Ethical Principles and Publication Policy


The Journal of International Civilization Studies - Publication Principles

1. The articles to be submitted to The Journal of International Civilization Studies (INCISS) are required to be an original article that will fill a void in the field or a research that evaluates previously published studies and puts forward new and remarkable views on this subject. The Journal of International Civilization Studies includes theoretical and practical research.

2. In order for articles to be published in INCISS, they must not have been previously published or accepted for publication anywhere else. Articles that have been previously presented at a scientific meeting may be accepted into the evaluation process, provided that this is clearly stated.

3. Each author mentioned in the article is responsible for the content of the study.

4. Reviewers keep the evaluation process confidential and do not share it with third parties. Each study submitted to the journal is subjected to impartial evaluation by the reviewers.

5. The editor and field editors keep the review process confidential. Regardless of religion, language, race, nationality, gender, seniority or institutional affiliation, the editors and field editors are impartial to every work submitted to the journal and deemed appropriate for publication.

6. In the case of an allegation that an article submitted to the journal is plagiarized, is in the process of being published elsewhere, or has been published, the journal editor and field editors investigate this situation. If the allegation is confirmed, the editor has the right not to publish the article.

7. Author(s) should not include personal information in the word file when uploading their articles to the journal's website in word format.

8. Fee policy: There is no fee for articles to be published in The Journal of International Civilization Studies.

9. Article withdrawal: The author or authors have the right to withdraw their articles.

Evaluation Process

1. In order to submit an article to The Journal of International Civilization Studies, the author(s) must register at the journal's website. If the author wishes to be a reviewer in INCISS, he/she should indicate this during registration.

2. While uploading their articles to the system, authors should not include information such as the author's name, title, institution, and e-mail address under the title of the article in the Word document. Authors should follow the opinions of the reviewers on the system. The system administrator can see which academician added the manuscript to the system or sent it to the journal. This is important in terms of allowing the reviewers who will review the article to move more easily. The author information of the article should be uploaded to the system in a separate word file. Detailed information can be found on the spelling rules page.

3. After the article is submitted through the Article Tracking System at https://dergipark.org.tr/ from the personal page entered with the e-mail address and password, the review process can be followed from the same page. After this stage, reports from all reviewers should be expected to be received in order to make corrections.

4. The article received by the journal is first reviewed by the editor and the field editor and it is checked whether the article meets the journal's writing rules. Articles that do not comply with the journal's writing rules are rejected by the editor or field editor without starting the review process or some changes may be requested. Articles that comply with the spelling rules are sent to at least two reviewers who are experts in their fields. The reviewers are expected to complete their evaluations within 15 days and send their reports. However, depending on the intensity of the journal, this period may take longer in some cases.

5. At every stage of the process, a double-blind review system is used in which the names of the reviewers and authors are kept anonymous. Reviewers evaluate the submitted articles in terms of originality, contribution to the literature, methodology, etc. Reviewers can directly accept, reject or ask the authors to make corrections. For an article to be accepted for publication, at least two reviewers must give a positive opinion. If one of the reviewers' reports is positive and the other is negative, the article is sent to a third reviewer.

6. The article is published if it receives an "Acceptance Report" from two reviewers. If the article receives a "Rejection Report" from two reviewers, it will not be published and the author(s) of the article will be informed. If the reviewers get a "Correction Report", the author(s) are notified of the requested corrections. The author(s) are asked to complete the requested corrections and upload the article to the system again. The corrected version of the article is sent back to the reviewers, or if minor corrections are requested, the field editor can check whether the requested corrections have been fulfilled and send the article to the publication archive. If a major correction report is given, the field editor sends the article to the same reviewer again. If an "Acceptance Report" is received, it is queued in the publication archive. If the requested or expected corrections are not made, the article is "Rejected".

7. Articles submitted to The Journal of International Civilization Studies must be passed through similarity scanning software (Turnitin, iThenticate, etc.), a document indicating that they are at most 20% similar, including the bibliography, and an Ethical Responsibility Statement and Copyright Form signed by the authors.

8. The author/authors are responsible for the articles submitted to The Journal of International Civilization Studies.

9. It is assumed that all authors submitting articles to The Journal of International Civilization Studies accept all the responsibilities in the Declaration of Publication Ethics of The Journal of International Civilization Studies.

