Ankara University SBF Journal

Ankara Üniversitesi SBF Journal, published since 1943, has adopted an interdisciplinary approach aligned with contemporary social science paradigms. The journal primarily focuses on Turkey and its surrounding region, aiming to incorporate current and dynamic discussions in political science and economics. Furthermore, it supports a broad research agenda by accepting articles that strengthen interdisciplinary discourse in derivative fields of economics such as international relations, political economy, finance, and development studies. Through this approach, the Journal endeavors to bridge different disciplines and provide its readership with critical interdisciplinary content.

Ankara Üniversitesi SBF Journal is a peer-reviewed quarterly publication that follows an open publication policy and focuses on original research and analysis. The Journal has been one of the few pioneering publications that have led the formation of a problem-based and critical research tradition in social sciences in Turkey since its inception. The Journal adopts an inclusive and broad perspective by accepting social, political, and economic research and analyses concerning issues pertinent to Turkey and the world. In this context, manuscripts submitted to the Journal are expected to demonstrate the following qualities: original conceptual framework and methodology, new empirical findings that support policy-making and implementation, and critical analysis and discussions.

The target audience of our journal consists of professionals, experts, academicians, researchers, specialists and doctoral students working in the field of political science, international relations and economics, as well as undergraduate and graduate students studying in related fields.

NOTE: Our journal accepts articles continuously and there is no time limit for article submission.

Manuscripts
The SBF Journal publishes high-quality and original research aligned with its aims and scope. Research articles should be between 5,000 and 8,000 words, including references and notes. Book reviews should not exceed 1,500 words, while chronicles are limited to 2,000 words. Authors may include supplementary materials such as tables, evidence, or illustrations. These can be provided as online supplementary materials and are not included in the word count.

The Editorial Board of Ankara University SBF Journal reviews all submissions. The preliminary review and assessment process is generally completed within one month. Submissions undergo two primary checks at the initial stage:
    • Compliance with the minimum and maximum word limits.
    • Adherence to the journal’s citation and reference style.

Submissions that do not conform to the formal guidelines are rejected outright. The Editorial Board evaluates manuscripts that pass this initial review for their alignment with the journal’s aims, originality, and contribution to the literature. Articles deemed suitable for peer review are assigned to a field editor, who may initiate the peer review process. The Editorial Board has no obligation to provide feedback or explanations to authors of rejected manuscripts.

EDITORIAL PRINCIPLES

Peer Review Principles
The journal operates a two-way blind-review process for all manuscripts. In the first stage, manuscripts are evaluated by the editors and those that are appropriate for the purpose and scope of the journal are sent to the referee. Each manuscript is evaluated by at least two referees within the scope of double blind review. If one referee gives a favourable opinion and one referee gives a negative opinion, the manuscript is sent to a third referee. Referees, as a rule, complete the evaluation process within two months (eight weeks) and provide feedback. The Editorial Board makes the final publication decision by taking into account the referee reports and recommendations.

Responsibilities of Authors
All individuals who contribute to the work are recognized as authors. The order of authorship should reflect the scientific contributions of each individual, regardless of their status. The SBF Journal does not accept manuscripts generated by large language models, generative AI, or other digital tools.

Acknowledgements
Individuals who contributed to the manuscript but are not authors should be acknowledged in a separate “Acknowledgements” section.

Funding
If a manuscript has received financial support, authors are required to disclose this in a dedicated section, specifying the funding source and grant numbers.

Contribution Rate
During the manuscript submission process, the individual contribution rates of all authors should be clearly indicated. No changes to the contribution rates are allowed after the submission is completed.

Declaration of Potential Conflicts of Interest
Authors are encouraged to disclose any potential or perceived conflicts of interest related to peer review, funding, or other areas. Reviewers must inform the editors if any conflicts of interest exist between themselves and the authors.

Research Data
Research underlying the submitted manuscript should be transparent and reliable. Authors are expected to share their data in an appropriate database or provide a link to the data to disclose any conflicting or overlapping interests related to the peer review process, funding, or other aspects of the research. Reviewers are also advised to inform the editor if they have any potential conflicts of interest with the authors of the manuscript, such as competitive, collaborative, or other professional relationships.

Data Transparency
Research submitted to the SBF Journal must be based on transparent and reliable data. Authors should share their research data in an appropriate database and provide a link to the data if direct sharing is not possible. Proper citation of the data used in the research is required.

