Ethics are values, concepts, and principles that serve as guides and moral foundations for researchers to distinguish between good behavior (having a positive impact on individuals and/or the environment) and bad behavior (having a negative impact on individuals and/or the environment).
Publication Ethics can be defined as a self-regulatory mechanism that insists on honesty on behalf of authors, reviewers, and publishers to establish higher editorial processing standards. Ethical standards for publication exist to ensure high-quality scientific publications, public trust in scientific findings, and respect for people's opinions.

• Honest researchers do not engage in plagiarism.
• They do not misrepresent sources.
• They do not hide criticisms that they cannot refute.
• They do not distort opposing views.
• They do not destroy or conceal data.

Peer-reviewed studies support and implement the scientific method. At this point, it is crucial for all parties involved in the publication process (authors, readers, researchers, publishers, reviewers, and editors) to adhere to ethical principles. Turkish Journal for the Psychology of Religion adheres to national and international standards regarding 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. Turkish Journal for the Psychology of Religion has adopted the International Ethical Publishing Principles published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME). It also commits to 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)
• Transparency and Best Practices in Academic Publishing (International Criteria)
• Decisions of the Turkish Editors Workshop (National Criteria)

Correction, Retraction, Expression of Concern
Editors may consider publishing corrections if minor errors that do not affect the findings, interpretations, or conclusions of the published article are identified. Editors should consider retracting an article when major errors or violations that invalidate the findings and conclusions are identified. If there is a possibility of research or publication misconduct by the authors, such as unreliable findings or inadequate investigation by the authors' institutions, or if a possible investigation appears unfair or inconclusive, editors should consider expressing concern. Regarding correction, retraction, or expression of concern, COPE and ICMJE guidelines are considered.

Plagiarism Prevention Control
Presenting partially or entirely one's own work as if it were someone else's without proper attribution to the owners of ideas, methods, data, practices, writings, figures, or works is plagiarism. When quoting someone else's work, the author must provide accurate references without violating copyright infringement provisions.
Turkish Journal for the Psychology of Religion scans all submitted articles to prevent plagiarism. Whether plagiarism exists in the studies submitted for review is checked using the iThenticate software. A similarity rate of less than 20% is expected. The main measure of similarity rate is the author's compliance with citation and quoting rules. Even if the similarity rate is 1%, if proper citation and quoting procedures are not followed, plagiarism may still be present. Therefore, authors should be familiar with citation and quoting rules and apply them carefully. All articles that do not comply with accepted ethical standards are removed from publication. This includes articles detected to contain possible violations or improprieties after publication.

Publication of Studies Based on Surveys and Interviews
In order to ensure ethical assurance in scientific periodical publishing, Turkish Journal for the Psychology of Religion adopts the "Code of Conduct and Best Practices Guidelines for Journal Editors" and the "Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers" of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). In this context, the following points should be followed in studies submitted to the journal:
For research in all scientific disciplines requiring ethics committee approval (ethics committee approval must be obtained, this approval must be stated in the article and documented, and the name of the committee, date, and number should be provided in the method section, and also on the first/last pages of the article in case of case presentations, information should be provided in the article regarding the signing of the informed consent form by the participants).

Special Issue Publication Policy
Upon request of the Editorial Board, a special issue may be published once a year in our journal. Articles submitted for inclusion in the special issue are first subjected to Editorial pre-review. Then they are examined for compliance with the journal's writing guidelines and similarity checks are performed to prevent plagiarism. After these stages, they are included in the peer review process using the double-blind review model.

To maintain the quality of articles and prevent violations during the publication process, the scientific publication ethics of Turkish Journal for the Psychology of Religion consist of author ethics, editor ethics, reviewer ethics, and journal management ethics as follows:

