Ethical Principles and Publication Policy

The publication process of Selcuk Medical Journal has been designed in accordance with the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), Council of Science Editors (CSE), Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), European Association of Science Editors (EASE) and National Information Standards Organization (NISO) guidelines.

The journal complies with the 'Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing' (doaj.org/bestpractice). https://doaj.org/apply/transparency/

Republication
Manuscripts must not have been published anywhere before and submitted to another journal. (Except for oral and poster presentations in scientific meetings, provided that they are not published in full text)

Simultaneous Submission
Authors cannot submit the same article to more than one journal at the same time. In case of simultaneous submission, editor reserves the right to consult the other editor(s) receiving the manuscript. The editor may return the article without reviewing or reject it. The editor may make decision himself or discuss with the other editor(s), and may decide not to accept submissions from the author for a certain period of time. The editor can inform the authors' employers about it or use all of these measures together.

Control for the Prevention of Plagiarism
Plagiarism refers to present the ideas, methods, data, applications, writings, forms or works of others as one's own work, in whole or in part, without attribution in accordance with scientific rules. Selcuk Medical Journal uses the Turnitin & Ithenticate software which detects instances of overlapping and similar text in all new submissions. The author should ensure that all the sources are authentic and that there is no discrepancy in the content of the manuscript. The authors scan the manuscript and submits its report to the article system. The editorial team can also scan the manuscripts for plagiarism.The similarity rate must be less than 20. The main criteria of similarity is the author's compliance with the rules of citation and quotation. If the similarity rate appears to be 1%, but the citation and quotation are not duly made, plagiarism may also be involved. In this respect, the author should apply the citation and quotation rules. Manuscripts exceeding the citation limit and not complying with the publication rules will not be reviewed.

Plagiarism, duplication, false authorship/ denied authorship, research/data fabrication, slicing, sliced publication, copyright infringement and concealment of conflict of interest are unethical behaviours. All manuscripts that do not comply with ethical standards are withdrawn from publication. It includes articles detected after publication.

Forgery
Forgery is to produce data that is not based on research, to edit or change the manuscript on the basis of unreal data, to report or publish them, to present a research that has not been done as if it has been done. Forgery means falsifying research records and data, showing methods, devices and materials that were not used in the research as if they were used, failing to evaluate data that do not comply with the research hypothesis, manipulating data and/or results to fit the relevant theory or assumptions, falsifying or shaping research results in line with the interests of the persons and organisations receiving support. Manuscripts containing forgeries will not be evaluated, and those that have already been published will be removed from publication. The editor can inform the authors' employers and the relevant organisations about the forged manuscript.

The editors of Selcuk Medical Journal will take measures to prevent the publication of articles containing plagiarism, citation manipulation, data falsification, data fabrication and other research misconduct. The editors will never allow such abuse. If editors become aware of any allegations of research misconduct in relation to an article published in their journal, they will follow COPE's guidelines.

Notifications of Ethical Violations
Readers can send an e-mail to [email protected] and [email protected] if they notice a significant error or inaccuracy in an article published in Selcuk Medical Journal or they have any complaints about the editorial content (plagiarism, duplicate articles, etc.). We welcome applications as they will provide an opportunity for the development of journal, and we will respond quickly.

Allegations of Scientific Misconduct
Scientific misconduct has different meanings. Selcuk Medical Journal addresses these issues as a case basis while following the guidance established by major publication ethics bodies. Editors are obliged to take action if they suspect or allege an ethical violation. His/Her responsibility covers both published and unpublished articles. The editor should not simply reject articles that raise concerns about possible abuses. He/She is ethically obliged to pursue the alleged cases. The editor should follow COPE flowcharts. Editors should first request a response from the alleged author. If they are not satisfied with the response, they should ask the employer or organisation concerned to investigate. The editor should use all reasonable endeavours to ensure that an appropriate investigation into the alleged misconduct is carried out. The editor should insist on finding a solution to the problem and make all reasonable attempts to do so. It is an arduous but important task.

Selcuk Medical Journal undertakes to apply the COPE flowcharts when faced with allegations of misconduct on the following issues or similar ones.

Complaint Procedure
Complaint procedure applies to complaints about content, procedures or policies that are the responsibility of journal or editorial staff. Complaints can provide an opportunity and motivation for improvement. We therefore aim to respond to your complaints kindly and quickly.

You may send your complaint by e-mail to [email protected] and [email protected]. All complaints will be treated confidentially. The editor responds to complaints immediately. The editor follows the procedure in the COPE flowchart. A full response will be given within two weeks if possible. When necessary, an impartial representative will be appointed for issues that the Editorial Board cannot resolve internally. The Editor-in-Chief will make the final decision on appeals and complaints.

Correction, Retraction and Expression of Concern
If minor errors are detected in the published article that do not affect the findings, interpretations and conclusion, the editors may publish a correction. In the case of major errors/violations that invalidate findings and conclusions, the editors may withdraw the manuscript. Editors may issue an expression of concern in case of the possibility of research or publication misconduct by the authors, the evidence that the findings are unreliable and that the authors' institutions have not investigated the incident, and the possible investigation seems unfair or inconclusive. The journal complies with the COPE and ICJME guidelines regarding correction, retraction or expression of concern.

