GSI Journals Serie A: Advancements in Tourism Recreation and Sports Sciences

The primary aim of GSI Journals Serie A: Advancements in Tourism Recreation and Sports Sciences (ATRSS) is to provide a high-quality, continuous academic platform for scholars, researchers, and practitioners to disseminate their original work. The journal publishes original articles, including theoretical and empirical research papers, review reports, and case studies.

ATRSS focuses on publishing both qualitative and quantitative research that critically examines the creation and consumption of leisure. The journal welcomes submissions covering a wide range of topics within sports, travel and tourism, hospitality, media (including digital media), events, heritage, and the arts.

Furthermore, ATRSS encourages contributions that foster interdisciplinary knowledge integration in tourism and recreation by incorporating perspectives from fields such as hospitality, recreation, events, and sports. The journal particularly values studies addressing contemporary societal issues from a holistic viewpoint. Depending on the research focus, articles may be situated within a single academic discipline or adopt an integrative approach across disciplines such as the social sciences, natural sciences, and environmental studies.

ATRSS is a peer-reviewed, academic, international electronic journal, and its publication languages are English and Turkish.

Submission regarding the following items will be rejected without review:

1. Studies that solely use data from social media, applications (e.g., Booking, TripAdvisor), or Google (user reviews).
2. Review articles or studies that only include systematic literature analyses (those that do not offer a new contribution to the topic), or studies containing bibliometric analyses.
3. Landscape architecture, gastronomy and sports studies that do not establish a clear connection with leisure or recreation and focus on technical and highly specific topics within their own fields.

The journal accepts submissions on the following topics:

Tourism Planning and Policies: Tourism destination management, sustainable tourism strategies, rural and urban tourism planning, tourism policy development, stakeholder participation in tourism planning.

Recreation Planning and Management: Planning of indoor and outdoor recreational spaces, social impacts of recreational activities, nature-based recreation, community-based recreation programs, accessibility and participation in recreation planning.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Tourism, and Recreation: Spatial analyses in tourism, GIS applications in destination management, mapping and analysis of tourist spaces, suitability studies for outdoor recreation activities, use of geographic data in tourism and recreation planning.

Landscape and Recreation Relationship: Urban landscape planning, recreational use of natural landscapes, ecological landscape design, cultural landscapes in tourism, green infrastructure in recreation planning.

Sports and Recreation: Sports tourism, outdoor sports events, sports management, sports facility planning, health and well-being through sports.

Nature-Based Tourism: Ecotourism, sustainable nature tourism practices, extreme sports and nature-based activities, adventure tourism planning and management, risk management in nature-based tourism.

Cultural and Heritage Tourism: Evaluation of cultural heritage sites in terms of tourism and recreation, sustainable management of tangible and intangible heritage, development of cultural tourism, heritage interpretation and community participation.

Tourism Technologies: Smart tourism applications, use of big data and artificial intelligence in tourism, digital transformation in tourism and recreation, virtual reality in tourism, blockchain technology in tourism management.

Environmental Sustainability, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation: Environmental impacts of tourism activities, sustainable tourism planning, nature conservation policies, natural resource management, carrying capacity studies, environmental impact assessments.

Leisure Behavior: Leisure activities, individual and societal leisure preferences, psychological and sociological dimensions of leisure use, leisure and quality of life, trends in leisure behavior.

Game and Dance: The role of game and dance activities in the context of recreation and tourism, dance and games as cultural heritage, contributions of game and dance to individual and social development, traditional games in tourism, animation.

Tourist Motivation and Behavior: Factors influencing travel decisions, motivation theories, tourist typologies, analysis of tourism experiences and tourist behaviors, decision-making processes in tourism.

Tourism and Leisure Education: Research in higher education in the fields of accommodation, leisure, sports, tourism, and events, studies aimed at encouraging, developing, and disseminating best practices and innovations, curriculum development, experiential learning, and professional training in tourism and leisure fields.

Outdoor Recreation and Park Management: Planning and management of outdoor recreation areas, park design and maintenance, visitor management in parks, sustainable park management, public-private partnerships in park management.

The writing rules have been rearranged by announcing on 12.05.2022 to be valid as of the 6th volume (2023 issues) of our journal.

Dear author(s),

You must include the title page, manuscript, copyright agreement and Ethics Committee document (if required) files in the first submission. The originality of the submissions is checked with plagiarism detection software. Our policy for similarity levels is the similarity with each source should not exceed 1% and total similarity should not exceed 20%. For avoiding desk rejection, authors might consider checking the similarity level before submission.

