ETHICAL PRINCIPLES AND PUBLICATION POLICY
A) Open Access Policies
The Ordu University Journal of Nursing Studies is an open access publication and its open access policy is implemented based on the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI).
The definition of open access is “its free availability on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself”.
Readers can open access to the journal archive free of charge at https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/ouhcd/archive. Readers can read, download, save, copy, and link the full text of journal articles without obtaining permission from the publisher or author, except for commercial purposes.
B) Ethical Policies
All components (authors, editors, reviewers, publishers, readers) involved in the publication process of scientific articles published in peer-reviewed journals must comply with ethical principles. The ethical principles our journal adheres to have been prepared as open access, taking into account the guidelines and policies published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) which are detailed below.
Ethical responsibilities of authors
The author(s) who submit a study to the Ordu University Journal of Nursing Studies are expected to comply with the following ethical responsibilities:
• The studies submitted by the author(s) are expected to be original. If the author(s) benefit from or use other publications, they are required to cite and/or cite entirely and accurately.
• The author(s) who do not contribute to the content intellectually in the creation of the study should not be specified as authors.
• Situations and relationships that may constitute a conflict of interest, if any, of all publications submitted for publication should be disclosed.
• Data sets 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 the event that the author(s) notices an error or mistake in their published, online first or evaluation process, they are obliged to cooperate with the editor in informing, correcting, or withdrawing the journal editor or publisher.
• Authors can not have their publication 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. A study published in another journal can not be sent to the Ordu University Journal of Nursing Studies.
• Changing the author responsibilities of a publication whose evaluation process has begun (such as adding an author, changing the rank of authors, or removing an author) can not be proposed.
The responsibilities of editors
The editors and field editors of Ordu University Journal of Nursing Studies perform the following ethical duties based on the "COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" and "COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" published by the COPE as open access and should have responsibilities:
General duties and responsibilities
The editors are responsible for every publication published in the Ordu University Journal of Nursing Studies. In the context of this responsibility, editors have the following roles and responsibilities:
• To make efforts to meet the information needs of readers and authors,
• To ensure the continuous development of the journal,
• To conduct processes to improve the quality of studies published in the journal,
• To support freedom of thought,
• To ensure academic integrity,
• To continue business processes without compromising intellectual property rights and ethical standards,
• To demonstrate openness and transparency in terms of publication on issues that require correction and explanation.
Relations with the readers
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 authors
The duties and responsibilities of the editors to the authors are as follows:
• Editors should make a positive/negative decision based on the importance, originality, validity, clarity of the narrative, and the journal's aims and scopes.
• Studies that are suitable for the scope of publication should be included in the preliminary evaluation stage as long as they do not have serious problems.
• Editors should not ignore positive reviewers’ suggestions unless there is a serious problem with the study.
• New editors should not change the decisions made by the previous editor(s) for studies unless there is a serious problem.
• "Double-Blind Reviewers and Evaluation Process" must be published and the editors must prevent deviations that may occur in the defined processes.
• Authors should be informed and returned in an explanatory and informative way.
Relations with reviewers
The duties and responsibilities of the editors towards the reviewers are as follows:
• The reviewers should be determined in accordance with the subject of the study.
• It is responsible for providing the information and guidelines that the reviewers will need during the evaluation phase.
• It has to consider whether there is a conflict of interest between the authors and the reviewers.
• In the context of the double-blind reviewing system, the identity of the referees should be kept confidential.
• Encourage reviewers to evaluate the publication in unbiased, scientific, and objective language.
• It should determine practices and policies that increase the performance of reviewers.
• Take the necessary steps to dynamically update the pool of reviewers.
• It should prevent rude and unscientific evaluations.
• Steps must be taken to ensure that the reviewer pool expands.
Relations with the editorial board
Editors should ensure that all editorial board members follow the processes in accordance with editorial policies and guidelines. The editorial board should inform its members about the publication policies and keep them informed of the developments. In addition, editors;
• It should ensure that the members of the editorial board evaluate the publication 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.

Relationship with journal's concessionaire and publisher
The relationship between the editor(s) and the publisher is based on the principle of editorial independence. In accordance with the written contract between the editor(s) and the publisher, all decisions taken by the editor(s) are independent of the publisher and the journal's concessionaire.
Editorial and double-blind peer review processes
Editors are obliged to implement the "Blind Review 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 publication is completed.
Quality assurance
Editors are responsible for publishing every article published in the journal following journal publication policies and international standards.
Protection of personal data
Editors are obliged to ensure the protection of personal data regarding the subjects or images included in the evaluated studies. Unless the explicit consent of the individuals used in the studies is documented, they are responsible for refusing the study. In addition, editors are responsible for protecting the individual data of the author, reviewers, and readers.
Ethics committee, human and animal rights
Editors are responsible for ensuring 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 the study in the absence of permission for experimental research.
Precaution against possible abuse and misuse of duty
Editors are obliged to take precautions against possible abuse and misuse of duty. It is among the responsibilities of the editor to share the relevant findings, as well as to conduct 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.
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.
Constructivism and openness to discussion
Editors;
It should take into account the persuasive criticisms of the works published in the journal and should adopt a constructive attitude towards these criticisms.
The author(s) of the criticized publications should be given the right to reply.
Publications with negative results should not be ignored or excluded.
