| This publication ethics statement aims to ensure that Kybele Medical Journal operates as a reliable and reputable platform for scientific publishing. 1. General Principles Kybele Medical Journal publishes studies in the field of health sciences that comply with ethical, scientific, and academic standards. The journal follows national and international publication ethics principles including, but not limited to: • Higher Education Council Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive • Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) • International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) • World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) • Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) • Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing The journal adheres to the principles of honesty, transparency, accountability, and impartiality in scientific publishing. Ethics committee approval is not required for studies that do not involve human participants or animals. 2. Publication Procedures and Peer Review • All submissions must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration elsewhere. • Manuscripts undergo an initial editorial screening. • Suitable manuscripts are evaluated using a double-blind peer review process by at least two independent reviewers. • Editors and reviewers must maintain confidentiality throughout the evaluation process. 3. Unethical Behaviors The following are considered unethical: • Plagiarism • Data fabrication or falsification • Ghostwriting or honorary authorship • Salami publication • Duplicate publication • Copyright infringement • Undisclosed conflicts of interest When misconduct is detected, procedures are conducted according to COPE guidelines and the manuscript may be rejected, corrected, retracted, or removed. 4. Research Ethics 4.1 Human Subjects Studies involving human participants, human material, or identifiable personal data must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki. • Ethics Committee approval is mandatory. • The committee name, approval number, and date must be stated in the Methods section. • The approval document must be uploaded during submission. 4.2 Informed Consent • Written informed consent must be obtained from all participants. • For participants under 18 years, consent must also be obtained from parents or legal guardians. • Consent must be stated for surveys, interviews, and case reports. • The informed consent procedure must be described in the Methods section. 4.3 Privacy and Confidentiality • Participant identity must not be disclosed. • Written publication consent is required if patient images or identifiable data are used. 4.4 Animal Experiments Animal studies must: • Receive Ethics Committee approval • Follow international standards including: o Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals o International Guiding Principles for Biomedical Research Involving Animals Approval documents must be uploaded at submission. 5. Authorship and Author Responsibilities Authors must have made substantial contributions to: • Study conception or design • Data collection • Data analysis or interpretation Funding acquisition or data collection alone does not qualify for authorship. • Authorship order must be agreed by all authors. • All authors must sign the Copyright Transfer Form. • Non-author contributions should be stated in the Acknowledgments section. 6. Conflict of Interest and Funding • Authors must disclose all financial, institutional, or personal conflicts of interest. • Funding sources must be clearly declared. If there is no funding, this must also be stated. 7. Editorial Responsibilities The Editor-in-Chief: • Evaluates manuscripts without discrimination • Ensures fair double-blind peer review • Maintains confidentiality of submissions • Withdraws from evaluation in case of conflict of interest • Is responsible for scientific integrity and ethical compliance • May publish corrections when necessary • Has final authority over reviewer selection and publication decisions 8. Reviewer Responsibilities Reviewers must: • Provide objective and constructive evaluations • Maintain confidentiality • Decline review in case of conflict of interest or lack of expertise • Report suspected plagiarism or ethical violations Reviewers must not share or discuss manuscripts with third parties. 9. Correction, Retraction and Removal Post-publication corrections, retractions, or removals are handled according to COPE guidelines. Authors must immediately inform the editor if a significant error is identified in their publishedwork. |
The Official Journal of Kotyora Family Medicine Health Management and Education Association