Akademik-Us

The aim of the journal is to contribute to science by publishing high quality publications of scientific importance. For this purpose, original research articles, reviews, thesis abstracts, book/article introductions and letters to the editor are published in all fields related to theological sciences. Akademik-US is an independent, double-blind peer-reviewed, open access and online journal that aims to publish articles in all related fields of theology. Articles should describe original data that have not been previously published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Manuscripts that are deemed suitable for the Akademik-US submission rules and the scope of the journal are sent to at least two referees who are experts in their fields for scientific evaluation. The members of the Editorial Board of Akademik-Us then take into account the comments of the referees on each submission. The final decision for all submitted manuscripts belongs to the Editor-in-Chief. The Editorial Board of Akademik-Us is committed to comply with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) criteria.

It publishes original research articles, reviews, thesis abstracts, book/article introductions and letters to the editor in all fields related to theological sciences. Akademik-Us is an independent, double-blind peer-reviewed, open access and online journal that aims to publish articles in all related fields of theology.

Subject Category:
Basic Islamic Sciences: Tafsir, Hadith, Theology, Islamic Law, History of Islamic Sects, Sufism, Arabic Language and Literature. Philosophy and Religious Sciences: Islamic Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Psychology of Religion, Sociology of Religion, Religious Education, History of Religions, Logic. Islamic History and Arts: Islamic History, History of Islamic Arts, Turkish-Islamic Literature, Religious Music, Religious Culture and Ethics Education
Humanities
Field of Science: Theology, Religious Sciences

Publication Language
Full Text Publication Language:
• Primary Language: Turkish
• Secondary Language: English
Content Written in English and Latin Alphabet:
• Article Title: Turkish & English
• Author Name: Turkish (in Latin Alphabet)
• Author Address: Turkish (in Latin Alphabet)
• Keywords: Turkish & English
• Bibliography: Turkish (in Latin alphabet)
Full Text Turkish (in Latin Alphabet)

Article Preparation
Language: Turkish, English
Article Types: Research article, review, research note, thesis abstract, book/article introduction and letter to the editor
Article Format: MS Word Template
Image Format: JPEG Minimum 300 dpi
Citation Style: Isnad Citation System

Author Change: Only processed before the manuscript is accepted. 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.

Writing Guidelines:
1. Manuscripts should be submitted as Word files with personal information left blank in the article template.
2. Copyrighted and translated articles should be uploaded to the system with Turkish and English abstracts attached.
3. Abstracts should be at least 200 and at most 300 words.
4. The introduction should start on a new page. The relevant fields in the article colophon should be filled in by the author.
5. Isnad Citation System should be used for footnotes and bibliography.
6. Bibliography should start on a new page.
7. Avoid any intervention that may cause changes on the template. Titleing should be faithful to the template.
8. E-mail, Orcid, institutional information, title and ROR ID of the institution should be added to the accepted articles by the author.
9. All information that must be declared ethically (such as produced from postgraduate studies, previously presented as a paper) The people and institutions that have financial and moral support in the study must be declared, and the relevant places in the template must be filled in.

Source Citation Style
Articles should be prepared according to the Isnad Citation System. https://www.isnadsistemi.org/en/guide/isnad2-2/ 

Final Checklist
It is hoped that this list will be useful during the final check of the manuscript before it is uploaded to the journal system.

Make sure that the following items are present:
1. Author information added.
• E-mail address
• Full mailing address
• Phone number
2. All necessary files have been uploaded.
• Article text
3. The article has been "spell-checked" and "grammar-checked".
4. All references mentioned in the bibliography are cited in the text and vice versa.

