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Publication Ethics Principles

Publication Ethics can be defined as a self-regulatory mechanism that insists on honesty on behalf of authors, reviewers, and publishers in order to establish higher standards of editorial conduct. Ethical standards for publication exist to ensure high-quality scientific publications, public trust in scientific findings, and respect for people's ideas.

• Honest researchers do not plagiarize.

• Does not cite sources incorrectly.

• They do not hide objections that they cannot refute.

• They do not distort opposing views.

• They do not destroy or hide data.

Peer-reviewed studies are studies that support and implement the scientific method. At this point, it is of great importance that all parties involved in the publication process (authors, readers and researchers, publisher, referees and editors) comply with ethical principles. Hitit Journal of Occupational Health and Safety adheres to national and international standards on research and publication ethics. It complies with the Press Law, the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works, and the Higher Education Institutions Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive. Hitit Journal of Occupational Health and Safety has adopted the International Ethical Publishing Principles published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA) and World Association of Medical Editors (WAME). It also undertakes to comply with the Decisions of the Turkish Editors Workshop.

• Press Law (National Legislation) 

• Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works (National Legislation)  

• Higher Education Institutions Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive (National Legislation)  

• Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Academic Publishing (International Criteria) 

• Türkiye Editors Workshop Decisions (National Criteria) 

Rebroadcast

Republishing is the publication of the same article or substantially similar articles in more than one journal. The editor returns such an article without review. The editor may then embargo the author who attempted the republishing for a certain period of time, make a public announcement in the journal in which the author previously published (perhaps as a simultaneous announcement with the editor of the journal that published the previous article), or apply all of these measures together. 

Simultaneous Submission of the Same Paper to More Than One Journal

Authors may not submit the same article to more than one journal at the same time. The editor reserves the right to consult with other editors who receive the article if he/she learns of a possible simultaneous submission. The editor may also return the article without reviewing it or reject it without considering the reviews, or may take this decision in discussion with the other editors involved and decide not to accept article submissions from authors for a certain period of time. He/she may also write to the authors' employers or implement all of these measures together.

Checking to Prevent Plagiarism

It means presenting the ideas, methods, data, applications, writings, figures or works of others as one's own work, in whole or in part, without citing their owners in accordance with scientific rules.

Hitit Journal of Occupational Health and Safety scans all submitted articles to prevent plagiarism. The studies submitted for review are checked for plagiarism using Turnitin & İthenticate software. The similarity rate is expected to be less than 20%. The main measure of the similarity rate is the author's compliance with the citation and quotation rules. If the similarity rate appears to be 1% but the citation and quotation are not done properly, plagiarism may still occur. In this respect, the citation and quotation rules should be known by the author and should be applied carefully: ISNAD

Plagiarism, duplication, false authorship/denied authorship, research/data fabrication, article slicing, publication by slicing, copyright infringement and concealment of conflict of interest are considered unethical behaviors. All articles that do not comply with accepted ethical standards will be removed from publication. This includes articles that contain possible irregularities or inappropriateness detected after publication.

Forgery

Producing data that is not based on research, editing or changing a presented or published work based on unrealistic data, reporting or publishing these, and presenting research that has not been done as if it had been done.

Falsifying research records and obtained data, presenting methods, devices and materials that were not used in the research as if they were used, not evaluating data that are not compatible with the research hypothesis, manipulating data and/or results to fit the relevant theory or assumptions, and falsifying or shaping research results in line with the interests of persons and organizations receiving support.

Protection of Participants' Personal Data

Hitit Journal of Occupational Health and Safety requires that all research involving personal or sensitive data or materials regarding human participants that are not legally available to the public be subject to formal ethical review.

Handling Allegations of Research Misconduct

Hitit Journal of Occupational Health and Safety adheres to COPE’s Ethics Toolkit for Successful Editorial Practice. Hitit Journal of Occupational Health and Safety editors will take precautions to prevent the publication of articles in which plagiarism, citation manipulation, data falsification, data fabrication, and other research misconduct have occurred. In no event will Hitit Journal of Occupational Health and Safety editors knowingly permit such misconduct to occur. Hitit Journal of Occupational Health and Safety editors will follow COPE’s guidelines in dealing with allegations if they become aware of any allegations of research misconduct related to an article published in their journal. 