Author Ethics
• Reporting: Authors should provide the editor with honest, open, and complete information about the process and results of their research and should store research data accurately and securely.
• Originality and plagiarism: The author must ensure that the work submitted to the editor is original, written by the author(s) or jointly written with other authors, and that the work is not plagiarized from the work of others or ideas.
• Duplicate submissions: Authors are not allowed to publish the same scientific article in multiple journals. Therefore, authors must declare to the editor that the scientific article is original and has not been published in other journals.
• Author status: The author should inform the editor that they have the competence or qualifications in a specific area of expertise according to the published field of science. The author who submits the article to the editor is the first author, so if any problems arise during the publication of the article, the contact person is the first author.
• Errors in article writing: If the author detects a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author's responsibility to promptly notify the editor of the journal or publisher, to cooperate with the editor to correct or withdraw the article, and to provide proof of correction to the editor. It is the author's responsibility to correct the errors.
• Financial support and conflicts of interest: Authors should declare any financial or other conflicts of interest that may affect the results or interpretation of the article to the editor. All funding sources supporting the research must be disclosed.
• Ethics of research: Authors must provide ethical approval documents or state that the article is exempt from ethical approval. If the article is based on an experiment with human subjects, approval must be obtained from an appropriate Ethics Committee. Informed consent should be obtained from all human subjects. For research on animals, a license must be obtained from the relevant institution.
• Citation of resources: Authors should ensure that they correctly cite all publications used in the preparation of the article and that they comply with the rules of citation.
• Misconduct: If an author is found to have committed academic misconduct, the article will be rejected, withdrawn, or retracted by the editor.
• Authorship rights: Authors are obliged to respect the rights of other authors and sources cited in the article, to reference all sources correctly and completely, and to comply with the ethical rules of academic publications.
• Plagiarism: Authors should comply with the ethical rules of academic publications, including avoiding all forms of plagiarism, including self-plagiarism. If plagiarism is detected in the article, the editor will take necessary action (reject, withdraw, retract) and notify the author of the plagiarism.
• Retractions: Authors must withdraw their articles from the journal if the articles contain significant errors, inaccuracies, or misconduct.

Editor Ethics
• Decision-making: Editors should evaluate all articles submitted for publication based on their content and quality and not make decisions based on commercial considerations.
• Fairness: Editors should ensure that articles are peer-reviewed and reviewed objectively and fairly.
• Privacy: Editors should protect the privacy of authors and reviewers and should not disclose information about the articles submitted to them to anyone other than the author, reviewer, editorial board, or publisher.
• Conflicts of interest: Editors should not have any financial or other conflicts of interest that may affect their decisions regarding the publication of articles.
• Misconduct: Editors should ensure that articles found to contain significant errors, inaccuracies, or misconduct are retracted or withdrawn from the journal.

Reviewer Ethics
• Confidentiality: Reviewers should maintain the confidentiality of the articles they review and should not disclose any information about the articles to anyone other than the editor.
• Objectivity: Reviewers should evaluate the articles objectively and fairly, based on their content and quality, and should not allow personal biases or conflicts of interest to influence their reviews.
• Timeliness: Reviewers should complete their reviews in a timely manner and should not unnecessarily delay the review process.
• Feedback: Reviewers should provide constructive feedback to the authors, highlighting both the strengths and weaknesses of the articles, and should provide recommendations for improvement where appropriate.
• Conflicts of interest: Reviewers should not review articles in which they have a financial or other conflict of interest that may affect their objectivity or impartiality.

Journal Management Ethics
• Transparency: The editorial board should ensure transparency in the publication process and should provide clear and accurate information to authors, reviewers, and readers about the policies and procedures of the journal.
• Integrity: The editorial board should ensure the integrity of the publication process and should take appropriate action to address any concerns about the conduct or quality of the articles published in the journal.
• Accountability: The editorial board should be accountable for the decisions made regarding the publication of articles in the journal and should be willing to explain and justify those decisions to authors, reviewers, and readers.
• Independence: The editorial board should operate independently of any commercial or political interests and should make decisions regarding the publication of articles based solely on their content and quality.
• Continuous improvement: The editorial board should strive for continuous improvement in the policies and procedures of the journal and should seek feedback from authors, reviewers, and readers to identify areas for improvement.
This statement is made to inform all parties involved in the publication process about the ethical standards and policies of Turkish Journal for the Psychology of Religion and to ensure that these standards and policies are consistently applied and upheld.

Editorial Confidentiality Obligation
The editors of the Turkish Journal of Psychology of Religion treat all submitted manuscripts as confidential documents. This means that they do not disclose information about an article to anyone without the permission of the authors. During the manuscript review process, only editors, referees, and editorial board members have access to the manuscripts. Only if the editor suspects serious research misconduct, details about a manuscript can be communicated to a third party without the authors' permission.

