Peer Review, Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement
Peer-Review
Submission is considered on the conditions that papers are previously unpublished and are not offered simultaneously elsewhere; that authors have read and approved the content, and all authors have also declared all competing interests; and that the work complies with the Ethical Approval and has been conducted under internationally accepted ethical standards. If ethical misconduct is suspected, the Editorial Board will act in accordance with the relevant international rules of publication ethics (i.e., COPE guidelines).
Editorial policies of the journal are conducted as stated in the rules recommended by the Council of Science Editors and reflected in the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication. Accordingly, authors, reviewers, and editors are expected to adhere to the best practice guidelines on ethical behavior contained in this statement.
Submitted manuscripts are subjected to double-blinded peer-review. The scientific board guiding the selection of the papers to be published in the journal consists of elected specialists of the journal and, if necessary, selected from national and international experts in the relevant field of research. All manuscripts are reviewed by the editor, section associate editors and at least two external expert reviewers. All research articles are interpreted by a statistical editor as well.
Abstracts or full texts of scientific meetings in rheumatology can be published as supplements of the journal. Only proceeding papers within the scope of the conference topic are accepted. All submissions to the journal undergo an initial assessment for completeness before being reviewed by an editor. Then, these articles are reviewed by the scientific editorial committee of the conference.
Human and Animal Rights
For the experimental, clinical and drug human studies, approval by ethical committee and a statement on the adherence of the study protocol to the international agreements (World Medical Association Association of Helsinki “Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects,” amended October 2013) are required. In experimental animal studies, the authors should indicate that the procedures followed were by animal rights (Guide for the care and use of laboratory animals), and they should obtain animal ethics committee approval. The Ethics Committee approval document should be submitted to the Journal of Turkish Society for Rheumatology together with the manuscript.
The approval of the ethics committee, statement on the adherence to international guidelines mentioned above and that the patient's informed consent is obtained should be indicated in the `Material and Method` section and is required for case reports whenever data/media used could reveal the identity of the patient. The declaration of the conflict of interest between authors, institutions, acknowledgement of any financial or material support, aid is mandatory for authors submitting a manuscript, and the statement should appear at the end of the manuscript. Reviewers are required to report if any potential conflict of interest exists between the reviewer and authors, institutions.
In adherence to our journal's ethical policy, we respectfully request that individuals who are under the age of 18 provide a consent form that includes the signatures of both parents or legal guardians, or that of a designated supervisor. This requirement is in place to ensure that all legal obligations are met and to safeguard the rights of minors. The consent form will serve as a formal agreement and authorization for the individual to participate in any activities or services offered by our journal.
The author (s) should indicate in their articles that Informed Consent was received from the participating individuals in the studies conducted on people and send the approval document (s) received from the Ethics Committee or equivalent board of the institution where the study was conducted. In case reports, a document must be presented, indicating that each case is informed that their information will be used for publication. All work must have been done in accordance with the final amendments to the Helsinki Declaration. Patient information should be obtained in accordance with the Patient Rights Regulation published in the Official Gazette dated 01.08.1998 and numbered 23420. The European Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals Used for Experimental and Other Scientific Purpose, by the Universal Declaration of Animal Rights, which reports results on animals, for the Protection of Vertebrates to be Used for Experimental and Other Scientific Purposes, T.C. The Regulation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on the Production Areas of the Experimental Animals Used for Experimental and Other Scientific Purposes and the Regulation on the Establishment Operation Control Procedures and Principles of the Laboratory to Experiment, the Principles of Laboratory Animal Science, by the care and use of laboratory animals. If it is available in accordance with the rules and principles contained in the relevant manuals and in the institution where the study is carried out, it should be made after approval from the Experimental Animals Ethics Committee. Ethics Committee approval must be submitted with the letter. In the articles, the information should be given about post-operative pain-relieving treatment methods used in human and animal studies.
PLAGIARISM AND ETHICAL MISCONDUCT
This journal uses "iThenticate" to screen all submissions for plagiarism before publication.
