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Terms of Service

Last Updated: June 2025

General Terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between you and Pedapub. By creating an account, accessing, or using the Pedapub platform in any capacity, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not use the platform.

Pedapub is an academic journal management and publishing platform that facilitates manuscript submission, peer review, editorial decision-making, and the open-access publication of scholarly articles. The platform also provides supplementary author services such as proofreading and similarity reports.

These Terms apply to all users of the platform, including but not limited to authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, journal managers, and readers. Role-specific provisions in these Terms apply only to users acting in the designated capacity.

Definitions

In these Terms, the following definitions apply:

  • "Platform" refers to the Pedapub website, its editorial management system, and all related services accessible through the Pedapub domain.
  • "User" refers to any individual who accesses or uses the Platform, whether or not they hold a registered account.
  • "Author" refers to any individual who submits a manuscript to a journal hosted on the Platform, or who is listed as a co-author on such a submission.
  • "Reviewer" refers to any individual who has been invited and has agreed to evaluate a manuscript as part of the peer review process.
  • "Editor" refers to any individual who has been assigned an editorial role for a journal on the Platform, including editors-in-chief, section editors, and guest editors.

Author Responsibilities

Authors who submit manuscripts through the Platform accept the following obligations:

  • Submitted manuscripts must be original works. Plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, and redundant publication are violations of research integrity and will result in rejection or retraction.
  • Manuscripts must not be under active consideration by another journal at the time of submission. Simultaneous or duplicate submissions are not permitted.
  • All individuals who have made a substantial contribution to the work must be listed as authors. Authorship must comply with established criteria (e.g., ICMJE recommendations). Gift authorship and ghost authorship are prohibited.
  • Authors must disclose all financial and non-financial conflicts of interest that could be perceived as influencing the research. Funding sources must be acknowledged in the manuscript.
  • Research involving human subjects, animal subjects, or sensitive data must have received appropriate ethical approval from a recognized institutional review board or ethics committee. Proof of approval must be provided upon request.
  • Authors are responsible for responding to revision requests within the deadline specified in the editorial decision letter. If no deadline is specified, revisions should be submitted within 30 days for minor revisions and 60 days for major revisions. Failure to respond within the given timeframe may result in the manuscript being treated as a new submission.
  • The submitting author warrants that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript and have agreed to its submission.
  • Authors must promptly notify the editorial office if they discover significant errors in their published work and cooperate with the editor to issue corrections or retractions as appropriate.

Reviewer Responsibilities

Reviewers who accept an invitation to evaluate a manuscript agree to the following:

  • Reviews must be conducted objectively and constructively. Personal criticism of authors is not acceptable. Reviewers should provide specific, evidence-based feedback that helps the editor make an informed decision.
  • The peer review process is confidential. Reviewers must not disclose the contents of a manuscript, the fact that they are reviewing it, or any details of their review to third parties without the express permission of the editor.
  • Reviewers must decline or withdraw from a review assignment if they have a conflict of interest with any of the authors or the subject matter of the manuscript. Conflicts of interest include but are not limited to: recent co-authorship, institutional affiliation, financial relationships, or personal relationships.
  • Reviewers must complete their evaluation within the deadline communicated in the review invitation. If a reviewer cannot meet the deadline, they should inform the editor as soon as possible so that alternative arrangements can be made.
  • Reviewers must not use information obtained during the review process for their own advantage or to disadvantage others. Unpublished data or ideas from a reviewed manuscript must not be used without the explicit written consent of the authors.

Editor Responsibilities

Editors assigned to journals on the Platform accept the following obligations:

  • Editorial decisions must be based on the academic merit and relevance of the submitted work, without regard to the authors' race, gender, nationality, religious belief, political philosophy, institutional affiliation, or seniority.
  • Editors must maintain the confidentiality of all submitted manuscripts and associated correspondence. Information or ideas obtained through the editorial process must not be used for personal gain.
  • Editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where they have a conflict of interest, whether personal, financial, or professional. In such cases, the manuscript should be reassigned to another editor.
  • Editors are responsible for the integrity of the peer review process for their journal. This includes selecting qualified reviewers, monitoring review quality, and ensuring that editorial decisions are reached in a timely manner.
  • Editors have access to personal data of authors and reviewers within the Platform and must handle this data in accordance with applicable data protection regulations, including GDPR and KVKK. Editors must not use this data for purposes unrelated to the editorial process.

