Kocatepe Journal of Tourism Research basically takes into account the International Standards of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) in its publication ethics practices. In addition, the Higher Education Institutions Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive and ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors) recommendations are also taken into consideration regarding publication ethics. In this context, the following duties for editors, authors and referees have been prepared by following the relevant ethical principles of COPE.

Ethical Principles and Responsibilities

Maximum effort is made to ensure that the content published in the journal is ethically correct. Authors, editors and all relevant boards of the journal must act in accordance with the principles determined by COPE regarding publication ethics, and the recommendations specified in the guidelines and flow charts on the COPE website must definitely be examined. In this context, the responsibilities of journal editors, referees and authors are presented below.

A. Responsibilities of Editors

1. Publication and Responsibility Decision
The editors of Kocatepe Journal of Tourism Research are responsible for deciding which of the studies submitted for publication are in accordance with the journal's purpose and publication policies and must be published. In addition, the editors are responsible for deciding which of the studies submitted to the journal are in accordance with the policies subject to legal requirements regarding defamatory publication, copyright infringement and plagiarism. In addition, the editors are responsible for the content and publication quality of the journal and have the right to negotiate with the referees when making the publication decision in this context. The editors provide a fair and equitable refereeing and evaluation process. The journal editors strive to meet the needs of the readers and authors.

2. Conflict of Interest
The editors of Kocatepe Journal of Tourism Research do not allow anyone to use unpublished material and other information and data in the studies submitted to the journal by the author(s) in their own work without the express and written permission of the author(s).

3. Impartiality
Articles submitted to the Journal of Kocatepe Tourism Research are evaluated in accordance with completely open, transparent, scientific and objective criteria without any prejudice. Studies are evaluated solely within the framework of their intellectual and scientific values, regardless of the race, color, gender, religious belief, ethnic origin, nationality and political views of the authors.

4. Confidentiality
Editors, assistant editors and the editorial board of the Journal of Kocatepe Tourism Research do not disclose information about submitted texts to anyone other than the author(s), referees and the publisher. No information about a study submitted to the journal is disclosed by the editor to anyone other than the editorial board, referees and the journal owner.

5. Control of the Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools
Authors are also responsible for the content of submitted works, including the parts produced by an artificial intelligence tool, and for any violations of publication ethics. The editor and publisher reserve the right to decide whether the use of an artificial intelligence tool is permitted or not, in accordance with COPE's perspective and statement on artificial intelligence tools.

B. Responsibilities of Referees

1. Expediting the Process
A referee who finds the assigned work unrelated to his/her field, feels inadequate in criticizing, or is unable to provide a timely critique must inform the editor of this situation and resign from the review task.

2. Confidentiality
The texts taken under review must be considered confidential documents and must not be shown to anyone other than those authorized by the editor, and the articles must not be discussed. Privileged information and ideas obtained during the review process must be kept confidential and must not be used for personal gain.

3. Impartiality
Reviews must be conducted objectively, fairly, and in accordance with scientific ethics. No personal criticism must be directed at the author. Referees must evaluate works regardless of the origin, gender, or political philosophy of the authors. Referees must also ensure a fair blind peer-review process for the evaluation of manuscripts submitted to the journal. Referees must express their opinions with clear supporting arguments.

4. Declaration of References
Referees must identify relevant published works not cited by the author. A reviewer must also bring to the attention of the editor any substantial similarity or overlap between the work being reviewed and another previously published work of which they are aware.

5. Conflict of Interest
Reviewers must not evaluate works in which there is a conflict of interest between the author and the reviewer, whether due to competition, collaboration, or any other relationship or connection. Reviewers must not have conflicts of interest with parties such as authors, funders, editors, etc.

6. Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools
When evaluating the studies sent to them, referees must provide opinions on whether artificial intelligence tools were used in the preparation of the relevant study, if so, whether the relevant tools and relevant references were used correctly, whether this issue was stated in the method section of the study, and must inform the editor in this regard. It is useful to examine the principles developed by various organizations (Elsevier, ICMJE, WAME), especially COPE, on this issue.

7. Support for the Editor
Referees must assist editors in the decision-making phase and must also be able to assist authors in improving the texts.

