Ethical Principles and Publication Policy 

The editorial and publication processes of the journal are shaped following the guidelines of the Council of Science Editors (CSE), Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), European Association of Science Editors (EASE), and National Information Standards Organization (NISO). The journal conforms with the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (doaj.org/bestpractice).

Publishing an article in a peer-reviewed journal is essential for developing a coherent and respected knowledge network. Peer-reviewed articles support and develop scientific methods. Therefore, it is essential for all relevant parties involved in the publishing process, including authors, journal editors, reviewers, and publishing agencies, to agree on the expected ethical behaviours and standards. Therefore, The Rest: Journal of Politics and Development expects all its parties to take on the following ethical responsibilities as part of the publication ethics.

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Ethical Principles

1. Authorship of the Paper:

Authorship should be limited to those who have contributed significantly to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where others have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included in the paper and that all co-authors have seen and approved the article’s final version and have agreed to its submission for publication.

2. Conflicts of Interest:

Authors: All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.

Reviewers: Referees should inform the journal editor about the evaluation process if they suspect any conflict of interest in the article they are evaluating and refuse article evaluation if necessary. To prevent conflict of interest, people in the institutions where the article authors work cannot referee the article.

Editors: Editors should not have personal or financial conflicts of interest with articles.

3. Duplicate / Multiple Submission(s):

Manuscripts that are either found to have been submitted elsewhere or published elsewhere. If authors have used their own work, either previously submitted or published, as the basis for a submitted manuscript, they are required to cite the previous work. They also need to indicate how their submitted manuscript offers novel contributions over and above those of the previous work.

4. Intellectual Property

• Authors certify that their submitted manuscript (and any supporting items) are their own intellectual property, and the copyright has not been transferred to others.
• Authors certify that the manuscript contains no plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, or manipulated citations and that the manuscript conforms to JSS authorship policies.
• All manuscripts, revisions, drafts, and galleys remain the intellectual property of the author(s). Except as stated in the agreed license, the author(s) retain the copyright to their work.
• All review comments and reports remain the intellectual property of the reviewer or editor. Except as stated in the agreed license, the author(s) retain the copyright to their work.
• Authors, reviewers, and editors agree to keep all communications, comments, or reports from reviewers or editors confidential.
• Reviewers and editors agree to keep all manuscripts, revisions, and drafts confidential, except for the final published galley(s).

5. Correction, Retraction, Expression of Concern

• Editors may make corrections if they detect minor errors in the published article that do not affect the findings, interpretations, or results.
• Editors may retract the article in case of significant errors/violations that invalidate the findings and results.
• Editors may issue a statement of concern if there is a possibility of abusive research or publication by the authors if there is evidence that the findings are unreliable. The authors’ institutions have not investigated the incident, or if the potential investigation seems unfair or inconclusive. COPE and ICJME guidelines regarding the correction, retraction, and expression of concern are considered.

6. Publication of Studies Based on Surveys and Interviews

Aiming to establish ethical assurance in scientific periodicals, The Rest Journal adopts the principles of the “Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors” and the “Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers” published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). In this scope, the following aspects should be adhered to in the studies submitted to the journal:

• Ethics committee approval should be obtained for research conducted in all the disciplines that require ethics committee approval, and this approval should be stated and documented in the article.
• In studies that require ethics committee approval, information about the approval (committee name, date and issue number) may be included in the method section of the study. However, in case reports, information about the informed consent and the signed consent form should be included in the Article Information Form at the end of the article.

The studies that require ethics committee approval are as follows:
• All kinds of research conducted with qualitative or quantitative approaches that require data collection from participants through surveys, interviews, focus group works, observations, experiments and other interview techniques.

• Use of humans and animals (including material/data) for experimental or other scientific purposes,
  • Clinical studies conducted on humans,
• Studies conducted on animals,
• Retrospective studies in accordance with the law on the protection of personal data,
  Also;
  • A statement confirming that an “informed consent form” has been received in case reports,
  • Obtaining permission from the owners for the use of scales, photographs belonging to others,
• A statement confirming that copyright regulations are met for the intellectual and artistic works used.

7. The policy of Publishing Additional or Special Issues

A special issue can be published in our journal once a year upon the request of the Editorial Board. The publication processes of the articles sent to be included in the special issue are the same as the standard processes.

• Additional or Special Issue: An issue published in addition to the regular issues of a periodically published journal. It may consist of conference papers or articles focusing on a specific topic.
• Page numbering in the additional or special issue differs from regular issues.
• The print run of the additional or special issue cannot be more than one-third of the regular issue. The special issues containing conference paper abstracts are not included in this scope.
• Ratios of case reports, compilations and research articles (excluding conference paper abstracts) published in the additional or special issue will be included in the ratios of articles published in other issues.
• The issues published as a tribute are not accepted as additional or special issues. Their page numbering and organization are the same as the regular issues.

 

8. Plagiarism Action Plan and Measures of the Journal

The journal respects intellectual property rights and aims to protect and promote the original work of its authors. Having plagiarized content in articles does violate the research and originality standards. Therefore, all the authors submitting articles to the journal are expected to comply with the ethical standards and avoid all forms of plagiarism. If a submitted or published article is suspected of plagiarism, the journal’s Publication Board first examines the work. Then, the work is reviewed by the Editorial Board. Afterwards, the journal contacts the author(s) and asks them to submit their justifications within 15 days. If the journal does not receive any response from the author(s) within the specified time, it will contact the affiliated university and request the investigation of the claim.

