The language of writing is Turkish and English. For Turkish articles, the Turkish Language Association's (TDK) online Current Dictionary and Writing Rules should be followed for spelling, punctuation, and abbreviations. Submitted papers should be scientifically accurate in terms of language and expression, clear, and understandable.

Articles should include the following sections:

• Title: Turkish and English

• Abstract: Turkish and English (each between 200-300 words)

• Keywords: Turkish and English (each between 3-8 words)

• Text: Introduction, section headings, and conclusion: Turkish or English

• References

The elements listed above, excluding the references, should adhere to the following format in the text:

For natural sciences related to forensic sciences (such as chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, statistics, engineering, and health sciences), the word count should be between 1500-5000 words.

For social sciences related to forensic sciences (such as psychology, linguistics, sociology, and law), the word count should be between 4000-8000 words. The author’s name should be written in italic bold, 11 pt, on the right corner under the article's title, and the author’s title, institution, and email address should be written in a footnote with an asterisk (*) in 9 pt. Other explanations in the form of footnotes should be numbered either within the text or at the bottom of the page. The text should be written in Times New Roman, 11 pt, with one and a half line spacing, and explanatory footnotes should be in 9 pt and single-spaced.

For book reviews, special attention should be paid to the following:

Book review texts should be between 1000 and 1500 words.

In the heading information, the title of the book under review, the author, city of publication, publisher, year of publication, and ISBN number should be included.

The name of the author conducting the review should be written in italic bold, 11 pt, in the right corner under the article's title, and the author’s title, institution, and email address should be written in a footnote with an asterisk (*) in 9 pt.

Book reviews should not merely summarize the work but critically evaluate it. The reviewer may agree or disagree with the ideas presented in the book or highlight exemplary or lacking aspects of the content, judgments, or structure. The reviewer should clearly express their own thoughts about the book.

A book review should shed light on the most important points presented in the book and critically discuss them. The review should follow a general structure, including an introduction, summary of the book, critical discussion, and conclusion.

Page Layout

The text should use the 11 pt Times New Roman font. Page setup should have margins of 2.5 cm (0.98 inches) on all sides of A4-sized paper, justified, without hyphenation at the end of lines. Paragraph spacing should be 1.25 for the first line, with 3 pt before and after paragraphs, justified text, and one and a half line spacing. Page numbers should appear in the lower right corner.

Primary Headings (Level 1) should be centered and bold, with a one-line space before and after.

Secondary Headings (Level 2) should be left-aligned and bold, with a one-line space before the paragraph.

Tertiary Headings (Level 3) should be left-aligned, bold, followed by a colon, with the paragraph continuing on the same line. No space should be left before the paragraph.

Quaternary Headings (Level 4) should be left-aligned, bold, italic, followed by a colon, with the paragraph continuing on the same line. No space should be left before the paragraph.

Quinary Headings (Level 5) should be left-aligned, italic, followed by a colon, with the paragraph continuing on the same line. No space should be left before the paragraph.

It is not recommended to use more than five levels of headings.

The Journal of Forensic Sciences and Crime Research (ABSAD) will start using the APA7 format from the March 2025 issue. For the APA7 guide, visit: https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/journal-file/31687

Citation and Reference Writing

Citation

The in-text citation method involves parenthetical references. Citations should be written in the same font size as the text. In this method, citations are provided in parentheses after the quote: (Author's Last Name, Year of Publication: Page Number). If a direct quote is made from a source or interview, and the quote is less than 3 lines, it should be used within the sentence; if it is 3 lines or more, it should be indicated in a separate paragraph. This paragraph should be single-spaced, in 9 pt, and indented 1.25 cm from both sides.

Citations and references must be created using citation software, and citations should be linked to their corresponding references in the reference list.

References

In the reference list, the authors' surnames should be listed first, followed by their initials. In a source with two authors, "and" should be used between the names. For works with more than two authors, a semicolon (;) should be used between the authors, and "and" should be used before the last author’s name. Authors should be listed alphabetically by surname. The surnames and initials of the authors should be capitalized. The complete bibliographic details of the source should be provided. For multi-edition books, the edition number should be indicated. In foreign sources, the complete bibliographic details should be written in the original language of the source, without translation into Turkish.

Tables

Table numbers and titles should be placed one line above the table. No additional space should be left between the title and the table. Table numbers should be given in the format (Table 1., Table 2., etc.). The word "Table," its number, and the period should be written in bold. The source of the data used in the table should be indicated at the bottom left of the table and written in bold as "Source:". When writing the table title and source, only the first letter of the first word should be capitalized, and the remaining words should be written in lowercase without bold formatting. Vertical lines should not be used in tables. Vertical lines should only be used if they indicate a header for the first column.