Submit Article
The corresponding author account of the corresponding author should be used in the submissions. All correspondence regarding the application is sent to the corresponding author via e-mail sent through the journal system.
When uploading the manuscript file, make sure that this file does not contain any elements that will decipher the identity of the author due to the double-blind review process.
Files You Need to Upload Separately:
1) Full Article Text

During submission, the following commitment is obtained from the author electronically:
1. I am authorized/authorized by the co-authors to submit this work to your journal.
2. The manuscript is original, has not been formally published in another peer-reviewed journal, is not under review by another journal, and does not violate any existing copyright or other third-party rights.
3. I/we agree that if the article is accepted for editorial publication, it will be licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license.
4. The copyright and intellectual property rights of the author(s) or, if applicable, the author(s)' employer are reserved. The author(s) undertake(s) that the publisher is not responsible for any claims or lawsuits to be filed by third parties due to copyright infringement, and that all responsibility belongs to them.
5. The author(s) undertake(s) that there are no criminal elements or illegal expressions in the article, and that no illegal materials and methods were used during the research.

Author Guidelines

Duties and Responsibilities of Authors

Authorship and Contribution
Authorship should be limited to those who made significant contributions to the conception, design, conduct or interpretation of the study. All significant contributors should be listed as co-authors. If there were minor contributors to the study, e.g. language editing, they should be acknowledged in the acknowledgments section. The corresponding author should ensure that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript and agree to its submission for publication. Authors are expected to carefully review the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and to provide the final author list at the time of original submission. Only in exceptional circumstances will the editor consider the addition, deletion or rearrangement of authors after the manuscript has been submitted. All authors must agree to any such addition, deletion or reorganization. Authors take joint responsibility for the work.

Author Change Requests
Addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the author list can only be made before the manuscript is accepted and only if approved by the Editor of the journal.
If such a change is requested, the Editor will request from the responsible author (a) the reason for the change in the author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail) from all authors that they agree to the addition. Only in exceptional cases will the Editor consider the addition, deletion or reorganization of authors after the article has been accepted.

Article Writing
Authors of original research papers should address the topic in an original way and with an objective discussion. The paper should include sufficient detail and references to allow others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly false statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Originality
The author must ensure that the article is original, has not been previously published elsewhere, and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, in another language.

Using Original Sources and Citation
Authors should ensure that they are writing entirely original work and, if they have used the work or words of others, that it is properly cited. Privately obtained information, such as in conversations, correspondence or discussions with third parties, should not be used without the express written permission of the source.

Data Access and Preservation
Authors may be asked to provide research data supporting their articles for editorial review and/or to comply with the journal's open data requirements. Authors should be prepared to provide public access to such data, if possible, and to retain such data for a reasonable period after publication. The journal recommends uploading research data to TUBITAK's Aperta Portal.

Multiple and Simultaneous Publication
An author should not publish the same research article in more than one journal. It is unethical to submit the same article to more than one journal at the same time. An author should not submit a previously published article for consideration in another journal, except in the form of an abstract.

Publication of Studies Based on Surveys and Interviews
For research in all disciplines that require ethics committee approval (ethics committee approval must be obtained, this approval must be stated and documented in the article. In researches requiring ethics committee approval, information about the approval (name of the committee, date and number) should be included in the method section, as well as on one of the first/last pages of the article; in case reports, information on the signing of the informed consent form should be included in the article.

Conflict of Interest
Any financial or other interest that may cause the person to be conflicted in his/her work, significantly impair his/her objectivity, or provide an unfair advantage in favor of any person or organization. All sources of financial support received during the conduct of the research and preparation of the manuscript and the role of sponsors in the study should be disclosed. If there is no source of funding, this should also be indicated. Examples of potential conflicts of interest that should be disclosed include consultancies, salaries, grants. Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed at the earliest possible stage.

Error Reporting
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her published work, he/she should notify the journal immediately. It is also the author's obligation to cooperate in withdrawing or correcting the manuscript if deemed necessary by the editor. If the editor or publisher learns from a third party that a published work contains errors, it is the author's obligation to cooperate with the editor, including informing the editor.

Image Integrity
It is not acceptable to enhance, darken, move, remove or add a specific feature in an image. Authors must adhere to the policy for graphic images implemented by the journal.

