The publication policy of the Universal Journal of Mathematics and Applications(UJMA) is based on the improvement and dissemination of information in an impartial and respectful manner. The processes applied in line with this policy directly affect the quality of the studies submitted by authors and affiliated institutions. 

UJMA, adheres to national and international standards in research and publication ethics. It complies with the Press Law, the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works, and the Higher Education Institutions Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive. UJMA has adopted the International Ethical Publishing Principles published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA). 

The publication of an article in a peer-reviewed journal is essential for the development of a coherent and respected knowledge network. Peer-reviewed articles support and develop scientific methods. Therefore, it is important for all relevant parties involved in the publishing process, including authors, journal editors, reviewers, and publishing agencies, to agree on the expected ethical behaviors and standards.

The stated study's authors should only be those who made a major contribution to its idea, design, implementation, or interpretation. Co-authors should be named for everyone who contributed significantly. The corresponding author is the person who adds everyone who contributed to the article according to their contribution rates and is responsible for viewing, approving, and accepting the final version of the article for publication.

Contributorship is the supporting process of article writers in obtaining scientific results. There are many different ways to contribute. For instance, , you can also contribute to an article as a co-author. You can also contribute by helping with a survey.

In all aspects of authorship and contributorship, we follow the  COPE principles and recommendations.

Authors: All authors must disclose in their manuscripts any financial or other significant conflicts of interest that may affect some or all of their manuscripts. These explanations should be stated in the article information form.

It is highly encouraged by the Universal Journal of Mathematics and Applications (UJMA) that authors supply supplemental information and data sets that support the findings presented in their papers. When submitting a scientific manuscript, the editor should be informed of any constraints the author(s) may be subject to.

If the data do not breach human rights or other privacy concerns, UJMA invites the author(s) to share and make them publicly available publicly. Authors are required to cite any data used in their work. Whether the cited data sets were developed by the author(s) or not, they must be listed in the paper's reference list.

Data falsification: Manipulating research data to give a false impression. This includes manipulating images (eg, micrographs, gels, radiological images), removing outliers or "inappropriate" results, changing, adding, or skipping data points, etc. are included. Technically the Image can be improved for the readability of the images. However, if there is such an improvement, the editor should be informed when the article is sent to the journal and the article should also be included.

Proper technical manipulation means adjusting the contrast and/or brightness or color balance if applied to the full digital image (not parts of the image).

Improper technical manipulation means darkening, enhancing, deleting an image, and/or adding new elements.

The papers that are submitted for publication must be original and have never been published before. Authors are required to cite previous work if they have used their own previously submitted or published work as the basis for a submitted paper. They should also indicate how new contributions in addition to previous work are presented in their submitted manuscripts.

• Authors certify that their submitted manuscript (and any supporting items) are their own intellectual property and the copyright has not been transferred to others.

• Authors attest that the paper complies with JSS authorship criteria and is free of plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, and manipulated citations.

• The author(s) retain ownership of all manuscripts, revisions, drafts, and galleys.

• All interactions, remarks, or reports from reviewers or editors will be kept confidential by authors, reviewers, and editors.

• With the exception of the final published galley(s), reviewers and editors agree to keep all manuscripts, changes, and drafts confidential.

• If editors minor errors in the published article that do not have an impact on the conclusions, interpretations, or outcomes, they may make adjustments.

• If there are significant mistakes or violations that make the findings and results invalid, the editors may retract the paper.

• Editors may issue a statement of concern if there is a possibility of abusive research or publication by the authors, if there is evidence that the findings are unreliable and the authors' institutions have not investigated the incident, or if the potential investigation seems unfair or inconclusive. COPE and ICJME guidelines are taken into account with regard to the correction, retraction, and expression of concern.

Aiming to establish ethical assurance in scientific periodicals, UJMA journal adopts the principles of the "Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" and the "Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers" published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). In this scope, the following aspects should adhere to the studies submitted to the journal:

• Ethics committee approval should be obtained for research conducted in all the disciplines that require ethics committee approval, and this approval should be stated and documented in the article.

• For studies requiring ethics committee approval, information regarding the approval (name, date and number of the committee) should be included in the Article Information Form at the end of the article.

