Ethical Principles
Journal of Erciyes Communication undertakes to implement the publication ethics at the highest standards and to comply with the following principles of the Publication Ethics and Abuse Declaration. This statement has been prepared based on the recommendations and guidelines developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Council of Science Editors (CSE), World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) and International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) for journal editors. In addition to these guidelines, the "​Ethics Guide of Generative Artificial Intelligence Use In The Scientific Research And Publication Process Of Higher Education Institutions" prepared by the Higher Education Institution regarding the use of productive artificial intelligence was taken into consideration.

• Manuscripts submitted to the journal for publication should not have been previously published in another journal or should not have been sent to any journal simultaneously for publication.

• Manuscripts sent to the journal are included in the double-blind peer review process after being reviewed by an editor and at least two referees. The right is reserved that the submitted articles can be examined for plagiarism at any stage by means of purpose-built software. For this purpose, articles that do not comply with the standards and are subject to plagiarism, unauthorized quotations or false data, forgery (the fabrication or manipulation of table figures or research data), and the use of inappropriate human or animal material in the research are not published in the journal. This rule also applies if the standard and its noncompliance are detected at the post-publishing stage and requires the article to be withdrawn from publication. Our journal reminds us of its responsibility to report cases of suspicion of plagiarism or double publication, as required by publication ethics.

The publishing processes implemented in Journal of Erciyes Communication form the basis for the development and distribution of information in an impartial and respectable manner. The processes implemented in this direction are directly reflected in 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 for ethical principles. Within the scope of publication ethics, all stakeholders are expected by our journal to bear the following ethical responsibilities.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE EDITORS
Editors are responsible for every publication published in the journal. In the context of this responsibility, editors have the following roles and responsibilities:

• Strive to meet the information needs of readers and authors
• Ensuring continuous improvement of the journal
• Conducting processes to improve the quality of studies published in the journal
• Supporting freedom of thought
• Ensuring academic integrity
• Continuing business processes without compromising intellectual property rights and ethical standards
• Demonstrating openness and transparency in terms of publication on issues that require correction and clarification.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE REFEREES
Evaluation of all studies with "Blind Refereeing" directly affects the quality of the publication. In this process, the objective and independent evaluation of the publication creates trust. The evaluation process of Journal of Erciyes Communication is carried out with the principle of double-blind refereeing. Referees cannot directly communicate with authors, evaluations and comments are submitted through the journal management system. In this process, reviewer comments on evaluation forms and full texts are forwarded to the author(s) through the editor. In this context, it is expected that the reviewers evaluating the work for our journal will have the following ethical responsibilities:

• Accept to evaluate only studies related to his/her field of expertise..
• Evaluation should be done with impartiality and confidentiality.
• If (s)he thinks that she is facing a conflict of interest during the evaluation process, (s)he should refuse to review the study and inform the journal editor.
• In accordance with the principle of confidentiality, they should destroy the studies they have examined after the evaluation process. They can only use the final versions of the studies they have reviewed after they are published.
• Make the evaluation objectively only in relation to the content of the study. Nationality, gender, religious beliefs, political beliefs and commercial concerns should not be allowed to influence the evaluation.
• Make the assessment in a constructive and courteous language. Do not make derogatory personal comments that include hostility, slander and insults.
• They should perform the work they accept to evaluate in a timely manner and with the above ethical responsibilities.

AUTHORS’ RESPONSIBILITIES
The author(s) who submit a study to Journal of Erciyes Communication are expected to comply with the following ethical responsibilities:

• The works submitted by the author(s) are expected to be original. If the author(s) benefit from or use other works, they are required to cite completely and accurately.
• Persons who do not contribute to the content intellectually in the creation of the work should not be specified as authors.Yayınlanmak üzere gönderilen tüm çalışmaların varsa çıkar çatışması teşkil edebilecek durumları ve ilişkileri açıklanmalıdır.
• Raw data regarding their articles can be requested from the author(s) within the framework of the evaluation processes, in such a case the author(s) should be ready to present the expected data and information to the editorial board and scientific committee.
• The author(s) must have a document showing that they have the right to use the data used, the necessary permissions for the research/analysis, or the consent of the experimental subjects.
• In case the author(s) notices an error in their published, early appearance or evaluation phase, they have an obligation to cooperate with the editor in informing, correcting or withdrawing the journal editor or publisher.
• Authors cannot have their work in the application process of more than one journal at the same time. Each application can be started following the completion of the previous application. The work published in another journal cannot be sent.
• It cannot be proposed to change the author responsibilities of a work whose evaluation process has begun (Adding an author, changing the order of authors, removing an author, etc.).

• Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies should only be used to improve readability and language of the work and not to replace key authoring tasks such as producing scientific, pedagogic, or medical insights, drawing scientific conclusions, or providing clinical recommendations. Applying the technology should be done with human oversight and control and all work should be reviewed and edited carefully, because AI can generate output that can be incorrect, incomplete, or biased. The authors are ultimately responsible and accountable for the contents of the work (The use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in writing).

• Authors should disclose in their manuscript the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies. Declaring the use of these technologies supports transparency and trust between authors, readers, reviewers, editors, and contributors and facilitates compliance with the terms of use of the relevant tool or technology (The use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in writing).

RELATIONS WITH THE READER
Editors should make decisions by considering the knowledge, skills and experience expectations of all readers, researchers and practitioners. It should be careful that the published studies contribute to the reader, researcher, practitioner and scientific literature and that they are original. In addition, editors are obliged to consider the feedback from readers, researchers and practitioners, and to provide explanatory and informative feedback.

RELATIONS WITH THE AUTHOR
The duties and responsibilities of the editors to the authors are as follows:

• Editors should make a positive or negative decision based on the importance, original value, validity, clarity of the narrative, and the journal's goals and objectives.
• Studies that are suitable for the scope of publication should be included in the preliminary evaluation stage unless there are other serious problems.
• Editors should not ignore positive referee suggestions, unless there are contradictions to the academic writing and publication rules about the study.
• New editors should not change the decisions made by the previous editor(s) for studies unless there is a valid problem.
• "Blind Refereeing and Evaluation Process" must be published and the editors must prevent deviations from the defined processes.
• Editors should publish an "Author's Guide" that includes every subject expected from them by the authors in detail. These guides should be updated periodically.
• Authors should be informed and returned in an explanatory and informative way.

RELATIONS WITH THE REFEREES
The duties and responsibilities of the editors towards the referees are as follows:

• The referees should be determined in accordance with the subject of the study.
• It is responsible for providing the information and guides that the referees will need during the evaluation phase.
• It has to consider whether there is a conflict of interest between the authors and the referees.
• In the context of blind refereeing, the identity of the referees should be kept confidential.
• Encourage reviewers to evaluate the work in an impartial, scientific and objective language.
• Referees should be evaluated with criteria such as timely return and performance.
• It should determine practices and policies that increase the performance of referees.
• Take the necessary steps to dynamically update the referee pool.
• It should prevent rude and unscientific evaluations.
• Take steps to ensure that the referee pool is broad.

RELATIONS WITH THE EDITORIAL BOARD

• Editors must ensure that all members of the editorial board advance the processes in accordance with editorial policies and guidelines.
• The editorial board should inform its members about the publishing policies and keep them informed of the developments.
• New editorial board members should be trained on editorial policies and should provide the information they need.
• It should ensure that the members of the editorial board evaluate the work impartially and independently.
• New editorial board members should be determined as contributing and suitable.
• The members of the editorial board should send studies suitable for their field of expertise for evaluation.
• Must interact regularly with the editorial board.
• Regular meetings should be held with the editorial board for the development of publication policies and the journal.

Editorial and blind peer review processes
Editors; is obliged to implement the "Blind Refereeing and Evaluation Process" policies included in the journal's publication policies. In this context, the editors ensure that the fair, impartial and timely evaluation process of each work is completed.

1. The preliminary evaluation of the articles sent to the journal is made within 15 days. Authors know that if they do not complete the changes requested from them during the pre-control phase for the files they upload to the system within 15 days at the latest, their submitted works will be returned before the editing phase.
2. Articles that are reviewed and edited by the secretary in terms of technical conditions are sent to the editorial board. The author is informed about the article within 15 days.
3. After the editorial board examines the article in terms of its scientific quality within the framework of editorial responsibility, it decides to return, reject or start the article processing process.
4. After the language editor's review, the double-blind peer-review process is initiated. The article is directed to at least two referees through field editors.
5. Considering the conflict of interest in the determination of the referees, care is taken not to appoint referees from the same institution with the author or who are found to have worked with the author in the past. Within this framework, the principle of diversity and impartiality is observed in the appointment of arbitrators.
6. For the scientific review of the articles, referees who are expected to evaluate with a competent approach and comply with the referee responsibilities and have academic studies on the literature are appointed.
7. The article is prepared for publication if both of the referee reports determined in line with the blind refereeing system are positive. If one of the referee reports is positive and the other is negative, the article is sent to a third referee. If the third referee's report is positive, the article can be published with the approval of the editorial board. If the third referee's report is negative, the article cannot be published.
8. When the referee reports are completed, the article is sent back to the author for correction. Authors must make edits and upload them to the system within 15 days. The articles that the referees want to see again are sent back to the referee after the author's editing. After the referee reports and with the approval of the editor, the article is sent for final reading. After the post-reading process, the article, whose layout processes are completed, goes to the publication stage.
9. The final decision regarding the publication of the articles belongs to the editor. The author is informed with a decision letter containing the referee reports and editorial evaluation.
10. Article processes are completed within 3 months and published in the January or July issue determined by the editorial board.

