Scope and basis
This policy applies to authors, artists, participants, reviewers, editors, committee members and persons acting for the platform. It is implemented with regard to applicable national law, the Turkish Council of Higher Education research and publication ethics framework and COPE Core Practices. Reference to COPE does not imply membership or endorsement.
Core ethical duties
- Submitted work must be original and third-party ideas, text, images, data and design elements must be properly attributed.
- Fabrication, deceptive alteration of data or images, selective reporting and misrepresentation of results are not accepted.
- Simultaneous submission to multiple evaluation processes and redundant publication are not permitted without explicit disclosure.
- Authorship and contribution must reflect real contributions; gift, ghost or coerced authorship is prohibited.
- Funding, institutional support, conflicts of interest, ethics approval requirements and material use of AI must be disclosed when applicable.
Research ethics and permissions
Where research involves human participants, personal data, vulnerable groups, animals, heritage sites or institutional/private archives requiring permission, obtaining the required ethics, institutional, rights-holder or participant approvals is the author’s responsibility. Ethics approval is not demanded artificially for work that does not require it, but the author must accurately state the basis for exemption.
Visual and design material
In art and design research, images, artwork photographs, archival documents, typographic examples and third-party designs may form part of scholarly analysis. Authors must verify the applicable attribution, licence, permission, quotation exception or other legal basis and must not misrepresent provenance or rights status.
Allegations and proportionate action
Ethical concerns may be assessed before or after publication. Allegations are documented, relevant material is preserved, parties are given a reasonable opportunity to respond and decisions are based on the evidence. Submission may be paused, publication rejected, a correction/retraction issued or competent institutions contacted where appropriate. The primary purpose is to protect the integrity of the scholarly record and process.
This text is an institutional operating policy of STA Congress. Applicable law, competent-authority decisions and stricter event-specific rules prevail where relevant. Policies must remain consistent with actual workflows and technical systems.