Ethical Principles

• Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University Journal of Engineering Sciences (KSU JES) adopts the principle of publishing research and review studies of scientific value in all fields related to engineering.
• Submitted manuscripts are evaluated through a double-blind peer-review process.,
• KSU JES is committed to high standards in publication ethics and adheres to the guidelines and policies established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
• All stakeholders involved in the realization of scientific studies (publisher, editor, author, reviewer, and reader) are required and expected to comply with these ethical principles.

Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

• Originality and Submission: Authors must ensure that their submitted work is entirely original. Manuscripts that have been published elsewhere or are concurrently under review by another journal must not be submitted to KSU Journal of Engineering Sciences.
• Authorship and Responsibility: Authorship is limited to those who made significant contributions to the research, design, data acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of the study. The corresponding author guarantees that all contributing co-authors are included, no uninvolved persons are listed, and all authors have approved the final version for publication.
• Citations and Reproducibility: All sources used in the study must be appropriately cited. Authors must provide sufficient detail and references to ensure the scientific reproducibility of their results.
• Data Access and Retention: Authors are required to maintain organized research records and provide access to raw data if requested during the editorial process. Following publication, and provided that legal rights are protected, research data should remain accessible for at least 10 years.
• Conflicts of Interest: Authors must disclose any financial relationships, conflicts of interest, or competing interests that could potentially influence the results or the scientific evaluation of the research.
• Plagiarism and Similarity: All submissions are subject to plagiarism checks. The similarity report must be provided, and the similarity rate must not exceed 20%.
• Licensing and Copyright: Published articles are distributed under a CC-BY license. This allows the work to be shared and adapted with proper attribution while the authors retain their rights to the material.
• Correction of Errors: If an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their published work, they are obligated to promptly notify the editor and cooperate in the retraction or correction (erratum) of the paper.

Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers

• Contribution and Expertise: Reviewers are the primary evaluators of a manuscript's academic quality and originality. Therefore, they should only accept requests to review manuscripts that fall within their specific area of expertise.
• Confidentiality: Reviewers must treat all manuscripts and related information as confidential. They must not share or discuss details of the work with others during or after the review process unless authorized by the editor.
• Objectivity and Fairness: The reviewer’s duty is to evaluate the accuracy, relevance, and originality of the content. Personal views that differ from the author’s ideas should not influence the evaluation; reviews must remain objective and free of personal criticism.
• Constructive Feedback: Review reports should be balanced and professional. Any suggestions for improvement or rejection must be supported by clear and concrete arguments.
• Promptness: Reviewers must complete the evaluation within the designated timeframe. If they feel unqualified or cannot meet the deadline, they must promptly notify the editor and withdraw from the process.
• Detection of Misconduct: Reviewers should notify the editor if they identify potential copyright infringement, plagiarism, or substantial overlap with other published works.
• Disclosure and Conflict of Interest: Reviewers must not use privileged information obtained through the peer-review process for personal advantage. They should decline to review manuscripts where a conflict of interest exists due to competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with the authors or institutions.

Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers

• Publication Decisions and Equity: The editor is solely responsible for deciding which manuscripts will be published based on their scientific merit, originality, and relevance to the journal’s scope. Evaluations must be conducted without regard to the authors' race, gender, religious belief, ethnic origin, or political philosophy.
• Confidentiality and Data Protection: Editors must ensure the protection of individual data for authors, reviewers, and readers. They must keep reviewer identities confidential in line with the double-blind peer-review policy and ensure that unpublished materials are not used for their own research purposes without the author’s explicit written consent.
• Impartiality and Conflict of Interest: Editors are responsible for ensuring an unbiased evaluation of every manuscript. They must consider potential conflicts of interest or institutional affiliations and assign manuscripts to field editors and reviewers based strictly on their technical expertise.
• Operational Excellence: Editors ensure that all stages of the manuscript process (pre-screening, peer-review, editing, and publishing) are conducted healthily and on time. They must keep the reviewer pool updated and diverse to maintain high academic standards.
• Policy Compliance and Education: Editors ensure that all journal processes align with the established publication policies. They are responsible for informing or training those involved in the process regarding these principles.
• Handling Misconduct: In the event of an ethics violation or report (such as plagiarism or copyright infringement), editors must follow the journal's formal procedures and take necessary actions in accordance with COPE guidelines.

