Ethical Principles and Publication Policy

Strategic Public Administration Journal
Publication Policy and Ethical Principles Statement

Open Access Policy

Strategic Public Management Journal offers all its content free of charge to the reader or the institution to which the reader belongs. Readers may read, download, copy, search and provide links to the full text of the journal articles, except for commercial purposes, without permission from the publisher or author. Strategic Public Management Journal articles are open access and licensed under Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.tr ).
The journal is Open Access and published scientific articles will be accessible to users or institutions free of charge. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search or link to the full text of articles in the SPMJ journal without prior permission from the publisher or author. This complies with the CC BY-NC 4.0 open access definition.

Licensing and Copyright

Authors are permitted to publish their intellectual works under the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. The Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license permits sharing, copying, reproducing, and adapting the work in any size and format for non-commercial use, provided that the original work is properly cited, including rearranging, transforming, and building upon it. When applying to submit an article to the Strategic Public Management Journal, the author declares that he/she accepts the terms in the Copyright Transfer Form by signing the form.

Publication Policy

1. Strategic Public Administration Journal is published electronically once a year in December with the status of “Peer-Reviewed Journal” on the ULAKBİM DergiPark platform and its own website.
2. The journal publishes original Turkish and English studies in the fields of Public Administration, Management Reforms, Local Governments, Management Science and Strategic Management with an interdisciplinary approach. 3. The studies sent to the journal
are evaluated scientifically by the Referee Board using the double-
blind method after going through the editorial process in terms of purpose, scope, method and writing principles . 4. In addition to the articles that have undergone peer review, the journal also includes special issues created in line with the objectives of the journal.
5. The Journal of Strategic Public Administration adopts the Open Access approach and no processing fee is requested by the journal for articles, texts etc. 6. No fee is paid to authors and referees for the articles published in the journal. 7. The reported studies should be prepared in accordance with ethical rules and the citations made in the text should definitely be indicated. The upper limit of the acceptable similarity rate is 20%. 8. The opinions adopted in the published articles are not the opinions of the journal and are the responsibility of each article author. 9. Detailed information about Strategic Public Administration Journal, its purpose and scope, writing rules, publication principles, article submission and evaluation processes, ethical principles, etc. are available on the website.

Ethical Principles

Strategic Public Administration Journal applies the highest standards of scientific publication ethics and is an independent journal editor . Ethics (COPE) is committed to complying with the following principles, which are based on recommendations and guidelines: Strategic Public Administration Journal adopts the standards determined by COPE in the application of publication ethics. In this context, in cases of misuse or violation of publication ethics, it refers to the publication ethics flowcharts (https://publicationethics.org/resources/flowcharts) developed by COPE.
The following are the ethical responsibilities of the Committee on Publication: It has been prepared in accordance with the ethical rules and responsibilities specified by

Ethics (COPE). Our journal editors, referees and authors are expected to act in accordance with the ethical rules stated below.

1. Ethical Responsibilities Towards Referees: The referee board is reviewed at least once a year and updated regularly. Articles sent to the journal for publication are subject to an editorial process in terms of purpose, scope, method and writing principles. Articles that can be published at the end of the editorial process are sent to 2 different referees. In this context, the referees of the Strategic Public Management Journal are expected to have the following ethical responsibilities:

- Evaluations must be impartial.
- Referees must be experts in the subject they express an opinion on, and if they do not have sufficient knowledge on the subject, they must decline the referee offer.
- Referees must not have a conflict of interest with the research or the authors.
- Referees must destroy the studies they have reviewed after the evaluation process due to the principle of confidentiality.
- The evaluation must be objective and only related to the content of the study. They should not allow nationality, gender, religious beliefs, political beliefs and commercial concerns to affect the evaluation.
- As a requirement of their educational and instructive responsibilities, referees should guide the authors and avoid offensive and dishonorable comments and statements about the inadequacies of the author/authors.
- They should carry out the study they accept to be evaluated on time and within the framework of the above ethical responsibilities.

