Editor's Note: Ethical considerations in citing the names of article authors

Before addressing the main topic of the talk, I would like to sincerely thank the managing editor, members of the editorial board, the authors, and the respected referees for their cooperation in publishing this journal issue despite the restrictions caused by the third imposed war. I hope that with the end of this unjust war imposed on our beloved country, access to the international Internet will be established for all researchers without restrictions. Without effective international relations, the development of science and technology will slow down. In light of the valuable cooperation of several esteemed faculty members in undertaking peer reviews for this journal, it has been decided that their articles will be published free of charge after going through the peer-review process and receiving approval by the editorial board. Based on the decision of the editorial board, as of March 21, 2026, the submission of extended abstracts is required for all articles according to the journal guidelines. In addition, a new section titled "Ethical Considerations" must also be provided at the end of the manuscript before the references. This section includes the subsections "Adherence to research ethics principles", "Conflict of interest", "Funding", "Author contributions", "Data availability statement", "Declaration on the use of generative AI and AI-based technologies in the writing process", and "Acknowledgements". The importance of ethical considerations in research and the publication of articles is well known, and greater attention is currently paid to this issue in national and international journals. The Committee on Publication Ethics Guidelines, known as COPE, is one of the authoritative international sources on publication ethics in scientific publishing, and many publishers and journals follow its guidelines. On this occasion, one of the ethical considerations, known as "Author Contributions", will be briefly discussed. Sometimes, a corresponding author has doubts about the list of contributing authors for articles derived from a dissertation or research project. The inclusion or omission of an author’s name may lead to a serious challenge. According to COPE guidelines, only those who have made a significant research contribution and who have been responsible for part of the research or preparation of the article should be included in the list of authors. In addition, they must have approved the final version. Including individuals as authors who were solely in charge of the laboratory or research center, or who served solely as financial sponsors, is against COPE guidelines. Therefore, if an individual, private company, or government organization has provided financial resources for the research, it is better to mention their name in the "Funding" section. The funder can only be an author if they participated in the research design, analysis and interpretation of results, or writing and reviewing the manuscript. Even a project proposer without a scientific contribution is not considered an author of the article. Individuals who contributed to administrative affairs can be recognized in the "Acknowledgements" section. One of the uncertainties is adding the thesis advisor to the author list. According to COPE, authorship credit should be based on 1. Substantial contributions to conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; 2. Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, and 3. Final approval of the version to be published. Authors should meet conditions 1, 2, and 3. Adding an author’s name without a scientific contribution to enhance the chances of manuscript acceptance is also unethical. This ethical violation is known as “gift authorship.” Manuscript editing alone is not sufficient to warrant authorship, and the editor should preferably be acknowledged in the “Acknowledgements” section. Adding the name of an author who did not approve the manuscript is also unethical. Likewise, removing an author without justification is considered a violation of publication ethics. Changes to authorship should be agreed by all authors, including those being added or removed. Authorship changes should not be made without a clear justification. According to COPE, contribution of all authors should be clearly described in “Author Contributions” section. If misconduct is confirmed, the editor should take appropriate action according to COPE flowcharts, which may include rejection or retraction. Authorship changes after publication are generally not permitted unless there is a compelling reason. Any change in authorship requires written agreement from all authors. A correction (erratum or corrigendum) should be published to amend the authorship record. If there is a claim that authorship has been unfairly excluded, editors should request an explanation from all parties regarding the authorship claim. If misconduct is suspected or confirmed, editors should consider involving the author’s institutions. A correction should be published to amend the authorship record. Retraction may be considered in cases of serious publication misconduct.