10. The Journal of International Civilization Studies accepts articles in Turkish, Kyrgyz, English, Russian and other Turkish dialects. For articles submitted in an alphabet (Cyrillic alphabet) other than the Latin alphabet (in Kyrgyz, Russian and other Turkish Dialects), the author's name and colophon, article title, abstract and bibliography must also be written in the Latin alphabet.

11. Articles written in Kyrgyz, Russian and other Turkic dialects must have Title, Abstract, Key Words and References in English. In addition, at the end of the references written in Cyrillic alphabet, the references must be given in Latin letters. This is especially important for indexes and scanning of the article.

12. During the first submission, the review process will not be initiated for articles that do not comply with the journal's writing rules.

13. Authors should follow the process by logging into the journal's system from time to time to learn the opinions of the reviewers and editors. Since they can see the corrections made by the reviewers through the system, they should make the necessary corrections and upload the final version of the article back to the system.

14. The suggestions of the reviewers and editors must be corrected and uploaded to the system within 30 days. Articles without the necessary corrections within this period will be deleted from the system.



The Journal of International Civilization Studies - Declaration of Publication Ethics

The Journal of International Civilization Studies is based on the ethical principles of the following organizations:
a) Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) - Application is under evaluation.
d) Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) - Regulation on Research and Publication Ethics Board

RESPONSIBILITIES OF EDITORS

1. Decision on Publication and Responsibility: The editors-in-chief and field editors of The Journal of International Civilization Studies are responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted for publication conform to the aims and editorial policies of the journal and should be published. The editors are also responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal are subject to policies subject to legal requirements regarding defamatory publication, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The editor is responsible for the content and editorial quality of the journal and in this context has the right to negotiate with the reviewers when making publication decisions. The editor should ensure a fair and equitable review and evaluation process. The editor of The Journal of International Civilization Studies should strive to respond to the needs of readers and authors.

2. Conflict of Interest: The chief and field editors of The Journal of International Civilization Studies should not allow unpublished material and other information and data in the manuscripts submitted to the journal by the author(s) to be used by anyone in their own work without the express written permission of the author(s).

3. Impartiality: Articles submitted to the The Journal of International Civilization Studies should always be evaluated on the basis of completely open, transparent, scientific and objective criteria without any bias. Articles should be evaluated solely on their intellectual and scientific merits, without taking into account the race, color, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnicity, nationality and political views of the authors.

4. Confidentiality: The editor-in-chief, deputy editor, field editors and editorial board should not disclose information about submitted manuscripts to anyone other than the author(s), reviewers and publisher. Any information about an article submitted to the journal should not be disclosed by the editor to anyone other than the editorial board, reviewers and the journal owner.

5. Editors are obliged to carefully examine the complaints received from authors, reviewers or readers and respond in an enlightening and explanatory manner.

6. The owner of the journal, the publisher, and no other political or commercial factors can influence the independent decision-making of the editors.

7. Other ethical principles that editors must abide by are as follows:
• Articles that they believe should not be published will be returned. Other manuscripts are sent to a reviewer or reviewers who will evaluate them better.
• When stating the reasons for rejection (not related to the subject of the journal, inappropriate writing-content-editing, obvious errors, etc.), appropriate language that is not offensive or condescending is used.
• It is obliged to protect the research data and the author's data. Confidentiality regarding the submitted articles is taken care of. Confidentiality principles should continue after rejection or publication.
• The review process is not delayed negligently or intentionally. Blocking or delaying the publication of the article is unethical.
• It is taken into account whether the study is conducted in accordance with ethical rules.
• The study is evaluated impartially and independently, without bias (free from influences such as race, religion, nationality, gender, opinion and tendency, and institutional/personal affinity).
• The article is not sent to reviewers who may ( could) have an interest in the subject. Reviewers are selected impartially.
• If there is a similarity in their own work, the evaluation is left to the associate editor or field editors.
• No information about the study is exchanged with persons other than the members of the editorial board, reviewers and the author/authors.
• Article information cannot be used in the work of the editor or any of his/her relatives.
• In determining the reviewers, scientific requirements are not exceeded, and reviewers related to the subject are determined.
• The opinions and suggestions of the reviewers should be notified to the author by the editor without specifying their names.
• They should not provide false information to the authors at any stage of the evaluation process.
• Reviewers should not make any changes on their reports and should not prepare reports contrary to the truth.
• The editor or field editors should not use the study in their own research before the study is published; they should not allow others to use it.
• Persons and institutions that provide financial support to the journal are clearly stated.
• The article rejected by the reviewers is returned, nothing should be kept except the copy of the correspondence ( Reviewer reports are kept for at least 5 years).
Corrects the mistakes in the journal and all kinds of unethical studies through publication.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF REVIEWERS

1. Speeding up the Process: A reviewer who does not find the work assigned to him/her relevant to his/her field, who feels incapable of criticizing, or who is unable to provide a timely critique should notify the editor and withdraw from the review.

