ILEF Journal Ethical Principles and Publication Policy

ILEF Journal is a peer-reviewed publication in the fields of communication research and media studies. It aims to provide a free and critical platform for researchers, reflecting diverse intellectual traditions and interdisciplinary approaches. The journal is open to research that addresses visual-auditory culture, traditional and new media, themes of class, social gender, and ethnicity; as well as studies that question the history and theories of journalism, film, television, video, and digital media, and take a critical look at the field of communication.

Published biannually in print and online formats in May and November, the journal is produced by Ankara University's Communication Faculty , the oldest academic institution in the field of communication in Turkey and surrounding areas. The publication adheres to the ethical principles and publication policy detailed below, guided by the guidelines prepared by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE, https://publicationethics.org/). ILEF Journal does not charge any fees for article submission or publication process.

Evaluation and Publication Process

The evaluation and publication processes of articles submitted to ILEF Journal are continuous. Therefore, except for themed special issues, no final submission deadlines are set for each issue. Articles deemed suitable after a preliminary review are taken through the peer review process and published in the issue of the current period (May or November). Due to the Editorial Board's decision to limit each issue to 5-7 articles, submissions that exceed this limit based on their acceptance date are held over for publication in the next period’s issue. ILEF Journal accepts submissions via DergiPark.

Correction and Withdrawal Processes

The editor or reviewer(s) may request corrections and changes on the articles submitted to the ILEF Journal. Authors are expected to comply with these requests if they find them reasonable and if not, they must explain why they cannot fulfill these requests. Authors have the right to withdraw their submissions at any stage of the publication process.

Publisher's Responsibilities

ILEF Journal is published by the Communication Faculty of Ankara University (ILEF). The dean of the faculty serves as the proprietor and chief editor on behalf of ILEF. The journal's editorial board is composed of members recommended biennially by the departments within ILEF. The relationship between ILEF Journal's editors and Ankara University is founded on absolute editorial independence.

Ankara University’s Faculty of Communication promotes and distributes ILEF Journal; it protects the printed editions, and the intellectual property rights of the authors and publishing partners. Readers may share ILEF Journal materials provided they cite appropriately; they can copy, redistribute in any medium or format, and modify the materials. However, ILEF Journal materials cannot be used for commercial purposes nor subjected to legal or technological restrictions that limit others' rights beyond the scope of the license.

The original submissions by authors, any modified and edited versions during the evaluation process, and the published text can be archived by the authors in the medium of their choice.

Editorial Responsibility

Editors are obligated to oversee the review and publication process of each submission within the framework of ILEF Journal's Ethical Principles and Publication Policy. They are responsible for every text they publish, and the sole responsibility for accepting or rejecting an article lies with them. Editors may consult reviewers or editorial board members when making decisions related to the publication process. Articles are considered and accepted based on their academic merits.

Editors are committed to continually improving ILEF Journal and enhancing its publication quality. They ensure the necessary critical discourse environment is provided in the field of communication. Editors and the editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted article outside of the appropriate channels, which include discussions with the relevant author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisors, and the publisher.

Each article must be treated impartially; evaluations must be made without consideration of the author's gender, political views, seniority, or institutional affiliations. Editors are also responsible for taking necessary actions against intellectual property infringements, unethical scientific practices, and instances of plagiarism.

The relationship between editors and the publisher is based on the principle of independence. Decisions made by editors are independent from the publisher and any other entities. Editors prioritize public interest over personal gain in their publishing activities.

Articles submitted by authors who have a conflict of interest with editors are reviewed by a member of the Editorial Board. To ensure a fair and impartial process, submissions by Editorial Board members are reviewed by an assistant or guest editor.

At least one reviewer for each article must have no affiliation with ILEF. Members of ILEF should not review submissions from their colleagues within the faculty.

Author Responsibilities

Authors submitting texts/work to ILEF Journal must ensure that their submissions are original and free of plagiarism. Authors must cite sources used in their work ethically and in accordance with the journal's format.They should ensure that the submitted work has not been previously published elsewhere and is not under consideration by multiple outlets simultaneously. Authors should avoid using sexist or discriminatory language and must disclose any potential or apparent conflicts of interest, including funding and grants.