Ethics Committee Permission
In our journal, all studies that require ethics committee approval require approval from the relevant committee. Surveys, experiments, observations, clinical and animal studies, and research involving personal data are subject to ethics committee approval. This permission must be clearly stated in the text of the article. Studies without ethical approval are not evaluated. Scientific research on humans and animals must be conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and ARRIVE guidelines and approval must be obtained from the relevant ethics committee. Studies without ethics committee approval are not evaluated in our journal.

Manuscript Preparation

Authors should anonymize the manuscript files before uploading and should not reveal their identities in self-citations. 

Formatting
Preferred file formats are .doc, .docx, or .rtf. Before submission, manuscripts should be prepared with 1.5 line spacing and margins of 3 cm on the left and right and 5 cm on the top and bottom. Text should use a standard 10- or 12-point font.

Visual Elements
Figures submitted in color will appear in color in the online publication but will be reproduced in grayscale in the printed version.

Supplementary Materials
The SBF Journal does not host supplementary materials online (e.g., datasets, podcasts, videos) alongside the full text.

Citation and Referencing Guidelines

Starting from the June 2025 issue, the SBF Journal has decided to adopt the 7th Edition of the American Psychological Association (APA) Publication Manual for quotes, references, and bibliographies. Decimal and thousand separators, as well as date and time formats, should follow the Continental European style.

Footnotes should not be used for citations but for explanatory notes only.

Language and Editing Services
Authors who require assistance with editing, translating, or formatting their manuscripts in Turkish or English to meet the journal’s specifications may seek third-party services before submission.

Submission
The SBF Journal uses DergiPark, the online submission and peer review system managed by TÜBİTAK ULAKBİM. Submissions can be made via the following link: https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/ausbf.
Important: Before creating a new account, verify whether you already have one. If you have reviewed or submitted articles to the journal in the past year, an account may already exist for you.
For further assistance with the online submission process, refer to the guide available at https://confluence.ulakbim.gov.tr/display/DYM/.

ORCID Integration
As part of its commitment to ethical, transparent, and fair peer review, the SBF Journal supports the Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID). ORCID provides researchers with a unique and permanent identifier, distinguishing them even if they share the same name.
Authors are required to link their ORCID IDs during the submission process. Co-authors are also strongly encouraged to link their ORCID IDs to their accounts on the online review platform. Published articles will include the authors’ ORCID IDs in their metadata, enabling accurate attribution and broader accessibility to the authors’ works.

Permissions
Ensure you have obtained the necessary permissions for reproducing any previously published figures, tables, or extensive quotations. This applies to any copyrighted material not authored by you. Securing permissions is essential to avoid copyright infringement during the publication process.

Acceptance and Publication

Publication Process
The assigned editor will keep authors informed about the progress of their manuscript throughout the review and publication stages. Authors are required to upload a response document addressing reviewers’ comments and detailing any revisions or rebuttals.

Early View
Accepted manuscripts that complete the review process may be published online as “early view” (online first) before assignment to an issue. The Editorial Board determines the timing of issue assignments based on thematic and disciplinary balance. Authors’ personal requests regarding publication timing will not be considered.

For further inquiries regarding the submission process, please contact the SBF Journal editorial office.

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES
The Editorial Board, Editorial Board, Advisory Board, authors and referees of the Ankara University SBF Journal are committed to preventing publishing malpractices in accordance with academic and ethical standards. The ethical principles and publication policy of the Ankara University SBF Journal have been prepared in accordance with the guidelines and policies published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Actions Contrary to Scientific Research and Publication Ethics
• Plagiarism: Representing the original ideas, methods, data or works of others as one's own work in whole or in part without citation in accordance with scientific rules,
• Forgery: Using non-existent or falsified data in scientific research,
• Distortion: Falsifying research records or data, falsifying devices or materials that were not used in the research, falsifying or shaping the results of the research in line with the interests of the persons and organizations receiving support,
• Republishing: Presenting duplicate publications as separate publications for academic appointments and promotions,
• Slicing: Inappropriately and inappropriately dividing the results of a research into parts in a way that disrupts the integrity of the research and publishing them in more than one issue and presenting these publications as separate publications in academic appointments and promotions,
• Unfair authorship: Including or excluding people who have not actively contributed, changing the author ranking in an unjustified and inappropriate manner, removing the names of active contributors from the work in subsequent editions, using one's influence to have one's name included among the authors even though one has not actively contributed,

ETHICS COMMITTEE PERMISSION
Our journal requires that the relevant ethics committee decision must be obtained for all studies in all disciplines that require ethics committee approval. In this context, authors should write the date and number of the Ethics Committee approval on the first or last page of the article.
In line with the regulations implemented by Ulakbim TR Index since 2020, studies that do not have ethics committee permission are not evaluated in our journal.