2. Ethical Responsibilities Towards Authors

- Articles submitted for publication should not be contrary to scientific publication ethics (plagiarism, forgery, distortion, re-publication, slicing, unfair authorship, not stating the supporting institution, not complying with ethical rules in studies on animals, etc.).
- Authors should have conducted the research process of the studies they submit in accordance with ethical rules and relevant legislation. Articles should be original studies in accordance with the specified fields of study.
- In cases where research results requiring an ethics committee decision are included in the articles they submit, authors should indicate the ethics committee decision information (board name, date, number, etc.) in the article.
- In cases where other studies are directly quoted during the article research process, the author should be cited.
- The list of references should be complete and the sources cited should be stated.

2.1. Appropriateness and Reliability

- The author should use appropriate data analysis methods when necessary and seek expert advice if necessary.
- In studies with multiple authors, authors should take joint responsibility for the content of their publications. Authors should check their publications at every stage to ensure that the methods and findings are reported accurately.

2.2. Honesty

- Articles submitted to the journal should not have been published elsewhere or submitted for publication.
- The author should describe the research methods used and present their findings clearly and concisely.

2.3. Originality

- The author should undertake that the work is original and has not been published elsewhere in any language.
- If the research findings have been published before or have been sent to a different journal for publication elsewhere, the Editor should be informed about this during the article submission process. Authors should provide copies of relevant publications or copies of works submitted to other journals.
- Multiple publications resulting from a single research project should be clearly stated and the primary publication should be cited.

2.4. Transparency

- The author may be asked for raw data regarding their articles within the scope of the evaluation processes, in such a case the author should be ready to present the expected data and information to the editorial board and referee board. - The author should have a document showing that they have the rights to use the data used, the necessary permissions regarding the research/analysis or that they have carried out the permission procedures for the subjects. - The author should clearly and explicitly define their methods so that the findings presented in the study can be verified by others.

2.5. Responsibility

- The author cannot have their work in the application process of more than one journal at the same time. Each application can be started following the completion of the previous application.
- In the event that the author notices a mistake or error regarding their published, early appearance or evaluation stage work, they are obliged to inform the journal editor and cooperate with the editor in the correction or withdrawal processes.

2.6. Multi-Author Studies

- In multi-author studies, all authors should be listed and should be entered in the copyright transfer form during the article submission.
- During the article evaluation processes, a responsible author should be selected from among the authors, and the responsible author should maintain communication with the Editor.
- No proposal can be made to change author responsibilities (such as adding authors, changing the order of authors, removing authors) for a study that has started the evaluation process.
- Changes and edits made to the article must be communicated to all authors. This process is the responsibility of the “Corresponding Author”.
- In studies with multiple authors, authors are expected to take joint responsibility for the integrity of the research and reporting. However, if authors take responsibility for only certain aspects of the research and reports, this must be stated in the publication.

2.7. Referee process and Copyright Transfer Form

- Detailed information about the referee process is provided under the heading “Refereeing and Evaluation Process” on the Author Guidelines page. Authors are deemed to have accepted these rules when submitting their article.
- The author must cooperate in this process and respond to referee and editor requests in a timely and accurate manner.
- The author must inform the editor if he/she wishes to withdraw his/her work during the evaluation process.

2.8. Reporting of Research Involving Humans or Animals

- Appropriate approval, license or registration must be obtained before the research begins and details should be provided in the report (e.g., Institutional Review Board, Research Ethics Committee approval, national licensing authorities for the use of animals).
- If requested by the editors, authors should provide evidence that the reported research has received appropriate approval and has been ethically conducted (e.g. copies of approvals, licenses, participant consent forms).
- The author should not publish or share personal data collected during the research without the permission of the individual (or their representative).
- The author should publish all meaningful research results that may contribute to understanding.


3. Ethical Responsibilities of Editors

3.1. Responsibility for Journal Content

The editor is responsible for each article published in the journal within the framework of the rules listed below. They must ensure the quality of the material they publish and protect the integrity of the published record. In this context, the editor;

- Makes decisions only academically and takes full responsibility for these decisions.
- Takes care to act in accordance with the principle of freedom of thought in order to ensure that studies are evaluated fairly and impartially.
- Conducts business processes in accordance with intellectual property rights and ethical standards.
- Strives to meet the information needs of readers and authors, and strives to continuously improve the journal.
- Protects the confidentiality of authors and reviewers, and manages the review process accordingly.
- Takes into consideration the opinions of authors, readers and referee board members in improving the journal's processes.
- Follows research on refereeing and publishing, and reviews the journal's processes in light of new information.

