Publication Ethics

Ethical Principles of the Journal

 

Articles that are submitted in the journal system are first examined in terms of article title, structure, relevance, and originality. The article is also evaluated for plagiarism. The article is then sent to the members of the editorial board for appointment as a referee and scientific evaluation. Sub-editors as well as reviewers of the article are selected from among expert researchers in the same field. All factors influencing the production, reviewing and final acceptance of the articles are committed to the ethical principles of the journal. The ethical obligations of each of these factors are set out below:

 

Obligations of the authors

 

  • The author of the article undertakes not to submit the full research article or part of it to any other journal.
  • The main commitment of the author of the article is to provide a comprehensive version of the research, scientific work, or project along with a scientific and realistic discussion of its importance.
  • The submitted article should contain enough details and references to public sources of information that the author's scientific colleagues can use them to repeat the research work or confirm its accuracy.
  • The author is obliged to help the reader understand through quick access to previous works by making sufficient references to published sources that have influenced the nature of the reported research. Information that the author obtains privately and through dialogue, correspondence, or discussion with third parties should not be reported in the work unless it has the express (written) permission of the original owner of the information. The same is true of information obtained through confidential services, such as reviewing articles or reviewing research funding.
  • The submitted article should not contain plagiarism or fake data.
  • Avoid dividing research articles into several minor articles. Researchers who have conducted extensive research on a system or set of interconnected systems should organize their articles in such a way that each article contains a complete version of a specific aspect of that overall research.
  • Submitting more than one article to more than one journal of a single research for the first publication is considered unwelcome by the authors.
  • While biased criticism of published articles is sometimes very justified, personal criticism is never acceptable.
  • In order to maintain copyright, only the names of those who have contributed a major role in the research or project and the preparation of the article should be listed as co-authors. The author who is introduced as the correspondence testifies that all the persons mentioned as co-authors have seen the final version of the article and have agreed to submit the article for publication. The deceased who meet the above conditions as a colleague should also be mentioned and their date of death should be recorded in a footnote. Inserting fake names as a colleague is prohibited. The author submitting the article for publication is responsible for including only the eligible persons in the article.
  • Submitting an article with the apparent commercial purpose is undesirable.

 

Obligations of the reviewers

 

  • Since the reviewing of the article in the publication process is necessary and inevitable, it is up to all referees to play their fair share in the review of the articles.
  • If the reviewer feels that he/she does not have sufficient qualifications to review the article or does not have sufficient time to make a fair judgment of the work presented, he/she must return the article to the publication office without delay.
  • The reviewer of the article should judge the quality of the article based on its merits and advantages in a realistic and non-subjective manner and respect the intellectual independence of the authors. Personal criticism is never welcome.
  • Reviewers should avoid conflicts of interest or their consequences. Whenever an article submitted for review and arbitration indicates any potential conflict of interest to the reviewer or the reviewer feels prejudice against it, the reviewer is obliged to return the article to the journal office without review and resolve the issue. Also inform him.
  • Unpublished information, arguments, or interpretations contained in articles submitted for review and publication are considered confidential and should not be used in the reviewer's research, or published in any other way except with the consent of the original author and with reference.
  • Whenever a reviewer receives an article for review that the authors know indirectly, he/she is required to notify the editor.
  • The reviewer should consider the article received for review as a confidential document and not disclose its contents to anyone or talk about it with anyone, unless necessary with people whose expert opinion is necessary for reviewing. In such a case, the identity of such persons must be communicated to the editor.
  • The reviewers are obliged to provide sufficient explanation and justification for their reviewing so that the authors understand the basis of their opinions. Any claim that an observation, inference, or argument is pre-published must be substantiated by sufficient references.
  • The referee is obliged to inform the editor of any serious similarities between the article under review and any article published or being published in any other publication.
  • The reviewer of the article is not allowed to use or disclose the information, arguments, or unpublished expressions contained in the article under review, except with the consent of the original author and with appropriate reference to the original author.
  • If the reviewer is satisfied with sufficient evidence that the article under review contains stolen scientific material or fake data, he is obliged to share the material with the editor.

 

 

Obligations of the editor

  • The first responsibility of the editor and specialized editors of Water and Soil Science is to ensure efficiency and fairness in the process of reviewing articles, and to guarantee and maintain the highest standards of professional and specialized quality in the articles submitted to the journal for publication. Qualitative criteria are: the originality of the research, its concept or application, in-depth thinking and the relationship with water and soil science.
  • Each of the specialized editors is obliged to pay fair and unbiased attention to all articles and to make their own judgment about each article on the merits and advantages of it, regardless of any personal contact or acquaintance with the authors, etc.
  • The editor, editors-in-chief and the editorial board are not allowed to disclose any information about the article under review to anyone other than those whose expert opinion is required regarding the publication of the article. The editor and the editorial board are not allowed to disclose the names of the reviewers.
  • If the editor or professional editors themselves are the author or co-author of an article, they should not interfere in the review of that article. If an article is criticized after being published in a journal, it should not be held responsible for the article.
  • The editor is obliged to avoid conflicts of interest or consequences. He should not submit the article to referees who are known for their personal prejudice against or against the author or the subject of the article.
  • Unpublished information, arguments, or interpretations contained in articles submitted for review and publication are considered confidential and should not be used in the research of editors or specialized editors, or published in any other way except with the consent of the original author and with appropriate reference to the name of the original creator.
  • If the editor is convinced by the evidence that the content, conclusions, sources, or other material in the article published in the Water and Soil Science is incorrect or untrue, he/she is obliged after informing the authors and requesting the authors to written response to suspicions immediately publish a misprint or correction in the journal. If possible, the editor is required to make arrangements for the publication of comments or articles that reveal errors.

 

Scientific plagiarism and how to deal with it in the Journal of Water and Soil Science

The Journal of Water and Soil Science follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines for dealing with plagiarism and duplication.