Studies Requiring Ethics Committee Approval
In our journal, researches that require ethics committee permission include the following studies:
• All research conducted with qualitative or quantitative approaches that involve collecting data from participants through methods such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, experiments and interview techniques,
• Studies in which humans and animals (including materials or data) are used for experimental or other scientific purposes,
• Clinical trials conducted on humans,
• Scientific research on animals,
• Retrospective studies within the framework of the Personal Data Protection Law.
In order for such studies to be included in the evaluation, the relevant ethics committee permissions must be obtained and these permissions must be clearly stated in the text of the article.

NOTE: Scientific research on humans and animals must be conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and ARRIVE guidelines and approval must be obtained from the relevant ethics committee. Studies without ethics committee approval are not evaluated in our journal.

Plagiarism Checker
Plagiarism occurs in the form of presenting someone else's work as one's own, copying someone else's work as it is or by changing its form without citation, and appropriating the results of research done by others. Plagiarism is unethical and unacceptable no matter how it is done.
SBF Journal takes a strict stance on issues related to copyright infringement, plagiarism or other violations of quality publishing. It takes all allegations of plagiarism or misuse of published articles seriously. Articles with plagiarized content are removed from publication. Manuscripts submitted to the SBF Journal are uploaded to the plagiarism prevention program and the similarity rate is determined. In addition, methods such as publishing a correction, withdrawing the article, contacting the author's institution or taking legal action may be applied to eliminate the detected errors.

If plagiarism is detected in an article submitted or published in our journal, our journal acts in accordance with the COPE principles (Plagiarism in a submitted manuscript - Plagiarism in a published article).

Relations with the Journal Owner and Publisher
The relationship between the editor and the publisher is based on the principle of editorial independence. In accordance with the written contract between the editor and the publisher, all editorial decisions are independent of the publisher and the journal owner.

Correction, Retraction, Expression of Concern
Editors may consider publishing a correction if minor errors are identified in the published article that do not affect the findings, interpretations and conclusions. In the case of major errors/violations that invalidate findings and conclusions, editors should consider retracting the article. COPE principles are taken into account in relation to correction, withdrawal or expression of concern.

Protection of Intellectual Property Rights
Our journal is obliged to protect the intellectual property rights of all published articles and to defend the rights of the journal and the author(s) in case of possible violations.

Protection of Personal Data of Participants
All personal data sent to our journal are protected in accordance with legal regulations and ethical rules.

Complaints
Any unethical behavior of the editors, referees, or authors of the Ankara University SBF Journal, or any unethical situation regarding an article in the review process, in early view, or in a published manuscript should be reported to AUSBF.Dergi@politics.ankara.edu.tr. Our journal follows the procedure outlined in the COPE flowcharts for complaints.

Conflicts of interest
Our journal guarantees the independent and impartial completion of the publication process, taking into account the conflicts of interest between the author(s), reviewers and other editors.

Change of Author
Only the article is processed before acceptance. Authors are required to carefully review the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the final author list at the time of original submission.

Responsibilities of Stakeholders

1- Ethical Responsibilities of Editors

Impartiality and Objectivity:
Editors should evaluate submitted manuscripts based on the quality of the content and should not discriminate based on the identity, institution, gender, language or ethnicity of the author.
Preservation of Double Blind Process:
Editors should not allow direct communication between authors and reviewers and should protect the confidentiality of both parties' identities.
Fair Reviewer Appointment:
Appoint reviewers who are independent, have no conflict of interest, and are appropriate to the field of expertise.
Avoiding Conflict of Interest:
The editor should not intervene in the process if there is any personal or institutional conflict of interest in the submitted manuscript.
Monitoring the Refereeing Process:
The editor should supervise the compliance of referee evaluations with ethical and scientific standards and ensure that the process is completed on time.
Protection of Confidentiality:
Submitted studies should be treated as confidential documents until they are published and should not be shared with third parties.
Intervention in Violations of Publication Ethics:
In cases of plagiarism, fabricated data or suspicion of unethical behavior, the necessary investigation should be initiated and COPE guidelines should be followed.
Considering Author and Reviewer Feedback:
Contribute to the continuous improvement of processes by carefully evaluating feedback.

