Policies
IEJEE is an academic journal that has been publishing according to ethical principles since its establishment. While IEJEE fulfils its own responsibility regarding ethical principles, it also expects its stakeholders to fulfil this responsibility because, until an academic study is published, it is developed with the contributions of different stakeholders. Authors, researchers, editors, reviewers, readers and the publisher are integral parts of this process. For this reason, IEJEE aims to ensure that all stakeholders comply with ethical principles and thus to establish an ethical standard in academic publications. The responsibilities IEJEE expects from stakeholders within the scope of publication ethics are listed below.
Duties of Publisher
Every stage of IEJEE's publication process primarily aims at the impartial production, distribution and open access of knowledge. In order to achieve this goal, IEJEE cares about the contribution of its stakeholders and is aware that it has to support them.
The publishing processes implemented in IEJEE aim at producing and distributing knowledge in an impartial manner. Therefore, IEJEE as the publisher, is aware that it has to support the contributions of the stakeholders. IEJEE has a supportive and nurturing role in the production of scientific publications, and is also ultimately responsible for ensuring that best practice is followed in its publications. In this regard, IEJEE is meticulously fulfilling its duty to protect scientific records and is committed to continuing to do so. It also follows best practices on ethical issues, and what to do in the event of errors or withdrawals. IEJEE is committed to ensuring that political, ethnic, academic or economic concerns do not have any influence on editorial decisions. It also supports best practices by offering editors a Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) membership and providing Crossref Similarity Check reports for all submissions. In addition, it provides technical and legal support to the editors regarding the publication processes.
Duties of Editors
IEJEE editors and field editors undertake to have the following ethical duties and responsibilities based on the "COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" and "COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Editors are responsible for independently deciding on which of the articles submitted to IEJEE should be published. Editors may be guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board. They may be restricted by legal requirements that may apply in the event of copyright infringement or plagiarism. Editors may negotiate with other editors or reviewers while making decisions regarding the manuscripts submitted to the journal.
Another duty of the editors is to ensure that the review process takes place in a fair, impartial manner and in accordance with the timeline. Research articles should typically be reviewed by at least two external and independent reviewers, with additional comments from editors or reviewers if needed. Taking into account the need for appropriate, inclusive and diverse representation in the reviewer selection process, editors are responsible for selecting reviewers with appropriate expertise in the relevant field, and following best practices to avoid fake peer-review. Furthermore, in necessary cases, editors should go through all disclosures of potential conflicts of interest and critical reviews made by reviewers to determine if there is any potential for bias. They should keep the identity information of the reviewers confidential during the review selection process, encourage them for impartial, scientific and objective reviews and prevent non-scientific ones.
Editors should evaluate articles submitted to IEJEE in terms of the scientific content, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnicity, or political views of the authors. They should encourage transparent, complete and honest reporting, and also clearly explain to reviewers and authors what is expected of them. Editors will use the journal tracking system on the journal's Open Journal System (OJS) while performing these operations. In case of possible objections, the editors are responsible for establishing a transparent mechanism together with the publisher.
The editors undertake not to perform any action to artificially increase any of IEJEE's metrics and attempt to influence the journal's ranking. In particular, they should state that they will not request citations to articles by IEJEE or any other scientific journal, except for genuine scientific reasons, and will not ask authors to cite the editor's own articles or products and services of which the editor is aware.
The editors will maintain the confidentiality of all materials submitted to the journal and all communications with the reviewers, unless otherwise agreed with the researchers and reviewers. In exceptional or necessary circumstances, in consultation with the publisher, they may share limited information with the editors of other journals to investigate suspicious situations. Confidential information or ideas obtained as a result of editorial or review processes will be kept confidential and will not be used for personal benefit.
Any potential editorial conflict of interest must be communicated in a written way to the publisher prior to the editor's appointment. Editors will not be involved in decisions about the articles written by themselves, family members or close colleagues. Such submissions will be subject to all regular processes of the journal, and peer review will be conducted independently of the relevant author, editor or research groups.
The editor will work with the publisher to maintain the integrity of published articles by reviewing and evaluating reported or suspected misconducts. The editor will also make appropriate use of the publisher's systems to detect misconducts such as plagiarism. An editor, providing convincing evidence of misconduct, will work in coordination with the publisher to ensure prompt publication of a revision, retraction, or other relevant corrections in the journal records.