The journal will take the following serious measures for published articles that are found to contain plagiarism:

• The journal will immediately contact the university to which the author(s) are affiliated to take final action against the related author.
• The journal will remove the PDF copy of the published article from the website, remove the published article from the issue file, and disable all links to the published article. The phrase “Plagiarized Article” will be added to the published article’s title.
• The journal will disable the author’s account and reject all future submissions by the author for the following two years.

Note: If readers notice an error or inaccuracy in a published article, they can file a complaint by sending an e-mail to rahman.dag@cesran.org.

 

The author should submit a similarity report for new studies submitted to the journal. Pre-reviewed articles may again be subjected to plagiarism checking in any software.

If plagiarism/self-plagiarism is detected, the authors are informed. An article with a high overall similarity rate (maximum 25%) or more than 3% similarity rate from a single source may be rejected or sent back to the author to reduce the similarity rate.

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Actions that violate scientific research and publication ethics are as follows:

Plagiarism: Showing others’ original ideas, methods, data or works as their own work, partially or entirely, without reference to scientific rules,

Forgery: Using data that does not exist or has been falsified in scientific research,

Distortion: Falsifying the research records or data obtained, displaying the equipment or materials not used in the research as if used, distorting or shaping the results of the research in the interests of the people and organizations that provide support,

Republishing: Presenting repetitive publications as separate publications in academic appointments and promotions,

Slicing: Dividing the results of research into pieces in an improper way or in a way that disrupts the integrity of the research and publishing each one separately to increase the total publication count for academic appointments and promotions,

Unfair Authorship: Including non-contributors in the author list or not including those who have contributed, changing the author’s order in an unjustified and inappropriate manner, removing the names of contributors from the work in subsequent editions, using influence to include names among the authors despite not being contributors,

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Other ethical violations include:

a) Not specifying the supporting individuals, institutions or organizations and their contributions in the publications made as a result of research conducted with support.

b)Using theses or studies that have not yet been submitted or have not been accepted as a source without the permission of the owner,

c)Not complying with ethical rules in research on humans and animals, not respecting patients’ rights in publications,

ç) Violating the provisions of the relevant legislation in biomedical research and other clinical research related to humans,

d)Sharing the information in a work that has been assigned for review with others before it is published without the explicit consent of the author,

e)Misusing resources, spaces, facilities and equipment provided or allocated for scientific research,

f)Deliberately making a false and ungrounded allegation about ethical violation,

g)Publishing the data obtained from surveys conducted as part of a scientific study without the explicit consent of the participants or the permission of the relevant institution if the study is conducted in an institution,

h)Harming animal health and ecological balance in research and experiments,

ı) Failing to obtain written permissions from authorities that are required for starting research activities or experiments,

i) Conducting research activities or experiments in violation of the related legislation or the provisions on research and experiments in the international conventions to which Turkey is a party,

j)Disregarding the obligation to inform and warn the relevant authorities about possible harmful practices related to the scientific research.

k)Not using the data and information obtained from other individuals or institutions in scientific studies to the extent and as permitted, not respecting the confidentiality of this information and not ensuring its protection,

l)Making false or misleading statements regarding scientific research and publications in academic appointments and promotions.

 

Under the lights of ethical principles and publication policy of The Rest Journal, authors, reviewers and editors’ responsibilities are listed below;

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Responsibilities of Authors

 

Reporting standards

Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed and an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable.

 

Data Access and Retention

Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review and should be prepared to provide public access to such, if practicable, and should, in any event, be designed to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.

 

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, this must be appropriately cited or quoted.

 

Multiple Publications

An author should not generally publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals concurrently constitutes unacceptable publishing behaviour.

 

Acknowledgement of Sources

Proper acknowledgement of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have influenced the nature of the reported work.

 

Authorship of the Paper

Authorship should be limited to those who have contributed significantly to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where others have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors.

 

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.

 

Fundamental Errors in Published Works

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.

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Responsibilities of Reviewers

 

Promptness

If any reviewer feels that it is not possible for him/her to complete a review of the manuscript within the stipulated time, then the same must be communicated to the editor so that the same can be sent to any other reviewer.

 

Confidentiality

Information regarding manuscripts submitted by authors should be kept confidential and be treated as privileged information.

 

Standards of Objectivity

Reviews should be conducted objectively. There shall be no personal criticism of the author. Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

 

Acknowledgement of Sources

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that the authors have not cited. Any statement that had been previously reported elsewhere should be accompanied by the appropriate citation. A reviewer should also call to the Editors’ attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper they have personal knowledge.

 

Conflict of Interest

Reviewers should not review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

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Responsibilities of Editors

 

Decision on the Publication of Articles

The Editors of The Rest Journal are responsible for deciding which articles submitted to the journal should be published. The Editors may be guided by the policies of the journal’s editorial board and subjected to such legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The Editors may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.

 

Review of Manuscripts

The Editors must ensure that each manuscript is initially evaluated by the editor/co-editor, who may use appropriate software to examine the originality of the manuscript’s contents. After passing this test, the manuscript is forwarded to two referees for blind peer review, each of whom will recommend publishing the manuscript in its present form or modifying or rejecting it. The review period will be from two weeks to one month (Maximum two months in extraordinary circumstances).

 

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used by anyone who has a view of the manuscript in his or her own research without the author’s express written consent.

 

Fair play

Manuscripts shall be evaluated solely on their intellectual merit without regard to authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.

 

Confidentiality

The Editors and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher.

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