Conflict of Interest Policy

Edutech Research requires all parties involved in the publication process — including authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher — to identify and disclose any potential conflicts of interest that may influence the objectivity, integrity, or credibility of a submitted or published manuscript. The journal's conflict of interest policy is grounded in the principles established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Definition of Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest exists when an individual's personal, financial, academic, or institutional relationships or commitments could reasonably be perceived as influencing their judgments, decisions, or actions in the publication process. Conflicts of interest may be actual, potential, or perceived, and must be disclosed regardless of whether the individual believes they have influenced the work.

Conflicts of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Financial relationships such as employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, speaker fees, or paid expert testimony
• Receipt of research funding, grants, or other financial support from organizations with a direct interest in the research outcomes
• Personal relationships or rivalries with authors, reviewers, or editors involved in the manuscript
• Academic competition or collaboration that may affect objectivity
• Intellectual or ideological commitments that may bias the evaluation of a manuscript
• Institutional affiliations or memberships that may create a perceived conflict

Authors' Responsibilities

Authors must disclose all potential conflicts of interest at the time of manuscript submission. This includes:

• All sources of financial support for the research, including grant numbers and funding agencies
• Any financial or personal relationships with organizations or individuals that could be perceived as influencing the research
• Any role played by the funding source in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or preparation of the manuscript

If no conflict of interest exists, authors must explicitly state this in the manuscript using the following declaration:

"The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this manuscript."

All conflict of interest disclosures must be included in a dedicated "Conflict of Interest" section at the end of the manuscript, prior to the references.

Reviewers' Responsibilities

Reviewers must decline to review a manuscript if they have any conflict of interest that could bias their evaluation. Reviewers should notify the editorial office and withdraw from the review process if they:

• Have a close personal or professional relationship with any of the authors
• Have a financial interest in the outcome of the research
• Have previously collaborated with any of the authors within the past three years
• Have a competing interest that could affect their objectivity
• Recognize the identity of the authors during the review process

Reviewers must maintain strict confidentiality regarding the content of manuscripts under review and must not use any unpublished information for personal or professional gain.

Editors' Responsibilities

Editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest. In such cases, the manuscript must be reassigned to another qualified editor or associate editor. Editors must not:

• Handle manuscripts authored or co-authored by themselves, close colleagues, or current collaborators
• Make editorial decisions on manuscripts from their own institution without independent oversight
• Allow personal, financial, or institutional relationships to influence editorial decisions

All editorial decisions must be based solely on the academic merit, originality, and scientific quality of the manuscript, in accordance with the principles of impartiality and transparency.

Publisher's Responsibilities

Necmettin Erbakan University Press (NEU PRESS) is committed to ensuring that commercial considerations do not influence editorial decisions. The publisher does not interfere with editorial decisions and does not allow advertising revenue, reprint income, or any other financial consideration to affect the acceptance or rejection of manuscripts.

Consequences of Non-Disclosure

Failure to disclose a conflict of interest may result in one or more of the following actions:

• Rejection of the manuscript prior to publication
• Retraction of a published article
• Formal notification of the authors' affiliated institutions
• A period of prohibition from submitting manuscripts to Edutech Research
• Reporting to relevant professional bodies in accordance with COPE guidelines

Disclosure Form

Authors are required to complete and submit a Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form at the time of manuscript submission. Reviewers and editors are also required to declare any potential conflicts of interest upon accepting a review or editorial assignment.