Below are the ethical responsibilities, roles, and duties of authors, journal editors, reviewers, and publishers. These ethical principles and rules are based on the Code of Conduct and Best-Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors (Committee on Publication Ethics, 2011).

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE JOURNAL PUBLISHER
Editorial Independence
The Journal of German Language and Culture Studies guarantees the independence of editorial decisions without the influence of any individual or commercial partners.

Intellectual Property and Copyright
The journal protects the ownership and copyright of the articles published in it and ensures the record of each article's published version.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE EDITORS AND PUBLISHING COMMITTEE
Evaluation of Submissions
Editors evaluate submitted manuscripts based on their academic merit (importance, originality, validity, clarity) and relevance to the scope of the journal. They do so without considering the author's race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, nationality, religion, political views, or institutional affiliation.
Editors have full responsibility and authority to accept or reject a manuscript. They are fully authorized in matters regarding the journal's editorial content and the timing of its publication.
Editors should reject incomplete or flawed research that does not comply with the journal’s policies, publishing rules, or standards, without being influenced by any external factors.

Confidentiality
Editors ensure that all manuscripts undergo a double-blind peer review process, where both reviewers and authors are kept confidential.

Publication Decisions
Editors ensure that all submitted manuscripts, except for news, translations, and book reviews, undergo peer review by at least two experts in the field. Editors are responsible for deciding which manuscripts will be published based on factors such as the work’s approval, significance to researchers and readers, reviewers' comments, and legal requirements.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
The Journal of German Language and Culture Studies does not allow conflicts of interest between authors, reviewers, and editors. Unpublished material from a submitted manuscript should not be used by anyone without the author's explicit written consent.

Impartiality
Submitted manuscripts are always evaluated impartially, without bias.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE REVIEWERS
Evaluation
Reviewers evaluate manuscripts without regard to the author's background, gender, sexual orientation, or political beliefs. They also ensure a fair blind peer review process for the manuscripts they assess.

Support for Editors
Reviewers assist editors in decision-making and may also help improve the quality of the manuscript.

Promptness
Reviewers who are unqualified to assess a manuscript or who believe they cannot provide an evaluation promptly should inform the editor immediately and request exemption from the review process.

Confidentiality
All information regarding submitted manuscripts must be kept confidential. Reviewers should not discuss the manuscript with anyone other than those authorized by the editor.

Impartiality
Reviewers must always make objective evaluations. They should express their opinions clearly, supported by valid reasoning.

Recognition of Sources
Reviewers should be aware of published work that has not been cited by the author. Any observations, derivations, or discussions reported in previous publications should be accompanied by proper citations. Reviewers should also inform editors of any significant similarities or overlaps between the manuscript and other papers, whether published or unpublished. This can be checked using similarity detection software.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
If reviewers have a conflict of interest related to the manuscript they are reviewing, they should decline the invitation to review and inform the editor.

Unpublished material from a submitted manuscript should not be used by reviewers in their own research without the author's written consent. Any privileged information obtained during the review process must be kept confidential and should not be used for personal advantage. This applies to reviewers who decline an invitation as well.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE AUTHORS
Reporting Standards
The manuscript submitted to the journal must be original, and authors should ensure that it has not been published elsewhere. The data from the research must be presented accurately, and the manuscript should include sufficient details and references to allow others to replicate the work.

Originality and Plagiarism
Authors should submit only completely original works and ensure that any ideas or expressions derived from others are properly cited. They must also cite relevant publications that have influenced the nature of the work being reported. Plagiarism, including the use of someone else's publications as if they were their own, copying significant portions of other works without proper attribution, or misappropriating research results, is considered unethical and unacceptable.

Scientific Research and Publishing Ethics Violations
Ethical violations in scientific research and publication include:

Plagiarism: Presenting someone else's ideas, methods, data, applications, writings, figures, or works as one's own without proper attribution.
Fabrication: Producing data that is not based on research, or modifying data to make it appear as if research was conducted.
Falsification: Distorting research records or results, omitting data, or manipulating data to align with hypotheses or the interests of others.
Redundant Publication: Publishing the same research results in multiple works, especially for academic promotions or evaluations.
Salami Slicing: Dividing research results inappropriately into multiple publications without appropriate referencing.
Unjust Authorship: Including individuals who did not actively contribute to the work as authors, or excluding those who did contribute significantly.
Other Ethical Violations: Failure to disclose the contributions of funding organizations, failure to follow ethical guidelines in research involving humans or animals, or using resources intended for research for non-research purposes.
Plagiarism Policy
All manuscripts submitted to the journal are scanned for plagiarism using the iThenticate software. Editors, reviewers, and authors are required to comply with international publishing ethics standards and adhere to the journal's writing guidelines.

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Submissions/Publishing
The same manuscript should not be submitted to multiple journals simultaneously. Authors must not send a manuscript that has already been published in another journal for evaluation. Simultaneous submission to multiple journals is unethical and unacceptable.

Some articles (e.g., clinical guidelines or translations) may be published in multiple journals under specific conditions. In such cases, authors and editors must ensure that secondary publications clearly reference the primary publication.

DISCLAIMER
The editors and publishing committee are not responsible for the opinions expressed by the authors or the content of the published articles. The originality, reading, and any errors in the articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. All articles submitted for review and publication in the Journal of German Language and Culture Studies undergo double-blind reviews to check for originality, ethical issues, and useful contributions. The decisions of the reviewers are final and binding.