Ethical Principles and Publication Policy

PUBLICATION ETHICS POLICY

Journal of Necmettin Erbakan University Ereğli Faculty of Education (NEEEF) undertakes to implement publication ethics at the highest standards and to comply with the following principles of publication ethics. These principles have been prepared based on the recommendations and guidelines developed for journal editors by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), Council of Science Editors (CSE), World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) and International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

In Journal of Necmettin Erbakan University Ereğli Faculty of Education (NEEEF), all stakeholders are expected to bear ethical responsibilities within the scope of publication ethics. In this context, NEU SBF journal undertakes to follow the Code of Conduct and Implementation Guide (Principles of Transparency and Best Practice) prepared by COPE (Committee of Publication Ethics). Following the Cope Guidelines for Editors is within the scope of the editors' duty, and the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers must be followed by the journal referees.

The publication processes implemented in Necmettin Erbakan University Ereğli Faculty of Education (NEEEF) form the basis for the development and distribution of information in an impartial and respectful manner. The processes implemented in this direction directly reflect on the quality of the work of the authors and the institutions that support the authors. Peer-reviewed studies are studies that embody and support the scientific method. At this point, it is important that all stakeholders of the process (authors, readers and researchers, publisher, referees and editors) comply with the standards regarding ethical principles.


1. GENERAL ACTIONS CONTRARY TO THE ETHICS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION
a) Plagiarism: Presenting the original ideas, methods, data or works of others as one's own work, in whole or in part, without citing them in accordance with scientific rules,
b) Fraud: Using data that does not actually exist or has been falsified in scientific research,
c) Distortion: Falsifying research records or data obtained, presenting devices or materials that were not used in the research as if they were used, falsifying or shaping the research results in line with the interests of the individuals and organizations receiving support,
d) Re-publication: Presenting duplicate publications as separate publications in academic appointments and promotions,
d) Slicing: Dividing the results of a research into pieces in a way that violates the integrity of the research and publishing them in more than one issue, and presenting these publications as separate publications in academic appointments and promotions,
e) Unfair authorship: Including people who do not have an active contribution among the authors or not including people who do, changing the author order in an unjustified and inappropriate way, removing the names of those who have an active contribution from the work in subsequent editions, using their influence to include their names among the authors even though they do not have an active contribution,
(2) Other types of ethical violations include:
a) Not mentioning the supporting persons, institutions or organizations and their contributions in the publications made as a result of research carried out with support,
b) Using theses or studies that have not yet been presented or defended and accepted as a source without the permission of the owner,
c) Not complying with ethical rules in research conducted on humans and animals, and not respecting patient rights in their publications,
c) Acting contrary to the relevant legislation in biomedical research and other clinical research on humans,
d) Sharing the information contained in a work that he is assigned to review with others before it is published without the express permission of the owner of the work,
e) Using resources, spaces, facilities and devices provided or allocated for scientific research for purposes other than intended,
f) Making unfounded, unfounded and intentional allegations of ethical violations,
g) To publish the data obtained in surveys and attitude research conducted within the scope of a scientific study without obtaining the explicit consent of the participants or, if the research will be conducted in an institution, without obtaining the permission of the institution,
g) Harming animal health and ecological balance in research and experiments,
h) Not obtaining written permissions from authorized units before starting research and experiments.
i) To carry out research and experiments contrary to the provisions of the legislation or international agreements to which Turkey is a party regarding relevant research and experiments.
i) Failure to comply with the obligation of researchers and authorities to inform and warn those concerned about possible harmful practices regarding the scientific research carried out,
j) Not using data and information obtained from other persons and institutions in scientific studies to the extent and in the manner permitted, not respecting the confidentiality of this information and not ensuring its protection,k) Making false or misleading statements regarding scientific research and publications in academic appointments and promotions, (YÖK Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive, Article 4)
Within the framework of ethical rules; Research that requires Ethics Committee Permission to be evaluated in the journal is as follows:1. All kinds of research conducted with qualitative or quantitative approaches that require collecting data from participants using survey, interview, focus group study, observation, experiment and interview techniques,
2. Use of humans and animals (including materials/data) for experimental or other scientific purposes,
3. Clinical studies conducted on humans,
4. Research conducted on animals,
5. Retrospective studies in accordance with the personal data protection law.
In this context, the studies to be evaluated in our journal:
1. Indicating that an "informed consent form" was obtained in case reports,
2. Obtaining and specifying permission from the owners for the use of scales, surveys and photographs belonging to others,
3. It must be stated that copyright regulations are complied with for the ideas and artistic works used.
4. Editors ensure that human and animal rights are protected in the works evaluated. Editors have the responsibility of rejecting the study when there is no approval of the ethics committee on the subjects used in the study and no permission for experimental research. In studies requiring ethics committee permission, information about the permission (committee name, date and issue number) should be included in the method section and also on the first/last page of the article. In case reports, information about signing the informed consent/consent form must be included in the article.


