Privacy Notice

1. General Principles

The SEBİLÜRREŞAD AKADEMİ Journal of Social Sciences attaches importance to the privacy of authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, readers, and website users, as well as to the protection of their personal data.

Personal information obtained within the scope of the Journal is used solely for the purpose of conducting scholarly publishing activities. Such information will not be used for other purposes or disclosed to unauthorised persons unless required by law or necessary for the proper administration of the publication process.

Personal data are processed in accordance with the applicable legislation, particularly Law No. 6698 on the Protection of Personal Data.

2. Personal Information Collected

The following information may be collected and processed during the manuscript submission, evaluation, and publication processes:

  • Full name,

  • Email address,

  • Telephone number,

  • Academic title,

  • Institutional and departmental affiliation,

  • Areas of expertise and research interests,

  • ORCID iD,

  • User account and session information,

  • Manuscripts, reviewer reports, and editorial correspondence,

  • Ethics committee, conflict-of-interest, funding, copyright, and author-contribution declarations,

  • Turnitin similarity reports,

  • Internet Protocol address and system security logs.

The Journal seeks not to request personal information that is unnecessary for the publication process and processes personal data only to the extent required for the stated purposes.

3. Purposes of Processing Personal Data

Personal information may be processed for the following purposes:

  • Creating and managing user accounts,

  • Receiving and registering manuscript submissions,

  • Conducting editorial screening and similarity checks,

  • Managing the peer-review process,

  • Communicating with authors, reviewers, and editors,

  • Sending reviewer invitations,

  • Preparing and communicating editorial decisions,

  • Preparing manuscripts for publication and publishing accepted articles,

  • Indexing and archiving published content,

  • Managing allegations of ethical misconduct, complaints, appeals, corrections, and retractions,

  • Ensuring the technical security of the Journal,

  • Preserving the integrity of the scholarly record,

  • Fulfilling legal and administrative obligations.

Personal data are processed in a manner that is relevant, limited, and proportionate to these purposes.

4. Use of Names and Email Addresses

Names and email addresses appearing on the Journal’s website or registered by users in the submission system will be used solely for the Journal’s scholarly publishing, editorial evaluation, peer-review, communication, and announcement activities.

Names and email addresses will not be used for purposes other than those stated above, processed for commercial purposes, used for advertising or marketing activities, or made available for the use of other persons or organisations.

Such information will not be disclosed to unauthorised third parties unless required by law or necessary for the administration of the publication process.

5. Confidentiality in the Editorial Process

Unpublished manuscripts submitted to the Journal are regarded as confidential documents.

Manuscript files, reviewer reports, editorial evaluations, and correspondence relating to the publication process may be accessed only by individuals involved in the relevant process and only to the extent required by their duties.

Editors, field editors, reviewers, and editorial board members may not:

  • Disclose unpublished manuscripts to unauthorised persons,

  • Use manuscript content for their own research or personal benefit,

  • Reproduce manuscripts, data, or supplementary documents without permission,

  • Disclose confidential information concerning authors or reviewers,

  • Use documents relating to the publication process for purposes unrelated to that process,

  • Upload confidential documents or information to electronic systems whose security has not been ensured.

During investigations into alleged ethical misconduct, relevant information may be shared with competent institutions or authorised persons only to the extent necessary for the investigation.

6. Reviewer Confidentiality

The confidentiality requirements associated with the Journal’s peer-review model are observed.

The identity and contact details of reviewers will not be disclosed to authors without the reviewer’s explicit consent or unless required by law.

Appropriate editorial measures are taken to protect the identities of authors and reviewers in blind peer-review processes. Authors must ensure that manuscript files do not contain information that could directly or indirectly reveal their identities.

Reviewer reports are confidential and may not be used outside the publication process, reproduced, or disclosed to third parties.

7. Disclosure of Personal Data

Personal data may be shared, to the extent necessary for the administration of the publication process, with the following persons and organisations:

  • Editors and field editors,

  • Reviewers,

  • Editorial board members,

  • Authorised units of the publisher,

  • Typesetting, layout, language-editing, and technical publishing service providers,

  • Electronic journal, hosting, and archiving service providers,

  • DOI registration services, indexing services, and academic databases,

  • Turnitin for the purpose of similarity screening,

  • Legally authorised public bodies, courts, and administrative authorities.

Any disclosure will be limited to the data necessary for the provision of the relevant service or the fulfilment of the applicable legal obligation.

Personal information will not be sold, rented, or transferred to unauthorised third parties for commercial marketing purposes.