C. Responsibilities of the Author
1. Reporting Standards
Authors must provide an accurate description of the work performed, as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Data must be accurately represented in the work. The work must include sufficient detail and references to permit other authors to cite it. Fraudulent or intentionally false statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

2. Data Access and Storage
Authors may be asked to provide research data and/or to comply with the journal's open data requirements. Authors must be prepared to provide public access to such data, if possible, and to store such data for a reasonable number of years after publication.

3. Originality and Plagiarism
Authors must write completely original work and, if they use the work and/or words of others, they must cite them appropriately. By submitting a work to the Journal, authors guarantee that their work is original and complies with ethical standards, that the sources used are fully cited, and that it is not similar to other articles in print or in the process of publication. In this context, authors must run their work through a plagiarism detection software (ithenticate, turnitin, intihal.net, etc.) and upload the plagiarism report to the journal system.

4. Multiple or Simultaneous Publication
Submission of the same work to more than one journal at the same time constitutes unethical behavior and is unacceptable. In general, an author must not submit a previously published article for consideration by another journal.

5. Authorship of the Article
Authorship must be limited to those who have made significant contributions to the scope, design, conduct, or interpretation of the reported work. All those who have made significant contributions must be listed as co-authors. Authors assume collective responsibility for the work. Each author is responsible for ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. Authorship must also include a corresponding author who is responsible for communicating with the journal editor.

6. Declaration of Support
All sources of financial support for the conduct and/or preparation of the research, and the sponsor's role in the study design, if any, must be disclosed. Potential conflicts of interest must also be disclosed at the earliest possible stage.

7. Reporting of Fundamental Errors
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his or her own published work, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and, if deemed necessary by the editor, to cooperate with the editor in retracting the article.

8. Change of Authorship
No change in the authorship list will be accepted unless a clear reason is given to the editor. When a change in authorship is necessary, a clear reason for the change and written approval (a signed letter) must be given to the journal editor.

9. Declaration of Sources
Claims of sources from others' work must always be made appropriately. Authors must cite previous publications that affect the substance of the work they are reporting. Journal editorial guidelines on this subject must be carefully reviewed and adhered to.

10. Disclosure and Conflict of Interest
All authors are required to declare any financial sources or conflicts of interest that could influence the conclusions or interpretations of their work.

11. Fundamental Errors in Published Works
If an author discovers a significant error or defect in their own published work, they are obliged to promptly notify the journal editor and cooperate with the editor to correct the error or defect. Since Kocatepe Journal of Tourism Research is published openly via the DergiPark system, such requests for changes must be made within 5 days of the journal's publication date. Authors are obliged to work with the editor to ensure that errors are corrected.

12. Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools
The author/s must take care to comply with the following rules in accordance with COPE's perspective and statement on artificial intelligence tools.
- They cannot be accepted as authors because they do not have the ability to conceptualize a research design without human guidance and cannot be held responsible for the integrity, originality and validity of the published work.
- Authors must explain the content created or modified and also indicate the name and version of the artificial intelligence tool used as appropriate. Any additional work prepared within this scope must also be cited and referenced appropriately.
- Authors who use artificial intelligence tools in the preparation of a study and in the production of images, graphic elements, data collection and analysis must be transparent in explaining how this was done in the "Materials and Methods or similar section" of the study.
- It must be stated in the study that the artificial intelligence tool was used and which tool was used.
- Authors are responsible for the entire content of their work, including the parts produced by an artificial intelligence tool, and for any violations of publication ethics.
- The editor and publisher reserve the right to decide whether the use of an artificial intelligence tool is permitted.
In addition to the above, it is also useful to examine the "Ethical Guide for the Productive Use of Artificial Intelligence in Scientific Research and Publication Activities of Higher Education Institutions" published as open access by the Council of Higher Education (2024) and the principles developed by various other international organizations (Elsevier, ICMJE, WAME).

13. Copyright Notice/Commitment
Authors who submit a study to Kocatepe Journal of Tourism Research are deemed to have explicitly and voluntarily committed/accepted the issues specified on the "Copyright Notice/Commitment" page of the journal's website.

