Ethical Principles and Publication Policy

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES
The ethical principles and publication policy of our journal have been prepared in accordance with the guidelines and policies published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

Actions Contrary to Scientific Research and Publication Ethics
• Plagiarism: Presenting the original ideas, methods, data, or works of others as one's own, either partially or entirely, without proper citation in accordance with scientific rules,
• Fabrication: Using data that does not actually exist or has been altered in scientific research,
• Distortion: Altering research records or obtained data, presenting devices or materials not used in the research as if they were used, or altering or shaping research results in line with the interests of the individuals or institutions that provided support,
• Re-publication: Presenting duplicate publications as separate publications in academic appointments and promotions,
• Salami slicing: Dividing the results of a research study into parts in an inappropriate manner that disrupts the integrity of the research and publishing them in multiple publications, presenting these publications as separate publications in academic appointments and promotions,
• Unfair authorship: Including individuals who have not made an active contribution among the authors or excluding those who have, changing the order of authors without justification or in an inappropriate manner, removing the names of those who have made an active contribution from subsequent editions, or including one's name among the authors by using one's influence despite not having made an active contribution,

Click here for information on other types of ethical violations.

Principles of Research Ethics and Scientific Responsibility
• Scientific integrity, impartiality, reliability, and transparency must be the guiding principles in the planning, conduct, reporting, and publication of research. Researchers must avoid misleading, incomplete, or manipulative practices during data generation, analysis, and interpretation; they must document all processes in a manner that allows for verification when necessary.
• Individuals participating in the research and the research team must be informed in a clear and understandable manner regarding the study’s purpose, method, scope, duration, data collection tools, and the intended uses of the data obtained. Sufficient explanations must be provided for all questions participants may have regarding the research, and the informed consent process must be carried out in its entirety.
• Personal data and sensitive information obtained from participants must be protected in accordance with the principle of confidentiality. During the processes of storing, processing, and sharing data, actions must comply with national and international data protection regulations; the principles of anonymity and privacy must be upheld. Any information that could lead to the disclosure of participants’ identities must be securely protected.
• Participation in research must be entirely voluntary. No pressure, coercion, threats, or material or emotional coercive elements should be imposed on participants. Participants must be clearly informed that they may withdraw from the study at any time without providing a reason.
• All necessary measures must be taken to ensure that individuals do not suffer physical, psychological, social, cultural, or economic harm during the research process. Potential risks must be assessed in advance, and strategies to mitigate harm must be developed. Studies involving children, individuals with disabilities, the elderly, or groups with limited decision-making capacity require additional ethical sensitivity; where necessary, consent from a legal representative must be obtained.
• Researchers must maintain their scientific independence and transparently disclose any conflicts of interest that could influence the study’s results. Financial support, sponsorship relationships, institutional affiliations, and project funding must be clearly disclosed. Research results must not be altered to serve the interests of any individual, institution, or organization.
• Conduct must adhere to the principles of scientific publication ethics; ethical violations such as plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, salami slicing, and unfair authorship must be avoided. Citations must be made in accordance with academic standards, and all scientific contributions used must be properly referenced.
• Research results must be evaluated with the public interest in mind. Incomplete or misleading statements that could lead to the misinterpretation of scientific knowledge or the misrepresentation of the public must be avoided. Researchers must act with a sense of academic responsibility in scientific communication processes.
• In research utilizing artificial intelligence, digital analysis tools, or automated data processing systems, the role of these technologies within the scope of the study must be clearly stated; data security, accuracy, and ethical usage principles must be taken into account.

ETHICS COMMITTEE APPROVAL
Our journal requires that all studies in scientific fields requiring ethics committee approval have obtained the relevant ethics committee decision. In this context, authors must include the date and number of the Ethics Committee approval in the “Sample and Method/Materials and Methods” section.
In line with the regulations implemented by Ulakbim TR Index since 2020, studies without ethics committee approval are not considered for publication in our journal.

NOTE: Scientific research on humans and animals must be conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and ARRIVE guidelines and approval must be obtained from the relevant ethics committee. Studies without ethics committee approval are not evaluated in our journal.

Detecting Plagiarism
Our journal scans all submitted articles to prevent plagiarism. Submitted works are checked for plagiarism using Turnitin or iThenticate software. If plagiarism is detected in an article submitted to or published in our journal, our journal acts in accordance with COPE principles (Plagiarism in a submitted manuscript - Plagiarism in a published article).

Use of Artificial Intelligence
The use of artificial intelligence in studies submitted to our journal is acceptable in processes that do not affect the originality of the article, such as literature review or language control. However, the use of artificial intelligence must be carried out within the framework of ethical rules and must not be used for unethical purposes such as fabricating data or manipulation.
For studies involving the use of artificial intelligence, it is mandatory to inform our journal of this situation during the article submission stage. All responsibility regarding the use of artificial intelligence lies with the authors themselves.