Submissions must not violate the privacy and intellectual property rights of third parties. Authors are responsible for securing the necessary usage rights and permissions related to the data used in their research and for documenting these permissions if requested. Ethical approval must be obtained in the following cases:
- Research involving data collection from participants using methods such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, experiments, or interviewing techniques,
- Use of humans and animals (including materials/data) for experimental or other scientific purposes,
- Clinical research on humans,
- Research on animals,
- Retrospective studies as required by personal data protection laws.
Additionally:
- It should be stated that informed consent forms have been obtained in case reports,
- Permission should be obtained and stated for the use of scales, questionnaires, photographs owned by others,
- Compliance with copyright regulations must be adhered to for the use of intellectual and artistic works.
No ethical committee approval is required for review articles. Retrospective ethical committee approval is not required for articles that utilize data prior to 2020, are derived from master's/Ph.D. research (which should be mentioned in the article), were submitted to the journal the previous year, accepted but not yet published.

Authors who are not affiliated with a university may also apply to ethics committees in their regions. Articles to be published in journals should indicate whether ethical committee or special/legal permission is needed. If such permissions are necessary, the committee's decision should be noted in the article in footnote format with the committee's name, date, and number. Furthermore, the document demonstrating the ethical committee's decision should be submitted to ILEF Journal along with the article.

During the review process, authors may be requested to provide raw data related to their studies, and they should be prepared to present these data when submitting their work to ILEF Journal. If the study is published, authors are obligated to retain the related data for five years.

Authors must disclose all individuals who contributed to the work; significant contributors should be listed as co-authors, and consent must be obtained from all co-authors before submission. The Copyright Transfer Form must be completed by the responsible author and submitted with the work.

Articles based on one or more sections of a master's or doctoral thesis are expected to be single-authored. If a version of the work/text has been previously published elsewhere, this must be disclosed. 

All samples, quotations, tables, and images that exceed the "fair use principle" defined by current copyright law must have permissions obtained by the authors. Changes in authorship (removal, addition, or rearrangement of authors) of submissions under review cannot be proposed. If a conflict of interest, ethical violation, or error is detected during the review process, authors must share the issue with the editor and demonstrate the necessary diligence for correction or withdrawal.

Attention to author diversity means that the same authors should not publish in ILEF Journal at short intervals. As a principle, for an article accepted after the review process to be published, the authors must not have published in the previous six issues (three years) of ILEF Journal.

Reviewer Responsibilities

ILEF Journal employs a double-blind peer review system in which the identities of reviewers and authors are kept confidential from each other throughout the evaluation process. Reviewers are expected to adhere to the following principles during their review of submissions:
- Reviewers should assess the work fairly and impartially.
- Reviewers must maintain the confidentiality required by the blind peer review process.
- Reviewers should inform the journal editor of any actual or potential instances of plagiarism, duplicate publication, or simultaneous submission they might discover.
- Reviewers should decline to review any article where there is a conflict of interest or any form of potential bias.
- Reviewers should only agree to review works that are within their area of expertise.
- Reviewers should provide constructive feedback and avoid derogatory or harmful comments.
- Reviewers should make every effort to complete their reviews within the specified deadlines.
- Reviews should be conducted considering the ethical principles and publication policies of ILEF Journal.
If reviewers are unable to evaluate a work for any reason, the journal editor will be open to suggestions for alternative reviewers who can assess the article.

Plagiarism and Unethical Behavior

Before any manuscript is accepted into the review process, ILEF Journal subjects it to a plagiarism check using a plagiarism detection software. The results are reviewed by the editor, who then decides whether the manuscript will be accepted into the review process. Additionally, based on the outcome of the similarity check, the editor may request revisions from the authors if deemed necessary.

Readers, researchers, reviewers and authors should inform ilefjournal@gmail.com in case of any violation of the above-mentioned İLEF Journal Ethical Principles and Publication Policy and academic ethical principles in an article that is under evaluation or published.