Duties of Reviewers
Contribution to the Editors
Peer-reviews have a very important role in making editorial decisions about the articles submitted to the journal and for the authors to improve their manuscripts. In the peer-review process, one of the most basic elements of scientific communication, it is expected to conduct a qualified review and to comply with general etiquette in communication with authors. A reviewer who feels inadequate to review the article submitted for evaluation or who will not be able to perform the review within the time allocated should notify the editor and refuse to participate in the peer-review process.
Confidentiality of Personal Data and Documents
All information and documents regarding the articles sent to the reviewers should be kept confidential within the scope of the personal data protection policy. Reviewers should not share any information about the article with anyone without permission from the editors. Besides, in accordance with the double-blind peer-review process, the reviewers should not take any action to identify the identity of the authors. Even unpublished material from a peer-reviewed article should not be used in a reviewer's own research without the written consent of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained during the peer-review process should be kept confidential and not be used for personal benefit.
Ethical Sensitivity
Reviewers should be careful about possible ethical problems in the articles sent to them and should immediately inform the editors if they encounter any problems related to publication ethics. They should also share evidence of these potential ethical issues with editors.
Impartiality
Reviewers should be impartial in their evaluations. In this regard, they should be aware of any prejudices that may occur while reading the manuscript and should not allow these prejudices affect the evaluation process of the article. During the review process, criticisms should be presented towards the manuscript, not to the personality of the author, and these criticisms should be explained clearly and supported by various arguments. Before reviewing a manuscript, reviewers should contact the editor about potential conflicts of interest that may arise from their social, academic or commercial relationships. In addition, if the reviewers suggest adding reference to various studies, such reference suggestions should not be made in order to increase the number of citations of the reviewer himself or his/her collaborators, and the suggestions should be based on real scientific reasons.
Duties of Authors
Reporting
Each original article to be submitted to IEJEE should be presented in a way that provides a clear understanding of the work performed. The literature, method, data, findings and discussion of the article should be shared in a way that allows other researchers to conduct the study again. Making false statements intentionally or using various tricks constitutes unethical behaviour and such misconducts are unacceptable.
Data Sharing
Editors may ask the authors to share the data of their research if needed. For this reason, authors should retain their data for a period of time, as they are likely to provide public access and to share research data.
Originality of Resources Used
Authors submitting articles to IEJEE should make sure that they have written an original text and that if they benefit from the works of other authors, they cite these sources in accordance with the ethical rules, and if necessary, they get permission from the author(s) of the cited text. Authors should cite publications that have influenced the reported work and give it appropriate context within the wider scientific record. Information obtained in conversations or correspondence with third parties should not be used or shared without the permission of the source. Plagiarism takes many forms, from presenting the work of someone else as the author's own, to copying or paraphrasing important parts of it without attribution, or to asserting the results of research conducted by others. Any form of plagiarism constitutes unethical behaviour and is unacceptable.
Simultaneous Publication and Article Submission
Authors should not send their manuscript to more than one journal at the same time, or they should not publish the articles in which they report the same research in different ways. Submitting the text of an article to more than one journal simultaneously is an unethical behaviour and is absolutely unacceptable. In addition, a previously published article cannot be sent to IEJEE for consideration.
Privacy
The authors should not use the confidential materials such as information, data, images, sound recordings, etc. obtained during the process of their research without the written permission of the relevant person or institutions.
Authorship
The authors of the articles submitted to IEJEE should consist of people who contributed to the design, execution, interpretation and reporting of the study. It is obligatory for all researchers contributing at these stages to be included in the article as co-authors. People contributing to the manuscript such as editing or proofreading should be included in the acknowledgment section.
The researcher, designated as the corresponding author of the article, should make sure that all authors' names are listed in the article text, and that all authors have seen and approved the final version of the article text and accepted it for publication. Editors will only be able to decide on the addition, deletion or rearrangement of authors in exceptional cases. All authors must agree to any such addition, removal or rearrangement.
All authors of the article are jointly responsible for the manuscript. Each author is responsible for ensuring that questions regarding the accuracy or completeness of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and answered.
