Ethical Principles and Publication Policy

Regardless of the type of article, there are certain aspects that researchers must pay attention to. These include ethical committee approval, informed consent, avoiding deception in research (and providing necessary information if deception is used), and protecting the participants. Authors should mention the ethical approval obtained for their research in the article. Ethical committee approval is mandatory for empirical studies. Authors should also be prepared to answer any questions that may arise from the editor or reviewers during the review process (see, APA Publication Manual, 7th Edition). When a manuscript without ethical approval is submitted to the journal, the evaluation will be conducted in accordance with COPE’s Ethical Guidelines for Research, Audit, and Service Evaluations.

Like the other sections of the study, the method and results sections must be reported fully and accurately. Ethical and professional issues related to these sections are equally important for quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods articles. Authors should not fabricate or falsify data. It is forbidden to alter results, including visuals, to support a theory or hypothesis, or to omit problematic observations to present a more convincing story. Similarly, presenting hypotheses generated from data (post hoc) as if they were pre-planned violates basic ethical principles (see APA Publication Manual, 7th Edition). Authors are encouraged to use the EASE Ethics Checklist for Authors to ensure their work complies with ethical standards and practices.

Findings that contradict the existing hypothesis should not be underreported, and reports related to manipulations, measures, or findings in the study should not be selectively included. Participants or other individual observations should not be excluded without a valid reason to achieve the desired result. In quantitative research reports, hypotheses should be categorized into three groups: pre-planned-primary, pre-planned-secondary, and exploratory (post hoc). Exploratory hypotheses are permissible, and there should be no pressure to present them as pre-planned. Similarly, in qualitative research, the researcher must transparently state their expectations at the beginning of the study as part of the research reporting (see APA Publication Manual, 7th Edition).

Articles submitted to the journal system must not have been previously published or be under review elsewhere. Authors should also indicate any conflicts of interest on the title page.

The Journal of Psychological Research Perspectives aims to make information impartial and accessible to everyone. All stakeholders (editors, reviewers and authors) should take the necessary ethical responsibilities in the journal publication process. The Journal of Psychological Research Perspectives strives to adhere to the guidelines and fundamental practices established by organizations like the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Publication Ethics Principles (a joint statement by COPE, DOAJ, OASPA, and WAME).

Ethical Principles and Responsibilities for Editors

• Demonstrates due diligence in evaluating manuscripts in an impartial and fair manner.
• Protects the confidentiality of reviewers and authors and ensures that the evaluation process is carried out in a double-blind manner.
• Follows the current processes related to publishing and determines the needs of the journal in this direction, ensures and supervises the fulfillment of the requirements.
• Works for the development of the journal. In this regard, they are open and respectful to the opinions of authors, reviewers and readers.
• Observes ethical standards, freedom of thought and intellectual property rights in the publishing process.
• By following current research, it takes care that the published studies are original and have scientific contribution value.
• Ensures that the studies determined to be suitable for the journal are forwarded to the relevant field editor.
• Ensures that the referees evaluate the studies fairly, impartially and based on scientific principles.
• Takes care to ensure that the referee pool is up-to-date and qualified.
• The Editorial Board members who will contribute to this process are determined by considering the development of the journal.
• Regular consultation meetings are held with Editorial Board Members in the process of developing and reviewing journal management and policies.
• Field editors review the manuscripts meticulously and ensure that appropriate referees are identified.
• Field editors ensure that the manuscripts are forwarded to competent and qualified referees.
• They act meticulously to ensure that there is no conflict of interest between the author and the referee. If a conflict of interest is detected or notified by the referee, a new referee is appointed.
• Ensures that the referees’ article evaluation process is fair, diligent and impartial.
• It follows the process carefully in order not to disrupt the article evaluation process and makes the necessary warnings.
• Protects referee and author confidentiality.
• Keeps in touch with the author for the healthy execution of the publication process.

Ethical responsibilities in the evaluation process

• Editors should take the final decision in accordance with the principle of impartiality, considering the reviewers’ evaluation reports and their opinions on the article.
• According to the referees’ recommendations, the Editorial Board follows one of the following paths:
  • May accept the work.
  • Accept the study after major or minor revision.
  • Reject the manuscript if it is not suitable for the journal or after referee comments.
  • After reviewing the referee opinions, can send the manuscript to a different referee and accept or reject it after this evaluation.

Ethical Principles and Responsibilities for Reviewers

In order to increase the quality and reliability of scientific studies, referees are expected to act in accordance with certain ethical principles. Manuscripts that can be published at the end of the editorial process are sent to 2 different referees.

The refereeing process should be carried out with impartiality, confidentiality and professionalism. In this context, the referees of our journal are required to fulfill the following ethical responsibilities:

• Impartial Evaluation
  • Reviewers should evaluate the submitted manuscripts based on completely objective criteria.
  • o Referees should be fair, attentive and impartial in the manuscript evaluation process and observe scientific principles.
• Expertise and Competence
  • Reviewers should not accept an offer to review if they do not have sufficient knowledge and expertise for the review.
• Avoiding Conflict of Interest
  • In case of any conflict of interest with the authors or the study, reviewers should decline to serve as a reviewer and inform the relevant field editor.
• Privacy Policy
  • Information and materials obtained during the evaluation process must be kept confidential and destroyed after the process is completed. This information must not be used for any personal or professional gain.
• Constructive Feedback
  • Reviewers should provide constructive and explanatory feedback to help authors improve their work. Criticisms should be constructive and free from offensive expressions.
  • Academic and scientific language should be used in the manuscript evaluation report or in the in-text notes.
• Timely Evaluation
  • Referees should evaluate the studies they undertake within the specified period and inform the editors when situations arise that may delay the process.
  • When the evaluation is finished, the referees should fill in the “Referee Evaluation Form” available in the system.
• Maintaining Scientific Standards
  • Reviewers should inform the editors if they find that scientific method and ethical rules have been violated and ensure that the relevant study is reorganized in accordance with these standards.

Our journal is committed to promoting transparency and reliability in scientific publication processes. The fulfillment of these responsibilities by our referees will contribute to the protection of the ethical and academic values of scientific studies.

Ethical Principles and Responsibilities for Authors

• Authors must obtain ethics committee approval, informed consent and, if necessary, institutional approval for all studies involving humans and animals.
• Authors are required to indicate the information about the necessary permissions in the method section of the article (ethics committee approval, date and number, institutional permission, informed consent from the participants).
• Authors should provide information and raw data about their work to the editor when requested.
• Authors submitting articles to the journal must have an ORCID number.
• The Copyright Transfer Form indicating that the copyright of the article has been transferred to the journal must be signed by all authors and uploaded to the journal system only for accepted articles.
• When a study involving a researcher in the journal team is uploaded to the system, the relevant researcher can only access the author panel until the end of the evaluation process and cannot access the system related to his/her role in the journal. The entire evaluation process is carried out in impartiality and confidentiality, just like for other studies.
• Authors should not submit a manuscript to more than one journal at the same time.
• Authors should not submit a manuscript that is under review or has already been published to a different journal.
• In such cases, the manuscript will be rejected or withdrawn if already published.
• The author is obliged to carefully read the “Guidelines for Authors” section on the journal website and to apply the journal’s writing rules.

Ethical Responsibilities of the Publisher

Journal of Psychological Research Perspectives;

• Does not charge any fee from the authors..
• Supports the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI). This policy ensures that research is accessible to a wide audience and encourages knowledge sharing so that information can be accessed without any barriers.
• Protects the intellectual property and copyrights of published works.
• Stores all studies submitted to the journal and all data related to the evaluation process.