Quality assurance
Editors; are responsible for publishing every article published in the journal in accordance with journal publication policies and international standards.

Ethics committee, human and animal rights
Editors; are responsible for refusing the study lacking the Ethics committee approval for the subjects used in the studies or in the absence of permission for experimental research.

Precaution against possible abuse and misconduct
Editors; are obliged to take precautions against possible abuse and misconduct. It is among the responsibilities of the editor to share the relevant findings, as well as to carry out a rigorous and objective investigation regarding the identification and evaluation of complaints regarding this situation.

Ensuring academic publication integrity
Editors should ensure that judgments containing errors, inconsistencies or misdirection in studies are promptly corrected. Editors; is obliged to implement the "Blind Refereeing and Evaluation Process" policies included in the journal's publication policies. In this context, the editors ensure that the fair, impartial and timely evaluation process of each work is completed.

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 the author(s) in case of possible violations. In addition, the editors are obliged to take the necessary measures so that the contents of all published articles do not violate the intellectual property rights of other publications.

Constructiveness and openness to discussion
Editors;

• should take into account the persuasive criticisms of the works published in the journal and display a constructive attitude towards these criticisms.
• The author(s) of the criticized studies should be given the right to reply.
• should not ignore or exclude studies with negative results.

Complaints
Editors are obliged to carefully examine the complaints from the authors, referees or readers and respond in an enlightening and explanatory manner.

Political and Commercial Concerns
The journal owner, publisher and no other political or commercial factors affect the editors' independent decision making.

Conflicts of interest
Editors; take into account the conflicts of interest between the author(s), referees and other editors, and ensures that the publication process of the studies is completed in an independent and impartial manner.

ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PUBLISHER

• The Board of Directors of the Journal acts with the awareness of its ethical responsibilities:
• Editors are responsible for all processes of the works submitted to the journal.
• It undertakes to create an independent editorial decision. 
• It has the responsibility to take precautions against all kinds of scientific abuse, citation fraud and plagiarism regarding the editors.

Correction Policy
If changes are required after the article is published, editorial board of the journal will evaluate the request in accordance with the COPE guidelines. Minor changes in articles that are less than five days past the publication date are carried out immediately if considered appropriate. In cases where the publication date is old or requires major changes, a correction article is published. Correction notifications may come from the author, journal board members or third parties.
Correction Article: The original article and the correction article are linked on the article information page, referencing each other. The reader is presented with a notification that the article has been corrected and is directed by a link to the corrected version. The correction article is published in the first issue following the submission of the correction notice and receives a standalone DOI. For the corrected version published in the new issue, a special "Correction" section is created and [Number]. [Correction:] [Article Title].

Retraction Policy
Articles that are damaging to the results of the study, to its own existence, or that involve ethical, scientific, or legal misconduct will be processed in accordance with COPE retraction guidelines. For these studies: A retraction notice attached to the original article and a retraction statement published in the new journal issue. A special "Retraction" section is created for the retraction article published in the new issue. [Sequence No]. [Retraction:] [Article Title], the retraction statement is published in this section.

Article Removal Status
It is rare however it may be necessary to remove an article for special reasons. In the following cases, the article will be removed immediately and a removal notice is going to be published in the following issues:

• Situations violating the rights of privacy and the right to be forgotten.
• Being defamatory and interfering with the exercise of legal rights.
• Binding notices such as court orders etc.

If the justification includes metadata, doi.org and Indexes are notified to make the necessary changes, and the article data are removed from the journal repositories, if available.

If You Face an Unethical Situation...

If you encounter any unethical behavior or content other than the ethical responsibilities mentioned above in our journal, please notify us via e-mail to eid@erciyes.edu.tr.