Plagiarism Policy

Turkish Journal of Pediatric Surgery is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and takes all possible measures against publication malpractices.

Plagiarism Screening

All manuscripts submitted to Turkish Journal of Pediatric Surgery are screened for plagiarism using Crossref Similarity Check (powered by iThenticate) before peer review. Manuscripts with a high similarity index (generally above 20%, excluding references and quotations) are returned to the authors for revision or rejected.

Definition of Plagiarism

• Direct copying of text, images, or data from other sources without proper attribution
• Paraphrasing the work of others without proper citation
• Self-plagiarism: reusing significant portions of one's own previously published work without acknowledgment
• Submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously

Actions in Cases of Plagiarism

If detected before publication:

• The manuscript will be rejected immediately
• The authors will be notified with evidence of plagiarism
• The authors’ institutions may be informed

If detected after publication:

• The article will be retracted following COPE guidelines
• A retraction notice will be published
• The authors’ institutions will be informed

Conflict of Interest Policy

Turkish Journal of Pediatric Surgery requires all authors, reviewers, and editors to declare any financial and personal relationships that could be viewed as potential conflicts of interest regarding the submitted manuscript.

Author Responsibilities

All authors must disclose:

• Financial relationships with entities that have an interest in the subject matter (grants, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, expert testimony)
• Personal relationships or competing interests that could influence the work
• Institutional affiliations and funding sources

Authors must declare conflicts of interest in the manuscript submission system and in the manuscript itself under the "Conflict of Interest" section.

Reviewer and Editor Responsibilities

Reviewers and editors must:

• Decline to review manuscripts where conflicts of interest exist
• Notify the editorial office of any potential conflicts
• Maintain confidentiality and avoid using information for personal advantage

Disclosure Statement

If no conflicts exist, authors should include the statement: "The authors declare no conflict of interest."

All disclosed conflicts of interest will be published with the article.

Non-Compliance

Failure to disclose conflicts of interest may result in:

• Manuscript rejection
• Article retraction if discovered post-publication
• Notification of the author's institution
• Exclusion from future submissions

Human and Animal Rights Policy

Turkish Journal of Pediatric Surgery adheres to the highest ethical standards for research involving human subjects and animals, in accordance with international guidelines including the Declaration of Helsinki and the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.

Research Involving Human Subjects

Ethical Approval:

• All research involving human participants must receive approval from an appropriate institutional ethics committee or institutional review board (IRB) before the study begins
• The manuscript must include the name of the ethics committee, approval number, and date of approval
• Studies conducted before ethics committee approval requirements must clearly state this and provide justification

Declaration of Helsinki Compliance:

All research must comply with the principles outlined in the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki. This includes:

• Protection of participant welfare and rights
• Minimization of risks
• Respect for participant autonomy
• Fair participant selection

Vulnerable Populations:

Special protections must be in place for research involving children, pregnant women, prisoners, or other vulnerable populations.

Research Involving Animals

Ethical Approval:

• All animal research must be approved by an institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC) or equivalent body
• The manuscript must include the name of the ethics committee, approval number, and date of approval
• Research must comply with the ARRIVE guidelines (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments)

Animal Welfare Standards:

• Adherence to the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (National Research Council)
• Use of appropriate anesthesia and analgesia
• Minimization of animal suffering
• Justification for the number of animals used
• Humane endpoints and euthanasia methods

Manuscript Requirements

Authors must include in the Methods section:

• Ethics committee name and approval number
• Statement of compliance with relevant guidelines (Helsinki Declaration, ARRIVE, etc.)
• For human studies: informed consent procedures
• For animal studies: details of animal care, housing, and experimental procedures

Example statement for human studies:
"This study was approved by the [Name] Ethics Committee (Approval No: [Number], Date: [Date]). The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants (or their legal guardians for minors)."

Example statement for animal studies:
"All animal procedures were approved by the [Name] Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (Approval No: [Number], Date: [Date]) and were conducted in accordance with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and the ARRIVE guidelines."

Non-Compliance

Manuscripts lacking appropriate ethical approval or compliance statements will be rejected without review. Any ethical concerns identified during or after publication will be investigated according to COPE guidelines.

