Turkish Specialized Dental Publication (TSDP) is committed to maintaining high standards of scientific integrity, editorial independence, transparency, accountability, and ethical conduct throughout the scholarly publication process.
The editorial and publishing policies of TSDP are informed by internationally recognized principles and recommendations, including those established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and relevant standards governing responsible scholarly publishing.
These principles provide a framework for the ethical evaluation, publication, dissemination, and preservation of scientific research, particularly in dentistry, oral health sciences, and related biomedical disciplines.
This policy applies to authors, editors, peer reviewers, editorial board members, and other individuals involved in the submission, assessment, production, and publication of scholarly content in journals published by TSDP.
1. Peer-Review Process
All submitted manuscripts undergo an initial editorial assessment to determine their relevance to the journal's aims and scope, compliance with submission requirements, scientific suitability, and adherence to applicable ethical standards.
Following preliminary screening, manuscripts may undergo an internal editorial evaluation conducted by two appropriately qualified members of the Editorial Board. This assessment considers the manuscript's scientific relevance, methodological adequacy, originality, and potential contribution to the discipline.
Manuscripts considered suitable for external assessment proceed to a structured double-blind peer-review process, in which the identities of authors and reviewers are concealed from one another.
Each manuscript selected for external review is evaluated by at least two independent reviewers possessing appropriate subject-specific or methodological expertise.
Reviewers assess the originality, scientific contribution, methodological rigor, validity of data analysis, ethical compliance, clarity of presentation, reliability of conclusions, and relevance of the manuscript to the journal's scope.
External reviewers are selected by the responsible Section Editor or handling editor according to their expertise, independence, and suitability for evaluating the submitted research.
Where the two external reviewers provide substantially conflicting recommendations regarding publication suitability, an additional independent reviewer is invited to provide a further expert assessment.
A minimum of two favorable external reviews is generally required before a manuscript may be considered for acceptance. Nevertheless, reviewer recommendations are advisory, and the final editorial decision remains the responsibility of the Editor-in-Chief or another appropriately authorized editor.
Editorial decisions must be based on scientific merit, the evidence presented, reviewer evaluations, and the independent academic judgment of the responsible editor.
2. Editorial Responsibility and Independence
Editors are responsible for ensuring that submitted manuscripts are evaluated fairly, objectively, confidentially, consistently, and within reasonable timeframes.
Editorial decisions must be based on clearly defined academic and ethical criteria, including:
Scientific and academic merit.
Originality and contribution to existing knowledge.
Methodological soundness and analytical validity.
Compliance with applicable research and publication ethics.
Clarity, accuracy, and completeness of scientific reporting.
Relevance to the journal's aims, scope, and readership.
Editors and reviewers must:
Preserve the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts, reviewer reports, and editorial correspondence.
Disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that could affect their impartiality.
Avoid discrimination based on authors' personal characteristics, institutional affiliations, nationality, geographic location, or other irrelevant considerations.
Refrain from using unpublished research findings, data, or ideas for personal, professional, or competitive advantage.
Avoid requesting unnecessary citations or references intended primarily to manipulate citation metrics.
Decline or withdraw from editorial or reviewing responsibilities where a conflict of interest may compromise independent judgment.
Conduct evaluations professionally and provide scientifically justified assessments.
Editorial decisions must remain independent of commercial interests, financial arrangements, institutional influence, personal relationships, or other external pressures.
The payment or non-payment of publication-related charges must not influence manuscript evaluation, reviewer selection, editorial recommendations, or final acceptance decisions.
3. Article Processing Charges
Information concerning Article Processing Charges (APCs), publication fees, and any applicable financial arrangements is determined by the policies of the individual journal.
Authors are responsible for consulting the official website of their selected journal to obtain accurate and current information regarding publication charges, payment conditions, and any available exemptions or waivers.
Where publication charges apply, such charges must be communicated transparently and must not influence the scientific or editorial evaluation of submitted manuscripts.
Publication-related financial arrangements are administered separately from editorial decision-making.
Any applicable APC is requested in accordance with the journal's published fee policy and following formal manuscript acceptance.
4. Copyright and Licensing
Authors retain copyright in their original scholarly work, subject to the copyright and licensing terms specified by the relevant journal.
Where applicable, authors grant Turkish Specialized Dental Publication or the publishing journal a non-exclusive license to publish, reproduce, distribute, index, archive, and preserve the accepted article in accordance with the agreed publication terms.
Articles published under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) may be shared and adapted for noncommercial purposes, provided that appropriate attribution is given, applicable license requirements are observed, and derivative material is distributed under the same license.
The applicable copyright statement, publisher information, and licensing conditions should be clearly identified on the published article webpage and within the final article PDF.
Copyright ownership and licensing arrangements must be communicated transparently to authors before publication and must be consistent with the policies of the relevant journal.
5. Originality, Plagiarism, and Research Misconduct
Manuscripts submitted to TSDP journals must represent original scholarly work and must not have been published previously in substantially the same form or be simultaneously under consideration by another journal.