8. Published Author Information

Upon publication of an article, the following information may become publicly available as part of the scholarly publication and academic record:

  • Authors’ full names,

  • Academic titles,

  • Institutional and departmental affiliations,

  • ORCID iDs,

  • The corresponding author’s email address,

  • Author-contribution statements,

  • Funding information,

  • Conflict-of-interest declarations,

  • Ethics committee information,

  • Bibliographic metadata relating to the article.

The corresponding author’s email address is published solely for scholarly communication. Its use for advertising, bulk messaging, marketing, or other commercial purposes is not permitted.

Published articles and their associated metadata may be retained permanently for the purposes of preserving the scholarly record, enabling citation, indexing, and archiving.

The closure of a user account does not automatically result in the removal of previously published scholarly content or metadata.

9. Research Data and Participant Confidentiality

Authors are responsible for protecting the privacy and personal data of research participants.

Information that may directly or indirectly identify participants must not be included in the manuscript or supplementary files unless the necessary permissions and a valid legal basis have been obtained.

For research involving human participants, the required ethics committee approvals, institutional permissions, and informed voluntary consent must be obtained.

Authors are responsible for obtaining the necessary permissions for the publication of photographs, audio recordings, video recordings, interview transcripts, case information, or other identifying content.

Participant information must be anonymised or de-identified to the greatest extent possible.

10. Special Categories of Personal Data

The Journal does not request special categories of personal data unless such data are strictly necessary for the publication process.

Before submitting research materials containing health information, biometric or genetic data, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or other sensitive information, authors must complete the necessary anonymisation procedures.

Where the use of special categories of personal data is necessary for the research, authors are responsible for complying with the applicable legislation, ethics committee requirements, participant-consent obligations, and data-security standards.

11. Data Security

The Journal and the publisher take appropriate technical and administrative measures to prevent personal data from being:

  • Accessed by unauthorised persons,

  • Processed unlawfully,

  • Lost,

  • Altered,

  • Disclosed,

  • Transferred,

  • Reproduced,

  • Misused.

Users are also responsible for safeguarding their account information and passwords, refraining from sharing their accounts with others, and informing the Editorial Office if they notice any suspicious activity.

No method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage can be guaranteed to provide absolute security. Nevertheless, the Journal seeks to implement reasonable and practicable measures for the protection of personal data.

12. Retention of Personal Data

Personal data are retained for as long as necessary to administer the publication process, preserve the scholarly record, and fulfil legal obligations.

Records relating to unpublished, withdrawn, or rejected manuscripts may be retained for the period necessary to document editorial processes, assess possible appeals, and investigate allegations of ethical misconduct.

Author information, scholarly metadata, corrections, expressions of concern, and retraction records relating to published articles may be retained permanently to preserve the continuity and integrity of the scholarly record.

Where the legal and factual grounds requiring the processing of personal data cease to exist, such data will be deleted, destroyed, or anonymised in accordance with the applicable legislation.

13. Cookies and Technical Records

The Journal’s website may use cookies to manage user sessions, ensure website security, remember user preferences, and provide essential website functions.

Where non-essential cookies are used, users will be informed separately, and their preferences or explicit consent will be obtained where required.

During visits to the Journal’s website, technical information such as IP address, browser information, session time, device information, and system activity may be recorded for security and system-management purposes.

14. Third-Party Links

The Journal’s website may contain links to third-party websites, academic databases, indexes, or other online services.

The relevant third parties are responsible for the privacy, security, and personal-data processing practices of those websites and services.

The Journal has no control over the content or personal-data processing practices of third-party websites. Users are advised to review the privacy policies of any third-party websites they visit.

15. Rights of Data Subjects

Under Article 11 of Law No. 6698 on the Protection of Personal Data, individuals whose personal data are processed have the right to:

  • Learn whether their personal data are being processed,

  • Request information where their personal data have been processed,

  • Learn the purpose for which their personal data are processed,

  • Learn whether their personal data are being used in accordance with the stated purpose,

  • Learn the third parties to whom their personal data have been transferred within or outside Türkiye,

  • Request the correction of incomplete or inaccurate personal data,

  • Request the deletion or destruction of personal data where the conditions prescribed by law are met,

  • Request that correction, deletion, or destruction operations be communicated to third parties to whom the personal data have been transferred,

  • Object to any adverse outcome resulting from the analysis of processed data exclusively through automated systems,

  • Request compensation for damage arising from the unlawful processing of personal data.

The procedure for exercising these rights and the relevant contact information are provided on the Journal’s Application and Contact page.

Requests will be assessed in consideration of the integrity of the scholarly record, academic archiving requirements, and obligations arising from the applicable legislation.

16. Amendments to the Privacy Notice

This Privacy Notice may be updated in response to changes in legislation, the Journal’s publication processes, the electronic systems used, or its personal-data processing activities.

The updated Privacy Notice will enter into force on the date of its publication on the Journal’s website.

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