2. STAKEHOLDERS' RESPONSIBILITIES

Stakeholders and readers of the research are welcomed to report their concerns regarding scientific research and publication ethics in the reviews published by NEEEF to the e-mail address neu.eefd@gmail.com or to Necmettin Erbakan University Scientific Publications Coordination Office (biyak@erbakan.edu.tr).

a) Responsibilities of Editors
NEEEF editor and assistant editors, COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors, COPE Best Practice published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Guidelines for Journal Editors) and the Publication Ethics Flow Charts developed by COPE in possible cases of abuse or violation of publication ethics will ensure the following ethical duties and responsibilities:

• Impartiality and Publisher Freedom. Editors evaluate the submitted article suggestions by taking into account their suitability to the scope of the journal and the importance and originality of their work. Editors do not take into account the race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, nationality or political views of authors who submit article proposals. Institutions other than the journal editorial board cannot influence the correction or publication decision. Editors take care to ensure that published issues contribute to readers, researchers, practitioners and the scientific field and are original.
• Independence: The relationship between editors (Editor and Associate Editors) and the publisher is based on the principle of editorial independence. According to the written agreement between the editors and the publisher, all decisions of the editors are independent of the publisher and the journal owner. Editors must reject incomplete and erroneous research that does not comply with the journal policy, publication rules and level, without any influence.
• Security. Editors do not share information about a submitted manuscript with anyone other than the corresponding author, referees and editorial board. It ensures that articles evaluated by at least two referees are evaluated according to a double-blind referee system and keeps the referees confidential.
• Information and Differences of Opinion. Editors and editorial board members do not use unpublished information in a submitted article for their own research purposes without the express written permission of the authors. Editors should not have a conflict of interest regarding the articles they accept or reject.
• Printing Decision. Editors ensure that all articles accepted for publication are peer-reviewed by at least two referees who are experts in their field. Editors are responsible for deciding which of the articles sent to the journal will be published, based on the validity of the work in question, its importance to researchers and readers, the comments of the referees and such legal conditions. Editors have the responsibility and authority to accept or reject articles. Therefore, he has to use his responsibility and authority appropriately and on time.
• Ethical Concerns. Editors will take precautions when ethical concerns arise regarding a submitted manuscript or published article. As a matter of fact, they continue their business processes without compromising intellectual property rights and ethical standards. Any reported unethical publishing behavior will be investigated, even if it occurs years after publication. Editors follow COPE Flowcharts in case ethical concerns arise. If ethical issues are significant, corrections, retractions may be applied, or concerns regarding the issue may be published in the journal.
• Collaboration with journal boards: Editors ensure that all advisory committee members advance processes in accordance with editorial policies and guidelines. Provides information to advisory board members about publication policies. It enables advisory board members to independently evaluate their work. May contribute to new advisory board members and make decisions as appropriate. Must submit studies appropriate to the expertise of the advisory board members for evaluation. Interacts with the advisory board regularly. Holds regular meetings with the editorial board for publication policies and journal development.