Human or Animal Rights
If the authors have worked with humans or animal subjects in their research, they should state that all procedures in the research process were carried out in accordance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines and that the relevant institutions have approved these procedures. In studies conducted with humans, it is obligatory to inform the participants about the content of the study and to obtain consent from each individual stating that they participate in the study voluntarily. The privacy rights of all participants must be respected at all stages of work with people.
Conflict of Interest Statement
All authors must disclose situations that may constitute a conflict of interest in their work submitted for publication and any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations. All financial supports utilized during the conduct of the research and/or the preparation of the article and the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in the design process of the study should be explained. If there is no such involvement of the source(s) providing the financial support, this should be stated. Examples of potential conflicts of interest that need to be disclosed include consultancies, patent applications/registrations and grants (from various agencies) or other funding. Possible conflicts of interest should be disclosed at the earliest possible stage.
Notification of Detected Errors
Authors are obliged to notify the journal editors or the publisher as soon as they notice a significant error or mistake after the publication of their articles in IEJEE. After the notification, it is the author's responsibility to withdraw or revise the article when deemed necessary by the editors, provided that he/she cooperates with the editors. If the editors or publisher learns from a third party that a published work contains material errors or inaccuracies, the author(s) are also expected to cooperate with the editors/publisher to revise such errors or inaccuracies.
Peer Review Policy
Articles submitted for publication in IEJEE go through the peer-review process. According to the content of the research, at least two reviewers are appointed by the editors for the review process of the articles. The double-blind review method is used by the editors in the peer-review process, and the identities of both the reviewers and the author are mutually kept confidential by the editors throughout process. For this reason, the reviewers cannot directly contact the authors.
Articles submitted to IEJEE are initially reviewed in terms of the format and then sent to one of the journal editors to decide whether they are suitable for peer review. If one of the journal editors is an author in the submitted article, another member of the editorial board is appointed to supervise the peer-review process. Editors should consider the reviewer reports when deciding on the article, but they do not have to be limited to the opinions or recommendations in the review reports. Concerns of a reviewer or the editor regarding the content of the article may result in rejection. After the evaluation of the article, the editorial decision and reviewer reports are sent to the author(s) via the journal management system.
Peer-Review Selection
In the publication processes of all articles sent to IEJEE, the selection of reviewers is of great importance and this process is carried out meticulously. Field expertise, academic reputation, suggestions offered by editors, conflicts of interest and previous reviewing performances are taken into account in the selection of reviewers. It is expected that the reviewers present their scientifically based opinions in a quick, rigorous and cooperative way.
Editors are expected to appoint at least two independent reviewers for the evaluation of articles submitted to IEJEE. It is accepted that it can be difficult to find two independent reviewers, especially in developing fields of study. For this reason, editors may want to make a decision to publish a candidate article based on one peer-review report or by serving as a second reviewer. However, in this case, the reviewer is expected to have a recently published work on the subject of the article. If the editor serves as the second reviewer, it is desirable that he/she has sufficient knowledge in this field.
Article review reports to be submitted to IEJEE must be in English. While reviewing the articles, the reviewers should make constructive critical evaluations about the appropriateness of the methods used in the research, whether the results or analyses are correct, and whether the results are supported by other studies in the field. Therefore, short and superficial reviewer reports that do not provide a justification for editorial decisions will not be considered.
Editors are expected to independently verify the contact information of potential reviewers selected to review the articles and, if possible, the institutional e-mail addresses of the reviewers should be used. Reviewers are required to notify the editor of potential conflicts of interest before accepting the manuscript review invitation sent to them. Communications between editors and reviewers should be kept confidential and should never be shared with third parties.
In accordance with the IEJEE publication policy, the editors may ask the author to suggest reviewers when needed. However, these suggested reviewers may not be appointed to review the author's article. Here, the final decision belongs to the editor taking the reviewer pool into consideration. Authors may also request editors not to appoint researchers with a conflict of interest as reviewers. Editors will consider these requests, but do not have to perform them. Authors should not recommend their colleagues working in the same institution when suggesting reviewers. If the authors are to suggest reviewers, they have to share with the editors the information that will confirm the identity of the reviewers (such as ORCID, e-mail and institution information) and their field of expertise.
What Do We Expect from Reviewers in the Peer-Review Process?
