1. GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND SCIENTIFIC APPROACH
The Journal of Management Research is both a channel in which qualified scientific knowledge is delivered to masses and a school where new ideas and arguments are produced. The first priority of the journal is helping Turkish researchers to conduct genuine and qualified papers in the field of Management and Organization. However, in determining the quality of scientific studies, the paradigm adopted by reviewers may play a significant role. Therefore, we feel obligated to explicitly illustrate our view about qualified study. According to Journal of Management Research a qualified publication “should start within a scientific curiosity, it should be conducted with the concern of making science, it should be based on a fundamental theory and it should explicitly indicate its ontological and epistemological stances.” .
1.1. Providing Equal Competing Conditions for Researchers It could be claimed that learning takes place in two ways. First, people can access the information they need through trial and error method, or they can directly discover the necessary information. However, this method will require too much time and effort. Instead of employing trial and error method, people can use social interaction method to obtain information in a less laborious manner. One can just obtain necessary information through imitating others rather than bearing all the costs individually. It could be claimed that learning by imitating, watching and studying is still valid in all areas of social life.
Social learning can affect people directly or indirectly. Educators in formal education institutions can indirectly reflect their subjective views to students with their actions. On one hand, this reflected information can be beneficial to students’ cognitive developments, on the other hand it can sow the seeds of various prejudices. Learning process within the academy operates not so differently. Students who have completed a certain level of post graduate education acquires the licence of science production. The quality of scientific knowledge produced by those people is directly related to the social context in which they interact. Especially in social sciences, researchers’ criteria regarding the quality of a work, can be very different. Researchers who interiorized logical positivism may consider mainly psychology based social studies should be evaluated as a “qualified” research. Therefore, studies which are mostly lack of strong theoretical background, just supported by methodological individualism and empiricism could be labelled as “accepted” and “desired” researches in people's minds. In addition, through the social learning process, new generations will embrace their scholar’s mindsets and they will also produce micro and reductionist studies. Because of the social context, students can’t get into interaction with scholars who have different epistemological and ontological stands. One of the key principles of Journal of Management Research is to ensure that every potential scientist all over of Turkey have access to quality research. Therefore, the journal conveys carefully selected “qualified” research to readers in all over Turkey. Therefore, the journal conveys carefully selected “qualified” studies to readers in all over Turkey. Another important principle of the journal is to establish equal competition conditions for researchers. The first stage of creating equal competition conditions is to eliminate the language barrier. In order to reach as many researchers as possible in the country, the journal publishes studies written in Turkish language. Published issues have both open and hard copy access. For open access, researchers can browse our official web site. For hard copy access, researchers can apply all university libraries in Turkey, or they can order a free copy from journal’s library. In this way, it is aimed to construct a school of learning to Turkish researchers to compete on equal terms with their peers both at home and abroad.
1. 2. Bringing Management and Organization Scholars Together The field of management consists of many sub-disciplines. Under the frame of management there are marketing, production-operations management, accounting-finance and business administration fields. The eclectic structure of the field can be perceived as a richness at first sight. However, except the management and organization area, other sub-disciplines mainly focus on practical problems of the business world. That point of view can undermine the epistemological and ontological legitimacy of social sciences. Domination of functionalist approaches to the social sciences can damage the scientific logic in the field of management. As a reaction to this situation, a group of academicians decided to separate management and organization discipline from other fields of management. They came together in the early-1990s and established the National Management and Organization Congress. The aim of the new formation, which is not a monopoly of any university, is to create an academic forum by bringing together scientists who advocate same scientific tradition and work only in the field of management and organization. It could be claimed that the actualization of the Congress encouraged and accelerated the formation of the Journal of Management Research. (JMR) Since its establishment, the Journal has been working within the scientific stance of the National Management and Organization Congress.