Any prior dissemination of research findings, including preprints, conference abstracts, or related publications, must be disclosed in accordance with the relevant journal's policies.
Submitted manuscripts may undergo originality and similarity screening using recognized text-comparison or plagiarism-detection software.
Similarity reports are evaluated by qualified editors in context. A numerical similarity score alone does not establish plagiarism or research misconduct.
Research and publication misconduct may include, but is not limited to:
Plagiarism or the unattributed use of another person's intellectual work.
Fabrication or falsification of research data, results, or observations.
Inappropriate manipulation of scientific images or visual data that misrepresents research findings.
Duplicate, redundant, or unjustified overlapping publication.
Simultaneous submission of substantially identical manuscripts to multiple journals.
Failure to disclose relevant conflicts of interest.
Citation manipulation or inappropriate attempts to influence citation indicators.
Manipulation of peer-review procedures or reviewer identities.
Inappropriate authorship attribution, including ghost, guest, or honorary authorship.
Misrepresentation or fabrication of ethics approval, informed consent, or other regulatory documentation.
Suspected misconduct is assessed in accordance with established editorial procedures and relevant publication-ethics guidance.
Depending on the nature and severity of the concern, appropriate measures may include suspension of manuscript processing, requests for clarification, rejection, publication of a correction or expression of concern, or retraction of a published article.
Where necessary, the journal or publisher may refer allegations to the authors' affiliated institutions, research ethics committees, or other competent authorities for independent investigation.
All allegations must be handled fairly, proportionately, confidentially, and with due consideration for the rights and responsibilities of the individuals involved.
6. Responsibilities of Authors, Editors, and Reviewers
All participants in the scholarly publication process share responsibility for protecting research integrity, maintaining ethical standards, and ensuring the reliability of the published scientific record.
Responsibilities of Authors
Authors are expected to:
Ensure the originality, accuracy, completeness, and integrity of submitted research.
Confirm that all listed authors satisfy appropriate authorship criteria and have made qualifying contributions to the work.
Obtain approval of the final manuscript from all authors before submission.
Disclose all relevant funding sources, financial relationships, and competing interests.
Obtain appropriate institutional ethics approval and informed consent where required.
Present research methods, data, analyses, and findings accurately and without misleading omissions.
Respond constructively and comprehensively to editorial and reviewer comments.
Notify the journal promptly if a significant error, omission, or ethical concern is identified during review or following publication.
Cooperate with reasonable editorial requests for supporting information or clarification concerning the integrity of the research.
Responsibilities of Editors
Editors are expected to:
Conduct impartial, confidential, and scientifically justified editorial assessments.
Select independent reviewers with appropriate academic and methodological expertise.
Identify and manage conflicts of interest throughout the editorial process.
Protect the independence and integrity of publication decisions.
Respond appropriately to allegations of research or publication misconduct.
Make decisions according to academic merit, scientific validity, ethical compliance, and established journal policies.
Maintain appropriate records of editorial decisions and relevant correspondence.
Responsibilities of Reviewers
Peer reviewers are expected to:
Provide objective, evidence-based, constructive, and timely evaluations.
Preserve the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and associated information.
Declare conflicts of interest before accepting a review assignment.
Avoid personal, discriminatory, defamatory, or scientifically unsupported criticism.
Identify relevant methodological, analytical, ethical, or originality concerns.
Refrain from using unpublished research material for personal or professional benefit.
Inform the responsible editor when a manuscript falls outside their area of expertise or when an independent evaluation cannot be provided.
All authors, editors, and reviewers must disclose relationships or interests that could influence, or reasonably appear to influence, their professional judgment.
7. Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions
Turkish Specialized Dental Publication recognizes the importance of maintaining the accuracy, transparency, and integrity of the published scholarly record.
Where substantial errors, ethical concerns, or evidence of unreliable findings are identified after publication, the relevant journal may take appropriate corrective action.
Post-publication measures may include:
Correction: A correction notice may be issued when an error affects a defined aspect of a published article but does not invalidate its principal findings or overall scientific conclusions.
Expression of Concern: An expression of concern may be published when credible and serious questions arise regarding the reliability or integrity of an article, but an investigation is ongoing or available evidence is insufficient to reach a definitive conclusion.
Retraction: A retraction may be issued when published findings are unreliable because of major error, data fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, serious ethical violations, or other circumstances that substantially compromise the integrity of the work.
Article Removal: Removal of published content is considered only in exceptional circumstances, such as significant legal restrictions, serious privacy violations, or substantial threats to public safety.
Corrections, expressions of concern, and retraction notices must clearly identify the affected publication and provide an appropriate explanation of the reason for the editorial action.
Such notices should remain publicly accessible and appropriately linked to the original article to preserve the transparency and traceability of the scholarly record.
Retraction is intended to correct the scientific literature and should not automatically be interpreted as a determination of individual misconduct.
8. Ethics Approval and Informed Consent
Research involving human participants, identifiable biological materials, clinical records, or identifiable health-related information must comply with applicable national and international ethical requirements.
