Ethical Principles & Publication Policy
The editorial and publication processes of the journal are shaped in accordance with the guidelines of 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). The journal conforms with the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (doaj.org/bestpractice).
An approval of research protocols by the Ethics Committee by international agreements (World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki, “Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects,” amended in October 2013, www.wma.net) is required for experimental, clinical, and drug studies. If required, ethics committee reports or an equivalent official document will be requested from the authors.
Manuscripts about experimental research involving humans must include a statement confirming that written informed permission was acquired from patients and volunteers after a comprehensive explanation of the procedures they may undertake. The Materials and Methods section of the publication must include details regarding patient permission, the name of the ethics committee, and the ethics committee approval number. It is the writers' responsibility to meticulously safeguard patient anonymity. Photographs that could disclose the identity of patients must include signed releases from the patient or their legal representative.
The Aegean Journal of Natural Sciences requires experimental research studies on vertebrates or any regulated invertebrates to comply with relevant institutional, national, and/or international guidelines. The journal supports the principles of the Basel Declaration (baseldeclaration.org) and the guidelines published by the International Council for Laboratory Animal Science (ICLAS) (iclas.org). Authors are advised to clearly state their compliance with relevant guidelines.
Aegean Journal of Natural Sciences advises authors to comply with the IUCN Policy Statement on Research Involving Species at Risk of Extinction and the Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species of Wild IUCN Policy Statement on Research Involving Species at Risk of Extinction and the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
All submissions are screened by similarity detection software (iThenticate by CrossCheck).
In the event of alleged or suspected research misconduct, e.g., plagiarism, citation manipulation, and data falsification/fabrication, the Editorial Board will follow and act in accordance with COPE guidelines.
Each individual listed as an author should fulfil the authorship criteria recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE - www.icmje.org).
The Aegean Journal of Natural Sciences requires corresponding authors to submit a signed and scanned version of the authorship contribution form (available for download through the journal’s web page) during the initial submission process to act appropriately on authorship rights and to prevent ghost or honorary authorship.
The Editorial Board of the journal handles all appeal and complaint cases within the scope of COPE guidelines. In such cases, authors should get in direct contact with the editorial office regarding their appeals and complaints. When needed, an ombudsperson may be assigned to resolve cases that cannot be resolved internally. The Editor in Chief is the final authority in the decision-making process for all appeals and complaints.
When submitting a manuscript to the Aegean Journal of Natural Sciences, authors accept to assign the copyright of their manuscript to Ege University Faculty of Science. If rejected for publication, the copyright of the manuscript will be assigned back to the authors The Aegean Journal of Natural Sciences requires each submission to be accompanied by a Copyright Transfer Form (available for download at the journal’s web page).
Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement
The Aegean Journal of Natural Sciences is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and pays regard to Principles of Transparency and Best Practices in Scholarly Publishing published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), and the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA).
All parties involved in the publishing process (editors, reviewers, authors, and Publishers) are expected to agree on the following ethical principles.
All submissions must be original, unpublished (including as full text in conference proceedings), and not under the review of any other publication synchronously. Each manuscript is reviewed by one of the editors and referees under a single-blind peer review process. Plagiarism, duplication, fraud authorship/denied authorship, research/data fabrication, salami slicing/salami publication, breaching of copyrights, and and prevailing conflict of interest are unethical behaviors.
Research Ethics
The journal adheres to the highest standards in research ethics and follows the principles of international research ethics as defined below. The authors are responsible for the compliance of the manuscripts with the ethical rules.
- Principles of integrity, quality, and transparency should be sustained in designing the research, reviewing the design, and conducting the research.
- The research team and participants should be fully informed about the aim, methods, possible uses, and requirements of the research and the risks of participation in research.
- The confidentiality of the information provided by the research participants and the confidentiality of the respondents should be ensured. The research should be designed to protect the autonomy and dignity of the participants.
- Research participants should participate in the research voluntarily, not under any coercion.
- Any possible harm to participants must be avoided. The research should be planned in such a way that the participants are not at risk.
- The independence of research must be clear, and any conflict of interest must be disclosed.
- In experimental studies with human subjects, written informed consent of the participants who decide to participate in the research must be obtained. In the case of children and those under wardship or with confirmed insanity, the legal custodian’s assent must be obtained.
- If the study is to be carried out in any institution or organization, approval must be obtained from this institution or organization.
- In studies with human subjects, it must be noted in the method’s section of the manuscript that the informed consent of the participants and ethics committee approval from the institution where the study has been conducted have been obtained.
Human Subjects and Animal Use in Research, Ethics Committee Approval and Informed Consent
Author's Responsibilities
It is the authors’ responsibility to ensure that the article is in accordance with scientific and ethical standards and rules. Authors must ensure that the submitted work is original. They must certify that the manuscript has not previously been published elsewhere or is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere, in any language. Applicable copyright laws and conventions must be followed. Copyright material (e.g. tables, figures, or extensive quotations) must be reproduced only with appropriate permission and acknowledgment. Any work or words of other authors, contributors, or sources must be appropriately credited and referenced.
All the authors of a submitted manuscript must have direct scientific and academic contributions to the manuscript. The author(s) of the original research articles is defined as a person who is significantly involved in the “conceptualization and design of the study”, “collecting the data”, “analyzing the data”, “writing the manuscript," “reviewing the manuscript with a critical perspective” and “planning/conducting the study of the manuscript and/or revising it”. Fundraising, data collection, or supervision of the research group are not sufficient roles to be accepted as an author. The author(s) must meet all these criteria described above. The order of names in the author list of an article must be a co-decision, and it must be indicated in the Copyright Agreement Form. The individuals who do not meet the authorship criteria but contributed to the study must take place in the acknowledgment section. Individuals providing technical support, assisting writing, providing general support, and providing material or financial support are examples to be indicated in acknowledgment section.
All authors must disclose all issues concerning financial relationships, conflicts of interest, and competing interests that may potentially influence the results of the research or scientific judgment.
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published paper, it is the author’s obligation to promptly cooperate with the editor to provide retractions or corrections of mistakes.
Responsibility for the Editor and Reviewers
Editor-in-Chief evaluates manuscripts for their scientific content without regard to ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, citizenship, religious belief, or political philosophy of the authors. Editor/Area editor provides a fair single-blind peer review of the submitted articles for publication and ensures that all the information related to submitted manuscripts is kept confidential before publishing.
The editor-in-chief is responsible for the contents and overall quality of the publication. He/She must publish errata pages or make corrections when needed.
Editor-in-Chief does not allow any conflicts of interest between the authors, editors, and reviewers. Only he has the full authority to assign a reviewer and is responsible for the final decision for publication of the manuscripts in the journal.
Reviewers must have no conflict of interest with respect to the research, the authors, and/or the research funders. Their judgments must be objective.
Reviewers must ensure that all the information related to submitted manuscripts is kept confidential and must report to the editor if they are aware of copyright infringement and plagiarism on the author’s side.
A reviewer who feels unqualified to review the topic of a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.
The editor informs the reviewers that the manuscripts are confidential information and this is a privileged interaction. The reviewers and editorial board cannot discuss the manuscripts with other persons. The anonymity of the referees must be ensured. In particular situations, the editor may share the review of one reviewer with other reviewers to clarify a particular point.
Copyright
Copyright on any open-access article in the Aegean Journal of Natural Sciences is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY).
Authors grant Ege University, Faculty of Sciences, a license to publish the article and identify themselves as the original publisher.
Authors also grant any third party the right to use the article freely as long as its integrity is maintained and its original authors, citation details, and publisher are identified.