b) Responsibilities of Authors
1. Reporting Standards: Authors of original research must ensure that the study and results are presented accurately, followed by an objective discussion of the significance of the study. The article proposal must contain sufficient detail and references.
2. Data Access and Storage: Authors are required to preserve the raw data of their work. When necessary, they should submit for editorial review if requested by the journal.
3. Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must submit entirely original work, and if they have used the work or words of others, it must be properly cited. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. For this reason, a similarity rate report is requested from all authors who submit articles to the journal.
4. Multiple, duplicate, redundant or simultaneous submissions/publications: Authors should not submit for consideration an article previously published in another journal. Simultaneous submission of an article to more than one journal is unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.
5. Authorship of the Article: Only individuals who meet the authorship criteria should be listed as authors in the content of the article. These authorship criteria are as follows; (i) contributed to the design, implementation, data collection, or analysis phases (ii) drafted the manuscript or made a significant intellectual contribution to or critically revised it, or (iii) viewed the final version of the manuscript, approved it, and agreed to submit it for publication. The corresponding author must ensure that all authors are included in the author list (according to the definition above) and declare that the authors have seen the final version of the manuscript and have agreed to submit it for publication.
6. Declaration and Conflicts of Interest: Authors should disclose conflicts of interest at the earliest possible stage (usually by submitting a disclosure form at the time of manuscript submission and by including a declaration in the manuscript). All sources of financial support for the study must be declared (including grant/funding number or other reference number, if available).
7. Peer Review: Authors are required to participate in the peer review process and are obligated to cooperate fully by promptly responding to editors' requests for raw data, annotations, and evidence of ethics approval and copyright permissions. First, if a "necessary revision" decision is made, authors must systematically review and resubmit their manuscripts by the deadline given to the referees' comments.
8. Fundamental Errors in Published Works: When authors find significant errors or inaccuracies in their own published works, they are obliged to immediately inform the journal editors or publishers and cooperate with the journal editors or publishers to correct an error in the article or to withdraw the article from publication. If the editors or the publisher learn from a third party that a published work contains a material error or inaccuracy, the author must immediately correct or retract the paper or provide evidence of the paper's accuracy to the journal's editors.

c) Responsibilities of Referees

1. Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Assists editors in editorial decisions and assists authors in improving their articles through editorial communication. Completion of other articles, works, sources, citations, rules and similar deficiencies related to the article should be indicated.
2. Promptness: Any reviewer who does not feel qualified to review the manuscript proposal or who knows that manuscript review cannot occur in a timely manner should immediately notify the editors and decline the invitation to review, thus ensuring that a new reviewer is appointed.
3. Confidentiality: All article proposals submitted for review are confidential documents and should be treated as such. It should not be shown to others or discussed unless authorized by the editor. This also applies to reviewers who decline an invitation to review.
4. Impartiality Standards: Comments on the article proposal should be made impartially and suggestions should be made that the authors can use to improve the article. Personal criticisms of authors are not appropriate.
5. Acknowledgment of Sources: Reviewers must identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. The reviewer must also notify the editor of any significant similarities between the manuscript under review and any other manuscript (published or unpublished).
6. Conflicts of Interest: Conflicts of interest must be reported to the editor. There should be no conflict of interest between the referees and the stakeholders of the article under review.

3. PLAGIARISM POLICY
As of 01.05.2020, NEEEF started to check the works submitted for publication through similarity checking programs (Turnitin or iThenticate). The author must also send a document showing the similarity ratio along with the study. Studies with a similarity rate above 15% (excluding bibliography) are not evaluated and returned to the author. If a study published in the journal is found to contain plagiarism, the Editorial Board reserves the right to take various actions, including withdrawing the article and reporting the issue to the department head, dean and/or relevant institutions at the institution where the author works.

4. QUALITY ASSURANCE
Editors; is responsible for the publication of every article published in the journal in accordance with the journal publication policies and international standards.

5. PROTECTION OF PERSONAL DATA
Editors ensure the protection of personal data regarding the subjects or images included in the evaluated work. People who contribute to the journal (editors, authors and referees) are given documents showing their contributions upon request.

6. PRECAUTION AGAINST POTENTIAL MISUSE AND MISCONDUCT
Editors take precautions against possible abuse and abusive behavior. In addition to conducting a meticulous and objective investigation regarding the detection and evaluation of complaints regarding this situation, the editor's responsibilities include sharing the relevant findings with the competent authorities.

7. ENSURING ACADEMIC PUBLICATION INTEGRITY
Editors ensure that errors, inconsistencies or misleading decisions in the works are quickly corrected.

8. PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
Editors are obliged to protect the intellectual property rights of all published articles and to defend the rights of the journal and authors in case of possible violations, and to take the necessary measures to ensure that the content of all published articles does not violate the intellectual property rights of other publications.

9. CONSTRUCTISM AND OPENNESS TO DISCUSSION
Editors take into consideration criticisms of the works published in the journal and display a constructive attitude towards these criticisms in line with the purpose and scope of the journal. Authors of criticized works have the right to respond. Studies containing negative results are rejected.

10. COMPLAINTS
Editors are obliged to carefully review complaints and respond to authors, referees or readers in an enlightening and explanatory manner.

11. POLITICAL AND BUSINESS CONCERNS
The owner of the journal, its publisher and no other political or commercial factor can influence the independent decisions of the editors.

12. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Editors guarantee and ensure to authors and referees that the journal's publication process will be carried out independently and impartially.