a rapid evaluation, then they should inform the editor and withdraw from the review process.

2. Confidentiality: Studies submitted to the journal are the private and confidential property of the authors. Early disclosure of any details of the manuscript may harm the authors. Therefore reviewers must:
a. keep the studies assigned to them and the information they contain strictly confidential;
b. refrain from discussing the work publicly and should not use the authors' ideas in their own work before the article is published;
c. refrain from keeping the studies for personal use and should destroy all copies after submitting their review.

3. Use of Assistance and Artificial Intelligence (AI): If reviewers receive assistance from a researcher or colleague during the review process, they should indicate the contributions of these individuals along with the comments they send to the editor.
a. Reviewers must protect the confidentiality of the manuscript as stated above. This entails not loading the manuscript into software or to AI services that cannot ensure its confidentiality.
b. Reviewers should be aware that AI can generate responses that, while appearing authoritative, may be inaccurate, incomplete, or biased.

4. Timely Response and Feedback: Reviewers are expected to respond promptly to requests for review and submit peer reviews within the agreed-upon timeframe.

5. Constructive and Unbiased Review: Reviewers’ comments should be constructive, honest, and polite. Reviewers should evaluate submissions solely on the scientific content of the manuscript, regardless of the ethnicity, gender, nationality, religious beliefs, or political philosophies of the authors.

6. Conflict of Interest: Reviewers should disclose any relationships or activities that may influence their review and withdraw from the peer review process if they have a conflict of interest.

CMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors) Responsibilities in the Submission and Peer-Review Process