Publication Ethics Principles
Publication Ethics can be defined as a self-regulatory mechanism that insists on integrity on behalf of authors, reviewers and publishers to establish higher standards of editorial processing. Ethical standards for publication exist to ensure high-quality scientific publications, public trust in scientific findings, and respect for people's opinions.
• Honest researchers do not plagiarize.
• They do not misattribute sources.
• They do not hide objections they cannot refute.
• They do not distort opposing views.
• They do not destroy or hide data.

Peer-reviewed studies are studies that support and actualize the scientific method. At this point, it is of great importance that all parties involved in the publication process (authors, readers and researchers, publisher, referees and editors) comply with ethical principles. Akademik-Us adheres to national and international standards in research and publication ethics. It complies with the Press Law, the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works, and the Directive on Scientific Research and Publication Ethics of Higher Education Institutions. Akademik-Us has adopted the International Ethical Publishing Principles published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA). It is also committed to abide by the decisions of the Turkish Editors' Workshop.
• Press Law (National Legislation)
• Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works (National Legislation)
• Higher Education Institutions Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive (National Legislation)
• Transparency and Best Practice Principles in Academic Publishing (International Criteria)
• Turkey Editors' Workshop Decisions (National Criteria)

Replay
Republishing is the publication of the same article or substantially similar articles in more than one journal. The editor sends such an article back without review. Thereafter, the editor may embargo the attempted republication for a certain period of time, publicize it in the journal in which the author has previously published (perhaps in a simultaneous announcement with the editor of the journal that published the previous article), or all of these measures together.

Simultaneous submission of the same work to more than one journal
Authors may not submit the same article to more than one journal at the same time. If the editor learns of possible simultaneous submission, he/she reserves the right to consult with the other editor(s) receiving the manuscript. In addition, the editor may return the manuscript without review or reject the manuscript without considering the reviews, or take this decision in discussion with the other editor(s) involved, and may decide not to accept submissions from authors for a certain period of time. It may also write to the authors' employers or take all of these measures together.

Control to Prevent Plagiarism
Plagiarism is presenting the ideas, methods, data, practices, writings, forms or works of others as one's own work in whole or in part without citing their owners in accordance with scientific rules.
Akademik-Us screens all submitted articles to prevent plagiarism. The studies submitted for review are checked for plagiarism using Turnitin & Ithenticate software. The similarity rate is expected to be less than 20%. The main measure of similarity is the author's compliance with the citation and citation rules. If the similarity rate appears to be 1%, but the citation and citation are not done properly, plagiarism may still be in question. In this respect, citation and quotation rules should be known and carefully applied by the author.
Plagiarism, duplication, false authorship/ denied authorship, research/data fabrication, article slicing, sliced publication, copyright infringement and concealment of conflict of interest are considered unethical behavior. All articles that do not comply with accepted ethical standards are removed from publication. This includes articles that contain possible irregularities or non-compliances detected after publication.

Forgery
Producing data that is not based on research, editing or modifying the work presented or published on the basis of untrue data, reporting or publishing them, and presenting a research that has not been conducted as if it has been conducted.
Falsifying research records and data obtained, showing methods, devices and materials that were not used in the research as if they were used, not evaluating data that do not comply with the research hypothesis, manipulating data and/or results to fit the relevant theory or assumptions, falsifying or shaping the research results in line with the interests of the persons and organizations supported.

Protection of Participants' Personal Data
Akademik-Us requires that all research involving personal or sensitive data or materials relating to human participants that are not legally available to the public be subject to formal ethical review.
Addressing Allegations of Research Misconduct
Akademik-Us adheres to COPE's Ethical Toolkit for a Successful Editorial. The editors of Akademik-Us will take measures to prevent the publication of articles in which plagiarism, citation manipulation, data falsification, data fabrication, and other research misconduct have occurred. In no case will the editors of Akademik-Us knowingly allow such misconduct to occur. If the editors of Akademik-Us are aware of any allegations of research misconduct related to an article published in their journal, they will follow COPE's guidelines regarding allegations.

Ethical Violation Notifications
Readers can send an e-mail to ilahiyatdergisi.etik@artvin.edu.tr if they notice a significant error or inaccuracy in an article published in Akademik-Us or if they have any complaints about the editorial content (plagiarism, duplicate articles, etc.). We welcome submissions and will respond quickly and constructively, as they provide an opportunity for improvement.

