Article policy
TUSED acknowledges the significance of maintaining the integrity and completeness of the scholarly record for the scientific community and places utmost importance on preserving trust in the authority of its published articles. Published articles are expected to remain extant, exact, and unaltered to the greatest extent possible. However, situations may arise where corrections, retractions, or removals become necessary.
A fundamental principle of scholarly communication is that the editor of TUSED holds sole and independent responsibility for determining which submitted articles shall be published. In making this decision, the editor adheres to the policies of TUSED's editorial board and is bound by legal requirements such as those pertaining to libel, copyright infringement, and privacy issues. As a result, the scholarly record serves as a permanent and historical account of scholarly transactions. Therefore, when corrections to the scientific record are warranted, they are implemented through a notice permanently linked to the article, ensuring transparency within the scientific community.
This policy outlines TUSED's approach to rectifying the scientific record and undergoes regular review and updating in line with evolving standards and best practices.
An error in the published article
Authors who detect an error in their published article are urged to promptly notify TUSED using the contact information provided on TUSED’s webpage.
Typically, the corresponding author assumes responsibility for communicating the error's details to TUSED. Upon receipt of the notification, TUSED Editor or a designated representative, such as a member of the editorial team with relevant subject matter expertise, will assess the proposed correction along with any accompanying data or information. Depending on the nature of the error, the proposed correction may undergo further peer review. Subsequently, TUSED Editor will determine the appropriate method for rectifying the article.
Article correction
In cases where it's necessary to rectify an error or omission that does not impact the integrity or findings of the article, a Corrigendum will be published. Authors are responsible for drafting the Corrigendum, and all authors must agree to its publication. The Corrigendum will be linked to the article it corrects.
In rare instances where the Pegem Akademi identifies an error made during the publication process of an article, TUSED will issue an Erratum to address the error. The Erratum will also be linked to the article it corrects.
Expressions of concern
TUSED editors or members of a TUSED’s Ethics Committee, may consider issuing an Expression of Concern under the following circumstances:
- They receive inconclusive evidence of research or publication misconduct, which remains unresolved by an investigation and warrants notification to readers.
- They have reason to believe that an investigation into alleged misconduct related to the publication either has not been, or would not be, fair, impartial, or conclusive.
- An investigation is ongoing, but a judgment will not be available for a significant period.
This Expression of Concern may be temporary or permanent. If a temporary Expression of Concern is issued, it will typically be replaced by a subsequent notice. This notice may include a permanent Expression of Concern, a retraction or removal, or an exoneration in the form of an Editor’s Note. The subsequent notice will outline the investigation's outcome and the editor's or designated representative's conclusions.
Article withdrawal
Articles-in-Press, which are early versions of articles accepted for publication but not yet finalized, may be withdrawn under certain circumstances:
- If they contain errors.
- If they are accidental duplicates of other published articles.
- If they breach TUSED's publishing policies, such as multiple submissions, fraudulent authorship claims, plagiarism, or fraudulent use of data.
- If they represent an early version of an article published due to editorial or production errors.
When Articles-in-Press are withdrawn, their content (both HTML and PDF versions) will be removed and replaced with a page stating that the article has been withdrawn in accordance with Elsevier's Policy on Article in Press Withdrawal, along with a link to this policy.
Article retraction
Articles may be retracted to rectify errors significantly impacting reported findings or due to violations of TUSED's policies, such as plagiarism, multiple submissions, fraudulent authorship claims, or data fabrication.
TUSED editors or designated representatives will consider retracting an article under various circumstances, including:
- Clear evidence of unreliable findings due to major errors, fabrication, or falsification.
- Previous publication elsewhere without proper attribution or disclosure.
- Unauthorized publication of material or data.
- Copyright infringement or serious legal issues.
- Reporting unethical research or breaches of publishing ethics policies.
- Compromised peer-review or editorial process manipulation.
- Concerns of authorship being sold, citation manipulation, or undisclosed conflicts of interest.
- Any other breach of TUSED's publishing policies, leading to loss of confidence in the article's validity or integrity.
TUSED adheres to best practices for article retractions, including:
- Publishing a retraction notice titled “Retraction: [article title]” in a subsequent issue, signed by the editor and authors if appropriate.
- Establishing a link between the retraction notice and the original article in the electronic version.
- Displaying a screen preceding the online article with the retraction note, with a link redirecting to the article.
- Retaining the original article unchanged but adding a watermark indicating its retracted status in the PDF version.
- Removing the HTML version of the article.
Article removal: legal limitations
In extremely rare cases, it may be necessary to remove an article from the online archive of TUSED where it was originally published. This decision is made with great care, considering the importance of maintaining the scholarly record as an unaltered account of academic transactions. Article removal will only occur under the following circumstances:
- The article is defamatory or infringes upon the legal rights of others, and retraction is deemed insufficient as a remedy.
- The article is, or TUSED anticipates it will be, subject to a court order.
- The article, if acted upon, poses a serious health risk.
In such cases, while the metadata (title and authors) will be retained, the article's text will be replaced with a screen indicating its removal for legal reasons.
Article replacement
In situations where the article, if acted upon, could pose a significant health risk, the authors may opt to retract the original article and replace it with a corrected version. In such cases, the standard procedures for retraction will be followed, but with the addition that the retraction notice in the database will include a link to the corrected, republished article, along with a documented history of the document.