Ethical Principles

The publication process at International Journal of Progressive Studies in Education (IJOPSE) is the basis of the improvement and dissemination of information objectively and respectfully. Therefore, the procedures in this process improves the quality of the studies. Peer-reviewed studies are the ones that support and materialize the scientific method. At this point, it is of utmost importance that all parties included in the publication process (authors, readers and researchers, publisher, reviewers and editors) comply with the standards of ethical considerations. IJOPSE expects all parties to hold the following ethical responsibilities.

The following ethical duties and responsibilities are written in the light of the guide and policies made by Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

The authors who submit their manuscripts to  IJOPSE are expected to comply with the following ethical responsibilities:

  • Author(s) must submit original studies to the journal. If they utilize or use other studies, they must make the in-text and end-text references accurately and completely.
  • People who have not contributed to the study at the intellectual level should not be indicated as author.
  • If the manuscripts submitted to be published are subject of conflicting interests or relations, these must be explained.
  • During the review process of their manuscripts, author(s) may be asked to supply raw data. In such a case, author(s) should be ready to submit such data and information to the editorial and scientific boards.
  • Author(s) should document that they have the participants' consent and the necessary permissions related with the sharing and research/analysis of the data that are used.
  • Author(s) bears the responsibility to inform the editor of the journal or publisher if they happen to notice a mistake in their study which is in early release or publication process and to cooperate with the editors during the correction or withdrawal process.
  • Authors cannot submit their studies to multiple journals simultaneously. Each submission can be made only after the previous one is completed. A study published in another journal cannot be submitted to IJPADE.
  • Author responsibilities given in a study (e.g.: adding an author, reordering of author names) whose review process has begun cannot be changed.

The reviewers of IJOPSE should hold the following ethical responsibilities:

The fact that all manuscripts are reviewed through blind review has a direct influence on the publication quality. This process ensures confidentiality by objective and independent review. The review process at IJOPSE is carried out on the principle of double blind review. Reviewers do not contact the authors directly, and the reviews and comments are conveyed through the journal management system. In this process, the reviewer views on the evaluation forms and full texts are assigned to the author(s) by the editor. Therefore, the reviewers doing review work for IJOPSE are supposed to bear the following ethical responsibilities:

Reviewers must

  • agree to review only in their subject of expertise.
  • review in an unbiased and confidential manner.
  • inform the editor of the journal if they think that they encounter conflict of interests and decline to review the manuscript during the review process.
  • dispose the manuscripts they have reviewed in accordance with the principle of confidentiality after the review process. Reviewers can use the final versions of the manuscripts they have reviewed only after publication.
  • review the manuscript objectively and only in terms of its content and ensure that nationality, gender, religious and political beliefs, and economic apprehension do not influence the review.
  • review the manuscript in a constructive and kind tone, avoid making personal comments including hostility, slander and insult.
  • review the manuscript they have agreed to review on time and in accordance with the ethical rules stated above.

The editors of IJOPSE should hold the following ethical responsibilities:

  • Editors must make positive or negative decisions about the studies' importance, originality, validity, clarity in wording and suitability with the journal's aims and objectives.
  • Editors must accept the studies that are within the scope of publication into pre review process unless there are serious problems with the study.
  • Editors must not ignore positive suggestions made by reviewers unless there are serious problems with the study.
  • New editors, unless there are serious issues, must not change the previous editor's decisions about the studies.
  • Authors should be provided with explanatory and informative feedback.

Editors should also

  • choose reviewers according to the subject of the study.
  • provide the information and guidance reviewers may need during the review process.
  • observe whether there are conflicting interests between reviewers and authors.
  • keep the identities of reviewers confidential in blind review.
  • encourage the reviewers to review the manuscript in an unbiased, scientific and objective tone.
  • evaluate reviewers regularly based on criteria like performance and timing.
  • develop practices and policies that increase the performance of reviewers.
  • take necessary steps to update the reviewer pool dynamically.
  • prevent unkind and unscientific reviews.
  • make effort to ensure the reviewer pool has a wide range.

Moreover editors should

  • ensure that the members of the editorial board review the manuscripts in an unbiased and independent manner.
  • select the new members of the editorial board from those who can contribute to the journal and are qualified enough.
  • send manuscripts for review based on the subject of expertise of the editorial board members.
  • regularly communicate with the editorial board.
  • arrange regular meetings with the editorial board for the development of publication policies and the journal.