1. Ethical Principles and Publication Policy

Journal of Geological Engineering (JMD) publishers and users (Editor and technical editor, authors, reviewers, readers, etc.) comply with the ethical rules and responsibilities determined by the Committee on Publication Ethics - COPE, https://publicationethics.org/ .
Journal of Geological Engineering is a peer-reviewed journal. It publishes online in print and electronic media and has an open access system. Journal issues are published twice a year in January and June. In the publication processes, sharing of the information produced freely and impartially taking in account the scientific methods. Blind refereeing system is applied in the manuscript evaluation process. All issues of JMD published since 1977 are archived both in printed and electronic versions by the publishing company, TMMOB Chamber of Geological Engineers (JMO), and electronic versions by TUBITAK ULAKBİM- DergiPark.

1.1 Ethical Principles

Ethical Duties and Responsibilities of Editors
The editors of the Journal of Geological Engineering, the ethical task prepared by the Committee on Publication Ethics ( COPE) within the scope of the guidelines published under the headings of     " Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors "  has responsibilities.
Editors are responsible for following the processes for the development of the journal and improving the quality of published studies.
The manuscript submitted to JMD is first reviewed by the Editors for compliance with the journal's purpose and scope. If the submitted manuscript does not comply with the purpose and scope of the journal, it is rejected within 15 days at the latest and the author is informed. The manuscripts found appropriate according to the journal's aims and scope, is examined in terms of writing rules, language and expression and planning of the study before the reviewer’s evaluation. Manuscripts with deficiencies in these subjects are requested to be corrected by the author.
When the editors examine all the section contents of the manuscripts and find it appropriate, the manuscripts are evaluated by the reviewer. However, manuscripts that are not suitable for reviewer evaluation for any reason are rejected together with the editor's evaluation report. The author is informed within 15 days at the latest.
In peer review, manuscripts are sent by the editor to at least three reviewers, from the journal's reviewer pool and/or outside the pool, according to their content and areas of expertise. In the determination of the manuscript reviewers, attention is paid to the issues of conflict of interest.
In line with the opinions of the reviewers, if the corrected copy of the manuscripts requested to be corrected is not sent back to the editor within 30 days by the authors without a valid reason, the editor has the right to reject the manuscript. After the re-editing, if necessary, the corrected manuscript is sent to the reviewers or directly accepted or rejected by the editor.
As a result of the evaluation, the opinions of the reviewers are reviewed by the editor within 15 days at the latest. As a result of the review, the editor gives his final decision on the manuscript and conveys it to the author. Rejected manuscripts are archived.
Editors are responsible to take precautions against possible abuse and misconduct. It is among the editor's responsibilities to share the relevant findings, as well as to conduct a rigorous and objective investigation regarding the determination and evaluation of the complaints regarding this situation. In cases of suspected fraud or controversial authorship, necessary steps are followed by considering the COPE flowcharts (https://publicationethics.org/resources/translated-resources/turkish-all-flowcharts ).
Editors; The author is obliged to carefully examine the complaints from the reviewers or readers and respond in an enlightening and explanatory manner.
The journal owner, publisher and no other political or commercial factors affect the editors' independent decision making.
Editors; considers the conflicts of interest between the author(s), reviewers and other editors, and ensures that the publication process of the studies is completed independently and impartially.

Ethical Duties and Responsibilities of Reviewers
Reviewers in the Journal of Geological Engineering have ethical duties and responsibilities within the scope of the guidelines published under the title of "COPE-Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers" by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
• Blind peer-review system is applied in order to ensure objective evaluation of all scientific publications at JMD. At the stage of assigning a reviewer to the manuscript, care is taken to ensure that there is no conflict of interest between the reviewer and the author(s). For this purpose, between the reviewer and the author(s), in particular;
o No thesis advisor/student relationship,
o No joint research or publication in the recent past (last 2 years) between the author(s) and the reviewer,
o Not working in the same institution,
o Not contributing to the manuscript submitted to the journal in terms of format or content,
o There are no disputes between the author(s) and the reviewer, which are submitted to the judiciary or ethical committees,
o There is no kinship relationship between the reviewer and the author(s),
o The reviewer has no prejudices about the author(s) that have been disclosed to the public,
o The absence of any commercial relationship between the reviewer and the author(s),
situations are considered. The reviewers warn the editor and give the necessary information in case of the above-mentioned situations that are overlooked by the journal editor.
Moreover;
• Reviewers only evaluate manuscripts that fall within their area of expertise.
• Reviewer are obliged to make their evaluations impartially, objectively and confidentially.
• Nationality, gender, religious belief, political opinion, commercial concerns, etc. they should not lose their impartiality for any reason.
• They should make their opinions and suggestions within academic etiquette, in a constructive and academic language, and avoid a style that will create personal polemics.
• They should not delay their evaluation in such a way as to prolong the publication process for no reason. The time given to the reviewers for the review processes is 30 days. The authors must complete the correction suggestions from the reviewers or the editor within 30 days. Reviewers can review their corrections for the manuscript and decide whether it is appropriate or request more than one correction if necessary.