Privacy Statement
All personal data submitted to our journal is protected. Data belonging to authors, reviewers, and other individuals is not shared with third parties or institutions.

Relationships with the Journal Owner and Publisher
The relationship between the editor and the publisher is based on the principle of editorial independence. According to the written agreement between the editor and the publisher, all decisions made by the editor are independent of the publisher and journal owner.

Corrections, Retractions, Expressions of Concern
Editors may consider publishing corrections if minor errors are found in a published article that do not affect the findings, interpretations, or conclusions. Editors should consider retracting an article when major errors/violations invalidate the findings and conclusions. COPE guidelines are considered regarding corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern.

Protection of Intellectual Property Rights
Our journal is responsible for protecting the intellectual property rights of all published articles and defending the rights of the journal and author(s) in case of possible infringements.

Complaints and Appeals to Our Journal
You can email your complaints and appeals regarding content, procedures, or policies under the responsibility of our journal or its editorial board members to editor@spsjournal.com. Complaints and appeals submitted to our journal are carefully reviewed and evaluated in accordance with COPE principles.

Responsibilities of Stakeholders

1- Editors

• Provide timely and transparent feedback to authors, reviewers, and readers.

• Evaluate articles based on originality, scientific contribution, methodological validity, and scope appropriateness.

• Implement the blind review process, maintain confidentiality, and ensure impartiality.

• Pay attention to expertise when selecting reviewers and prevent conflicts of interest.

• Do not allow scientifically unethical evaluations.

• Protect the confidentiality of all parties' personal data.

• Require ethical committee and consent documents for human/animal research.

• Carefully check for plagiarism and copyright violations.

• Responds to complaints and suggestions in a constructive and timely manner.

2- Authors

• Avoids plagiarism, fraud, and ethical violations in their work.

• Prepares the bibliography correctly and completely.

• Stores raw data and shares it with the editor when necessary.

• Only lists contributors as authors and acknowledges others.

• Discloses conflicts of interest transparently.

• Makes requested revisions in a timely manner.

3- Reviewers

• Evaluates submissions objectively, impartially, and using scientific criteria.

• Does not participate in the process if there is a conflict of interest.

• Presents opinions in a reasoned, constructive, and scientific manner.

• Respects authors' personal rights and avoids using offensive language.

• Suggests adding missing sources when identified.

• Maintains confidentiality throughout the process and does not share information with third parties.

PUBLICATION POLICIES

A- Article Evaluation Process
The article evaluation process in our journal consists of four main stages: preliminary review, peer review, revision, and publication.

1. Preliminary Review
Submitted works are first evaluated by the editor for compliance with the journal's publication policies, academic writing principles, and the APA 6 Citation System. At this stage, a similarity scan is performed using Turnitin or iThenticate software. The similarity rate is expected to be below 25%.

2. Peer Review Process
For submissions that meet the preliminary review criteria, a double-blind peer review process is initiated. The article is sent to two independent reviewers who are experts in the field. Both the author and reviewer identities are kept confidential throughout the review process; the process is conducted in accordance with ethical principles and confidentiality rules.
The work is accepted for publication based on positive reports from both reviewers.
If one of the reviewers submits a negative opinion, the article is referred to a third reviewer for a final decision.

3. Revision Process
If the reviewers request revisions, authors must submit the work with the suggested corrections marked in a different color (e.g., red). The changes made are first reviewed by the editor and then re-examined by the relevant reviewers.
Papers that have completed the review process are also reviewed by the journal's language editors.
If deemed necessary in terms of language and writing, authors are asked to make additional corrections. The linguistic revisions made are checked again and approved.

4. Publication Process
Articles that have completed all scientific, technical, and linguistic processes are prepared for publication after typesetting and layout. Approved works are published in the following issue.

B- Archiving, Open Access, and Copyright Policy
Works published in our journal are digitally archived in LOCKSS. Our journal also allows authors to archive versions of their work on their own websites, institutional websites, and other repositories. As our journal is open access, there is no embargo period.

The copyright of works published in our journal belongs to the authors. Authors grant permission for their submitted intellectual work to be published by our journal under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license as open access.

License Scope
What you are free to do:
Share: You may copy and redistribute the work in any medium or format, for any purpose, including commercial purposes.
Adapt: Mix, transform, and build upon the work for any purpose, including commercial purposes.
Under the following conditions:
Attribution: You must provide appropriate credit, link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but this does not imply that the licensor endorses you or your use.
No additional restrictions: You may not restrict the rights granted by the license to others through laws or technology.

C- Special Issue Policy
The Editorial Board may publish a special issue once a year by decision. The publication and review principles for articles to be published in the special issue are applied as they are applied to regular issues.

D- Fee Policy
Article publication and article processing in the journal are free of charge. No processing fees or submission fees are charged under any name for articles submitted to the journal or accepted for publication.