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. Editors should consider retracting the manuscript if there are major errors/violations that invalidate the findings and conclusions. Editors should consider issuing a statement of concern if there is a possibility of research or publication misconduct by the authors; there is evidence that the findings are unreliable and that the authors' institutions have not investigated the incident; or the potential investigation seems unfair or inconclusive. COPE guidelines for correction, retraction or expression of concern are followed.

Publication of Studies Based on Surveys and Interviews
Akademik-Us adopts the Committee on Publication Ethics' (COPE) "Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" and "Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers" in order to provide ethical assurance in scientific periodical publishing. In this context, the following points should be followed in the studies submitted to the journal:
1) Ethics committee approval must be obtained for research in all disciplines that require ethics committee approval, and this approval must be stated and documented in the article.
2) In studies requiring ethics committee approval, information about the permission (name of the committee, date and number) should be included in the method section and on one of the first/last pages of the article; in case reports, information on the signing of the informed consent form should be included in the article.

Special Issue Publication Policy
A special issue may be published once a year upon the request of the Editorial Board. Articles submitted for inclusion in the special issue are first subjected to a preliminary editorial review. Then, they are examined for compliance with the journal's spelling rules and similarity screening is performed to prevent plagiarism. After these stages, they are included in the peer review process using the double blind model.

Editorial Confidentiality Obligation
The editors of Akademik-Us treat all submitted manuscripts as confidential documents, which means that they will not disclose information about a manuscript to anyone without the authors' permission. During the manuscript review process, the following people have access to the manuscripts: Editors, Reviewers, Editorial Board Members. The only situation in which details about a manuscript may be passed to a third party without the authors' permission is if the editor suspects serious research misconduct.

Allegations-Suspicions of Scientific Misconduct
There are different definitions of scientific misconduct. As Akademik-Us, we address these issues on a case-by-case basis while following the guidance established by major publishing ethics bodies. If the editor suspects or alleges an ethical violation, they are obliged to take action. This duty extends to both published and unpublished articles. The editor should not simply reject articles raising concerns about possible misconduct. They are ethically obliged to follow up on alleged cases. The editor should follow COPE flowcharts where appropriate. Editors should first seek a response from those suspected of misconduct. If they are not satisfied with the response, they should ask the relevant employer or organization to investigate. The editor should make all reasonable efforts to ensure that an appropriate investigation into the alleged misconduct is conducted; if this fails, the editor should make all reasonable attempts to insist on a resolution to the problem. This is a laborious but important task.
Akademik-Us follows COPE's Ethical Toolkit for a Successful Editorial. The editors of Akademik-Us will take measures to prevent the publication of articles in which plagiarism, citation manipulation, data falsification, data fabrication, and other research misconduct have occurred. Under no circumstances will Akademik-Us or its editors knowingly allow such misconduct to occur. If the editors of Akademik-Us are aware of any allegations of research misconduct related to an article published in their journal, they will follow COPE's guidelines regarding allegations.
Reviewers should inform the Editor when they suspect research or publication misconduct. The Editor is responsible for taking necessary action in accordance with COPE recommendations.
Akademik-Us is committed to following the COPE flowcharts when faced with allegations of misconduct on the following or similar issues.
• What to do when republication is suspected
• What to do when plagiarism is suspected
• What to do when fabricated data is suspected
• What to do when requesting a change of authorship
• What to do when an undisclosed conflict of interest is suspected
• What to do when unfair or gift authorship is suspected
• What to do when an ethical problem is suspected in an article
• What to do when directly notified of a suspected ethical violation by e-mail, etc.
• What to do when a suspected ethical violation is announced via social media

