Ethical Standards (COPE Compliance)
• The Journal adheres to the principles and guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). All manuscripts must comply with established academic writing conventions, and ethical standards must be observed at all stages of research design, data collection, analysis, and manuscript preparation.
• Manuscripts submitted to the Journal must not have been previously published or be under consideration elsewhere. Submissions must be original works that contribute to the relevant literature.
• All quotations and ideas taken from other sources must be properly cited in accordance with the Journal’s guidelines (APA 7). All submissions are screened for originality using iThenticate prior to peer review. Manuscripts that fail to meet ethical standards, violate citation conventions, or contain plagiarism, self-plagiarism, or improper citation practices will be rejected.
• Authors must disclose all sources of financial support or research funding. For studies involving human participants or animal subjects, authors must obtain approval from the appropriate institutional ethics committee and state this clearly in the manuscript. Informed consent must be obtained from human participants, and their rights and privacy must be protected.
• Manuscripts are evaluated solely on scholarly merit, without regard to the authors’ identity, gender, nationality, institutional affiliation, or political or personal beliefs. Authors, editors, and reviewers must disclose any potential conflicts of interest. Editors ensure that review assignments are free from such conflicts.
• The views and opinions expressed in published articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Editors or Çankaya University. The accuracy, language, and legal responsibility for the content of manuscripts rest solely with the authors.
Authorship and Submission
• Manuscripts should present the authors’ own work. By submitting a manuscript, authors confirm that the work is original and has not been previously published; that it is not under consideration elsewhere; that it does not infringe upon copyright, privacy, or other rights; and that any potential conflicts of interest have been fully disclosed.
• The Corresponding Author acts on behalf of all co-authors. All authors share responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, and ethical conduct of the research. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all listed authors have reviewed and approved the manuscript and agree to its submission.
• AI tools should not be listed as authors or co-authors. Any use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or other large language models) in writing, data analysis, or editing must be clearly disclosed. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of all submitted content.
Peer Review Process and Guidelines
The Journal employs a double-blind peer review process, in which the identities of authors and reviewers are concealed. The journal is managed entirely by volunteer academics, including editors, editorial assistants, and reviewers. Editors and reviewers must maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts and review materials and conduct evaluations objectively and fairly.
Initial Screening: All submissions undergo editorial screening for originality, relevance to the journal’s scope, and compliance with submission and ethical requirements (Approximately 4 weeks). Manuscripts that do not meet these criteria may be rejected without external review.
Blind Review: Manuscripts that meet the standards of the COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines are sent to at least two independent experts in the field. Authors are kindly reminded not to associate their manuscript with their name on any publicly accessible platform during the review period. Reviewers evaluate the manuscript’s scholarly quality, methodology, originality, and contribution to the literature. This process usually takes about 4 weeks but may require more time depending on reviewer availability.
Revision: If revisions are requested, authors must submit a revised manuscript within the specified timeframe (typically 6 weeks). Revised manuscripts may be returned to reviewers for further evaluation. Reviewers may recommend up to two rounds of revision.
Final Decision and Publication: Based on the reviewers’ reports, the Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision regarding publication (Accept, Minor Revision, Major Revision, or Reject). The editorial decision, together with anonymized reviewer comments, is communicated to the authors (Approximately 4 weeks after peer reviews). Revised manuscripts may undergo further peer review at the Editor-in-Chief’s discretion. For accepted papers, authors receive page proofs for minor corrections. After approval, articles are published online under the continuous publication model. All editorial decisions concerning the publication of a manuscript are made by the Editor-in-Chief based on the reviewers’ reports and in accordance with the journal’s editorial policies and ethical standards. Under the Journal’s publication workflow, the average time from submission to online publication is approximately 20 weeks, subject to the timely completion of revisions.
Responsibilities of Editors and Reviewers
• Editorial oversight is provided by the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Advisory Board, composed of active researchers who provide guidance on editorial policies and guidelines. The Editor-in-Chief assigns reviewers and ensures that no conflicts of interest exist among authors, editors, and reviewers. Editors and reviewers evaluate manuscripts solely on scholarly merit, without consideration of authors’ ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, religious beliefs, or political views. All publication decisions are made independently and in accordance with the journal’s editorial policies and ethical standards.
