In the Journal of Quantitative Sciences (JofQS), it is important that all stakeholders (authors, readers and researchers, publishers, referees and editors) comply with the standards of ethical principles in all kinds of publication processes. Our journal has adopted the principles of Higher Education Council and Publication Ethics Board (https://publicationethics.org) and school guides and policies regarding ethical duties and responsibilities.

Author (s) who submit a study to our journal must comply with the following ethical responsibilities;

• It is expected that the works submitted by the author (s) will be original. If the author (s) benefit from or use other studies, they must cite and / or quote completely and accurately.
• People who do not contribute to the content in the creation of the study should not be specified as authors.
• The situations and relationships of all studies submitted for publication that may create a conflict of interest, if any, should be explained.
• The author (s) may request raw data regarding their articles within the framework of 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 board.
• The author (s) must have a document showing that they have the rights to use the data used, the necessary permissions for the research / analysis, or that the consent of the experimental subjects has been obtained.
• In the event that the author (s) notices a mistake or error in their published work, early appearance or evaluation stage, the journal editor or publisher has an obligation to cooperate with the editor in informing, correcting or withdrawing.
• Authors cannot have their work in the application process of more than one journal at the same time. Each application can be started following completion of the previous application. Studies published in another journal cannot be sent to our journal.

All studies must be evaluated by "Double Blind Refereeing". The evaluation process of our journal is carried out with the principle of double-blind refereeing. Referees cannot contact the authors directly, evaluations and comments are submitted through the journal management system. In this process, the referee comments on the evaluation forms and full texts are sent to the author (s) through the editor. In this context, it is expected that referees evaluating a study for our journal have the following ethical responsibilities:

• Should only accept study evaluation related to the field of expertise.
• It should evaluate in impartiality and confidentiality.
• If he / she thinks that he / she faces a conflict of interest during the evaluation process, he / she should refuse to review the study and inform the editor of the journal.
• Due to the confidentiality principle, they should destroy the studies they examine after the evaluation process. They can only use the final versions of the studies they have reviewed, only after they are published.
• Make the assessment objectively only in relation to the content of the study. It should not allow nationality, gender, religious beliefs, political beliefs, and business concerns to influence the assessment.
• The assessment should be made in a constructive and courteous language. He should not make derogatory personal comments that contain hostility, slander and insult.
• They must perform the work they have accepted to evaluate, in a timely manner and with the above ethical responsibilities.

Editor and field editors working in our journal are open access to the "COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" (https://publicationethics.org) /files/Code_of_conduct_for_journal_editors_Mar11.pdf) and "COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" (https://publicationethics.org/files/u2/Best_Practice.pdf) should have the following ethical duties and responsibilities:


General duties and responsibilities

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

• Making efforts to meet the information needs of readers and writers,
• 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,
• Showing clarity and transparency in terms of publication in matters that require correction and explanation.

Editors should make decisions by considering the knowledge, skills and experience expectations of all readers, researchers and practitioners. The published studies should be paid attention to the readers, researchers, practitioners and contributors to the scientific literature and to be original. In addition, editors are obliged to take into account the feedback from readers, researchers and practitioners and to provide explanatory and informative feedback.


Editors' duties and responsibilities towards authors are as follows:
• Editors should make positive or negative decisions based on the importance of the work, its original value, validity, clarity of expression, and the journal's goals and objectives.
• Unless the studies that are suitable for the scope of the publication do not have serious problems, they should be included in the pre-evaluation stage.
• Editors should not ignore positive referee suggestions unless there is a serious problem with the work.
• New editors should not change the decisions made by the previous editor (s) regarding the work, unless there is a serious problem.
• The blind referee evaluation process must be published and editors must prevent any deviations that may occur in the defined processes.
• Editors should publish in an editorial rules section that includes in detail every subject expected by the authors. These guides should be updated periodically.
• An explanatory and informative notification and feedback should be provided to the authors.

The duties and responsibilities of editors towards referees are as follows:
• It should determine the referees according to the subject of the study.
• It is obliged to provide the information and guides that referees will need during the evaluation phase.
• It has to observe whether there is a conflict of interest between the authors and referees.
• In the context of blind refereeing, the identity information of the referees should be kept confidential.
• Encourage referees to consider working in an impartial, scientific and objective language.
• Evaluate the referees 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.
• Avoid impolite and unscientific evaluations.
• Take steps to ensure that the referee pool is made up of a broad spectrum.



Editors should ensure that all editorial board members advance processes in accordance with publication policies and guidelines. The editorial board should inform its members about the publication policies and keep them informed about the developments. The new editorial board should educate its members on publication policies and provide the information they need.

In addition, the editors;
• Editorial board members should ensure that they evaluate the work impartially and independently.
• Identify the new editorial board members who can contribute and are appropriate.
• The editorial board should send the works appropriate to the field of expertise of the members for evaluation.
• Interacting with the editorial board regularly.
• Organize meetings with the editorial board at regular intervals for the development of publishing policies and the journal.



Editors; It is obliged to implement the "Blind Refereeing and Evaluation Process" policies in the journal publishing policies. In this context, editors ensure that each work is completed in a fair, impartial and timely evaluation process. Article submitted to Journal of Quantitative Sciences (JofQS) is pre-reviewed by the Editorial Board in terms of its suitability to the Journal’s Focus and Scope and Guide for Authors. An eligible article is sent to two reviewers for blind-review. In the case of one Reject and one Accept or Accept with Minor/Major Revision situation, the article is sent to a third reviewer. In case of Major Revision, the article may directly be rejected. When needed the Editorial Board might send the article to more reviewers. In accordance with the decisions of reviewers, the article is either Rejected or Accepted with/without Revision. The revised article should be uploaded via DergiPark in a month. The revised article that is not re-submitted within a month will be accepted for reconsideration in later issues.


Editors; is responsible for publishing every article published in the journal in accordance with the journal publishing policies and international standards.

Editors; It is obliged to ensure the protection of personal data regarding the subjects or images in the evaluated studies. Unless the express consent of the individuals used in the studies is documented, it is responsible for refusing to work. In addition, the editors; is responsible for protecting the individual data of the author, referee and readers.


Editors; is obliged to ensure the protection of human and animal rights in the evaluated studies. Ethics committee approval for the subjects used in the studies is responsible for refusing to work in cases where there is no permission for experimental research.


Editors; is obliged to take precautions against possible abuse and misconduct. In addition to conducting a meticulous and objective investigation in determining and evaluating complaints regarding this situation, it is among the editor's responsibilities to share the findings on the subject.


Editors should ensure that any errors, inconsistencies, or misleading judgments in the work are quickly corrected.


Editors; It is obliged to protect the intellectual property rights of all published articles and to defend the rights of the journal and the author (s) in possible violations. In addition, editors are obliged to take the necessary measures to ensure that the content in all published articles does not violate the intellectual property rights of other publications.


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