Ethical Principles

Publication processes applied in the Galatasaray University GSU Managerial and Social Sciences Letters journal form the basis for the impartial and respectful development and distribution of information. The processes implemented in this direction are directly reflected in the quality of the work of the authors and their institutions. Peer-reviewed studies are studies that embody and support the scientific method. At this point, it is important that all stakeholders in the process (authors, readers, and researchers; publishers; referees; and editors) comply with the standards for ethical principles. Within the scope of Galatasaray University GSUMASS Journal publication ethics, all stakeholders are expected to bear the following ethical responsibilities.

iThenticate and Turnitin similarity programs are used for ethical control and the prevention of unethical attempts.

The ethical duties and responsibilities listed below have been prepared by taking into account the open access guidelines and policies published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

The author(s) who submit a study to the Galatasaray University GSU Journal of Managerial and Social Sciences Letters are expected to comply with the following ethical responsibilities:
• The works submitted by the author(s) are expected to be original.
• The author(s) should include complete and accurate references and citations to all sources they use. (The author(s) are required to fully and accurately cite and/or refer to all sources they use.)
• Persons who do not contribute intellectually to the article should not be specified as authors.
• Situations that may constitute a conflict of interest, if any, and their reasons should be explained in all submitted articles.
• Raw data 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.
• The author(s) must have a document proving their right to use the data, the necessary permissions for the research and analysis, or the consent of the experimented subjects.
• If an error is discovered in an under-peer-review, published, or early-appearing work, the author(s) must cooperate with the editor in informing, correcting, or withdrawing the journal editor or publisher.
• It should be stated that the articles sent to the journal were not sent to another journal, and the "Copyright Transfer Form" should be filled out.
• Changing the author responsibilities of a work whose evaluation process has begun (such as adding an author, changing the order of authors, or removing an author) cannot be proposed.

Within the framework of ethical rules; studies that require the permission of the Ethics Committee for evaluation in the journal are as follows:
• All types of qualitative or quantitative research that necessitate data collection from participants through interview techniques such as surveys, interviews, focus group work, observation, experimentation, and so on.
• Use of humans and animals (including material and data) for experimental or other scientific purposes,
• Clinical studies on humans,
• Scientific studies on animals,
• Retrospective studies in accordance with the personal data protection law.

In this context, the studies to be evaluated in our journal are required to
• Stating that an "informed consent form" was taken in case reports,
• Obtaining and specifying permission from the owners for the use of scales, questionnaires, and photographs belonging to others,
• Stating that copyright regulations are complied with for the intellectual and artistic works used.

Ethical Duties and Responsibilities of Reviewers

All articles submitted to our journal are evaluated by a double-blind peer-review process. The double-blind peer-review process means keeping the authors confidential from the reviewers and the reviewers from the authors in order to ensure an impartial, objective, and independent evaluation process. Articles are sent to the reviewers from the journal management system for evaluation. The reviewers are required to fill out a form that includes the contribution of the article they evaluated to the relevant fields, their decisions about whether the article is publishable, and the reasons for these decisions. Reviewer comments are forwarded to the author(s) through the editor. In this context, the ethical responsibilities and roles of journal reviewers are as follows:
• Reviewers should agree to evaluate only studies related to their area of expertise.
• Reviewers are expected to agree to review articles that do not have conflicts of interest.
• When reviewers realize a conflict of interest, they should notify the editor and refuse to review the article.
• Reviewers should evaluate the articles impartially and objectively.
• The reviewers are required to fill out the Review Evaluation Form for the articles they evaluate, and they are expected not to mention their names in the forms in order not to harm the double-blind review process. In this form, the reviewers are required to state their decision on whether the article they evaluated is publishable or not and the reasons for their decision.
• The style used by the reviewers in their suggestions should be polite, respectful, and scientific. Reviewers should avoid offensive, disrespectful, and subjective personal comments. When it is determined that the reviewers make such non-scientific comments, they can be contacted by the editor or the editorial board to review and correct their comments.
• The referees are required to complete their evaluations within the time given to them and are expected to comply with the ethical responsibilities set forth herein.

Ethical Duties and Responsibilities of Editors

Galatasaray University GSU Managerial and Social Sciences Letters editors, must comply with the ethical responsibilities published by Editor's Publication Ethics Committee (Committe on Publication Ethics - COPE (https://publicationethics.org/)) in ‘Ethical Behavior and Best Practices Guide for COPE Journal Editors’ (COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors (https://publicationethics.org/files/Code_of_conduct_for_journal_editors_Mar11.pdf)) and the 'Best Practices Guide for COPE Journal Editors' (COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors (https://publicationethics.org/files/u2/Best_Practice.pdf)), and other ethical responsabilities listed below. The editors are responsible for every publication published in Galatasaray University GSU Managerial and Social Sciences Letters. In the context of this responsibility, editors have the following roles and responsibilities:
• Making efforts to meet the information needs of readers and writers,
• Ensuring the continuous development 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,
• To show openness and transparency in terms of publication on issues that require correction and clarification.

Relations with the reader
Editors should make decisions by considering the knowledge, skills, and experience expectations of all readers, researchers, and practitioners. They should pay attention to the originality of published works as well as the contribution of published works to readers, researchers, practitioners, and scientific literature.In addition, editors are obliged to consider the feedback from readers, researchers, and practitioners and to provide explanatory and informative feedback. The editor should make sure that the sections of the journal that do not require peer review (letters to the editor, invitations, conference announcements, etc.) are clearly indicated.