The studies that require ethics committee approval are as follows:
• Any research conducted with qualitative or quantitative approaches that requires collecting data from participants.
• Studies conducted on humans,
• Retrospective studies in accordance with the law on the protection of personal data,
Also;
• A statement confirming that an "informed consent form" has been received in case reports,
• Obtaining permission from the owners for the use of scales, surveys or photographs belonging to others,
• A statement confirming that copyright regulations are met for the intellectual and artistic works used.

A special issue can be published in our journal once a year upon the request of the Editorial Board. The publication processes of the articles sent to be included in the special issue are the same as the standard processes.

• Additional or Special issue: An issue published in addition to the regular issues of a periodically published journal. It may consist of conference papers or a series of articles focusing on a specific topic.

• Page numbering in the additional or special issue is different from the regular issues.

• The print run of the additional or special issue cannot be more than one-third of the regular issue. The special issues containing conference paper abstracts are not included in this scope.

• Ratios of case reports, compilations, and research articles (excluding conference paper abstracts) published in the additional or special issue will be included in the ratios of articles published in other issues.

• The issues published as a tribute are not accepted as additional or special issues. Their page numbering and organization are the same as the regular issues.

(Turkish Council of Higher Education [YÖK] Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive, Article 4)

Plagiarism: Showing others' original ideas, methods, data, or works as their own work, partially or completely, without reference to scientific rules,

Forgery: Using data that does not actually exist or has been falsified in scientific research,

Distortion: Falsifying the research records or data obtained, displaying the equipment or materials not used in the research as if used, distorting or shaping the results of the research in the interests of the people and organizations that provide support,

Republishing: Presenting repetitive publications as separate publications in academic appointments and promotions,

Slicing: Dividing the results of research into pieces in an improper way or in a way that disrupts the integrity of the research and publishing each one separately to increase the total publication count for academic appointments and promotions,

Unfair Authorship: Including non-contributors in the author list or not including those who have contributed, changing the author's order in an unjustified and inappropriate manner, removing the names of contributors from the work in subsequent editions, using influence to include names among the authors despite not being contributors,

a) Not specifying the supporting individuals, institutions, or organizations and their contributions in the publications made as a result of research conducted with support.

b) Using theses or studies that have not yet been submitted or have not been accepted as a source without the permission of the owner,

c) Sharing the information in a work that has been assigned for review with others before it is published without the explicit consent of the author,

d) Misusing resources, spaces, facilities, and equipment provided or allocated for scientific research,

e) Deliberately making a false and ungrounded allegation about the ethical violation,

f) Publishing the data obtained from surveys conducted as part of a scientific study without the explicit consent of the participants or without the permission of the relevant institution if the study is conducted in an institution,

g) Conducting research activities in violation of the related legislation or the provisions on research in the international conventions to which Turkey is a party,

h) Disregarding the obligation to inform and warn the relevant authorities about possible harmful practices related to scientific research.

ı) Not using the data and information obtained from other individuals or institutions in scientific studies to the extent and as permitted, not respecting the confidentiality of this information and not ensuring its protection,

i) Making false or misleading statements regarding scientific research and publications in academic appointments and promotions.

• Studies must be original and based on research.

• It must be ensured that all the persons mentioned as authors/co-authors have contributed to the article. It is against scientific ethics to show persons who have not made any academic contribution as additional authors or to rank the authors by non-scientific criteria such as title, age, and gender, regardless of the order of contribution.

• In the articles with multiple authors, it should be clearly stated to what extent the authors have contributed to which stage of the article.

• The article should not be sent to different journals at the same time and should not have been sent to another journal before. If it is found to have been sent to another journal, the publication process will be canceled.

• It is assumed that the authors who submit articles to the journal have read and accepted the publication and writing principles of the journal, and the authors are deemed to have committed to these principles.

• The citations and bibliography should be complete.

• Citation manipulation should not be used to increase the number of citations to a particular author's work or articles published in a particular journal.

• Plagiarism and fake data should be avoided.

• The similarity rate obtained as a result of the similarity checks should not exceed 30% without the bibliography in order to initiate the peer review process.