Paragraph and page structure: Single spacing (0 pt before, 6pt after) should be used for all parts of manuscript except tables, figures and appendices. The page structure should be determined according to the bottom, top, right and left margins 1.5 cm, A4 paper size.

Title: The title of the manuscript should be written with the first letter of the words in capital letters, Palatino Linotype, 12 pt, bold letters.

Abstract: It should be between 150-180 words. Font: Palatino Linotype, 10 pt, italicized.

Keywords: It should be between 3-5 words.

Main Text: It should not exceed the limit of 10000 words. Font: Palatino Linotype, 11 pt. Font for headings and subheadings: Palatino Linotype 11 pt, bold, justified. Hierarchical numbering should be done for sub-headings. One line space should be left before the main headings.

Tables and Figures: Paragraph structure should be set with single line spacing, but with 0 pt spacing before and after. Font: Palatino Linotype, 9 pt, left aligned. In addition, the text wrapping feature in figures and tables should be turned off. For table and figure titles (Palatino Linotype, 11 pt) and their representations, see the examples in the article template.

Appendices: Each appendix should be given on separate pages, after the references.

Manuscript should not make direct references to the author or co-authors that would reveal the identity of the author. Information about authors should be indicated on the title page for blind review purposes only.

RECOMMENDATIONS AND EXAMPLE REFERENCES FOR PROPOSED ARTICLE

Abstract: In this section, the main purpose, important results and method of the research should be stated. It is essential that the abstract is conceptualized in a way that gives the reader a clear idea of the topic and main points of the article. 

Introduction part of the study should provide a general overview of the importance of the topic that is going to be covered in the manuscript. Readers should have an insight into the topic and reasons for conducting the current study. After introducing the topic, the research aim should be clearly stated. At the end of the introduction part, the presentation of the paper structure should be provided with a short description of what is going to be addressed in each part of the manuscript. Authors are advised to avoid reviewing the literature and detail description of the methodology in this part of the paper.

Literature review: At this part of the manuscript, previous similar studies conducted in the related field should be reviewed. Authors should in briefly elaborate on topic and concepts, theoretical models and framework as well as methodology being used, with the appropriate overview of the results obtained from these studies. It is important to clearly point out to the gap in the literature and contribution that the current study will have on the overall body of knowledge. Based on what is presented in the current part of the manuscript, related hypothesis or research questions should be derived and presented.

Methodology part should be reserved for description of research design and method used to answer to study’s research questions. It is expected that the appropriate literature for using the related method is presented. In addition, it is essential to pay attention to the issues such as explaining the characteristics of settings in which the study is conducted, sampling techniques as well as data collection method. The information on how were the questionnaires or interview questions derived should be provided in detail. In addition, the research analysis used in the current study, as well as the reasons for using this particular analysis should be presented. Descriptions mentioned in this part can be avoided in the case of an opinion piece.

Findings: After the description of the methodology, results derived from the conducted data analysis should be presented at this part. What type of analysis was used as well as statistical tests, reliability and validity tests, should be properly explained at this part of the study. After that presentation of the results should come. Findings and hypotheses evaluations should be presented according to the research approach and analysis, with the appropriate elaboration on the same. Tables, graphics, and figures should be presented at this part as well. Authors should make sure not to overuse the tables, but to combine several statistical data into one table where possible.

Discussions and/or Conclusion: In this part, a brief overview of the results obtained in the study is presented. This part should start with a short turn on the research problem and how the findings of the current study address this problem. At the end of the conclusion part, theoretical and practical implications for future research and practitioners in the field should be provided.

References: The spelling rules specified in the Publication Manual of American Psychological Association (APA) (6th edition) published by the American Psychological Association should be applied both in the text and in the bibliography.

Example Reference Displays:

All parties involved in the publishing process (Editors, Reviewers, Authors and Publishers) are expected to agree on the following ethical principles. Articles submitted first are checked for plagiarism with the Turnitin program. Articles with more than 20% similarity are rejected.

All submissions must be original, unpublished (including as full text in conference proceedings), and not under the review of any other publication synchronously. Authors must ensure that submitted work is original. They must certify that the manuscript has not previously been published elsewhere or is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere, in any language. Applicable copyright laws and conventions must be followed. Copyright material (e.g. tables, figures or extensive quotations) must be reproduced only with appropriate permission and acknowledgement. Any work or words of other authors, contributors, or sources must be appropriately credited and referenced.

