Ethical Principles and Publication Policy

Ethical Principles and Publication Policy

Ethical Principles and Publication Policy

Publication Ethics

ANATOLIA JOURNAL OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES is a peer-reviewed academic journal published at both national and international levels. The journal covers original, unpublished, and not submitted elsewhere current clinical and experimental research articles, reviews, full texts of congress/symposium presentations, rare medical case reports, editorials, and letters to the editor containing the experiences and comments of expert academicians in the fields of Medical Sciences, Basic Sciences, Veterinary Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Nutrition and Dietetics, Midwifery, Nursing, Health Management, Health Economics, Health Tourism, Sports Sciences, Occupational Health and Safety, and Health Technology from Turkey and around the world. It operates under the ethical principles and rules specified below.

Manuscripts submitted to the Anatolia Journal of Medical and Health Sciences that meet the formal requirements are reviewed by the editor and assistant editors, as well as at least two referees. If deemed necessary, requested revisions must be made by the authors before the article is published electronically with free access.

Below are the ethical responsibilities, roles, and duties of authors, journal editors, reviewers, and the publisher. Our journal expects all stakeholders to uphold the ethical responsibilities outlined herein. These ethical duties and responsibilities have been prepared by considering the guidelines and policies published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) for open access journals.

Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

Authors submitting manuscripts to the Anatolia Journal of Medical and Health Sciences are expected to comply with the following ethical responsibilities:

• All sources used in the manuscripts (authors, online pages, personal communications, etc.) must be properly and accurately cited.
• Authors may not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal. A new submission can only be made after the previous submission process is fully completed. Manuscripts already published in another journal cannot be submitted.
• Individuals who have not intellectually contributed to the manuscript should not be listed as authors but may be acknowledged in the acknowledgments section.
• Any conflicts of interest related to the submitted manuscript must be disclosed along with an explanation.
• If the editorial team requests additional information or raw data during the review process, the authors are required to provide this information to the editor.
• Authors must document that they have the rights to use the data included in their manuscript and have obtained necessary permissions or approvals from research participants when applicable.
• If authors identify errors in their published work, they should promptly inform the editor and editorial board and cooperate in correction or retraction processes.
• For studies involving data collection through quantitative or qualitative methods such as experiments, surveys, scales, interviews, observations, or focus groups that require ethics committee approval, authors must provide the ethics committee’s name, decision date, and reference number on the first or last page of the manuscript and in the methods section. For case reports, information about obtaining informed consent must be included.
• Authors should provide evidence within the manuscript that ethical principles were adhered to during data collection (e.g., obtaining permission for the use of others’ scales, surveys, photographs). Manuscripts should also state compliance with research and publication ethics and copyright regulations for intellectual and artistic works. If the research involved human or animal subjects, the manuscript must confirm that the study was conducted in accordance with international declarations and guidelines.
• Ethics committee approval is not required for review articles. However, in manuscripts where ethics committee approval is not necessary, a statement indicating this must be included on the first or last page and in the methods section.
• Changes to author responsibilities (such as adding, removing, or rearranging authors) cannot be proposed once the review process has started.

Editors' Ethical Duties and Responsibilities

The editors and associate editors of the Anatolia Journal of Medical and Health Sciences, as an open access journal, shall adhere to the following ethical duties and responsibilities based on the "COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" and the "COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE):

General duties and responsibilities

Editors are responsible for every publication in the journal. In this context, editors hold the following roles and responsibilities:

• Striving to provide high-quality content that meets the informational needs of readers and authors,
• Adopting innovative, scientific, and ethical approaches to ensure the continuous development of the periodical,
• Effectively managing the review, peer-review, and editorial processes to enhance the scientific quality of published works,
• Supporting an academic environment that fosters freedom of thought and expression,
• Upholding academic honesty and scientific integrity throughout the publication processes,
• Conducting publishing activities in compliance with intellectual property rights and international ethical standards,
• Acting transparently and informing the public in cases that require corrections or clarifications due to erroneous or incomplete information.

Relationships with readers

Editors should shape publication policies and make editorial decisions by considering the information, skills, and experience needs of readers, researchers, and practitioners. Accepted manuscripts must provide original contributions to the scientific field, contain up-to-date information, and offer academic and practical value to the target audience.

Furthermore, editors are responsible for carefully evaluating feedback from readers, researchers, and practitioners, and providing explanatory, constructive, and informative responses when necessary. Within this framework, continuous academic communication and adherence to the principle of transparency must be maintained.