It is essential that authors avoid all forms of plagiarism and ethical misconduct as represented below.
Plagiarism: To Republish whole or part of a content in another author's publication without attribution.
Fabrication: To publish data and findings/results that do not exist.
Duplication: Using data from another publication that includes republishing an article in different languages.
Salamisation: Creating multiple publications by supernaturally splitting the results of a study.
Data Manipulation/Falsification: Manipulating or deliberately distorting research data to give a false impression.
We disapprove of such unethical practices as plagiarism, fabrication, duplication, data manipulation/falsification and salamisation and efforts to influence the review process with such practices as gifting authorship, inappropriate acknowledgements, and references in line with the COPE flowcharts.
Submitted manuscripts are also subjected to the evaluation of plagiarism, duplicate publication by automatic software. Authors are obliged to acknowledge if they published study results in whole or in part in the form of abstracts.
A. DUTIES OF PUBLISHER:
Handling of unethical publishing behaviour
The publisher will take all appropriate measures to modify the article in question, in close cooperation with the editors, in cases of alleged or proven scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication, or plagiarism. This includes the prompt publication of an erratum, disclosure, or retraction of the affected work in the most severe case. Together with the editors, the publisher will take reasonable steps to detect and prevent the publication of articles in which research misconduct occurs and will under no circumstances promote or knowingly allow such abuse to occur.
Editorial Autonomy
Journal of Turkish Society for Rheumatology is committed to ensuring the autonomy of editorial decisions without influence from anyone or commercial partners.
Intellectual Property and Copyright
Journal of Turkish Society for Rheumatology protects the property and copyright of the articles published in the journal and maintains each article's published version of the record. The journal provides the integrity and transparency of each published article.
Scientific Misconduct
Journal of Turkish Society for Rheumatology's publisher always takes all appropriate measures regarding fraudulent publication or plagiarism.
B. DUTIES OF EDITORS:
Decision on Publication and Responsibility
The editor of the journal keeps under control everything in the journal and strives to meet the needs of readers and authors. The editor is also responsible for deciding which articles submitted to the journal should be published and guided by the policies subjected to legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. The editor might discuss with reviewers while making publication decisions. The editor is responsible for the contents and overall quality of the publication. Editor ought to provide a fair and appropriate peer-review process.
Objectivity
Articles that are submitted to the journal are always evaluated without any prejudice.
Confidentiality
The editor must not disclose any information about a submitted article to anyone other than editorial staff, reviewers, and publisher.
Conflicts of Interest and Disclosure
The Editor of Journal of Turkish Society for Rheumatology does not allow any conflicts of interest between the parties such as authors, reviewers and editors. Unpublished materials in a submitted article must not be used by anyone without the express written assent of the author.
Fundamental Errors in Published Works
Authors are obliged to notify the journal's editors or publisher immediately and to cooperate with them to correct or retract the article if significant errors or inaccuracies are detected in the published work. If the editors or publisher learn from a third party that a published work contains a material error or inaccuracy, the authors must promptly correct or retract the article or provide the journal editors with evidence of the accuracy of the article.
C. DUTIES OF REVIEWERS:
Evaluation
Reviewers evaluate manuscripts without origin, gender, sexual orientation or political philosophy of the authors. Reviewers also ensure a fair blind peer review of the submitted manuscripts for evaluation.
Confidentiality
All the information relative to submitted articles is kept confidential. The reviewers must not be discussed with others except if authorized by the editor.
Disclosure and Conflict of Interest
The reviewers have no conflict of interest regarding parties such as authors, funders, editors, etc.
Contribution to editor
Reviewers help the editor in making decisions and may also assist the author in improving the manuscript.
Objectivity
They always do objective judgment evaluation. The reviewers express their views clearly with appropriate supporting arguments.
Acknowledgement of Sources
Reviewers ought to identify a relevant published study that the authors have not cited. Reviewers also call to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.