Each manuscript is reviewed by one of the editors and at least two referees under double-blind peer review process. Plagiarism, duplication, fraud authorship/denied authorship, research/data fabrication, salami slicing/salami publication, breaching of copyrights, prevailing conflict of interest are unnethical behaviors.

All manuscripts not in accordance with the accepted ethical standards will be removed from the publication. This also contains any possible malpractice discovered after the publication. In accordance with the code of conduct we will report any cases of suspected plagiarism or duplicate publishing.

GSI Journals Serie A: Advancements in Tourism Recreation and Sports Sciences adopts the ethical standards set by (The Committee on Publication Ethics - COPE). Publication and scientific ethics are based on the ethical standards of COPE (https://publicationethics.org/).

Research Ethics
The journal adheres to the highest standards in research ethics and follows the principles of international research ethics as defined below. The authors are responsible for the compliance of the manuscripts with the ethical rules.

- Principles of integrity, quality and transparency should be sustained in designing the research, reviewing the design and conducting the research.
- The research team and participants should be fully informed about the aim, methods, possible uses and requirements of the research and risks of participation in research.
- The confidentiality of the information provided by the research participants and the confidentiality of the respondents should be ensured. The research should be designed to protect the autonomy and dignity of the participants.
- Research participants should participate in the research voluntarily, not under any coercion.
- Any possible harm to participants must be avoided. The research should be planned in such a way that the participants are not at risk.
- The independence of research must be clear; and any conflict of interest or must be disclosed.
- In experimental studies with human subjects, written informed consent of the participants who decide to participate in the research must be obtained. In the case of children and those under wardship or with confirmed insanity, legal custodian’s assent must be obtained.
- If the study is to be carried out in any institution or organization, approval must be obtained from this institution or organization.
- In studies with human subject, it must be noted in the method’s section of the manuscript that the informed consent of the participants and ethics committee approval from the institution where the study has been conducted have been obtained.

Author's Responsibilities
It is authors’ responsibility to ensure that the article is in accordance with scientific and ethical standards and rules. And authors must ensure that submitted work is original. They must certify that the manuscript has not previously been published elsewhere or is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere, in any language. Applicable copyright laws and conventions must be followed. Copyright material (e.g. tables, figures or extensive quotations) must be reproduced only with appropriate permission and acknowledgement. Any work or words of other authors, contributors, or sources must be appropriately credited and referenced.

All the authors of a submitted manuscript must have direct scientific and academic contribution to the manuscript. The author(s) of the original research articles is defined as a person who is significantly involved in “conceptualization and design of the study”, “collecting the data”, “analyzing the data”, “writing the manuscript”, “reviewing the manuscript with a critical perspective” and “planning/conducting the study of the manuscript and/or revising it”. Fund raising, data collection or supervision of the research group are not sufficient roles to be accepted as an author. The author(s) must meet all these criteria described above. The order of names in the author list of an article must be a co-decision and it must be indicated in the Copyright Agreement Form. The individuals who do not meet the authorship criteria but contributed to the study must take place in the acknowledgement section. Individuals providing technical support, assisting writing, providing a general support, providing material or financial support are examples to be indicated in acknowledgement section.

All authors must disclose all issues concerning financial relationship, conflict of interest, and competing interest that may potentially influence the results of the research or scientific judgment.

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published paper, it is the author’s obligation to promptly cooperate with the Editor to provide retractions or corrections of mistakes.

Responsibility for the Editor and Reviewers
Editor-in-Chief evaluates manuscripts for their scientific content without regard to ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, citizenship, religious belief or political philosophy of the authors. He/She provides a fair double-blind peer review of the submitted articles for publication and ensures that all the information related to submitted manuscripts is kept as confidential before publishing.

Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the contents and overall quality of the publication. He/She must publish errata pages or make corrections when needed.
Editor-in-Chief does not allow any conflicts of interest between the authors, editors and reviewers. Only he has the full authority to assign a reviewer and is responsible for final decision for publication of the manuscripts in the Journal.
Reviewers must have no conflict of interest with respect to the research, the authors and/or the research funders. Their judgments must be objective.
Reviewers must ensure that all the information related to submitted manuscripts is kept as confidential and must report to the editor if they are aware of copyright infringement and plagiarism on the author’s side.
A reviewer who feels unqualified to review the topic of a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.
The editor informs the reviewers that the manuscripts are confidential information and that this is a privileged interaction. The reviewers and editorial board cannot discuss the manuscripts with other persons. The anonymity of the referees must be ensured. In particular situations, the editor may share the review of one reviewer with other reviewers to clarify a particular point.