Complaints
Editors are obliged to respond in an enlightening and explanatory manner after carefully examining the complaints from authors, reviewers, or readers.
Political and commercial concerns
The journal's concessionaire, 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), reviewers, and other editors, and ensure that the publication process of the studies is completed independently and impartially.
The ethical responsibilities of reviewers
Evaluation of all studies with "Double-Blind Review" directly affects the quality of the publication. This process provides confidence through an objective and independent evaluation of the publication. The evaluation process of the Ordu University Journal of Nursing Studies is carried out with the principle of a double-blind review system. Reviewers can not 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 who evaluate the studies for the Ordu University Journal of Nursing Studies have the following ethical responsibilities:
• Only work related to the area of expertise should accept evaluation.
• Evaluation should be done with unbiased and confidentiality.
• If the reviewer thinks the reviewer is facing a conflict of interest during the evaluation process, the reviewer should refuse to review the study and inform the journal editor.
• By the confidentiality principle, 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 affect the evaluation.
• Make the assessment in 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.
The ethical responsibilities of publisher's
The Ordu University Journal of Nursing Studies Editors and Editorial Board act with the awareness of the following ethical responsibilities:
• Editors are responsible for all processes of studies submitted to the Ordu University Journal of Nursing Studies. In this context, the decision-makers are the editors, regardless of economic or political gains.
• It undertakes to create an independent editorial decision.
• The Ordu University Journal of Nursing Studies protects the property and copyright of every article published and undertakes to keep a record of every published copy.
• It has the responsibility to take precautions against all kinds of scientific abuse, citation fraud, and plagiarism regarding the editors.
C) Plagiarism Policy
• Plagiarism is an ethical violation, regardless of whether it is intentional or not. Similarity of studies with other sources without reference and publishing them in this form is not only unethical, but also a crime and unacceptable. For this reason, all studies that will be published in the Ordu University Journal of Nursing Studies are evaluated by us through the iThenticate Plagiarism Detection Software.
• Our criterion in studies is not match percentage. An audit is carried out by a team of experts, depending on the parameters other than the percentage, such as matching paragraphs, proper citations and references, the place of the matched places in the article, and which source the study matches with. The plagiarism report prepared is forwarded to the relevant editor of the study. According to the report, the editorial board may ask the author to correct the errors in the article and resend or accept/reject it. Whether or not the work is accepted is at the discretion of the chief editor.
• The Editorial Board acts in accordance with the COPE rules against allegations and suspicions of plagiarism, citation manipulation, and data fraud regarding the studies submitted to the journal.
D) Copyright Transfer
• Studies submitted to our journal for publication must be original works that have not been published in any way or sent for publication elsewhere. When submitting their publication, individuals are obliged to declare that the work has not been published, partially or completely, on any other platform before, and has not been evaluated for publication. In case of a contrary situation, the author will be held responsible for the situation in accordance with the relevant sanctions.
• The author(s) agree to waive the copyright of their work and transfer the copyright of their publication to the Ordu University Journal of Nursing Studies together with the submission for evaluation. This transfer becomes binding with the acceptance of the article for publication. No part of the printed material can be used elsewhere without the written permission of the publisher.
• The publication processes of the journal, International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), Council of Science Editors (CSE), Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), European Association of Science Editors (EASE), and National Information Standards Organization (NISO) are carried out by the guidelines.
• All unregistered rights of the authors other than copyright, the right to reproduce the work for their own purposes, provided that they do not sell the publication, the right to use all or part of the work on the condition that the author cites the source in his own book and other academic works, on personal websites or on the condition of stating the work tag reserves the right to keep it in the open archive of the university.
• The author(s) must obtain permission from the copyright holder when using any content (printed or electronic form of tables, pictures, etc.) including legal, financial, and penal responsibility in this matter belongs to the authors.
• The author(s) who will send the publication to the journal must fill in the "Copyright Transfer Form". The author(s) must sign the completed form with a wet signature. The signed form should be scanned and uploaded via the system with the option to upload additional files in the publication submission steps.
E) Conflicts of interest
• Situations that provide economic or personal benefits create a conflict of interest. The reliability of the scientific process and published articles is directly related to the objective handling of conflicts of interest during the planning, implementation, writing, evaluation, editing and publication of scientific study.
• Financial relationships are the most easily identifiable conflicts of interest and it is inevitable that they damage the credibility of the journal, authors and science. These conflicts can be caused by personal relationships, academic competition, or intellectual approaches. Authors are not responsible for any activities that restrict access to all data of the study or analyze the data, interpret it, prepare the articles, publish it, etc. avoid entering into agreements with both for-profit and non-profit sponsors that interfere with their capabilities.
• In order to avoid conflicts of interest, editors should also avoid bringing together people who may have a relationship during the evaluation of studies. These editors, who make the final decision on the articles, should not have any personal, professional or financial ties to any of the issues they will decide on. Individuals should inform the editorial board of possible conflicts of interest so that the articles can be evaluated within the framework of ethical principles and an independent process can be carried out.
• The journal editorial board works devotedly to ensure that the evaluation process can be carried out impartially, taking all these situations into account.
• Persons and organizations from which all kinds of aid and other support to research are received should be declared to the editorial board, and “the ICMJE Potential Conflicts of Interest Notification Form” should be filled and uploaded to the system in order to explain the situations related to conflicts of interest. http://icmje.org/conflicts-of-interest/