Research and Publication Ethics

Kafkasya Journal of Health Sciences adheres to international research and publication ethics standards throughout all stages of the publication process. The primary references for our policies are COPE – Committee on Publication Ethics and ICMJE Recommendations. The journal ensures scientific integrity by clearly defining the responsibilities of authors, reviewers, and editors.

1. Ethics for Authors

Authors submitting manuscripts are expected to comply with the following ethical principles:

  1. Originality and Authenticity:

    • Submitted manuscripts must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration elsewhere.

    • All data must be accurate, complete, and reliable.

  2. Plagiarism and Proper Citation:

    • Each manuscript undergoes plagiarism detection.

    • All sources and references must be properly cited, and proper attribution must be given for ideas and data from other works.

  3. Ethics Approval and Permissions:

    • Studies involving humans or animals require approval from the relevant ethics committee.

    • Clinical or experimental studies must adhere to international ethical guidelines (e.g., Declaration of Helsinki, ARRIVE guidelines).

  4. Conflict of Interest and Funding Disclosure:

    • Authors must disclose any direct or indirect financial or personal conflicts of interest.

    • Any sponsorship or funding must be clearly stated within the manuscript.

  5. Contribution and Responsibility:

    • All authors must have contributed to study design, data collection and analysis, interpretation of results, and manuscript writing.

    • Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of the content.

2. Ethics for Reviewers

Reviewers are expected to follow these ethical principles during the peer review process:

  1. Objectivity and Impartiality:

    • Reviewers must avoid evaluating manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest.

    • The review process should be objective and based solely on scientific criteria.

  2. Confidentiality:

    • Reviewers must keep all manuscript information confidential.

    • Manuscript content and data must not be shared with third parties.

  3. Constructive Feedback:

    • Reviewers provide constructive, objective feedback to improve the scientific quality of the manuscript.

    • Criticism should be professional, respectful, and free from personal bias.

  4. Responsibility:

    • Reviewers should complete evaluations within the specified timeline.

    • Incomplete or inaccurate reviews may compromise the scientific integrity of the journal.

3. Ethics for Editors

Editors are responsible for maintaining the integrity and transparency of the journal’s publication process:

  1. Transparent Decision-Making:

    • Acceptance, rejection, or revision decisions are based on objective scientific criteria.

    • The decision-making process and criteria are publicly available on the journal website.

  2. Conflict of Interest Management:

    • Editors must disclose conflicts of interest related to manuscripts under consideration.

    • In such cases, an independent editor may handle the review process.

  3. Handling Ethical Violations:

    • Any ethical issues during the publication process (e.g., plagiarism, data manipulation, false authorship claims) are addressed according to COPE guidelines.

    • Corrective actions may include correction, retraction, or withdrawal of the manuscript.

  4. Confidentiality and Responsibility:

    • Editors must maintain confidentiality of reviewer reports and manuscript information.

    • Editors are responsible for upholding the scientific integrity of the journal.

4. Principles and International References

The journal applies publication ethics principles according to the following international guidelines:

  1. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE): Publishing ethics and academic integrity principles

  2. ICMJE Recommendations: Standards for medical and health sciences publications

  3. Declaration of Helsinki: Ethical standards for research involving humans

  4. ARRIVE Guidelines: Ethical and reporting standards for animal research