Manuscript Evaluation Process
A manuscript sent by researchers is examined by the journal secretary within 7 days from the date of submission to see if the manuscript, title page, copyright agreement, and service fee receipt are sent correctly and completely. If these requested files are sent properly and completely, the manuscript; in the second stage, it is evaluated whether it complies with the journal's writing rules (article template). If the manuscript does not comply with the writing rules, it is returned to the author. If the manuscript complies with the writing rules, it is evaluated whether it has been sent according to the template. If the manuscript is not adapted and sent according to the template, it is not taken into the evaluation process. During this process, it is expected that the researcher will upload the manuscript to the system in accordance with the conditions set by the journal. If the manuscript is prepared and sent in accordance with the template, in the last stage, the manuscript is examined in terms of the journal's publication principles, writing rules, abstract, abstract, extended abstract, bibliography display, etc. If there is a problem related to these details in the manuscript, the author is asked to complete these issues and send the manuscript back completely within the given time. Finally, the similarity report of the manuscript is taken by the secretary and uploaded. Manuscripts are forwarded to the editor for pre-control and then to be passed to the evaluation stage.

Manuscripts that pass all these stages are subjected to pre-controls by the editor and assistant editors within 7 days (the editor or assistant editors can reject in line with the journal's publication policies) and are sent to the field editor for the evaluation stage according to the subject of the manuscript. The field editors direct the author to make some corrections in the manuscript within 7 days for the purpose of inspecting its scientific adequacy or deem the manuscript sufficient for the referee evaluation process and send it to two suitable referees for their evaluations. The referees' evaluation periods are 15 days after the referee accepts the evaluation request. If a referee does not complete the referee duty within this period, an additional 7 days may be given to the relevant referee to complete the evaluation. If the referee does not fulfill his duty within this period, a new referee is appointed in his place. If reports from at least two referees are positive, the manuscript is taken to the publication stage. During this period, it may be necessary for the manuscript to be re-evaluated by the referees more than once. This process continues until the minor/major corrections given by the referees are marked as accepted by the referees. If one of the referee reports is positive and the other is negative, the field editor and editor decide whether to continue the publication process. In cases where the referee reports are insufficient and far from satisfying, the final decision regarding the manuscript is given by the field editor. A manuscript that has gone through all these stages is directed to the publication editor to be published in the nearest issue or taken into early view after all these inspections. If the manuscript is in Turkish, the publication editor undertakes the responsibility of checking the extended English summary and the English summary. Among the duties of the publication editor are also to control the number of keywords and the number of words in both Turkish and English summaries. After all these checks, the manuscript is directed to be published in the relevant issue or taken into early view for the final adjustments by the layout editor determined by the publication editor. The layout editor completes his duty by arranging the manuscript in terms of the journal's writing rules and styles and making the necessary corrections and arrangements with the responsible author if necessary. Once all the arrangements are completed, the editor obtains the DOI number of the manuscript and directs it to be published in the relevant issue or taken into early view. The author has the right to withdraw his article at any time and in all evaluation processes until the publication date of the relevant issue of the journal. However, this situation must be reported to the journal.

Warning Regarding Interference with the Evaluation Process and Claims of Nepotism!
All processes (pre-flight, editorial evaluation, peer review, and publication decision) for manuscripts submitted to our journal are conducted in accordance with completely objective, scientific, and ethical principles. Transparency and impartiality are fundamental at every stage of this process.

In this context:
Any request to interfere with the process through personal or institutional acquaintance with journal editors, editorial board members, or referees, whether explicitly or implicitly, will be considered a serious ethical violation.
Requests to expedite the evaluation process for the purpose of preparing a manuscript for associate professorship applications or similar academic processes, along with any attempts to intervene before the deadline, will result in the manuscript being returned to the author immediately, regardless of its status.
Authors, intermediaries, or institutions that claim or imply nepotism will be reported to the relevant authorities, including the Interuniversity Board (ÜAK), along with the reasons for such requests.
All evaluation processes within the journal operate within specified timeframes. Attempting to interfere with the process outside these timeframes, such as by asking leading questions such as "When will the results be finalized?" or "Will it be finished?" before the peer-review process is completed, is considered unethical behavior.
Journal statistics are general information reflecting average timeframes. Misunderstanding the relevant data or attributing it to personal evaluation processes will be considered a form of interference with this process.
We respectfully inform the public that such interventions and unethical requests will absolutely not be tolerated.

No fee is charged from the author or his/her institution under any name.