3.2. Relations with Readers

- Editors pay attention to the originality of published studies and take care that the study makes a scientific contribution to readers, researchers and practitioners.
- Editors take into account the feedback from all stakeholders and make an effort to provide explanatory and informative feedback.

3.3. Relations with Authors

- Editors take care to ensure that all studies are reviewed by appropriately qualified referees.
- Detailed information about the processes for authors is provided in the Writing Rules on the Strategic Public Management Journal website.
- The Editor is in constant communication with the author in order to prevent any disruptions that may occur during the process.

3.4. Relations with Referees

- During the appointment of referees, editors monitor whether there is a conflict of interest between the authors and the referees.
- Since the evaluation process is carried out with the double- blind method, the identities of the referees are kept confidential. The list of referees for each issue is announced in the relevant issue.
- Referees are encouraged to use an impartial, scientific and objective language when evaluating the study.
- Necessary efforts are made to ensure that the referee pool consists of different disciplines and is constantly updated.
- Discourteous and unscientific evaluations are prevented or censored.


3.5. Refereeing and Evaluation Process

- Editors are responsible for implementing the “Refereeing and Evaluation Process” policies included in the Journal’s Writing Rules. In this context, editors ensure that the evaluation process of each study is completed fairly, impartially and on time.
- Referees may express a definite opinion in the reports they prepare regarding the publication or non-publication of the study. However, the Editor/Editorial Board may make a decision based on the similar and opposing views of the referees who evaluated the study.
- The Editor/Editorial Board does not look at the number of referees who accept or reject the study in this regard, but at the strength of the arguments of the referees or authors . The Editor/Editorial Board considers reports that include strong, reasoned propositions rather than reports whose evaluation questions are answered with yes or no.
- The referee may see after a study is published that his/her own views are not fully reflected in the study. It is possible that other referees have different opinions and that the Editor/Editorial Board has taken these opinions into consideration. In this case, upon the request of the referee who evaluated the study, the opinions of the other referees may be sent to him/her if the Editorial Board deems it appropriate.

- Based on the recommendations of the referees, the Editor/Editorial Board follows one of the following paths:
It may publish the study.
It may accept the study with partial or significant changes and improvements.
It may request the author/authors to edit the study in accordance with the referee's opinions and initiate a new evaluation process.
It may reject the study.

3.6. Editorial Board Members

- Care is taken to identify suitably qualified editorial board members who will contribute to the development of the journal.
- Editorial Board members are reviewed regularly.
- The editor asks the board members for their opinions on the management of the journal, informs them of any changes in the journal's policies, and consults them regularly (e.g. once a year) to plan for the future.

3.7. Protection of Personal Data

- Editors; in studies containing personal data, the study is rejected unless the individuals used give their explicit consent. In addition, editors are responsible for protecting the individual data of authors, referees and readers.

3.8. Ethics Committee, Human and Animal Rights

- Editors take care to ensure that human and animal rights are protected in the studies evaluated. They are responsible for rejecting the study in cases where there is no ethics committee approval for the subjects used in the studies and no permissions for experimental research.

3.9. Constructivity and Openness to Discussion

- Editors take into consideration criticisms of the works published in the journal and strive to display a constructive attitude towards these criticisms.

3.10. Complaints

- Editors carefully examine complaints from authors, referees or readers and try to respond in an explanatory manner.

4. Ethical Responsibilities of the Publisher

Strategic Public Management Journal;

- Does not request any fees from authors.

- Takes care to keep a record of every copy of every published article.

5. Plagiarism Check

- Reported research should be prepared in accordance with ethical rules and references made in the text must be stated.

If You Encounter an Unethical Situation:

If you notice a significant error or mistake in a published article or encounter a behavior or content that does not comply with the ethical responsibilities mentioned above, please report it to spmj@marmara.edu.tr via e-mail.
We thank you for your interest and wish you success in your work.

Strategic Public Management Journal