Studies involving human participants should be conducted in accordance with the ethical principles of the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki and relevant institutional or regulatory requirements.
Where applicable, authors must provide:
The full name of the approving research ethics committee or institutional review board.
The ethics approval or reference number, where available.
A statement confirming that informed consent was obtained from participants or their legally authorized representatives, where required.
An explanation of any exemption from ethics review or waiver of informed consent, including the authority responsible for granting such exemption or waiver.
Clinical research involving patients must respect participant autonomy, confidentiality, privacy, and applicable standards of clinical research conduct.
Research involving animals must comply with relevant institutional, national, and international animal-welfare regulations and must include information concerning the responsible ethics committee or approving authority, where applicable.
Authors must ensure that identifiable patient information, including clinical photographs, radiographic images, medical records, and other potentially identifying materials, is not published without appropriate consent and legal authorization.
The absence of direct identifiers does not automatically eliminate the need for consent where an individual may reasonably be identifiable from the published information.
9. Publisher Ownership and Editorial Independence
The journals available on this platform are owned and published by the Turkish Specialized Dental Publication (TSDP), an academic publishing organization based in Turkey (Official Registration Reference: ).
TSDP protects the editorial independence of its journals. Decisions regarding peer review, acceptance, revision, and rejection are made independently by the respective editors and editorial boards based solely on scholarly and ethical considerations.
10. Open Access and Accessibility
Turkish Specialized Dental Publication supports the dissemination and accessibility of scholarly research in accordance with the publication and access policies established by its individual journals.
Where a journal operates under an open-access publishing model, published articles are made available online in accordance with the journal's stated access conditions and applicable licensing arrangements.
Open-access publication is intended to facilitate the availability and responsible reuse of scientific knowledge by researchers, healthcare professionals, educators, students, institutions, policymakers, and the wider public.
The applicable access model, copyright conditions, and reuse permissions must be clearly communicated on the relevant journal website.
Any restrictions on access or reuse must be consistent with the journal's published policies and applicable licensing terms.
11. Advertising Policy
Advertising, sponsorship, and other commercial relationships must remain separate from the scientific and editorial evaluation of manuscripts.
Editorial decisions, reviewer recommendations, and the selection of scholarly content must not be influenced by advertising revenue, sponsorship arrangements, or commercial interests.
Where advertising or sponsored material is permitted by an individual journal, such content must be clearly distinguishable from independently reviewed scientific material.
The presence of an advertisement must not imply editorial endorsement of the advertised product, service, or organization.
Announcements concerning scientific conferences, calls for papers, Special Issues, academic events, educational activities, and scholarly collaborations may be published subject to appropriate editorial or administrative approval.
Any advertising or promotional arrangements must comply with applicable legal requirements, professional standards, and the journal's published policies.
12. Digital Archiving and Preservation
Turkish Specialized Dental Publication recognizes digital preservation as an essential component of responsible scholarly publishing.
Published articles, bibliographic records, and associated metadata should be maintained through appropriate electronic storage, backup, and preservation arrangements to reduce the risk of accidental loss and support continued scholarly access.
Digital preservation procedures may include the retention of final publication files, article metadata, persistent identifiers, and relevant supporting publication records in formats suitable for long-term storage and retrieval.
The preservation services, repositories, or archiving arrangements used by individual journals should be identified on their respective official websites.
Where supported by the applicable preservation infrastructure, archived scholarly content may remain accessible if a journal or publisher is no longer able to maintain access through its primary publication platform.
Digital archiving arrangements should be reviewed periodically to support the continued integrity, accessibility, and preservation of the published scientific record.
13. Complaints and Ethical Concerns
Turkish Specialized Dental Publication is committed to handling complaints, editorial appeals, and allegations of research or publication misconduct through fair, objective, confidential, and appropriately documented procedures.
Individuals raising legitimate concerns should be treated respectfully and should not be subjected to retaliation for submitting a complaint in good faith.
Complaints and ethical concerns may involve:
Editorial procedures or the handling of submitted manuscripts.
Peer-review conduct, confidentiality, or reviewer independence.
Authorship disputes or inappropriate authorship attribution.
Undisclosed financial, institutional, or personal conflicts of interest.
Plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification, or other research-integrity concerns.
Ethical approval, informed consent, or participant protection.
The adequacy of published corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions.
Alleged misconduct involving editors, reviewers, authors, or other participants in the publication process.
Complaints should contain sufficient information to identify the relevant manuscript or publication, explain the nature of the concern, and provide supporting evidence where appropriate.
The journal or publisher may consult the relevant editor, authors, reviewers, affiliated institutions, ethics committees, or independent specialists when additional information is required.
Complaints concerning editorial decisions should normally be directed to the Editor-in-Chief of the relevant journal. Where the complaint concerns the Editor-in-Chief or raises a potential conflict of interest, it should be referred to an appropriate independent editorial or publishing authority.
Complaints and appeals are assessed in accordance with the applicable journal policies and relevant principles of COPE and ICMJE.
Individuals wishing to report publication-ethics concerns or request further information may contact Turkish Specialized Dental Publication.