2- Responsibilities of Reviewers

Objective and Scientific Evaluation:
Evaluations should be made objectively, based on scientific criteria and in a constructive language.
Respect for Confidentiality:
The reviewed article should be considered as a confidential document; it should not be shared with third parties.
Avoiding Conflict of Interest:
If there is a personal or institutional conflict of interest with the article, the reviewer should not accept the evaluation task.
Timely Feedback:
The report should be submitted within the review period; in case of delay, the editor should be informed.
Citation of References:
When important studies that have not been cited by the author are identified, the editor should be notified and the source should be suggested.
Reporting Ethical Violations:
If plagiarism, data fabrication or unethical behavior is noticed, the editor should be informed immediately.

3- Responsibilities of Authors

Presenting Original and Authentic Work:
Authors should only submit their own original research and avoid plagiarism and copy-paste content.
Data Accuracy:
The data used must be factual; no fabricated, distorted or misleading information should be presented.
Ethics Committee Approval:
For studies requiring ethics committee approval, the relevant permission must be obtained and clearly stated in the article.
Author Contribution Statement:
All authors must have made a significant scientific contribution to the study and their contribution rates must be clearly stated.
Declaration of Conflicts of Interest:
Any financial or personal conflicts of interest should be clearly stated.
Multiple Submissions:
The same study should not be simultaneously submitted to another journal or previously published.
Proper Citation of Sources:
All sources used must be properly cited and citations must comply with ethical rules.
Responsibility for Correction or Retraction:
If an error is noticed after publication, the editor should be informed and a correction or retraction should be requested.

PUBLICATION POLICIES

General Principles
• Ankara University SBF Journal is a pioneering peer-reviewed journal that has been published quarterly (March-June-September-December) since 1943, following an open publication policy, especially in the field of political science and economics, for original research and analysis.
• Our journal adopts an inclusive and broad perspective by accepting social, political and economic research and analysis on issues concerning Turkey and the world.
• The target audience of our journal consists of professionals, experts, academics, researchers, specialists and doctoral students working in the field of political science, international relations and economics, as well as undergraduate and graduate students studying in related fields.
• The following qualifications are sought in the articles submitted to the journal: Original conceptual framework and methodology, new empirical findings supporting policy making and implementation, and critical analysis and debate.
• Original, previously unpublished manuscripts, manuscripts that are not under review in another journal, and manuscripts whose content and submission have been approved by each author are accepted for review.
• Manuscripts submitted to our journal are evaluated by at least two independent reviewers within the scope of double blind review.
• Authors agree to transfer their copyrights to our journal under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license when the article is accepted for publication.
• All articles published as open access in our journal are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Non-Derivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
• Articles published in our journal are digitally archived in LOCKSS and DSpace. Articles published in our journal can be accessed free of charge at https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/ausbf/archive.
• The publication of articles in the journal and the execution of article processes are not subject to any fee. No processing or submission fee is charged for articles submitted to the journal or accepted for publication.

Special Issue Policy
With the decision of the Editorial Board, a special issue may be published once a year. For articles to be published in the special issue, the publication and evaluation principles are applied as applied in the planned issues.

Price Policy
Article submission, evaluation and publication processes in our journal are completely free of charge. No fee is charged for articles submitted or accepted for publication. In accordance with our publication policy, sponsorship and advertising are not accepted and all expenses of our journal are covered by Ankara University.

The authors retain the copyrights of their published articles. Ankara Üniversitesi SBF Dergisi is an open and free access journal. Articles are made freely available to readers as soon as they are accepted for publication under the Creative Commons License of CC BY-NC-ND. There is no embargo period. We do not charge authors at any stage of the processes of submission and publication. Readers can download, print, share, search, or link to the articles without any restrictions. Authors should be given appropriate credit. Articles cannot be changed and they cannot be used for commercial purposes.

Read more about the license here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/