Relations with the authors
The duties and responsibilities of the editors toward the authors are as follows:
Editors should make a positive or negative decision based on the importance, original value, validity, clarity of the narrative, and the journal's goals and objectives.
• Editors should take the studies that are suitable for the scope of the publication to the preliminary evaluation stage, unless they have serious problems.
• Editors should not ignore positive reviewer suggestions unless there is a serious problem with the study.
• New editors should not change the decisions made by the previous editor(s) for work unless there is a serious problem.
• "Blind Review and Evaluation Process" must be published, and the editors must prevent deviations that may occur in the defined processes.
• Editors should publish an "Author's Guide" detailing every subject expected of them by the authors. These guides should be updated periodically.
• Authors should be notified and responded to in an explanatory and informative manner.

Relations with the 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.
• The editors are responsible for providing the information and guides that the referees will need during the evaluation phase.
• The editor has to consider whether there is a conflict of interest between the authors and the reviewers.
• In the context of blind reviewing, the identity of the reviewers should be kept confidential.
• The editor should encourage reviewers to evaluate the work in an impartial, scientific, and objective way.
• The editors should evaluate referees on criteria such as timely return and performance.
• The editors should determine practices and policies that increase the performance of reviewers.
• The editors should take steps to dynamically update the reviewer pool.
• The editors should avoid writing rude and unscientific reviews.
• Editors should take steps to ensure that the reviewer pool is broad.

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 any developments. The new editorial board should educate its members on editorial policies and provide the information they need.

In addition, editors;

• should ensure that the members of the editorial board evaluate the work impartially and independently.
• should determine new editorial board members in a way that they can contribute.
• should send studies suitable for the editorial board member's area 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.

Relations with the journal owner and publisher

The relationship between the editors and the publisher is based on the principle of editorial independence.

Editorial and 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 enable a fair, impartial, and timely evaluation process to be completed for each study.

Quality assurance

Editors are responsible for publishing every article 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 authors, referees, and readers.

Ethics committee, human and animal rights

Editors are responsible for ensuring the protection of human and animal rights in the evaluated studies. They are responsible for refusing the work when there are no permits for experimental research and ethics committee approval for the subjects used in the studies.

Precaution against possible misconduct and abuse

The editors are responsible for ensuring the protection of human and animal rights in the evaluated studies. They are responsible for refusing the work when there are no permits for experimental research and no ethics committee approval for the subjects used in the studies.

Ensuring academic publication integrity
Editors should ensure that judgments in studies containing errors, inconsistencies, or misdirection 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.

Constructiveness and openness to discussion
Editors;
• should take into consideration the persuasive criticisms of the works published in the journal and display a constructive attitude towards these criticisms.
• should allow the author(s) of the criticized works to respond.
• should not ignore or exclude studies with negative results.

Complaints
Editors are responsible for carefully examining and responding to complaints from authors, reviewers, or readers in an enlightening and explanatory manner.

Political and Commercial Concerns
The journal owner, 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 in an independent and impartial manner.

Publisher's Ethical Responsibilities

Galatasaray University, the publisher of the journal, is a non-profit public university. In this context, Galatasaray University acts with awareness of the following ethical responsibilities regarding the GSU Managerial and Social Sciences Letter:
• Editors are responsible for all processes of the works submitted to the journal. In this context, the decision-makers are the editors, regardless of economic or political gains.
• Undertakes the creation of an independent editorial decision.
• Has the responsibility to take precautions against all kinds of scientific abuse, citation fraud, and plagiarism regarding the editors.

Publication Policy

1. Galatasaray University GSU Managerial and Social Sciences Letters is a peer-reviewed journal published periodically, twice a year, in March and September. The journal includes theoretical, conceptual, and empirical research articles in the fields of economics and administrative sciences, especially in economics, business administration, international relations, and political sciences. Whether or not applications from other disciplines will be evaluated is primarily decided by the editor during the preliminary evaluation. The publication languages of the journal are English and French.

2. The articles sent to the journal are first subjected to a preliminary examination in terms of form and content. The format requirements and the submission process must be fulfilled in accordance with the journal's conditions. Works that do not comply with these are subject to editorial rejection. The articles that are found suitable in terms of form and content are presented to the editorial board for reviewer appointments. It is not guaranteed that every article submitted to the journal will be included in the peer-review process. A period of two weeks is anticipated for the preliminary editorial evaluation of the articles and 10–12 weeks for the peer-review evaluation.

3. The articles submitted to the journal are sent to at least two reviewers related to the field of the article for evaluation. If one of the reviewers' reports is positive and the other is negative, the publication decision is made by the journal editors. If it is deemed necessary, the article can be sent to a third reviewer for evaluation.

4. The articles submitted to the journal should not be in the evaluation process of another journal at the same time and should not have been accepted for publication or published anywhere else before. By uploading the article to the journal, the author or authors are deemed to have declared and accepted responsibility for this issue.

5. The articles that have been evaluated and accepted for publication are listed in the issue they will be published in according to their discipline in Turkish alphabetical order: Economics (İktisat), Business Administration (İşletme), Political Science (Siyaset Bilimi), and International Relations (Uluslararası İlişkiler). Articles accepted for publication in the relevant discipline are listed alphabetically according to the surname of the responsible author.