• Editors and reviewers must treat manuscripts as confidential and must not use the content for personal advantage. Uploading manuscript content to generative AI tools is prohibited, as it violates data privacy and confidentiality. Review reports must reflect the reviewer’s own expert evaluation. Reviewers must not use AI tools to write or generate their review reports.
• Reviewers are normally given 30 days to submit their reports; however, this timeline may be extended. They are expected to comply with COPE’s ethical standards during the evaluation process.
• Reviewers who feel unqualified or who identify a conflict of interest should inform the Editor promptly and decline the review. Reports should be constructive, objective, and respectful.
Policies on Authorship, Retractions, and Post-Publication Corrections
The Journal follows COPE guidelines for handling authorship issues, corrections, and retractions. Post-publication corrections are issued at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief in accordance with COPE recommendations.
• Authorship: Authorship must reflect significant scholarly contribution. All authors must approve the final version prior to submission.
• Corresponding Author: Responsible for communication with the journal and confirmation of co-author approval.
• Ethical Compliance: Authors must ensure originality and avoid plagiarism, data fabrication, or falsification.
• Permissions: Authors must obtain permission for any copyrighted material used.
• Withdrawal: Authors may request withdrawal of their manuscript before the peer review process begins. Requests after peer review will be evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief in line with COPE guidance.
• Post-Publication Actions: Authors will receive proofs for final review prior to publication. Errors or concerns regarding accuracy or integrity may result in errata, corrigenda, expressions of concern, or retractions, as appropriate.
Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions: Decisions regarding post-publication corrections and retractions are made by the Editor-in-Chief following COPE guidelines.
• Corrections (Errata/Corrigenda): The Editor-in-Chief will issue a correction if minor errors are identified that do not affect the results, interpretation, or conclusions of the article.
• Expression of Concern: An expression of concern may be published when there is evidence of potential research or publication misconduct; the reliability of the findings is in question; and an institutional investigation is pending, inconclusive, or not conducted.
• Retraction: The Journal follows COPE Retraction Guidelines. An article may be retracted if the findings are unreliable due to major error, fabrication, or falsification; plagiarism or redundant publication is detected; the work was published without proper authorization or contains unauthorized material; copyright infringement or serious legal or ethical violations are identified; the research is unethical; the peer-review process was compromised; a significant undisclosed conflict of interest is identified that may have influenced the publication decision.
• Retraction Procedure: A retraction notice, linked to the original article, is published and listed in the table of contents. The original article remains online to preserve the scholarly record but is clearly marked as Retracted.
• Article Removal for Legal Reasons: In exceptional cases, the full text may be removed and replaced with a notice if the content is defamatory or infringes legal rights; the article is subject to a court order; or there is a significant risk to public health. Metadata (title and authors) will be retained to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record.
Open Access, Copyright, Archiving, and Licensing
• Access Type: Immediate Open Access (no embargo): CUJHSS is a fully open-access journal. All articles are freely available immediately upon publication without embargo.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
• Copyright and Author Rights: Authors retain copyright and grant the Journal the right of first publication and a non-exclusive license to publish the work under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
• Author Reuse: Authors may share and archive their work provided that a full citation is provided.
• Self-Archiving (Green Open Access) Policy: The Journal permits authors to deposit all versions of their work (submitted version, accepted manuscript, and published version) without embargo. Articles may be archived immediately upon submission or publication in repositories or personal websites without embargo, with full citation.
• Archive and Digital Preservation Policy: The Journal ensures the long-term preservation and accessibility of its published content through permanent digital archiving on the DergiPark platform. Complete archival copies of all published articles are securely stored and made openly available at: https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/cankujhss/archive. The journal maintains a complete version history of all submissions and revisions within the online editorial system to ensure transparency and editorial integrity.
• Reader License: Articles are licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0), which enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the author(s). This policy supports unrestricted dissemination, long-term preservation, and compliance with international indexing and open-access standards.
Publication Model: The journal adopts a continuous publication model as of 2026.