Complaint Procedure
This procedure applies to complaints about content, procedures or policies that are the responsibility of Akademik-Us or our editorial staff. Complaints can provide an opportunity and incentive for improvement and we aim to respond quickly, courteously and constructively.
The complaint should relate to content, procedures or policies that are the responsibility of Akademik-Us or our editorial team. Complaints should be emailed directly to ilahiyatdergisi.etik@artvin.edu.tr and will be treated confidentially. The editor will respond to complaints immediately. The editor follows the procedure outlined in the COPE flowchart regarding complaints.
Complaints are reviewed by the relevant member of the editorial team and if not resolved, the following processes are followed:
• If this initial response is deemed inadequate, the complainant may request that the complaint be escalated to a more senior member of the journal.
• If the complainant is not satisfied, the complaint may be forwarded to the editor-in-chief.
• If possible, a full response will be provided within two weeks.
COPE publishes a code of practice for editors of scientific journals. This will facilitate the resolution of disputes with editors, journals and publishers, but only after the journal's own complaints procedures have been exhausted.

Appeal Process
We welcome serious objections to the evaluations made by editors and reviewers. If you feel that we have rejected your paper because we misunderstood its scientific content, please send an appeal message to our editorial team at ilahiyatdergisi@artvin.edu.tr. Do not attempt to submit a revised version of your article at this stage. If, after reading your appeal letter, we realize that your appeal is justified, we may invite you to submit a revised version of your manuscript. Your manuscript will then be resubmitted to the external reviewer process. Please include as much detail as possible in the appeal letter. Finally, we can only consider one appeal per article, so please take the time and effort to write a detailed letter to make your appeal clear - you have one chance, so use it well. We have found that prolonged deliberation over rejected papers is often unsatisfying for both authors and editors, so we do not process multiple appeals for the same study.

Conflicts of Interest
A conflict of interest occurs when professional judgment about a primary interest may be influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain or personal competition). We believe that we need to know the competing interests of the authors in order to make the best decision about how to handle an article, and that readers need to know them if we publish the article.
Any interest, financial or otherwise, that could cause one to be conflicted in one's work, significantly impair one's objectivity, or give an unfair advantage to any person or organization. All sources of financial support received during the conduct of the research and preparation of the manuscript and the role of sponsors in the study should be disclosed. If there is no source of funding, this should also be indicated. Examples of potential conflicts of interest that should be disclosed include consultancies, salaries, grants. Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed at the earliest possible stage.
Akademik-US has a set process for handling submissions from editors, staff or editorial board members to ensure impartial review. Such submissions are first referred to other journals. If this is not possible, the author of the submission will be suspended from the journal. These submissions are reviewed in a double blind process.
The editor should not be involved in decisions about papers written by him/herself or family members. Furthermore, such a paper should be subject to all the usual procedures of the journal. The editor should follow COPE guidelines on disclosure of potential conflicts of interest by authors and reviewers.

Principles of Research Ethics
Akademik-US observes the highest standards in research ethics and adopts the international principles of research ethics defined below. It is the responsibility of the authors to ensure that the articles comply with ethical rules.
• The principles of integrity, quality, and transparency should be ensured in the design, revision of the design, and conduct of the research.
• The research team and participants should be fully informed about the purpose of the research, its methods and possible anticipated uses, and the requirements and risks, if any, of participation in the research.
• Confidentiality of information provided by research participants and confidentiality of respondents must be ensured. The research should be designed to protect the autonomy and dignity of the participants.
• Research participants should take part in the research voluntarily and should not be under any coercion.
• Harm to participants should be avoided. The research should be planned in a way that does not put participants at risk.
• Research independence must be clear and explicit; any conflict of interest must be stated.
• In experimental studies with human subjects, the written informed consent of the participants who decide to participate in the research must be obtained. Consent must be obtained from the legal guardian of children and those under guardianship or with a confirmed mental illness.
• If the study will be conducted in any institution or organization, approval must be obtained from this institution or organization that the study will be conducted.
• In studies with a human element, it should be stated in the "method" section that "informed consent" has been obtained from the participants and ethics committee approval has been obtained from the institution where the study is conducted.

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. Artvin Journal of Theology does not accept sponsorship and advertisement in accordance with its publication policies. All expenses of Akademik-Us are covered by the Dean's Office of Artvin Çoruh University Faculty of Theology.