Publishing Ethics

The editors of Arkhaia Anatolika enforce a rigorous double-blind peer review process together with strict ethical policies and standards to ensure to add high-quality scientific works to the field of scholarly publication. The publication ethics of our journal have been prepared in consideration of the Committee on Publication Ethics Guidelines (COPE) and the YÖK Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Guidelines.

Reviewers Guide

Reviewers play a crucial role in evaluating manuscripts submitted to the Arkhaia Anatolika. Editors work closely with reviewers to apply the acceptance criteria stringently and to act promptly in accepting or rejecting manuscripts. Your active collaboration as a referee is central to the success of the journal. The Editors rely on expert referees for maintaining the high standard of the journal and they are also grateful for the help they receive from reviewers.

In as much as the reviewing of manuscripts is an essential step in the publication process, every scientist has an obligation to do their fair share of reviewing. Peer reviewers should be a person of integral academic standing and an acknowledged expert in the field.

Duties and Responsibilities of Reviewers

Objectivity: Reviewers should express objective comments without any personal criticism of the authors. Also, reviewers shall provide necessary supporting arguments and clearly express their views to the authors which should assist the authors to improvise their work.

Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Peer-review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper. When an assigned referee feels unqualified for the review of the assigned manuscript or who knows that timely review will not be possible then the referee should excuse himself/herself by notifying the editor on time to avoid any delay in manuscript review.

Confidentiality: Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. Reviewers must not share the review or information about the paper with anyone or contact the authors directly without permission from the editor. Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in a reviewer’s own research without the express written consent of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest: Reviewers should not consider any papers in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the paper. It is vitally important for reviewers to disclose any conflicts of interest to the editors. The Arkhaia Anatolika follows of the Committee on Publication Ethics guidelines.

Acknowledgement of Sources: Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Citation Request: If a reviewer suggests that an author includes citations to the reviewer’s (or their associates’) work, this must be for genuine scientific reasons and not with the intention of increasing the reviewer’s citation count or enhancing the visibility of their work (or that of their associates).

The evaluations of the referees should be objective. The referee report includes evaluations on the following issues;

Purpose of the article

Importance of the topic

Contribution to the Literature

Methodology

Discussion

Conclusion

References

Editor’s Guide

Editors are mainly chosen for their expertise in key areas related to the journal or chosen for their international presence in the field. The editor must have a doctorate degree (PhD) in the specific subject.

Duties and Responsibilities of Editors

Peer-Review: The editor shall ensure that the peer review process is fair, unbiased, and timely.  Research articles must typically be reviewed by at least two external and independent reviewers, and where necessary the editor should seek additional opinions.

The editor shall select reviewers who have suitable expertise in the relevant field, taking account of the need for appropriate, inclusive and diverse representation. The editor shall follow best practice in avoiding the selection of fraudulent peer reviewers.

Editors should remain alert to the possibility of peer review manipulation, especially if reviewer comments are submitted extremely rapidly or the review is extremely positive and superficial. In such cases, it may be helpful to invite an additional, independent review, or to redouble efforts to check the identity and contact details of the suggested reviewer.

Confidentiality: The Editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, and other editorial advisers, as appropriate. The Editor must protect the confidentiality of all material submitted to the journal and all communications with reviewers, unless otherwise agreed with the relevant authors and reviewers. In exceptional circumstances, the editor may share limited information with editors of other journals where deemed necessary to investigate suspected research misconduct. Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor's own research without the express written consent of the author.

Editorial Independence: Editors evaluate submitted manuscripts with reference only to their academic merit (importance, originality, study’s validity, clarity) and their relevance to the journal’s scope. Editors should act in a balanced, objective, and unbiased manner regarding the race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, citizenship, religious belief, political philosophy, or institutional affiliation of the authors. Decisions to accept or reject a work are determined only by the journal itself, not by the policies of any other agencies.

Research Misconduct Prevention: Editors shall take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred. Some examples of ethical issues in this category include: plagiarism, duplicate publication, image fraud, authorship disputes, and falsification of data. In the event that the editors have been made aware of any allegation of research misconduct, editors shall deal with allegations appropriately and in a timely manner.

Declaration of Competing Interests: The editor must not be involved in decisions about papers which s/he has written him/herself or have been written by family members or colleagues or which relate to products or services in which the editor has an interest. Further, any such submission must be subject to all of the journal’s usual procedures, peer review must be handled independently of the relevant author/editor and their research groups. The editor shall apply ICMJE guidelines relating to the disclosure of potential conflicts of interest by authors and reviewers.

Publication Decisions: The editor ensures that all submitted articles being considered for publication undergo peer review by at least two reviewers who are expert in the field. The Editor is responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal will be published, based on the validation of the work in question, its importance to researchers and readers, the reviewers’ comments, and such legal requirements as are currently in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The Editor may confer with other editor or reviewers in making this decision.