Ethical Violation Notifications

Readers can report any significant error or inaccuracy in an article published in the Hitit Journal of Occupational Health and Safety or any complaints regarding editorial content (plagiarism, duplicate articles, etc.)  by sending an e-mail to hjohs@hitit.edu.tr  . We welcome submissions as they provide us with opportunities for improvement and respond promptly and constructively.

Correction, Retraction, Expression of Concern

Editors may consider publishing a correction if minor errors are identified in the published article that do not affect the findings, interpretations, or conclusions. Editors should consider retracting the article in cases of major errors/violations that invalidate the findings and conclusions. If there is a possibility of research or publication misconduct by the authors; if there is evidence that the findings are unreliable and the authors' institutions did not investigate the incident; or if the potential investigation appears to be unjustified or inconclusive, editors should consider publishing an expression of concern. COPE and ICJME guidelines are taken into account regarding corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern.

Publication of Survey and Interview Based Studies

Hitit Journal of Occupational Health and Safety 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 create ethical assurance in scientific periodical publishing. In this context, the following points should be adhered to in the studies submitted to the journal:

1) For research requiring ethics committee approval in all branches of science (ethics committee approval must be obtained, this approval must be stated in the article and documented.

2) In studies requiring ethics committee approval, information regarding the permission (committee name, date and issue number) should be included in the method section, as well as on one of the first/last pages of the article; in case reports, information regarding the signing of the informed consent/assent form should be included in the article.

Special Issue Publication Policy

Our journal may publish a special issue once a year upon the request of the Editorial Board. Articles submitted for inclusion in a special issue are first subject to an editorial preliminary review. Then, they are examined for compliance with the journal's writing rules and a similarity scan is performed to prevent plagiarism. After these stages, they are taken into the peer review process, which uses a double-blind model.

Editorial Confidentiality Obligation

Hitit Journal of Occupational Health and Safety editors treat all submitted manuscripts as confidential documents, meaning that they will not disclose any information about a manuscript to anyone without the authors’ permission. The following individuals may have access to manuscripts during the manuscript review process: Editors, Reviewers, Editorial Board Members. The only time details about a manuscript may be passed on to a third party without the authors’ permission is if the editor suspects serious research misconduct.

Allegations and Suspicions of Scientific Misconduct

There are different definitions of scientific misconduct. While the Hitit Journal of Occupational Health and Safety follows guidance established by major publication ethics bodies, we address these issues on a case-by-case basis. Editors are obliged to take action if they suspect or allege an ethical breach. This duty covers both published and unpublished articles. Editors should not simply reject articles that raise concerns about possible misconduct. They are ethically obliged to follow up on alleged cases. Editors should follow COPE flowcharts where appropriate. Editors should first seek a response from those suspected of misconduct. If they are not satisfied with the response, they should ask the relevant employers or institution to investigate. The editor should make all reasonable efforts to ensure that a proper investigation is conducted into the alleged misconduct; if this does not happen, the editor should make all reasonable attempts to insist on a resolution of the problem. This is an arduous but important task.

Hitit Journal of Occupational Health and Safety adheres to COPE’s Ethics Toolkit for Successful Editorial Practice. Hitit Journal of Occupational Health and Safety editors will take precautions to prevent the publication of articles in which plagiarism, citation manipulation, data falsification, data fabrication, and other research misconduct have occurred. In no event will Hitit Journal of Occupational Health and Safety or its editors knowingly permit such misconduct to occur. Hitit Journal of Occupational Health and Safety editors will follow COPE’s guidelines in dealing with allegations if they become aware of any allegations of research misconduct related to an article published in their journal.

Reviewers should report any suspected research or publication misconduct to the Editor, who is responsible for taking appropriate action in accordance with COPE recommendations.

Hitit Journal of Occupational Health and Safety undertakes to apply COPE flow charts when faced with allegations of abuse on the following or similar issues.