2. Confidentiality: Reviewed articles should be treated as confidential documents, should not be shown to anyone other than those authorized by the editor, and should not be discussed. Privileged information and ideas obtained during the review process should be kept confidential and should not be used for personal gain.

3. Impartiality: Reviewer criticism should be objective, fair and in accordance with scientific ethics. No personal criticism should be directed against the author. Reviewers should evaluate works without regard to the origin, gender, sexual orientation or political philosophy of the authors. Reviewers should also ensure a fair blind review process for the evaluation of papers submitted to the journal. Reviewers should express their opinions with clear supporting arguments.

4. Declaration of Sources: Reviewers should identify relevant published work not cited by the author. A reviewer should also bring to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the work under review and any other previously published work within their knowledge.

5. Conflict of Interest: Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which there is a conflict of interest that may arise from competition, collaboration, or any other relationship or connection with the author. Reviewers should not have any conflicts of interest with parties such as authors, funders, editors, etc.

6. Editorial Support: Reviewers should assist editors in decision-making and should also be able to assist authors in improving manuscripts.

7. Other ethical principles that reviewers should follow:
• Reviewers should evaluate the manuscript within the deadline, not delay it.
• The reviewer should work meticulously and finish the reports on time. If the reviewer cannot evaluate the manuscript according to the conditions, he/she should send it back immediately.
• The scientist undertaking the review is obliged to make a "fair" criticism.
• He/she should evaluate the article impartially and independently, without prejudice (free from influences such as race, religion, nationality, gender, opinions and tendencies, and institutional/personal affinity).
• In cases where he/she cannot or does not want to evaluate the study due to reasons such as conflict of interest, lack of knowledge about the article, personal or professional affinity, conflict of interest/overlap and time constraints; he/she should return the study to the editor or the chair of the committee as soon as possible.
• The reviewer must comply with confidentiality and not share article information.
• He/she should not exchange information about the study with persons/authors other than the editor or the chairman of the board who sent the study to him/her.
• Should not send an article for which he/she has been asked for an opinion to another reviewer without consulting the editor and obtaining approval.
• They are obliged to ensure that the data related to the study are protected and stored in accordance with the confidentiality rule.
• They should consider whether the study is conducted in accordance with ethical rules.
• If there is another article that is very similar and overlapping with the article under review, the editor should be informed about the situation.
• It should prevent the publication of inconsistent and unethical articles.
• A cartel cannot be formed in reviewing, and the reviewer cannot disparage studies that are not cited.
• The missing aspects of the study should be stated in a "guiding" style.
• The reviewer should express his/her opinions, evaluations and suggestions about the study clearly and comprehensibly in his/her report and support them with literature data when necessary.
• They should not use the study in their own research before the study is published; they should not allow others to use it.
• If the article is the subject of the reviewer's research and the authors and the reviewer are in a competition on that subject, the article should be returned and the information should not be used.
• The reviewer should clearly report his/her recommendations for publication or non-publication. It is an ethical responsibility to write the rationale. The reviewer should use appropriate language in his/her report.
• Criticism of the article should be objective, balanced and directed at the text, not the author.
• Reviewers should be principled and truthful when rejecting the article.
• The reviewer should evaluate the quality of the article, the experimental and theoretical parts of the work, the interpretation and presentation of the work, adhering to scientific principles. Respect the intellectual independence of the author.
• The reviewer should be sensitive to the possibility that the article he/she is reviewing is close to his/her own work in progress or a work in press and that this may create a conflict of interest. If such a situation arises, he/she should immediately return the manuscript without reviewing it and inform the editor of the potential conflict or bias.
• The reviewer should refuse to review works written by people with whom he/she has personal or professional ties, on the grounds that this may affect the objectivity of the review.
• The reviewer should treat the manuscript sent to him/her for criticism as a confidential document.
• The reviewer should express and support his/her criticism in such a way that the editor and the author can understand the points on which the criticism is based.
• The reviewer should be alert to erroneous references that the author may make to similar works by other scholars.
• Reviewers should not use unpublished information, discussion or comments on a manuscript under review without the author's permission. If a reviewer realizes that his/her review is unhelpful, he/she should ethically discontinue the work.
• Care should be taken in the wording used so as not to discourage and undermine the confidence of researchers at the beginning of their academic career.
• The evaluation report should be read one last time by the supervisor and should be an easy-to-understand text that includes suggestions for eliminating deficiencies and is supported by the necessary resources for criticism.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF AUTHORS