Relationships with Authors

Editors’ duties and responsibilities towards authors are as follows:

• Editors should evaluate submitted manuscripts objectively based on criteria such as alignment with the journal’s aims and scope, scientific contribution, originality, methodological validity, and clarity of presentation, and make publication decisions accordingly.
• Manuscripts suitable for the journal’s scope should be included in the preliminary review process unless they contain serious ethical or scientific issues.
• During the peer-review process, editors should generally consider positive evaluations from reviewers unless there are strong reasons not to.
• In the event of an editor change, previously made editorial decisions should not be altered arbitrarily without scientific justification; the principles of continuity and consistency must be preserved.
• The principles of blind peer review (double-blind review) and the evaluation process should be clearly stated on the journal’s official platforms; editors are responsible for preventing inconsistencies during these processes.
• A detailed Author Guidelines document that meets authors’ expectations throughout the publication process should be prepared and regularly updated.
• Editors are responsible for providing authors with clear, constructive, and timely feedback regarding the process. Transparency, communication, and informing authors are essential throughout.

• Relations with referees
• Editors' duties and responsibilities towards referees are as follows:
• Reviewers should be selected from expert fields relevant to the subject and scope of the manuscript.
• All necessary information, documents, and guidelines that reviewers may need during the evaluation process should be provided comprehensively.
• Potential conflicts of interest between authors and reviewers must be carefully considered and prevented.
• In accordance with the principles of blind peer review, reviewers’ identities must be kept confidential.
• Reviewers should be encouraged to provide evaluations that are impartial, scientifically grounded, and objective in language.
• Reviewers’ timely responses and overall performance should be regularly monitored and assessed.
• Practices to improve reviewer performance should be developed, and effective policies should be implemented.
• The reviewer pool should be dynamically updated and diversified according to current needs.
• Rude, scientifically unfounded, or destructive reviews must be strictly prohibited.
• Necessary measures should be taken to ensure the reviewer pool includes experts from diverse disciplines and a broad academic spectrum.

Relations with the editorial board

Editors are responsible for ensuring that all editorial board members carry out editorial processes in accordance with the journal’s publishing policies and relevant guidelines.
It is the editor’s duty to keep editorial board members informed of current publishing policies and to provide regular updates regarding any changes.
Additionally, editors are responsible for guiding and training newly appointed editorial board members in line with the journal’s principles and standards, and for ensuring that these members have access to the information and resources they may need.

 

 

Additionally, editors should:

• Ensure that editorial board members conduct the review processes in accordance with the principles of impartiality and editorial independence.
• Carefully select editorial board members from among individuals who are competent in their fields and possess appropriate academic qualifications, capable of making valuable contributions to the journal.
• Assign manuscripts to editorial board members in alignment with their areas of expertise to maintain the scientific quality of the review process.
• Establish a regular and effective communication network with the editorial board to ensure continuous information exchange and efficient process management.
• Hold periodic meetings with the editorial board to review publication policies and carry out strategic planning for the development of the journal.

• Relations with the Publisher and Journal Owner
  The relationship between editors and the publisher is based on the principle of editorial independence. All editorial decisions are made independently of the publisher and journal owner; this independence is secured through a written agreement signed by both parties.
• Editorial and blind refereeing processes
• Editors are responsible for fully implementing the principles of the "Blind Peer Review and Evaluation Process" as outlined in the journal’s publication policy. In this context, they must ensure that the review process for each manuscript is conducted fairly, impartially, and in a timely manner.
• Quality Assurance
  Editors are responsible for ensuring that every article published in the journal complies with the journal’s publishing policies and international standards.
• Protection of Personal Data
  Editors are responsible for protecting the personal data of subjects and visual materials included in the reviewed studies. If informed consent documents are not provided for individuals involved, it is the editor's duty to reject the manuscript. Editors are also responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the personal data of authors, reviewers, and readers.

Ethics committee, human and animal rights

Editors are responsible for ensuring the protection of human and animal rights in all reviewed studies. If the study involves the use of human or animal subjects, and there is no ethics committee approval or the necessary permissions for experimental research have not been obtained, editors are obliged to reject the manuscript.

 

 

 

Precautions against possible abuse and misconduct

Editors are responsible for taking the necessary measures against misconduct and abuse of power. In this context, it is among the editor’s responsibilities to conduct a thorough, impartial, and objective investigation into reported complaints and to share the findings with the relevant parties.

Ensuring Academic Publishing Integrity
Editors are obligated to promptly make the necessary corrections in cases where errors, inconsistencies, or misleading statements are identified in published articles.

Protection of Intellectual Property Rights

Editors are responsible for ensuring the protection of intellectual property rights for all published articles. In this regard, they are required to defend the legal rights of the journal and the author(s) in the event of any potential infringement. Additionally, one of the editors’ primary responsibilities is to take preventive measures to ensure that the published content does not violate the intellectual property rights of other publications or third parties.