• What to do if repeat broadcasting is suspected

• What to do when plagiarism is suspected

• What to do when fabricated data is suspected

• What to do in case of authorship change requests

• What to do when an undisclosed conflict of interest is suspected

• What to do when unfair or gift writing is suspected

• What to do when you suspect an ethical problem in an article

• What to do when a suspected ethical violation is reported directly via e-mail etc.

• What to do when a suspected ethical violation is reported via social media

Complaint Procedure

This procedure applies to complaints about content, procedures or policies that are the responsibility of Hitit Journal of Occupational Health and Safety or our editorial staff. Complaints can provide an opportunity and incentive for improvement and we aim to respond quickly, courteously and constructively.

The complaint must be about the content, procedures or policies that are the responsibility of Hitit Journal of Occupational Health and Safety or our editorial team. Complaints should be sent directly  by email to hjohs@hitit.edu.tr  and will be treated confidentially. The Editor responds to complaints immediately. The Editor follows the procedure outlined in the COPE flow chart regarding complaints.

Complaints are reviewed by the relevant member of the editorial team and if they cannot be resolved, the following processes are followed:

• If this initial response is deemed inadequate, the complainant may request that their complaint be escalated to a more senior member of the journal.

• If the complainant is not satisfied, complaints can be forwarded to the editor-in-chief.

• A full response will be provided within two weeks if possible.

COPE publishes a code of practice for editors of scientific journals. This will facilitate the resolution of disputes with editors, journals and publishers, but can only be appealed after the journal's own complaints procedures have been exhausted.

Objection Process

We welcome serious objections to the evaluations made by editors and referees. If you believe that we have rejected your article because we misunderstood its scientific content, please  send an objection message to our editorial team at hjohs@hitit.edu.tr  . Do not attempt to submit a revised version of your article at this stage. If we find that your objection is justified after reading your objection letter, we may invite you to submit a revised version of your article so that your work can be sent back to the external review process. Please include as much detail as possible in your objection letter. Finally, we can only consider one objection per article, so please take the time and effort to write a detailed letter to clearly state your objection - you only get one chance, so use it wisely. We have found that lengthy negotiations over rejected articles are often unsatisfactory for both authors and editors, so we do not process multiple objections for the same paper.

Conflicts of Interest

A conflict of interest occurs when professional judgment regarding a primary interest may be influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain or personal competition). We believe that in order to make the best decision about how to handle a paper, we need to know the competing interests of authors and, if we publish the paper, readers need to know them as well.

Any financial or other interest that could compromise the person's work, significantly impair objectivity, or provide an unfair advantage to any person or organization. All sources of financial support received during the conduct of the research and preparation of the article and the role of sponsors in the work should be disclosed. If there is no funding source, this should also be stated. Examples of potential conflicts of interest that should be disclosed include consultancies, honoraria, and grants. Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed at the earliest possible stage.

Hitit Journal of Occupational Health and Safety has a defined process for handling submissions from editors, staff, or editorial board members to ensure unbiased review. Such submissions are first forwarded to other journals. If this is not possible, the submission owner's position in the journal is suspended. These submissions are reviewed in a double-blind process.

The editor should not be involved in decisions regarding manuscripts written by him/herself or family members. Furthermore, such work should be subject to all regular procedures of the journal. The editor should follow ICMJE guidelines regarding disclosure of potential conflicts of interest by authors and reviewers. 

Principles of Research Ethics

Hitit Journal of Occupational Health and Safety observes the highest standards in research ethics and adopts the international research ethics principles defined below. The authors are responsible for the compliance of the articles with ethical rules.

• The principles of integrity, quality and transparency should be ensured in the design of the research, the review of the design and the conduct of the research.

• The research team and participants must be fully informed about the purpose of the research, its methods and possible intended uses; the implications and risks, if any, of participation in the research.

• Confidentiality of information provided by research participants and confidentiality of respondents should be ensured. Research should be designed to protect the autonomy and dignity of participants.

• Research participants must take part in the research voluntarily and should not be under any pressure.