Ethics Policy

The primary responsibilities of authors are as follows:

• The author(s) should affirm that the material has not been previously published and that they have not transferred elsewhere any rights to the article,
• The author(s) should ensure the originality of the work and that they have properly cited others' work in accordance with the reference format,
• The author(s) should not engage in plagiarism or self-plagiarism,
• On clinical and experimental humans and animals, which require an ethical committee decision for research in all branches of science;
  • All kinds of research carried out with qualitative or quantitative approaches that require data collection from the participants by using surveys, interviews, focus group work, observation, experiments, interview techniques,
  • Use of humans and animals (including material/data) for experimental or other scientific purposes,
  • Clinical studies on humans,
  • Studies on animals,
  • Retrospective studies in accordance with the law on the protection of personal data (Ethics committee approval should have been obtained for each application, and this approval should be stated and documented in the article),
• Information about the permission (board name, date, and number) should be included in the "Method" section of the article and also on the first and last page,
• During manuscript upload, the "Ethics Committee Approval" file should be uploaded to the system along with the manuscript file. In addition, in case reports, information on the signing of the informed consent form must be included in the manuscript,
• The author(s) should suggest no personal information that might make the identity of the patient recognizable in any form of description, photograph, or pedigree. When pictures of the patient were essential and indispensable as scientific information, the author(s) received consent in written form and clearly stated as much,
• The author(s) should provide the editor with the data and details of the work if there are suspicions of data falsification or fabrication. Fraudulent data shall not be tolerated. Any manuscript with suspected fabricated or falsified data will not be accepted. A retraction will be made for any publication which is found to have included fabricated or falsified data,
• The author(s) should clarify everything that may cause a conflict of interest, such as work, research expenses, consultant expenses, and intellectual property,
• The author(s) must follow the submission guidelines of the journal,
• If the author(s) discover(s) a significant error or inaccuracy in the submitted manuscript at any time, then the error or inaccuracy must be reported to the editor,
• The author(s) should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support should be disclosed under the heading of "Acknowledgment" or "Contribution",
• The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included in the paper and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research should be acknowledged or listed under the heading of "Author Contributions"

The crucial role of the journal Editor-in-Chief and co-editors is to monitor and ensure the fairness, timeliness, thoroughness, and civility of the peer-review editorial process. The primary responsibilities of the Editors-in-Chief are as follows:

• Selecting manuscripts suitable for publication while rejecting unsuitable manuscripts,
• Ensuring a supply of high-quality manuscripts to the journal by identifying important,
• Increasing the journal’s impact factor and maintaining the publishing schedule,
• Providing strategic input for the journal’s development.

The primary responsibilities of editors are as follows:

• An editor must evaluate the manuscript objectively for publication, judging each on its quality without considering the nationality, ethnicity, political beliefs, race, religion, gender, seniority, or institutional affiliation of the author(s). Editors should decline any assignment when there is a potential conflict of interest.
• Editors must ensure that the document(s) sent to the reviewers do not contain information about the author(s) and vice versa.
• Editors’ decisions should be provided to the author(s) accompanied by the reviewers’ comments and recommendations unless they contain offensive or libelous remarks.
• Editors should respect requests (if well reasoned and practicable) from the author(s) that an individual should not review the submission.
• Editors and all staff members should guarantee the confidentiality of the submitted manuscript.
• Editors should have no conflict of interest concerning articles they reject/accept. They must not have a conflict of interest with the author(s), funder(s), or reviewer(s) of the manuscript.
• Editors should strive to meet the needs of readers and authors and constantly improve the journal.

The primary responsibilities of reviewers/referees are as follows:

• It is of the utmost importance that reviewers treat all information about manuscripts as privileged information. This practice upholds the academic publishing system's integrity and respects the authors' rights.
• Reviews should be conducted objectively, with no personal criticism of the author.
• As key contributors to the editorial decision process, reviewers are expected to express their views clearly, substantiated by supporting arguments. This responsibility significantly contributes to the quality of the published work.
• Reviewers should complete their reviews within a specified time frame (a maximum of thirty-five (35) days). If a reviewer feels it is not possible for him/her to complete the review of the manuscript within a stipulated time, this information must be communicated to the editor so that the manuscript can be sent to another reviewer.
• Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in a reviewer’s personal research without the author's written permission. Information contained in an unpublished manuscript will remain confidential and must not be used by the reviewer for personal gain.
• Reviewers should not review manuscripts with conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.
• Reviewers should identify similar works in published manuscripts that the author still needs to cite. Reviewers should also notify the Editors of significant similarities and overlaps between the manuscript and any other published or unpublished material.