Peer-reviews are very important for the editors to reach a scientific-based decision regarding the articles submitted to IEJEE. The reports prepared by the reviewers should also help the authors develop the content of their articles so that they can be accepted for publication in IEJEE. Peer-reviews recommending the rejection of the candidate article should explain the main weaknesses and shortcomings of the paper in detail. Thus, authors will be able to develop their articles for re-uploading to IEJEE or submitting to different journals.
All reviewers must adhere to COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers throughout the review process. In addition, reviewers should only evaluate articles based on the publication criteria specified in the purpose and scope section of the journal. Besides, researchers serving as reviewers in IEJEE are expected to comply with the following points;
- Reviewers should read IEJEE's Peer-Review Policy before accepting an invitation to review.
- Review of an article should be carried out with an objective point of view.
- Personal criticism, slander, etc. towards the author should not be shared under the name of review and it should be known that this situation cannot be accepted by IEJEE.
- The opinions presented in the review report should be based on scientific grounds and explained by giving references to the studies in the literature.
- Reviewers must declare potential conflicts of interest.
- Reviewers should protect the confidentiality of the articles sent to them for review and should neither share the information about the content of the article with their colleagues and close circles nor use it in their own research.
- The editor should be contacted to solve the problems encountered related to the above-mentioned issues.
The reviewers are expected to pay attention to the following points in their evaluations regarding the content;
- Major Findings of the Study: Identify the prominent results and features of the study. Express your thoughts on the contribution it will make to the field.
- Validity and Reliability: Are there any errors in the content that might lead to rejection? If so, what are these errors? Explain in detail.
- Method and Data Collection Techniques: State your opinion about the suitability of the method and data collection techniques used in the research process. Evaluate whether the statements in the research method and data collection techniques section are sufficiently detailed and transparent enough to enable re-conducting the research.
- Data Analysis and the Use of Appropriate Statistics: Include your comments on the appropriateness and the accuracy of the data analysis techniques in your report. If necessary, you can contact the editor to request data sets from the authors for the re-analysis of relevant ones.
- Findings: Are the findings and the interpretation of them reported in accordance with the method of the study? Do you think that the conclusion reached in the findings is valid and reliable? Explain in detail.
- Discussion and Suggestions: Are the results of the research associated with similar or different research findings in the literature? Are there any suggestions made to education stakeholders based on the results of the research? Explain in detail.
- References: Do the authors refer specifically to the basic studies on the research topic? If not, which studies would you recommend to be examined and cited?
- Clarity and Textual Context: Is the research report prepared in a clear, concise and comprehensible way? Do you think there is an error in the article in terms of the textual mechanics (coherence and consistency)? Explain in detail.
In addition to the statements above, the reviewers should explicitly indicate when the analyses in the article are out of their expertise or the sections that they think they cannot properly evaluate. They should also take into account the specific questions asked by the editor(s) about the article. If the reviewers believe that there is an ethical problem in the article they are reviewing, they should contact the editor-in-chief and review the entire report for the above-mentioned issues and polite language before submitting it. In the review process of the articles sent to IEJEE, it is not obligatory for the reviewers to follow the order above. However, they are expected to make a comment/evaluation on all these issues.
Open Access Policy and Fee
IEJEE adopts an open access policy in order to provide useful outputs for humanity and to increase knowledge by sharing. For this reason, articles submitted to IEJEE must be published as open access. In accordance with the open access policy, the full texts of all articles published in IEJEE are freely and unlimitedly accessible. In addition, users do not need to register to access the content of published articles. However, since it is an open access journal, IEJEE charges a symbolic publication fee, $450, for accepted articles (open access publication fee updated from June 1, 2022). You can get more detailed information about open access publishing by reading the Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing.
Copyright Policy
IEJEE licenses all published articles under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No-Derivative 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license. When authors submit their articles to IEJEE, they accept the application of the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. Unlimited use of the articles is permitted under this license, provided that the articles are properly cited, the use is non-commercial, and there is no modification or adaptation. The authors are also deemed to have transferred all their rights to IEJEE, except for copyright and publication rights.!!!