Ethical Duties and Responsibilities of Authors
The publication processes implemented at JMD are the basis for the development and distribution of information in an impartial and respectful manner. The processes implemented in this direction are directly reflected in the quality of the authors’ work 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, reviewers and editors) comply with the Principles of the Publication Ethics Committee-COPE.
The author(s) who will send an manuscript to JMD for evaluation must first become a member of DergiPark . Corresponding authors should submit their work (original article, review, etc.) to JMD through the DergiPark system.
The author responsible for the manuscript must upload the signed "Copyright Transfer Form" and "Ethics Notification Form" to the DergiPark system, in addition to the similarity report, by using the " iThenticate Plagiarism Detection Software" or " Turnitin " or an equivalent plagiarism program to submit a new manuscript to the journal. The similarity index rate of the submitted manuscript should be below 20%, excluding the reference list.
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. Work published in another journal cannot be submitted to JMD.
The corresponding author must ensure that this submitted manuscript has not been published in a similar form elsewhere and that the manuscript is original and will not be sent elsewhere for publication.
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 and/or cite completely and accurately.
Raw data regarding their manuscripts 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.
The author(s) must have a document showing that they have the right to use the data used and the necessary permissions for the research/analysis.
Each author is considered to have an equal ethical responsibility, as each of the authors must have made a significant scientific contribution to the manuscript. In the event that the author(s) notices an error or error in their published, pre-published or evaluation phase, they have an obligation to cooperate with the editor in informing, correcting or withdrawing the journal editor or publisher.
Author(s) who want to withdraw their manuscript under evaluation should forward the petition with a wet signature containing the subject to the editorial board via the journal's e-mail address jmd@jmo.org.tr. The Editorial Board reviews the withdrawal petition and responds within 15 days. The author(s) of an manuscript whose petition is not approved by the Editorial Board cannot send their manuscript to another journal.
All studies submitted for publication should be disclosed, if any, and their relationships that may constitute a conflict of interest.
Changing the author responsibilities of a work whose evaluation process has begun (such as adding an author, changing the order of authors, or removing an author) cannot be proposed.
In the evaluation process, the authors are obliged to respond to the opinions, suggestions and criticisms of the editors and reviewers. The authors are obliged to answer the questions asked by considering the opinions of the reviewers, to evaluate the opinions and suggestions, to respond positively or negatively to the criticisms and to report their evidence to the editor in a detailed letter. Academic style should be used in this counter letter, and personal discussions should be avoided.

1. 2 Publication Policy

JMO and/or JMD obtain written consent from the authors for the copyright of the manuscripts to be published. The related author is the author/owner of the manuscript submitted to the journal and transfers the copyright to JMO and/or JMD on behalf of himself and other author(s). It is obligatory to fill in the Copyright Transfer Form and upload it to the journal system during the submission of the manuscript.
All authors of the submitted manuscript must sign and transfer all rights and copyrights of the manuscript to JMO and/or JMD. JMO and/or JMD have the right to use all or part of the relevant manuscript in their future works such as lectures/lecture notes, reports and textbooks/printed books without any payment and the right to obtain a copy of the relevant manuscript for their own use. JMO and/or JMD; reserves all its rights other than copyright, such as patent rights, for commercial purposes.
All personal information in the JMD system is used for scientific purposes and is not shared with third parties.
Editor, Technical Editor and Editorial Board members are not responsible for the opinions of the authors and the content of the manuscript. Authors are responsible for ethical originality and possible errors in their manuscripts. Authors are responsible for all errors that may occur before the last reading (revision reading) and during page editing. Errors that occur after the last reading are the responsibility of the journal authorities.