General Rules

Submissions (Manuscripts) submitted to the journal web site will be prereview by the members of the Prereview Board. The submissions found suitable at the pre-evaluation stage will proceed to the evaluation stage, while manuscripts not conforming to the submission guidelines will either be returned to the responsible author for correction or might be re-formatted or rejected. During the evaluation stage, the editor-in-chief or editor will invite relevant experts (reviewers) of the field to review the manuscript. Submissions that comply with the following writing rules are included in the review process:
• Submissions must be within the aim, scope, publication ethics and policy of the journal.
• The language of the submission must be Turkish or English.
• The journal has a blind review system (two reviewers). Therefore, the first submission never includes a sign, name or statement that indicates the identity of the author (s).
• For Turkish submissions, a short "Abstract" consisting of 250-300 words and an "Extended Abstract" consisting of 1500-2000 words in English are included (After being accepted for publication, we will translate the submissions whose language is not Turkish). However, the authors whose native language is Turkish will prepare the sections of "Turkish title", "Turkish Abstract" and "Turkish Extended Abstract".
• The similarity report of the submitted work should be received with the help of programs such as Ithenticate, Turnitin, etc. and uploaded to the system together with the submission. In the report to be taken without including (on) the citation and bibliography (because showing the citation and the bibliography of the citation is a legal obligation as well as an ethical behavior based on respect for labor. It is recommended that the similarity rate should not exceed 20% in general and 4% for a single work. The similarity report should be sent in its comprehensive form. It should not be forgotten that "similarity" does not mean "plagiarism", therefore similarities that can be included in "plagiarism" should be avoided even if the rates in question are low or high. Although these rates are low or high, situations that can be included in "plagiarism" should be avoided in monitoring with human eyes and mind. If the subject of the submission is a legal document (or similar), it should be referenced wherever it appears and should be considered as a citation (with no percentage limit).
• If any of the data collection methods such as interview, observation, questionnaire, scale, experiment was used in the submitted study, the statement that permission was obtained from the relevant unit/persons should be included in the method section of the article and the relevant. The document should also be uploaded to the journal system as an additional file with the name of "permission letter".
• It is recommended that the length of a paper should not exceed 7000 words including appendices.
• The format of the submissions must conform to the APA 7th style.
• Submissions should be prepared in Word format and according to the “First Submission Template” (which can be downloaded from the Journal Home Page).

Article Processing

It refers to the stages that run from the upload of the article to the system until its publication or rejection.

1-Pre review stage
• The documents that the author should send with the article [similarity report, ethical permission document (if necessary), Copyright Transfer Agreement, Cover Letter Page] are checked.
• It is checked if the article (must not contain any inscriptions or signs indicating the identity of the author(s)) has been prepared according to the template of the journal.
• It is checked whether the submitted article has been scientifically reported.
• The method used, the data collection tools, and the analysis of the data steps are checked whether it is in the correct form and content.
• The potential level of contribution to the international or national literature through the article and its subject in question is checked.
• The similarity report is checked according to the criteria given under the heading "General Rules".
• After the work goes through the above processes, it is seen as "can be sent to the referees", an editor is appointed.
• If the editor requests (or does not want) a revision of the study and the necessary action is taken, the blind referee process begins.

2-Blind peer-review stage

• At least two reviewers who are experts with PhDs on the subject of the article are invited to review it.
• The invited reviewers are given 5 days to accept the invitation. If this period is exceeded, this period is extended for 15 days for once. If the invitation is not accepted within this period, another reviewer is invited.
• The reviewers whose accepted the invitation are given 15 days for review. An additional period of 15 days is given for once only, for the reviews that are not completed even though the period has expired. If the review is not completed at the end of this period, the duty of reviewer is canceled, and another reviewer is invited.
• If, as a result of the review, both reviewers give an acceptance or minor revision decison, the article is asked the author to make the necessary revisions in light of the reviewer contributions (even if it means adding a "comma", it must be present and must be stated on the evaluation form or text) and editor’s notes. The editor follows this process and accepts the article if the revisions are made properly.
• In case of acceptance or minor revision of one reviewer and major revision of the other, the major revision decision be reviewed by the editor. The editor may be decided to invite a revision (if the reviewer's decision is sufficient) or a third referee.
• In case of acceptance or minor revision of one reviewer and rejection of the other, a third reviewer is invited. The decision is made in line with the suggestions of the third reviewer.
• If both reviewers give a major revision or rejection decision, the study is rejected. Meanwhile, referee comments are reviewed by the editor. If it is understood that the reviewers have made inappropriate, unfair, or subjective, or without reason evaluations, the relevant referee’s opinion is not taken into account. Another reviewer is invited to replace them.
• The reviewing process may differ depending on whether the reviewing processs respond to the invitation in a timely manner, complete the review on time, if a third or more reviewers are required. This period can vary between 1-5 months on average.
• During the whole process mentioned above, the control of the revisions belongs to the editor. In case of an obligation not fulfilled by the author (even if the reviewers have made an acceptance decision), the editor may request additional reviewer opinion.

3-Publishing stage
• After the article is accepted, it is prepared according to the "Article Template" (downloadable from the Journal Homepage).
• A language editor is assigned to the accepted article. The language editor is given 7 days for final reading.
• If the language editor decides that proof-reading is required, the article is sent to the author for proof-reading.
• A layout editor is assigned to the accepted article. The layout editor is given 7 days for final reading.
• The layout editor designs the possible publication of the article under the name "LAYOUT VERSION" and sends it to the author.
• The author checks the layout version and prepares the "Layout Commitment" and uploads it to the system.
• Layout editor makes final revisions (if any) according to the undertaking from the author and sends it to the editor.
• The editor may make revisions to the format and content before the layout version is forwarded to the responsible author and send it back to the layout editor.
• The editor assigns the article to the relevant issue to complete the publication of the article.
• The editor may reject the article at any stage by explaining the reason to the corresponding author.