Archiving Policy
IEJEE uses the Open Journal System (OJS) developed by the Public Knowledge Project (PKP). PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN), integrated into the OJS system, provides archiving and digital preservation of articles published in IEJEE. Developed in this direction, the LOCKSS program offers decentralized and distributed preservation, seamless perpetual access, and preservation of the authentic original version of the content. The PKP PN ensures that journals that are not part of any other digital preservation service (such as CLOCKSS or Portico) that can be preserved for long-term access. See the PKP Preservation Network Guide for additional details about the PKP PN and how to use it.
Manuscripts submitted to IEJEE are critically reviewed in detail before the peer-review process. In this initial screening, besides the scientific quality of the article, the quality of the language used throughout the manuscript is also examined. Although the manuscripts have a scientifically remarkable and qualified content, the situation in which they do not use a comprehensible, clear and error-free language may result in editorial rejection. In these cases, the focus is on the authors' ability to use the language rather than the quality of the research. Looking at the IEJEE journal statistics, it will be seen that approximately 75% of the submitted papers were rejected. Reasons such as insufficient literature review on the subject matter, methodological problems, incorrect use of statistical procedures and the low quality of the language used in the manuscript are influential in the rejections. Even effective research content can be rejected due to the language use. For this reason, IEJEE expects authors to make their manuscripts ready in terms of the language use and the format before submission.
Manuscripts submitted to IEJEE should be written in comprehensible English, in accordance with grammar rules and the scientific literature. The editorial board may request a revision of the text due to language errors during the evaluation process or after the manuscript is accepted. If necessary, proofreading and editing of the manuscripts accepted for publication in IEJEE should be done by competent institutions. You can get proofreading and editing services for your accepted manuscripts from any of the institutions listed below:
www.besteditproof.com/en (%15 Discount)
IEJEE promises to protect your personal data and privacy as a requirement of academic publishing. The privacy policy of personal data prepared for this purpose is valid for the services offered on the IEJEE website and the open journal system. Our privacy policy may also be supported by supplementary privacy notices and terms that will be provided to you. As the owner of the service offered, Kura Publishing is the primary controller and supervisor of all your personal data collected during the publication process of the articles.
IEJEE undertakes to keep the personal information, research-related data and other shared information in the articles submitted for evaluation confidential in order to protect the work and reputation of the authors. Such data can only be shared with the necessary authorities under the control of the editors in cases of violation, plagiarism, ethical disputes and fraud. Our data privacy policy is designed to protect you against an organization that may potentially misuse your personal information and it provides you with certain rights.
How is Your Personal Data Collected? How is it used?
IEJEE collects your personal data through the entries you process into the open journal system and the information you share with the editors. These data are collected;
- to be able to access, use and manage all the services offered by IEJEE through the open journal system,
- to be able to direct a request regarding the article evaluation process or to fulfil the duties requested by the editors,
- to be able to follow changes, updates and other announcements regarding the article publication process,
- to determine journal usage trends, to analyse data about IEJEE and to evaluate business performance,
- to be able to develop and improve the service offered in IEJEE by adding new content and features,
- and to share relevant information with third parties in necessary legal and ethical situations.
How long do we keep your information? What information of yours do we share?
IEJEE retains your personal information as long as it is necessary. Your personal information or data (such as research data, article text) that you upload to the open journal system or share with the editors through various communication ways are never shared with third parties, except for the cases mentioned above (such as violation, plagiarism, ethical disputes or fraud, etc.). However, when your article is published, only your name, surname, affiliation, ORCID ID and e-mail address will be included in the relevant text.
Accessing and Updating Your Personal Data
IEJEE open journal system allows registered users to directly access their account and make revisions or updates in their personal information at any time. It is the sole responsibility of the authors/users to keep the personal data in the IEJEE open journal system up-to-date. Researchers registered with IEJEE can close their accounts directly through the open journal system or by contacting the administrator.
Registered users of IEJEE have the following rights in accordance with worldwide privacy and data protection laws;
- Accessing personal information, requesting revision or deletion of this information
- Requesting a restriction in the processing of personal information or objecting to its processing
- Requesting the move of your personal information
When researchers who register or submit articles to IEJEE wish to exercise any of the above-mentioned rights, they can contact the editors via the e-mail address [email protected]. Requested researchers will be responded to if they confirm their identity.
Data Security
IEJEE technical team take precautions to protect your personal information against loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration and destruction by using the features of open journal systems. In addition, security tests are carried out periodically both on the open journal system and on our website.