Publication Responsibilities
PUBLICATION ETHICS AND PUBLICATION MALPRACTICE STATEMENT
Turkish Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (TJMES) is an international, peer-reviewed multidisciplinary journal dedicated to publishing scholarly articles on all aspects of Middle East. Available online and published twice a year, the journal aims to become one of the leading platforms in the world for new findings and discussions of all fields of Middle East.
THE POSITION OF TURKISH JOURNAL OF MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES ON PUBLISHING ETHICS
Turkish Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (TJMES) is committed to maintaining the highest ethical standards for all parties involved in the act of publishing in a peer-reviewed journal: the author, the editor of the journal, the peer reviewer and the publisher.
The publishing ethics of Journal of the Turkish Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, both internally and externally, are based on- and adhere to- the Committee on Publication Ethics' (COPE) Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors (March 2011) and Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers (March 2011).
EDITOR RESPONSIBILITIES
Accountability:
The editors of Turkish Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (TJMES) are accountable and responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. The editor may be guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The editor may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.
Impartiality:
The reviewing process and publication decision will occur without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
Confidentiality:
The editor(s) and any editorial staff will not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.
Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest / Competing Interests:
Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript will not be used in an editor's own research without the express written consent of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review will be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Editors make fair and unbiased decisions independent of commercial considerations, and ensure a fair and appropriate peer-review process. Editors recuse themselves (i.e. should ask a co-editor, associate editor or other member of the editorial board instead to review and consider) from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or (possibly) institutions connected to the papers. Editors will require all contributors to disclose relevant competing interests and publish corrections if competing interests are revealed after publication. If needed, other appropriate action will be taken, such as the publication of a retraction or expression of concern.
Involvement and Cooperation in Investigations:
Editors of Turkish Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (TJMES) will guard the integrity of the published record by issuing corrections and retractions when needed and pursuing suspected or alleged research and publication misconduct. Editors should pursue reviewer and editorial misconduct. An editor should take reasonably responsive measures when ethical complaints have been presented concerning a submitted manuscript or published paper, in conjunction with the publisher (or society). Such measures will generally include contacting the author of the manuscript or paper and giving due consideration of the respective complaint or claims made, but may also include further communications to the relevant institutions and research bodies, and if the complaint is upheld, the publication of a correction, retraction, expression of concern, or other note, as may be relevant. Every reported act of unethical publishing behavior must be looked into, even if it is discovered years after publication.
REVIEWERS RESPONSIBILITIES
Contribution to Editorial Decisions:
Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper.
Promptness:
Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.
Confidentiality:
Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to, or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.
Standards of Objectivity:
Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.
Acknowledgement of Sources:
Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.
AUTHOR RESPONSIBILITIES
Reporting Standards:
Authors should present their results clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification or inappropriate data manipulation. Authors should describe their methods clearly and unambiguously so that their findings can be confirmed by others.
Originality, Plagiarism and Acknowledgement of Sources:
Authors should adhere to publication requirements that submitted work is original, is not plagiarized, and has not been published elsewhere - fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable. If an author has used the work and/or words of others, that this original is been appropriately cited or quoted and accurately reflects individuals' contributions to the work and its reporting.
Data Access and Retention:
Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, and should in any event be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.
Journal Policies on Data Sharing and Reproducibility:
Turkish Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (TJMES) strongly recommends author(s) submit supplementary material and data sets which illustrate the results shown in their papers. If any restrictions exist on the side of the author(s), these concerns should be shared with the editorial teams during the submission of scientific papers.
TJMES encourages author(s) to share data and make them publicly available if they do not violate human rights or other privacy issues. Authors are recommended to cite any data referenced in their studies. Cited data sets, apart from whether they are created by author(s) or not, should be written in the reference lists of papers. Authors are also recommended to include a data availability statement.
TJMES encourages all authors to make their data available to share publicly.
Journal’s Options for Post-publication Discussions and Corrections:
TJMES allows discussions and corrections after the publication of papers under several conditions:
- If the paper publishes as early view but its hardcopy has not been published, yet.