Journal metrics: The editor must not attempt to influence the journal’s ranking by artificially increasing any journal metric. In particular, the editor shall not require that references to that (or any other) journal’s articles be included except for genuine scholarly reasons and authors should not be required to include references to the editor’s own articles or products and services in which the editor has an interest.

Involvement and Cooperation in Investigations: Editor will take responsive measures when ethical concerns are raised with regard to a submitted or published article. Every reported act of unethical publishing behavior will be investigated. If, on investigation, the ethical concern is well-founded, a correction, retraction, expression of concern or other note as may be relevant will be published in the journal.

Author Guidelines

Duties and Responsibilities of Authors

It is the authors’ responsibility to ensure that manuscripts submitted to the Arkhaia Anatolika Journal comply with scientific, ethical, and academic standards. Authors are deemed to have agreed to comply with the principles and rules outlined below.

Originality and Scientific Contribution

Authors must guarantee that the works they submit to the journal are original and have not been previously published elsewhere or are currently under review. The work must be prepared in accordance with scientific ethical principles and provide an original contribution to the literature.

All sources used in the article must be fully cited in accordance with appropriate academic citation rules. Quotations, tables, images, or data from other works must be used with proper permission.

Multiple, Duplicate, and Simultaneous Publication
Authors must not submit the same work to multiple journals simultaneously. A work that has already been published or accepted for publication elsewhere must not be submitted to this journal for review. Such behavior is considered an ethical violation. 

Author Contribution
Individuals listed as authors of the article must have made a scientifically meaningful contribution to the work. The order of authorship should be determined by mutual agreement among all authors.

Individuals who have not made a significant contribution to at least one of the following criteria should not be listed as authors:
The design of the study or the data collection process
Data analysis and interpretation
The writing of the manuscript or its scientific review
Individuals who contributed to the study but do not meet the authorship criteria should be acknowledged in the “Acknowledgments” section.

Data Access and Storage
Authors must be able to share the raw data associated with the study with the editorial office when requested and verify the accuracy of the data. Data must be securely stored for a reasonable period of time.

Ethics Committee Approval and Legal Permissions
For research requiring ethics committee approval, the relevant ethics committee approval must be obtained. The necessary permission details must be clearly stated within the article.
For studies requiring special permissions, such as excavations, fieldwork, use of museum materials, or cultural heritage research, the necessary institutional permissions must be secured.

Conflict of Interest Statement
Authors must clearly disclose any financial, institutional, or personal conflicts of interest that could influence their work. Funding agencies and project details must be specified in the article.

Use of Artificial Intelligence
If artificial intelligence tools were used during the preparation of the article, the manner of their use must be clearly and transparently stated. Artificial intelligence tools cannot be listed as authors. All scientific, ethical, and legal responsibility for the work rests with the authors.

Error Reporting and Correction
If authors identify a significant error or inaccuracy in their published work, they must promptly notify the editor and cooperate with the editorial team during the correction or retraction process.

Participation in the Peer Review Process
Authors must respond to reviewer and editor comments in an academic tone, in a timely manner, and with proper justification. Changes made during the revision process must be clearly indicated.

Plagiarism and Ethical Violations
Plagiarism, fabrication of data, data manipulation, ghost authorship, salami slicing, and other ethical violations are strictly prohibited. The journal reserves the right to take action in accordance with COPE guidelines as deemed necessary.

Copyright and Licensing
By submitting their manuscripts for publication, authors are deemed to have accepted the journal’s copyright and licensing policies. Authors are responsible for obtaining the necessary usage permissions for all figures, tables, and materials used.

Principles of Research Ethics and Scientific Responsibility

• Scientific integrity, transparency, and impartiality must be upheld at all stages of research. Deceptive or manipulative practices must be avoided in the processes of data generation, analysis, and interpretation.
• Individuals participating in research must be clearly informed about the study, and their informed consent must be obtained when necessary.
• Personal information regarding participants must be kept confidential; principles of confidentiality and data security must be adhered to during data storage and sharing processes.
• Participation in research must be voluntary, and participants must be able to withdraw from the study at any time.
• Necessary precautions must be taken to ensure that individuals do not suffer physical, psychological, or social harm during the research process. Special ethical consideration must be given in studies involving vulnerable groups.
• Researchers must clearly disclose any financial or institutional conflicts of interest that could influence the study and must maintain their scientific independence.
• Plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, unfair authorship, and similar ethical violations are unacceptable. All sources used must be properly cited.
• Research results must be presented in a manner that does not mislead the public, within the framework of academic responsibility.
• In studies utilizing artificial intelligence and digital tools, the technologies employed must be clearly specified; principles of ethical use, accuracy, and data security must be upheld.