Hacettepe Journal of Mathematics and Statistics (HJMS) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and to supporting ethical research practices and strictly adheres to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers. We encourage journal editors to follow the COPE Code of Conduct for Journal Editors and to refer reviewers to the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers as appropriate. In the development of the Policies and Ethics of HJMS, the following sources have been utilized:

• COPE Guidelines and Requirements for Peer-Reviewed Journals: https://publicationethics.org 

• Elsevier - Publishing Ethics: Elsevier Publishing Ethics: https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies/publishing-ethics      

Responsibilities of Authors

• Articles submitted for publication must comply with the highest ethical standards in scientific publishing, including but not limited to avoiding plagiarism, falsification, distortion, republishing, data slicing, unfair authorship, failure to specify supporting organizations, and not adhering to ethical guidelines in animal studies.

• Authors conducting research that involves qualitative or quantitative approaches requiring data collection from participants (e.g., questionnaires, interviews, focus group work, observation, experimentation, clinical trials on humans or animals) must obtain Ethics Committee Permission. Authors must also obtain and specify permission from the owners for the use of scales, surveys, and photographs.

• Any changes in authorship, whether prior to or after publication, must be agreed upon by all authors, including those being added or removed. The corresponding author is responsible for obtaining confirmation from all co-authors and providing evidence of this to the editorial office with a full explanation regarding the reason for the change.

• All authors must agree on the corresponding author and the order of co-authors. They should also verify their affiliations and contact details before submitting the manuscript.

• If the corresponding author wishes to withdraw a paper from the journal, they must inform the editor with the consent of all other authors.

• All authors must be able to publicly defend their paper. If requested during the review process, an author must provide the dataset to the reviewers.

• Authors must declare any competing interests in their cover letters or on the manuscript submission form within the journal’s online peer review system.

• All manuscripts must be well-written in English. Papers that do not meet the journal’s standards for language and clarity will be returned for revision and may be rejected solely on these grounds.

• After acceptance, authors must adhere to the writing rules of Hacettepe Journal of Mathematics and Statistics (HJMS) and use the HJMS style files. Authors must not share their paper with the HJMS logo during the review process on any public platform.

Responsibilities of Editors

• The editor of the journal is solely and independently responsible for deciding which articles submitted to the journal will be published. Based on the review report, the editor holds complete authority to accept, reject, or request modifications to the manuscript.

• The editor’s decisions are guided by the policies of the journal’s editorial board and are also constrained by legal requirements, including issues related to libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism.

• The editor evaluates manuscripts and makes decisions regarding acceptance or rejection based solely on the importance, originality, clarity, and relevance of the paper to the journal’s scope. All research papers must undergo evaluation by at least two external and independent reviewers. If necessary, the editor may seek further opinions.

• The editor ensures that each manuscript submitted to journal is evaluated solely based on its intellectual content, without regard to the author’s race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, citizenship, religious beliefs, or political views.

• The editor is responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of material submitted to journal while it is under review.

• The editor ensures that peer review is fair, unbiased, and conducted promptly, so authors do not experience unnecessary delays in the publication process.

• The editor must not use unpublished material disclosed in a submitted manuscript for their own research without the author’s written consent.

• The editor must take appropriate action if misconduct is reported regarding the integrity of a submitted manuscript or published paper, in collaboration with the publisher. These actions may include contacting the author of the manuscript, addressing the respective complaints or claims, and possibly involving relevant institutions and research bodies.

• The editor must not participate in decisions concerning papers they have authored themselves, or papers written by family members or colleagues, or those relating to products or services in which they have an interest.

• Any changes to the authorship list, including additions, deletions, or rearrangements of author names, must be approved by the editor.

Responsibilities of Reviewers

• Reviewers should refrain from directly contacting the author(s) of the paper they are assigned to review.

• Reviewers are required to maintain the confidentiality of the ideas and findings presented in the manuscript under review. The paper should not be shared with others and should not be used for the reviewer’s own research purposes. 

• Reviewers must evaluate the manuscripts objectively and professionally. Reviews should be constructive, well-written, and provide clear, helpful feedback that the authors can use to improve their work.

• If a selected reviewer feels they are not sufficiently qualified to review the manuscript’s subject matter, they should inform the editor and excuse themselves from the review process.

• Reviewers are expected to complete the "Evaluation Form for Referees" with detailed and explanatory arguments supporting their final decisions.

• Reviewers should submit their referee reports within the timeframe provided by the journal. If a reviewer is unable to meet the deadline, they should notify the editor promptly.

• In the event of a potential conflict of interest, the reviewer must inform the editor as soon as possible.

• Reviewers should report any ethical concerns they have regarding the paper, such as issues related to duplication, plagiarism, or other ethical violations, to the editor.

Peer-Review Policy

5. Limitations: The authors must notice that only two submissions per author per year will be considered. Once a paper is under review or has been accepted for publication, all co-authors need to wait 6 months from the submission date before submitting another paper to Hacettepe Journal of Mathematics and Statistics.

Copyright

• Upon acceptance of an article for publication, the copyright of the article is transferred to Hacettepe Journal of Mathematics and Statistics.
• For any materials previously published elsewhere that require permission for reproduction, the author must obtain and provide the necessary copyright permissions.  
• The copyright in a published article rests solely with the Faculty of Science of Hacettepe University, and the paper may not be reproduced in whole or in part by any means whatsoever without prior written permission.

• Manuscripts must be original and should not have been previously published or simultaneously submitted for publication elsewhere.
• The author(s) bear full responsibility for the content of their published work, and its publication does not imply endorsement by the editors or the publisher.