- If the paper includes sensitive content which violate human rights or contains other sensitive issues that have been overlooked during the peer-review process
- If the paper includes an ethical issue which has been overlooked during the publication process or emerges during the post-publication process.
- If the content affects the quality and clarity of the paper negatively and must be corrected.
If the above conditions occur, the paper is considered to be corrected, revised and re-published on the website. Please consider that it is not possible to apply any corrections after the publication of the hardcopy of the paper.
Ethics:
Authors should only submit papers only on work that has been conducted in an ethical and responsible manner and that complies with all relevant legislation.
Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest:
All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.
Authorship of the Paper:
Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.
Multiple, Redundant or Concurrent Publication:
An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.
Fundamental Errors in Published Works:
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper. If the editor or the publisher learns from a third party that a published work contains a significant error, it is the obligation of the author to promptly retract or correct the paper or provide evidence to the editor of the correctness of the original paper.
PUBLISHER'S RESPONSIBILITIES
Middle East Institute, Sakarya University, Türkiye, as the publisher of Turkish Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (TJMES), encourages the editors to follow the COPE Code of Conduct for the Editors. Publisher provides reasonable practical support to editors so that they can follow the COPE Code of Conduct for Journal. Publisher defines the relationship between publisher, editor and other parties in a contract, respect privacy (for example, for research participants, for authors, for peer reviewers), protects intellectual property and copyright, and fosters editorial independence.
Publisher works with journal editors to set journal policies appropriately and aim to meet those policies, particularly with respect to:
- editorial independence,
- research ethics, including confidentiality, consent, and the special requirements for human and animal research,
- authorship,
- transparency and integrity (for example, conflicts of interest, research funding, reporting standards,
- peer review and the role of the editorial team beyond that of the journal editör
- appeals and complaints,
Publisher works with journal editors to:
- communicate journal policies (for example, to authors, readers, peer reviewers),
- review journal policies periodically, particularly with respect to new recommendations from the COPE Code of Conduct for Editors and the COPE Best Practice Guidelines,
- maintain the integrity of the academic record,
- assist the parties (for example, institutions, grant funders, governing bodies) responsible for the investigation of suspected research and publication misconduct and, where possible, facilitate in the resolution of these cases,
- publish corrections, clarifications, and retractions,
- and publish content on a timely basis.
Complaints and Appeals:
TJMES handles complaints and appeals by following the below procedure. Complaints including but not limited to the long delays in handling studies and publication ethics initially be handled by the Editor-in-Chief(s) of TJMES. The Editor-in-Chief(s) examine complaints and appeals together with Area Editors and Editorial Board if applicable. If anything occurs about complaints and appeals please contact ortadogudergi@sakarya.edu.tr.
Complaints about the Content of a Paper:
The Editor-in-Chief(s) or Area Editors examine the complaints of the author(s), and the reports of reviewers and make a decision:
- The confirmation of the rejection of the paper,
- The appeal of the author should be considered,
- A fresh opinion from an independent reviewer is needed.
The final decision of the Editor-in-Chief(s) is notified to the author(s). The explanation of the consequences of the appeal is shared with the author(s) if necessary. This is the final decision of TJMES.
Complaints about Processes:
The complaints about processes are handled by the Editor-in-Chief(s) and/or Area Editors. Long delays in handling studies are examined by editors of TJMES and any necessary issues are shared with the Editor-in-Chief(s). The Editor-in-Chief(s) and/or Area Editors consider the complaints and ensure that Assistant Editors share the necessary feedback with the author(s).
Complaints about Ethics:
The Editor-in-Chief(s) and/or Area Editors consider complaints about publication ethics of the author’s or reviewer’s conduct. The Editor-in-Chief(s) and/or Area Editors follow the publication ethics which are published on TJMES website. The editorial board of TJMES examines the concern of complainants or reviewers. The details and progress of the examination are shared with the complainant(s) clearly. The Editor-in-Chief(s) or Assistant Editors provide feedback to the complainant(s) on the manner of action and the final decision.
The published articles in TJMES are licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License