• An article may be included in a maximum of 2 PRE-REVIEW processes. The article will be rejected if the feedback conveyed to the author is not revised.

• The corresponding author must inform the journal editor in case of any conflict of interest.

• Peer reviewers should be aware that they play a critical role in the academic quality of the article to be published in the journal, and they should engage in the peer review process with the responsibility of improving academic quality.

• Peer reviewers should only accept to review articles for which they have the expertise to make an appropriate assessment. They should also respect the confidentiality of the blind peer review process and keep the details of the article confidential at all costs.

• After the review process, any information about the reviewed article should not be shared with others under any circumstances.

• Peer reviewers should only evaluate the accuracy of the content of the articles and their compliance with academic criteria. Any difference of opinions between the article's argument and the peer reviewer should not affect the review process.

• Peer review reports should be objective and measurable. Libelous, derogatory, or accusatory expressions should definitely be avoided.

• Peer reviewers should avoid superficial or inaccurate statements in their peer review reports. In reviews with negative results, a complete justification should be presented on the aspects that led to the negative result.

• Peer reviewers should review the articles within the time period allotted to them. If they are not going to review the article, they should notify the journal within a reasonable time.

UJMA, its editors adhere to the COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). It maintains its publication policy based on the principles of COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and Publication Ethics Flowcharts developed by COPE.

• Editors should accept articles that will contribute to the relevant areas specified in the journal policy.

• Editors should not have any conflict of interest with accepted or rejected articles.

• Editors have full responsibility and authority to accept or reject an article.

• It is the editors' responsibility to keep the names of peer reviewers and authors mutually confidential.

• Only the articles that will contribute to the relevant field should be accepted.

• If an error is detected, editors should support the correction or retraction of the error.

• It is the duty of editors to complete the pre-review, peer review, editing, and publishing processes of the articles submitted to the journal in a timely and appropriate manner.

• Editors should not assign people who do not contribute to the journal as editorial board members or associate editors.

Any manuscript that is considered to be published in UJMA must meet the following criteria:

• Originality

• Not containing ethical violations

• Having clear messages for the scientific community

• Expressing the extent to which the article will contribute to researchers in the field and its relevance to science.

• Current fields and topics drawing the interest of researchers in the field of sciences

• Having structural and logical integrity

• Research results that are based on scientific evidence

• Coherence of the scientific method

UJMA publishes articles written in English.

UJMA accepts article authors according to the statement on the Title Page of the article. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the authors to submit the final version of the full author list. Requests for any change of authorship after the submission of the article (e.g removal/addition of authors, change of order, etc.) are subject to editorial approval. The Editorial Board will investigate such cases and act according to the COPE flowcharts.

Requests for a change of authorship should be conveyed to the Editor with an official letter stating the reasons for the change. The letter should be signed by all the authors and include their confirmation of the change of authorship. If the request is approved by the Editorial Board, the change of author is made by the editor through the system.

The opinions expressed in the articles published in the journal are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the UJMA and its Editor-In-Chief, Editors, Editorial Board, or Publisher. The Editor-in-Chief, Editors, Editorial Board, and Publisher assume no responsibility or liability for such cases. The sole responsibility for the published content lies with the authors.

Complaints and Appeals
UJMA 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 are handled by the Editor-in-Chief of UJMA. The Editor-in-Chief examines complaints and appeals together with Area Editors and Editorial Board if applicable. If anything occurs about complaints and appeals please contact merveilkhan@duzce.edu.tr.

Complaints about the Content of a Paper
The Editor-in-Chief examines 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 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 UJMA.

Complaints about Processes
The complaints about processes are handled by the Editor-in-Chief. Long delays in handling studies are examined by editors of UJMA and any necessary issues are shared with the Editor-in-Chief. The Editor-in-Chief evaluates the complaints, and when necessary, information is shared with the authors.

Complaints about Ethics
The Editor-in-Chief considers complaints about publication ethics of the author’s or reviewer’s conduct. The Editor-in-Chief follows the publication ethics which are published on the UJMA website. The editorial board of UJMA 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 provides feedback to the complainant(s) on the manner of action and the final decision.