1. Reporting Standards: A manuscript submitted to The Journal of International Civilization Studies must be original and the authors must undertake that the manuscript is original work that has not been previously published in any other journal. The data used in the study should be presented meticulously in the study. A study should contain sufficient detail and source information. Fraudulent and deliberate misrepresentation is unacceptable as it may lead to unethical situations. In addition, authors should strictly follow the journal's editorial guidelines. In this context, they should fulfill the changes requested by the reviewer, field editor and editor-in-chief in a timely and meticulous manner. All kinds of information, documents and changes related to the article requested by the journal editorial office from the author/authors should be sent via the system within 15 days at the latest and the editor should be informed. It should be known that if these requests are not fulfilled within the deadline, the author/authors will be deemed to have withdrawn the article.

2. TR Index has added some articles about ethical rules to its 2020 criteria. Candidate articles should be organized according to these articles:
- "Ethics Committee Permission" is required for all kinds of research conducted with qualitative or quantitative approaches that require data collection from participants using survey, interview, focus group study, observation, experiment, interview techniques.
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It should be stated whether ethics committee approval and/or legal/private permission is required. If these permissions are required, it should be clearly presented from which institution, on which date and with which decision or number number the permission was obtained.
- "Ethics Committee Permission" is required for research in which humans and animals (including material/data) are used for experimental or other scientific purposes.
- If the study requires the use of human or animal subjects, it must be declared that the study was conducted in accordance with international declarations, guidelines, etc.
- "Ethics Committee Permission" is required for clinical research on humans and research on animals.
- "Ethics Committee Permission" is required for retrospective studies in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Law.
- For the use of scales, questionnaires and photographs belonging to others, permission must be obtained from the owners and this must be stated in the article.
- In case presentations, it should be stated that the "Informed Consent Form" has been obtained.
- It should be stated that copyright regulations are complied with for the intellectual and artistic works used.
- Data Access and Data Retention: Authors may be asked to provide relevant raw data that may be needed during the evaluation phase in connection with their work. The author(s) should therefore be prepared to provide access to this data and retain it for a reasonable period of time following publication of their work.
-You can benefit from the link given on which researches do or do not require ethics committee permission: TR Index Ethical principles scheme
* For researches that require ethics committee permission, the document indicating that ethics committee permission has been obtained must be submitted through the system.

3. Originality and Plagiarism: Authors should write completely original manuscripts and if they use the work and/or words of others, they should cite them appropriately. By submitting an article to The Journal of International Civilization Studies, the authors guarantee that their article is original and complies with ethical standards, that the references used are fully cited, and that it is not similar to other articles that have been published or are in the process of publication. In this context, authors should upload their manuscripts through a plagiarism detection software (ithenticate, turnitin, etc.) and upload a document stating that their manuscripts have a maximum of 20% similarity, including the bibliography, through the The Journal of International Civilization Studies DergiPark system.

4. Publication in More Than One Place: An author should not publish the text describing essentially the same research in more than one article. It is unethical and unacceptable to submit the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time.

5. Acknowledgment of Sources: The acknowledgment of references taken from the work of others should always be done appropriately. Authors must cite previous publications that have influenced the substance of their reported work.

6. Authorship of the Study: Authorship should be a title limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the concept, design, implementation or interpretation of the reported work. All significant contributors should be listed following the first author. If there are individuals involved in various aspects of the research project, they should be declared or listed as contributors. Authorship should also include a corresponding author who is in contact with the editor of the journal. The corresponding author should ensure that all co-authors are involved in the manuscript.

7. Disclosure and Conflict of Interest: All authors are required to disclose any financial resources or conflicts of interest that may influence the conclusions or interpretations of their work.

8. Major Errors in Published Work: If an author becomes aware of a major inaccuracy or defect in his/her published work, it is the author's obligation to notify the journal editor immediately and to cooperate with the editor to correct the inaccuracy or defect. Since The Journal of International Civilization Studies is published through the DergiPark system, such change requests must be made within 5 days from the date of publication of the journal. Authors have an obligation to work with the editor to ensure that errors are corrected.