PUBLICATION ETHICS AND MALPRACTICE STATEMENT

KSU Journal of Engineering Sciences (KSU JES) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and takes all necessary measures against any form of malpractice. Our ethical principles are based on the standards established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). All parties involved in the publishing process (editors, authors, reviewers, and the publisher) are expected to comply with these ethical standards.

1. Duties of Editors

• Publication Decisions: The Editor is solely responsible for deciding which of the manuscripts submitted to the journal will be published based on their scientific merit and originality. Decisions are made impartially, regardless of the authors' identity.
• Confidentiality: Editors treat submitted manuscripts as confidential documents and do not share information about them with anyone other than the authors and relevant parties.
• Conflict of Interest: Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor's own research without the explicit written consent of the author.

2. Duties of Reviewers

• Editorial Contribution: Reviewers contribute to the decision-making process of the editor and assist in improving the academic quality of the manuscript.
• Promptness: Reviewers who feel unqualified to review a manuscript or know that they cannot complete the review on time must notify the editor and withdraw from the process.
• Objectivity: Reviews must be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate, and reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

3. Duties of Authors

• Originality and Plagiarism: All submitted works must be entirely original and free of plagiarism. The similarity rate must not exceed 20%.
• Multiple Submissions: Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently is considered unethical and is unacceptable.
• Data Retention: Authors must provide access to raw data upon request and ensure that this data is retained for 10 years following publication.

4. Dealing with Publication Malpractice

• Prevention of Misconduct: The publisher and editors shall take all reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred, including but not limited to plagiarism, citation manipulation, and data falsification/fabrication. In no case shall the journal or its editors encourage such misconduct, or knowingly allow such misconduct to take place.
• Investigation: In the event that the journal’s publisher or editors are made aware of any allegation of research misconduct relating to a submitted or published article, the editors shall follow COPE’s guidelines (or equivalent) in dealing with allegations.
• Corrections and Retractions: To ensure the integrity of the academic record, the journal is always willing to publish Corrections (Erratum), clarifications, and Retractions when errors or ethical violations are identified.
• Withdrawal of Manuscripts: Authors may request to withdraw their manuscripts for which the evaluation process is not yet complete by submitting a formal withdrawal request through the DergiPark system.
• Changes in Authorship: No changes to the names, additions, deletions, or the order of authors can be made for manuscripts that have completed the evaluation process and have been accepted for publication.

5. Ethical Oversight 

• KSU JES ensures ethical oversight by requiring "Ethics Committee Approval" for all studies involving human or animal subjects. Authors must declare compliance with international ethical standards (e.g., Declaration of Helsinki). Where applicable, informed consent must be obtained from participants.

6. Intellectual Property & Open Access 

• Authors retain the copyright of their work and grant the journal the right of first publication. All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. This license is clearly indicated on the PDF and HTML versions of all published manuscripts. Authors are permitted to deposit all versions of their paper (Submitted, Accepted, or Published) in an institutional or other repository of their choice without embargo.

7. Complaints and Appeals

• KSU JES has a formal process for handling complaints and appeals against editorial decisions or research misconduct. Such cases should be submitted to the Editor-in-Chief in writing and will be resolved according to COPE guidelines.

8.Revenue Sources, Advertising, and Editorial Independence: 

• KSU JES is a non-profit journal supported entirely by Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University. The university provides all necessary infrastructure, including the editorial office and digital hosting (via DergiPark). The journal does not accept advertisements, subscriptions, or any commercial payments. Crucially, the financial support from the university does not influence editorial decision-making. All manuscripts are evaluated solely based on their scientific merit and peer-review results.

9. Direct Marketing

• KSU JES conducts all marketing and manuscript solicitation activities in a professional, well-targeted, and non-obtrusive manner. The journal is committed to providing truthful information and does not engage in misleading practices for authors or readers.