Editors should:

• Consider scientifically sound and persuasive criticisms of published work and adopt an impartial and constructive approach in response.
• Provide the authors of criticized articles the opportunity to respond and express their views.
• Refrain from bias against studies with negative or unexpected results, avoiding their exclusion as part of the scientific process.

Complaints Handling
Editors are responsible for carefully evaluating complaints or notifications submitted by authors, reviewers, or readers and providing clear, informative, and satisfactory responses.

 

Policies and Commercial Interests

Editorial decision-making must remain free from the influence of the journal owner, publisher, or any political or commercial interest; decisions are based solely on principles of independence and impartiality.

 

 

 

Conflict of Interest

Considering conflicts among authors, reviewers, and other editors, editors must ensure that the publication process is conducted in an independent, fair, and unbiased manner.

Reviewers’ Ethical Responsibilities

• “Editors—and reviewers—should contribute to the decision-making process by reviewing assigned manuscripts promptly and objectively, and only accept manuscripts within their area of expertise, declining those outside their field.”
• “Review should be based solely on the scientific content and methodology of the work, using entirely objective criteria, and conducted impartially without religious, political, economic, or personal bias.”
• “It is the responsibility of the editor/reviewer to carefully review manuscripts and provide constructive, guiding suggestions aimed at improving scientific quality; feedback should be respectful, polite, and supportive to help authors enhance their work.”
• “Editors/reviewers must safeguard the confidentiality of all information provided by authors and editors, destroy all materials (draft manuscripts, supplementary documents, etc.) after the review process in accordance with privacy principles, and immediately report any breach of the blind peer review policy to the editor, refraining from reviewing that manuscript.”
• “Editors/reviewers must be aware of actual or potential financial, institutional, collaborative, or interpersonal conflicts of interest. If such a conflict arises, they should refrain from reviewing and promptly inform the journal editor, even withdrawing their review if necessary to uphold ethical standards.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Publishers’ Ethical Responsibilities

• “Like all stakeholders in a scientific work, the publisher must act in accordance with ethical principles. The publisher is obliged to uphold scientific integrity, apply fair and impartial publishing policies, respect intellectual property rights, and ensure transparency throughout the publication process. They must also prevent, identify, and intervene in ethical violations to sustain the quality and credibility of academic publishing.”
• “The publisher must use their communication and publishing power without individual or institutional bias, operating ethically and impartially. They are responsible for ensuring the audience’s access to accurate, reliable, and objective information, preventing misleading or manipulative content, and shaping publication policies in alignment with public interest.”
• The publisher must protect ownership and copyright of all content published under its umbrella and archive all published works.
• If individuals encounter unethical behavior, they should feel free to contact the publisher without hesitation.

Some actions considered contrary to scientific research and publication ethics include:

• Plagiarism: Presenting others' original ideas, methods, data, or works partially or completely as one’s own without proper scientific citation.
• Fabrication: Using data or results that are fabricated or do not actually exist in scientific research.
• Falsification: Manipulating research records or data; falsely presenting unused tools, materials, or methods as used; intentionally altering or shaping research outcomes to serve the interests of supporting individuals or organizations.
• Duplicate Publication: Republishing previously published work as if it were a new publication, submitting it as separate publications for academic appointments and promotions.
• Salami Slicing: Inappropriately dividing research results into multiple parts that undermine the integrity of the research and presenting these parts as separate publications.
• Unethical Authorship:
• Including individuals as authors who have not made active contributions,
• Excluding those who have contributed actively from the author list,
• Changing the author order without academic or scientific justification,
• Removing the name of an author with contributions from subsequent editions,
• Adding names of individuals who have not contributed scientifically by using influence or power.
• Failure to Acknowledge Support: Not clearly stating individuals, institutions, or organizations that have provided support in studies conducted with assistance.
• Violation of Permission and Source Usage: Using unpublished or not yet defended theses or works as references without the author's permission.
• Violation of Ethical Rules:
• Conducting research on humans and animals without necessary approvals from ethics committees,
• Disrespecting patient rights in publications,
• Engaging in practices harmful to animal health or ecological balance.
• Misuse of Resources and Facilities: Using allocated or provided resources, spaces, equipment, and facilities intended for scientific research for purposes other than their intended use or altering them improperly.

 

Reporting Unethical Conduct

If you observe any unethical behavior or a breach of the ethical policies—whether involving editors, reviewers, authors, or any stage of the review or publication process at Anatolia Journal of Medical and Health Sciences—you should report it via email to turanakkoyun@hotmail.com.