Allegations-Suspicions of Scientific Misconduct
Scientific misconduct is a type of ethical violation. The Turkish Journal of Psychology of Religion addresses problems encountered on a case-by-case basis, following the guidance established by major publication ethics bodies. If the editor suspects or alleges an ethical violation, they are obliged to take action. This duty extends to both published and unpublished articles. The editor should not simply reject articles raising concerns about possible misconduct. He/she is ethically obliged to follow up on alleged cases. The editor should follow COPE flowcharts when 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 employer or organisation to investigate. The editor should make every effort to ensure that an appropriate investigation into the alleged misconduct is carried out. This is a very important task.
The Turkish Journal of Psychology of Religion follows COPE's Ethics toolkit for a successful editorial office. The editors of the Turkish Journal of Psychology of Religion take precautions to prevent the publication of articles in which plagiarism, citation manipulation, data falsification, data fabrication, and other research misconduct occur. Under no circumstances will the Turkish Journal of Psychology of Religion or its editors allow such misconduct to occur. If the editors of the Turkish Journal of Psychology of Religion are aware of any allegations of research misconduct related to an article published in their journal, they will follow COPE's guidelines regarding allegations.
Reviewers should notify the editor if they suspect research or publication misconduct. The editor is responsible for taking necessary action in accordance with COPE recommendations.
The Turkish Journal of Psychology of Religion is committed to following the COPE flowcharts when faced with allegations of misconduct on the following or similar issues.
• What to do when republication is suspected
• What to do when plagiarism is suspected
• What to do if fabricated data is suspected
• Requests for change of authorship
• What to do if an undisclosed conflict of interest is suspected
• What to do if unfair or gift authorship is suspected
• What to do when an ethical problem is suspected in an article
• What to do when the suspicion of ethical violation is directly notified by e-mail, etc.
• What to do when a suspected ethical violation is announced via social media

Complaint Procedure
This procedure applies to complaints about content, procedures, or policies that are the responsibility of the Turkish Journal of Psychology of Religion or its editorial staff. Turkish Journal of Psychology of Religion aims to resolve potential complaints in a prompt, courteous and constructive manner.
The complaint should relate to content, procedures, or policies that are the responsibility of the Turkish Journal of Psychology of Religion or the editorial staff. Complaints should be sent directly by e-mail to turkdpdeditor@gmail.com. Complaints e-mails will be treated as confidential documents. The editor will respond to complaints immediately. The editor follows the procedure outlined in the COPE flowchart regarding complaints.
Complaints are reviewed by the relevant member of the editorial team and if the problem cannot be resolved, the following processes are followed:
• If this initial response is deemed inadequate, the complainant can request that the complaint be forwarded to a more senior member of the journal.
• If the complainant is not satisfied, the complaint may be forwarded to the editor-in-chief.
• If possible, a full response will be provided within two weeks.
COPE publishes a code of practice for editors of scientific journals. This should facilitate the resolution of disputes with editors, journals and publishers, but only after the journal's own complaints procedures have been exhausted.

Appeal Process
In Turkish Journal of Psychology of Religion, objections regarding the evaluations made by the editors and referees are welcomed. If you believe that your article has been rejected due to a misunderstanding of its scientific content, please send an appeal message to our editorial team at turkdpdeditor@gmail.com. Do not attempt to submit a revised version of your manuscript at this stage. If, after reading your appeal letter, it appears that your appeal is justified, we may invite you to submit a revised version of your manuscript. Your manuscript will then be resubmitted to the external reviewer process. It is very important that you write the letter of objection in as much detail as possible. This is because only one objection per manuscript will be considered.

Conflicts of Interest
Turkish Journal of Psychology of Religion requires authors and individuals involved in the review process of submitted manuscripts to disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest (including financial, consultant, and institutional) that may lead to bias or conflict of interest.
The Turkish Journal of Psychology of Religion has an established process for handling manuscripts from editors, staff, or editorial board members to ensure impartial review. Such manuscripts are first referred to other journals. If this is not possible, the owner of the submission is suspended from the journal. These manuscripts are also analysed in a double blind process.
The editor should not be involved in decisions about manuscripts written by him/herself or family members. Furthermore, such a paper should be subject to all the usual procedures of the journal. The editor should follow the ICMJE guidelines on disclosure of potential conflicts of interest by authors and reviewers.

Principles of Research Ethics
Turkish Journal of Psychology of Religion observes the highest standards in research ethics and adopts the international research ethics principles defined below. It is the responsibility of the authors to ensure that the articles comply with ethical rules.
• The principles of integrity, quality and transparency should be ensured in the design, review of the design and conduct of the research.
• The research team and participants should be fully informed about the purpose of the research, its methods and possible uses; the requirements and risks, if any, of participation in the research.
• Confidentiality of information provided by research participants and confidentiality of respondents must be ensured. The research should be designed to protect the autonomy and dignity of the participants.
• Research participants should take part in the research voluntarily and should not be under any coercion.
• Harm to the participants should be avoided. The research should be planned in a way that does not put the participants at risk.
• Research independence must be clear and explicit; if there is a conflict of interest, it must be stated.
• In experimental studies with human subjects, the written informed consent of the participants who decide to participate in the research must be obtained. The consent of the legal guardian of children and those under guardianship or those with a recognised mental illness must be obtained.
• If the study will be carried out in any institution or organisation, approval must be obtained from this institution or organisation that the study will be conducted.
• In studies with a human element, it should be stated in the "method" section that "informed consent" has been obtained from the participants and ethics committee approval has been obtained from the institution where the study is conducted.