General User Responsibilities

All users of the Platform, regardless of their role, agree to the following:

  • You must provide accurate, current, and complete information when registering for an account. You are responsible for keeping your account credentials confidential and for all activity that occurs under your account. If you suspect unauthorized access, you must notify us immediately.
  • You must not use the Platform for any purpose that is unlawful, fraudulent, or harmful, or in any way that could damage, overload, or impair the Platform or interfere with other users' access.
  • You must not create multiple accounts for the same person. Duplicate or fraudulent accounts may be suspended or permanently terminated without prior notice.
  • You are solely responsible for the content you upload, submit, or communicate through the Platform. Pedapub does not pre-screen user content and is not liable for its accuracy or legality.

Prohibited Conduct

The following activities are strictly prohibited on the Platform. Violations may result in immediate account suspension, permanent termination, and, where applicable, legal action:

  • Submitting plagiarized, fabricated, or falsified research, or engaging in any form of research misconduct as defined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
  • Attempting to manipulate the peer review process, including suggesting fictitious reviewers, tampering with review assignments, or coercing editorial decisions.
  • Using automated tools (bots, scrapers, crawlers) to systematically access, download, or extract content from the Platform without prior written authorization.
  • Uploading or transmitting any material that contains viruses, malware, or other harmful code, or attempting to gain unauthorized access to the Platform's systems, servers, or databases.
  • Impersonating another person, misrepresenting your identity or institutional affiliation, or creating accounts under false pretenses.

Intellectual Property

Authors retain the copyright of their published works unless the journal's specific copyright and licensing policy states otherwise. Most journals on the Platform publish under Creative Commons licenses, which allow broad reuse of the work while requiring attribution to the original authors. The specific license terms are stated in each journal's policies and on each published article.

The Platform's software, source code, design, trademarks, logos, and all editorial content produced by Pedapub (excluding user-submitted manuscripts) are the intellectual property of Pedapub and are protected by applicable copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. You may not reproduce, modify, distribute, or create derivative works from any of these materials without prior written permission.

By submitting a manuscript through the Platform, the submitting author grants Pedapub a non-exclusive, worldwide license to store, process, and display the manuscript as necessary to operate the editorial workflow. For accepted articles, the publishing license terms are governed by the journal's copyright policy, which authors accept at the time of submission.

Use of Artificial Intelligence

Authors who use artificial intelligence (AI) tools, including large language models, in any stage of their research or manuscript preparation must disclose the nature and extent of such use. AI-assisted writing, data analysis, code generation, or image creation must be transparently described in the Methods section or Acknowledgements of the manuscript, specifying which tool was used and for what purpose.

AI tools cannot be listed as authors. Authorship implies accountability for the work, which only natural persons can bear. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of all content in their manuscript, including any content generated or assisted by AI tools.

Platform Availability

Pedapub strives to maintain continuous availability of the Platform but does not guarantee uninterrupted access. The Platform may be temporarily unavailable due to scheduled maintenance, system upgrades, security patches, or circumstances beyond our control (including but not limited to hosting provider outages, network failures, or force majeure events). We will make reasonable efforts to provide advance notice of scheduled maintenance where possible. Pedapub is not liable for any loss or inconvenience caused by downtime.

Limitation of Liability

The Platform and its services are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. Pedapub makes no representations or warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, or uninterrupted and error-free operation.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Pedapub shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including but not limited to loss of profits, loss of data, loss of reputation, or business interruption, arising out of or related to your use of or inability to use the Platform, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

Pedapub is not responsible for the content of manuscripts, reviews, or editorial decisions made by editors and reviewers. The views expressed in published articles are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Pedapub.

Account Termination

You may request deletion of your account at any time by contacting us at support@pedapub.com. Upon receiving your request, we will deactivate your account and delete your personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policy, subject to any retention obligations imposed by law or the scholarly record.

Pedapub reserves the right to suspend or permanently terminate any user account, without prior notice, if the user has violated these Terms, engaged in research misconduct, or acted in a manner that is fraudulent, abusive, or detrimental to the integrity of the Platform or its users.

Upon termination, your right to access the Platform ceases immediately. Any published articles associated with your account will remain part of the scholarly record and will not be removed solely as a result of account termination.

Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the substantive laws of the Republic of Turkey, without regard to its conflict of law principles. Any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the use of the Platform shall be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts and enforcement offices of Istanbul, Turkey.

Changes to These Terms

We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. When we make changes, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page. If we make material changes, we will notify registered users by email or through a notice on the Platform at least 15 days before the changes take effect. Your continued use of the Platform after the effective date of updated Terms constitutes acceptance of the changes. If you do not agree with the revised Terms, you should discontinue use of the Platform and request account deletion.

Contact

If you have questions about these Terms of Service, please contact us at support@pedapub.com.