About the manuscript with ethical violation;

"Retracted:" is added at the beginning of the title in Electronic Display.
Instead of the abstract and full text in the electronic display, the reasons for the retraction of the study and the detailed evidence will be published with the notifications of the institutions and organisations to which the author(s) are affiliated.
The main page of the journal website will announce the retraction.
"Retracted: Title of the Study" is added to the table of contents of the electronic and printed copy of the first issue to be published after the retraction date, and the reasons for retraction and the original citations referring to it are shared with the public and researchers, starting from the first page.
The retraction will be notified to the organisation(s) with which the author(s) is/are affiliated.
The retraction will ne notified to the institutions and organisations where the Journal is indexed and to the National Library Presidency to be recorded in the indexing systems and catalogues.

In addition, the editorial board may recommend to the publishing houses or editorial boards to ensure the validity and reliability of the published such papers or to retract the author’s previously published studies with ethical violation.

Ethics committee approval
Selcuk Medical Journal adopts the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) "Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" and "Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers" in order to provide ethical assurance in scientific publishing. The journal adheres to these principles in the submitted studies:

Ethics committee approval for all research in all disciplines must be obtained, stated and documented in the article.
Tthics committee approval (name of the committee, date and number) should be included in the materials and methods section of the manuscript. Information on the signature of the informed consent form should be included on one of the first/last pages of the manuscript and in case reports.

Ethics committee approval is required for experimental, clinical and pharmaceutical studies and some case reports to comply with international conventions (World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki "Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects," October 2013, www.wma.net), and documentation of this approval will be the needed for publication.

Principles of Research Ethics

Selcuk Medical Journal observes the highest standards in research ethics and adopts the international principles of research ethics. It is the responsibility of the authors to ensure that the articles comply with the ethical rules.

The principles of integrity, quality and transparency should be ensured in the design, review of the design and conduct of the research.
Research team and participants should be fully informed about the purpose of the research, its methods and possible uses, and the implications and risks, if any, of participation in the research.
The confidentiality of the data provided by the participants and the respondents should be ensured. The research should be designed to protect the autonomy and dignity of the participants.
Participants should take part in the research voluntarily and should not be under any coercion.
The researcher must be careful not to do any harm to the participants. The research should be planned in a way that does not put the participants at risk.
Research independence should be clear and explicit; any conflict of interest should be indicated.
Informed consent of the participants who decide to participate in the research must be obtained for experimental studies with human subjects. The consent of the legal guardian of children and those under guardianship or with a recognised mental illness must be obtained.

If the study will be conducted in any institution or organisation, approval must be obtained from this institution or organisation. The studies with human subject should state in the "method" section that "informed consent" was obtained from the participants and that ethics committee approval was obtained from the institution where the study was conducted.

Publication Policy of Special Issue and Other Issue (Congress Abstracts)
The journal can publish special issues or other issues with the decision of the editorial board.

Editorial Confidentiality
The editors of Selcuk Medical Journal treat all submitted manuscripts as confidential documents, which means that they will not disclose information about a manuscript to anyone without the authors' permission. During the manuscript review process, the following people have access to the manuscripts: Editors, Reviewers, Editorial Board Members. Only if the editor suspects serious research misconduct of a manuscript, he/she may share it with third party without the authors' permission.

Responsibility of Authors and Conflicts of Interest
All responsibility (ethical, scientific, legal, etc.) of the articles published in the journal belongs to the authors. The Editorial Board will decide whether to review the manuscripts that do not conform to the spelling rules. All publication rights of the articles accepted for publication belong to the journal. This right shall be recognised by the publication right transfer form signed by all authors. A Copyright Transfer Form signed by the corresponding author should be sent to the journal via the manuscript submission system. A separate form must be submitted for each article. Manuscripts submitted without the Copyright Transfer Form will not be accepted. Authors must confirm that they will not submit the manuscript to any other journal, publish it in the original or any other language, or allow any third party to use the manuscript without the written permission of Selcuk Medical Journal. If the manuscript is rejected, all copyrights are returned to the authors.

No financial conflict of interest should be declared at any stage of the study, including data collection, experimental phase, writing and language editing. Commercial sponsorship, if any, should be reported. Selcuk Medical Journal requests and encourages authors and individuals involved in the evaluation process of submitted manuscripts to declare any existing or potential conflicts of interest, including financial, institutional and other relationships that may lead to potential conflict of interest or bias.

Protection of Participants' Personal Data
Authors are responsible for carefully protecting the patient's privacy. The researcher must conceal if a patient can be identified from a photograph or other photograph or any text. Identifiable images should be anonymised. In cases where patient recognition is available, the patient consent form must be obtained and added to the system. Where the patient is not recognised in any way, consent is not required. A detailed description of the procedures that patients and volunteers may undergo should be followed by a statement that informed consent has been obtained in articles on human experimental research.

The Editorial Board of the journal handles appeals and complaints in accordance with the COPE guidelines. Authors can contact the editor-in-chief or the editorial board directly for their objections and complaints. When necessary, an impartial representative is appointed for issues that the Editorial Board cannot resolve internally. The Editor-in-Chief will make the final decision in the decision-making process for objections and complaints. The publisher and editor are always ready to issue corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies when necessary.