For more information, visit: https://absad.pa.edu.tr/author-guidelines-abe

Ethical Principles and Publication Policy

The processes of article acceptance and publication implemented by the Journal of Forensic Sciences and Crime Studies (JFSCS) are based on ensuring the development and dissemination of knowledge in an impartial and respected manner. These processes directly reflect the quality of the authors' work and the institutions supporting them. Peer-reviewed studies embody and support the scientific method. At this point, it is crucial that all stakeholders (authors, readers, researchers, publishers, referees, and editors) adhere to ethical standards.

The Journal of Forensic Sciences and Crime Studies expects all its stakeholders to fulfill the following ethical responsibilities. The ethical duties and responsibilities outlined below have been prepared considering the open access guidelines and policies published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Authors' Ethical Responsibilities

Authors submitting articles to the Journal of Forensic Sciences and Crime Studies (JFSCS) are expected to adhere to the following ethical responsibilities:

* Authors must ensure that their submissions are original and that, if they use or refer to other works, they provide complete and accurate citations and references.
* Any potential conflicts of interest or relationships that might constitute conflicts of interest should be disclosed in all submissions intended for publication.
* Authors may be asked to provide raw data related to their articles during the review process. In such cases, they must be prepared to submit the necessary data and information to the editorial board and the scientific committee.
* Authors must ensure that they have the rights to use the data, have obtained the necessary permissions related to research/analyses, or possess documentation of the permission procedures for subjects used in experiments.
* If authors detect an error or mistake in a published, early view, or under-review study, they are obliged to notify the journal editor or publisher, collaborate with the editor for correction or retraction.
* Authors may not submit their work to multiple journals concurrently. Each submission process must begin after the completion of the previous one. A study published in another journal cannot be submitted to the Journal of Forensic Sciences and Crime Studies (JFSCS).
* Changes in the authorship responsibilities of a paper under review (such as adding or removing authors, changing the author order) cannot be proposed.

Ethical Duties and Responsibilities of Editors and Field Editors

The editors and field editors of the Journal of Forensic Sciences and Crime Studies (JFSCS) must adhere to the following ethical duties and responsibilities based on the “COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors” and the “COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors,” which are published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) as open access:

General Duties and Responsibilities

* Editors are responsible for every article published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences and Crime Studies (JFSCS). This responsibility includes the following roles and obligations:
        * Efforts to meet the information needs of readers and authors,
        * Ensuring the continuous development of the journal,
        * Conducting processes to improve the quality of the studies published in the journal,
        * Supporting freedom of thought,
        * Ensuring academic integrity,
        * Maintaining work processes without compromising intellectual property rights and ethical standards,
        * Ensuring transparency and openness in cases that require corrections or explanations.

Reviewers' Ethical Responsibilities

The peer-review process directly affects the quality of the publication, and "Double-Blind Peer Review" is applied in the evaluation of all studies to ensure an impartial and independent assessment of the publication. Reviewers cannot directly communicate with authors; the evaluation and comments are conveyed through the journal management system. In this context, reviewers evaluating work for the Journal of Forensic Sciences and Crime Studies (JFSCS) are expected to fulfill the following ethical responsibilities:

* Only agree to evaluate work related to their area of expertise.
* Conduct evaluations impartially and maintain confidentiality.
* If they believe there is a conflict of interest during the review process, they must refuse to review and notify the journal editor.
* After the review process, they must destroy the studies they have reviewed in accordance with the principle of confidentiality. They can only use the final versions of the studies after publication.
* Reviews should be conducted solely based on the content of the work. Nationality, gender, religious beliefs, political beliefs, and commercial concerns should not influence the review.
* Reviews must be conducted in a constructive and courteous manner. Personal comments containing hostility, slander, or defamation should not be made.
* Reviews must be completed on time and in accordance with the above ethical responsibilities.

Publisher's Ethical Responsibilities

The Editorial Board of the Journal of Forensic Sciences and Crime Studies (JFSCS) is committed to the following ethical responsibilities:

* Editors are responsible for all processes of manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Forensic Sciences and Crime Studies (JFSCS). In this context, the decision-makers are the chief editor and section editors, without regard to any economic or political gains.
* The journal guarantees to uphold independent editorial decision-making.
* The Journal of Forensic Sciences and Crime Studies (JFSCS) protects the ownership and copyright of every article published and is responsible for keeping every published copy securely archived.
* It is responsible for taking precautions against scientific misconduct, citation manipulation, and plagiarism concerning the editors.

If You Encounter an Unethical Situation

If you encounter any unethical behavior or content outside of the ethical responsibilities mentioned above in the Journal of Forensic Sciences and Crime Studies (JFSCS), please report it via email to absad@gmail.com

"Hiçbir ad altında yazar veya kurumundan ücret alınmaz."