The editorial board of the Journal of Management Research (JMR) closely follow all congresses and symposia held in the field of management and organization. Editors of Journal of Management Research regularly participate and support all the management and organization related scientific congresses and symposiums held in Turkey. They provide guidance to young academics in the formation of new scientific communities. Also, the editorial board constantly works for reaching every social scientist candidate in Turkey. Along with to Internet access, all issues of the journal are distributed free of charge to university libraries throughout the country. Upon request, a printed copy of the journal is delivered to interested students and academicians. The Journal establishes promotional unit stands in most of the management and organization congresses. Promotional unit stands services two purposes. First, the last issue of the journal is distributed free of charge to interested researchers. Second, young academicians are informed about the journal and journal’s scientific stance.
2. ETHICAL CRITERIA AND RESPONSIBILITIES
2.1.Gender and Social Responsibilities The editors and reviewers of the journal are responsible for every decision they make. Personal information of writers (gender, age, religion, university) must be kept confidential. Also, unpublished articles and their content must be kept strictly confidential. All the criticism of reviewers’ must be solely based on scientific criterions. When referees rejected a paper or requested further review, they must send a detailed report to the authors. The report must contain all issues which affected the reviewer’s decision. Regarding to review process, authors can get contact with journal secretariat at any time.
2.2.Publication Ethics for Editors Editors must have full knowledge of all ethical rules and principles about the journal. If the chief editor or a member of the editorial board detect an ethical violation like plagiarism and copyright infringement within the submitted article, they must consult with the editorial board before making a decision. The chief editor and editorial board are obliged to preserve the scientific standards of the journal. For instance, they must complete the requested feedback on time. The chief editor must prepare a detailed report on his/her decision at the end of the preliminary assessment process. The preparation and transmission process of this report must be completed within fifteen days. After the preliminary assessment, chief editor conveys submitted article to relevant referees for peer review. The peer review process takes place under the supervision of the chief editor and the editorial board. When a paper successfully passes peer review and ethical assessment processes, it must be published in one of the following issues. The members of the editorial board are carefully selected from among the scientists whose main research area is management and organization. In addition, the editorial board of the Journal of Management Research doesn’t under the hegemony of a specific university. The chief editor is responsible from maintaining the diversity of the editorial board. Also, in case of death, retirement or quitting, the chief editor and editorial board are responsible to appoint new members to the editorial board.
2.3.Publication Ethics for Authors Authors are obliged to comply with scientific ethical rules in the process of data collection and data analysis. Gathered personal information about individuals and institutions must be kept confidential. Authors must not make any unethical changes or corrections in research findings. The references of the submitted articles must be prepared in comply with journal’s submission guideline and instructions. All resources cited in the text should be presented in the reference section. During the review process, journal editors and referees may demand raw data of the research. Journal editors and reviewers may demand to inspect raw data of the research. Authors must be ready to submit all documents they used in the process of data collection and analysis. Authors are expected to keep all the research data for five years. If the study was carried out with the support of sponsors, relevant institutions and organizations must be mentioned in the paper. Authors must not ignore copyrights while using various computer software and measurement tools. It is the authors' responsibility to obtain the necessary permissions. If authors notice any errors or omissions after the publication process, they should contact the chief editor. If mutual agreement provided between authors and chief editor, various changes and corrections can be made on the article.
The manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Management Research should not be sent to any other journals until the review process is completed. The submitted paper must offer a genuine contribution to the management and organization field. If a submitted paper contains “self-stealing”, the chief editor directly rejects it and starts legal procedure. In addition to complying ethical and scientific standards, authors should use Turkish grammar correctly and fluently. They should give attention to punctuation and spelling rules in the text. Lastly, authors are responsible from naming and naming order of the article. Lastly, authors are responsible from naming and sequence of names. Names of authors must include only the persons conducting the study. Authors should determine the naming sequence among themselves. All authors should follow the review process individually.
2.4.Publication Ethics for Reviewers Referees can only review articles related to their main field of study. The review process should be carried out meticulously. The referees must complete the review and examination process without exceeding the time period assigned to them. The referees should take into consideration whether the submitted study conforms to the ethical and scientific criteria of the Journal of Management Research. After the review process, a detailed report should be prepared regarding to final decision. This report, which has been prepared in a completely unbiased manner, must be sent to both the chief editor and the authors. The report must not contain any humiliating, discriminating or insulting statements. The report should be written in understandable and guiding manner. When the submitted study contains any kind of ethical violation, reviewer must get in contact with the chief editor.