14. Plagiarism/Similarity Check

A "plagiarism report" for all studies submitted to Kocatepe Journal of Tourism Research must also be uploaded to the system as an additional file. Accordingly, in addition to the main text of the study, the plagiarism report (Turnitin, Ithenticate and/or intihal.net) must also be uploaded to the journal system as a separate pdf file. The title of the study, the names of the authors and the percentage must be visible in the plagiarism report uploaded to the journal system. The relevant boards of the journal make their final decision on the study in light of the plagiarism check report of each study.

Journal Publication Policy
1. Kocatepe Journal of Tourism Research, which is published electronically twice a year (March-September), is published as Open Access through the Tübitak Dergi-Park-Academic system.

2. All processes in Kocatepe Journal of Tourism Research (submission/uploading of studies to the journal, editor and referee appointments, editor and referee evaluations, article acceptance, publication, etc.) are carried out electronically through the DergiPark system, which provides electronic hosting and editorial process management services for academic refereed journals published in Turkiye under the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), and all these processes are stored and kept on the website allocated to Kocatepe Journal of Tourism Research in the DergiPark system.

3. All studies published in Kocatepe Journal of Tourism Research after peer review are immediately accessible from the date of publication. In addition, no fee (article processing fee) is charged from the authors before, during or after publication, and it is a completely free journal.

4. Kocatepe Journal of Tourism Research applies the Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License (CC BY-NC 4.0) for all articles it publishes.

5. In addition to the current issues of Kocatepe Journal of Tourism Research, special issues may also be published with the decision of the journal management.

6. The blind referee method is used in the evaluation process of the studies sent to the Kocatepe Journal of Tourism Research. In this context, the identities of the authors and referees are hidden in all processes of the studies.

7. The articles that sent to the journal are first examined by the journal secretariat in terms of journal writing rules and sent to the "Field Editor" to examine the suitability of the subject and field. The field editor examines the relevant article in terms of the journal's scope, subject and content and decides whether to send it to referees. At this stage, if the field editor's opinion is positive about the inclusion of the study in the evaluation process, the field editor communicates his/her decision on who can be the referees to evaluate the study to the journal editorship. The editor sends the studies that are found to be in compliance with the journal's publication policies to the referees (at least two referees) on the subject, taking into account the evaluations made by the field editor. If both referees' decisions on the study are "reject", the study is rejected. If one referee's decision is "reject" and the other is "correction" or "acceptance", the study is sent to a third referee.

8. Authors must make correction requests from referees regarding their work and upload the corrected versions of their work to the journal system. In this context, the "Edition Notification Form", which includes the edits made by the author(s) regarding the referee opinions, must be filled out and uploaded to the journal system.

9. After correction, if requested, the studies are sent to the referee again, and after the referee evaluation, the relevant article is published with the approval of the journal management.

10. Studies that have completed the evaluation process are accepted for publication according to the evaluation completion dates. Therefore, there is no such thing as planning and proposing that studies sent to Kocatepe Journal of Tourism Research will be accepted for publication in any issue. Accordingly, the submitted article is published in the relevant issue according to the order of approval by the authorized boards of the journal.

11. Authors have the right to withdraw their articles uploaded to the journal at any stage.

Ethical Permission (Approval) Document

1. If the study sent to Kocatepe Journal of Tourism Research includes/will include any methods such as surveys and interviews with any person/group/community, observation, applying tests in a computer environment, video/film recording, audio recording, alcohol, drugs or any other chemical substance to the participants, exposure to high levels of stimulation (light, sound, etc.), exposure to radioactive material, etc., an “Ethics Committee Decision” must be obtained and the document in question must be uploaded to the journal system during the submission phase of the study. Otherwise, the studies will not be included/accepted in the process. In this context, the relevant committee decision must be uploaded to the system in pdf format when sending studies requiring ethics committee approval. When submitting studies that do not require ethics committee approval to the journal, the "Ethical and Scientific Principles Responsibility Statement" must be uploaded to the journal system in pdf format.

2. In studies requiring ethics committee approval, information regarding the approval (committee name, date and issue number) must be included in the method section of the article and also on the last page.