Informed Consent Policy

Turkish Journal of Pediatric Surgery requires informed consent for all research involving human participants and for the publication of case reports, clinical images, or any identifiable patient information.

Research Studies

Written Informed Consent:

• Written informed consent must be obtained from all research participants before enrollment
• For minors (under 18 years), consent must be obtained from a parent or legal guardian, along with age-appropriate assent from the child when possible
• Consent forms must be approved by the institutional ethics committee

Consent Documentation:

The manuscript must include a statement confirming that informed consent was obtained. Authors should state in the Methods section:

"Written informed consent was obtained from all participants (or their parents/legal guardians for participants under 18 years of age) prior to enrollment in the study."

Case Reports and Clinical Images

Patient Identifiability:

• Informed consent must be obtained for publication of case reports, clinical photographs, radiological images, or any material that could potentially identify a patient
• This applies even if identifiable features have been masked or removed
• For deceased patients, consent should be sought from next of kin

Consent Form Requirements:

• Consent must specifically authorize publication in an open access journal
• Patients must understand that the material will be freely available online and may be republished by third parties
• A template consent form is available from the editorial office upon request

Manuscript Statement:

Case reports must include the following statement:
"Written informed consent was obtained from the patient (or parent/guardian) for publication of this case report and accompanying images. A copy of the written consent is available for review by the Editor-in-Chief of this journal."

Anonymization

When informed consent cannot be obtained:

• All identifiable information must be removed or sufficiently altered to prevent identification
• This includes names, initials, hospital numbers, dates, and any unique clinical features
• Images must be appropriately masked (eyes blacked out, facial features obscured)
• Even with anonymization, a statement must be included explaining why consent could not be obtained

Waiver of Consent

In exceptional circumstances, an ethics committee may waive the requirement for informed consent (e.g., retrospective analysis of anonymized data). The manuscript must:

• Include documentation of the ethics committee's waiver decision
• Clearly state the justification for the waiver
• Confirm that all data have been fully anonymized

Consent Documentation Retention

Authors must retain signed informed consent forms for a minimum of 5 years after publication. The editorial office may request copies for verification during the review process or post-publication.

Non-Compliance

Manuscripts submitted without appropriate informed consent documentation will be rejected. If lack of proper consent is discovered after publication, the article may be retracted and the authors' institutions will be notified.

Corrections and Retractions Policy

Turkish Journal of Pediatric Surgery follows COPE guidelines for corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern.

Erratum / Correction

Corrections are issued when errors affect interpretation but not the overall conclusions.

Retraction

Articles may be retracted due to misconduct, plagiarism, unethical research, or major undisclosed conflicts of interest.

Expression of Concern

Issued when investigations are ongoing or inconclusive.

Complaints and Appeals Procedure

Complaints regarding editorial processes should be addressed to the Editor-in-Chief.

Appeals must be submitted within 30 days and include a detailed response to reviewer comments. Decisions on appeals are final.

Digital Preservation and Archiving

The journal ensures long-term preservation of its content through secure digital archiving.

• Journal’s own servers
• DOI assignment for all articles

Authors may self-archive their published articles in institutional or subject repositories.

Publication Frequency

Turkish Journal of Pediatric Surgery is published three times a year (triannually). Articles are published online first before issue assignment.

Article Processing Charges

Turkish Journal of Pediatric Surgery does not charge any fees for submission, processing, or publication.

The journal is fully funded by the Turkish Association of Pediatric Surgeons and the Society for Pediatric Urology.

Data Sharing Policy

Turkish Journal of Pediatric Surgery encourages authors to share the data underlying their published research whenever possible. Data may be made available through public repositories or upon reasonable request to the corresponding author. Data sharing must comply with ethical standards, patient confidentiality, and applicable regulations. Authors are requested to include a Data Availability Statement in their manuscripts.

Data Availability Statement

All manuscripts must include a Data Availability Statement describing how readers can access the supporting data.

Example statements:

"The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request."

"The datasets generated during the current study are available in the [Repository Name] repository: [URL/DOI]."

"Data are not publicly available due to patient privacy and ethical restrictions."

Patient Confidentiality

Special care must be taken to protect the privacy of pediatric patients. All shared data must be fully de-identified and data sharing must be covered in the informed consent process.