Referees are obliged to protect the confidentiality of the submitted study. They cannot send or show the submitted study except the authors and the chief editor. The references and citations used in the study should be examined in detail by the referees. It is the responsibility of the referees to approve the accuracy of the references and the authenticity of the study. Regarding to all kinds of ethical issues, referees should be in close contact with the chief editor and the editorial board.
3. ETHICAL CODES ABOUT THE PUBLICATION PROCESS
The Journal of Management Research is a completely free journal. This journal follows publication free policy. No one can ask for any kind of submission fee or subscription fee from authors. All of expenses and costs of the Journal of Management Research is covered by Baskent University. Journal of Management Research regularly publishes “special issues”. The chief editor and editorial board decide focus of the special issue. Special issue could be related with a fundamental issue in the field of management and organization or it could cover a specific and current debate in the management science. The editorial board prepares a call for paper manuscript for the selected field of work and the board announce and send it to researchers working in the field of management and organization. Afterwards, the chief editor and editorial board ask a scholar who has in-depth knowledge of the chosen subject to prepare the “introduction to the special issue” manuscript. Hence, readers can easily understand and comprehend the selected subject and its significance in the local context. Lastly, both special issues and other issues do not include more than four articles.
According to Journal of Management Research’s principles, the most important feature of a qualified scientific research is that it’s conformity to scientific ethical rules. Researchers must rigorously follow scientific ethical rules at every stage of their study. Every scientist who carries the responsibility of being a role model to the society on his/her shoulders is obligated to know, apply and monitor scientific ethical rules.
3. 1. Ethics of Scientific Research and Plagiarism The first criteria for the publication of the manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Management Research is that the study does not contain any plagiarism. Any information, data and inference used in text that don’t belong to the authors, requires a citation. Authors must cite their findings when referring to the findings or conclusions they have obtained in their previous studies. Self-repeating studies cannot be published in the Journal of Management Research. The owners of the manuscripts must clearly state the contribution of their work to the field, the purpose of writing and the originality. Authors must not manipulate or fabricate the raw data or research findings. The research method section of manuscripts is expected to be highly detailed and clear. Statistical data regarding to findings must be presented in a complete manner. Also, authors must preserve excluded questionnaire or interview data which is obtained during the data collection process. Editors and referees may want to closely examine the excluded data of the study. Authors should be prepared to explain in detail why these data were not put into analyse process.
Referees and editors obligated to know all the rules about the plagiarism (plagiarism with/without citation). The submitted studies are primarily examined by plagiarism and originality detection programs. The referees then recheck the conformity of the submitted study to the ethical rules, with considering deficiencies and bugs of the plagiarism detection software. Lastly, editorial board constantly checks the published studies in terms of appropriateness to scientific ethics.
3.2. Ethical Principles Regarding Submission Process The review process of the manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Management Research is carried out completely confidentially. The chief editor and referees are obliged to complete all their reviews within the deadline. Also, authors have to complete the required corrections and revisions within the given time. Every author is obliged to know and comply with the ethical rules of the Journal of Management Research. Authors should be aware that the chief editor and reviewers may wish to contact each author of the manuscript if necessary. Until the submitted article reach out the standards of the Journal of Management Research, reviewers may ask as many corrections (minor/major review) as they want. If the requested revisions are not fully implemented, the submitted work cannot be published
3.3. Violation of the Ethical Principles When any “plagiarism” is detected in submitted studies, all authors and the reviewers of the manuscript are held responsible. The responsibilities of the authors and the referees remain valid even after the publication process has finished. Authors and reviewers are obliged to act with this awareness. After the detection of plagiarism, Journal of Management Research immediately rejects submitted manuscript. Then, a detailed plagiarism report is prepared by the editors and referees. That report would be delivered to TUBITAK Research and Publication Ethics Committee to initiate the legal process. When the ethical violation confirmed, the legal sanction process is initiated. Correspondingly, the list of relevant authors and referees will be sent to the Council of Higher Education.