AUTHOR GUIDELINES FOR THE JOURNAL OF MEDITERRANEAN BASIN AND AFRICAN CIVILISATIONS

Important Note: Jounal Guidelines blow should be considered in all citations, references and formal elements. APA 7 will be considered for other matters not included in the guidelines.

The authors to submit their papers in AKAF are first strictly required to use the template file, the link of which is given in this announcement section. The papers which are not transformed into the template file and do not follow the format will not be taken into account for the editorial process. The manuscripts should be in Microsoft Word format. Authors must use the bibliographic and formatting standards set out by Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition, 2010.

Research articles sent to the Journal should not exceed 10.000 words including Bibliography (excluding the Extended Abstract). Manuscripts other than research articles are advised not to exceed 2.000 words. Manuscripts should include both Turkish and English abstracts and each of them should not exceed 250 words (The maximum number of words allowed for the total of English and Turkish abstracts is 500). Each manuscript should contain both Turkish (Öz) and English (Abstract) summaries with 5 keywords.

Both Turkish and English articles must include an Extended Abstract of 750 - 1,000 words. Turkish articles should include an extended abstract in English and English articles should include an extended abstract in Turkish. The manuscripts without Extended Abstract will not be taken into account for the editorial process. Extended Abstract should contain the purpose, scope, theoretical framework, methodology, findings, and conclusions of the manuscript and represent the whole content of the article.

Each manuscript should include a title and abstract, and keywords both in Turkish and English. Introduction, Review of Literature, Methodology, Results, Discussion and Conclusion, References, and Extended Abstract are expected to be written as in the listed order.

Page Layout: The main text format consists of flat left-right columns on A4 paper (quarto). The margin text from the left and right are 3 cm, the margin text from the top is 4 cm, and from the bottom is 3 cm. The manuscript is written in Microsoft Word, single space, Times New Roman 12 pt with 1 cm indention at each paragraph. The block quotations are to be Times New Roman 10 pt with 1 cm indention from the left. If any, the footnote part is to be Times New Roman, 9 pt. Tables and Figures are presented Times New Roman 10 pt and cited in the manuscript before appeared.

Word Limits: Research articles sent to the Journal should not exceed 10.000 words in length including Bibliography (excluding the Extended Abstract). Manuscripts other than research articles are advised not to exceed 2.000 words. Manuscripts should include both Turkish and English abstracts and each of them should not exceed 250 words. Extended Abstract in English (between 750-1.000 words) is mandatory for Turkish manuscripts.


Keywords: Each manuscript should contain 5 keywords written below the abstracts written both in Turkish and English. Commas should be used between the keywords. The initials of keywords should be uppercase.

Article format / general structure: Each manuscript should include Turkish title and abstract with keywords, English title and abstract with keywords, Introduction, Review of Literature, Methodology, Results, Discussion and Conclusion, References, and Extended Abstract as in the listed order.

Extended Abstract should contain the purpose, scope, theoretical framework, methodology, findings, and conclusions of the manuscript and represent the whole content of the article.

Personal information: Journal has a double-blind peer-review system. Hence, the submitted articles and manuscripts should not contain any personal information of the author(s). A title page including personal information of the author must be submitted to the system separately from the article. This title page is to include the title of the study in Turkish and English, name and title of the author, affiliation and contact information (e-mail, phone, postal address), and ORCID number.

Titles: A title should be the fewest possible words that accurately describe the content of the paper (Bold, Times New Roman 14pt). The initials of each word of Turkish and English titles should be in capital letters. The initials of Abstract, Introduction, Review of Literature, Methodology, Results, Discussion and Conclusion, References should be written in capital letters, flush left, 12 pt. and bold type. Subtitles should be written in Title Caps, italic, 12 pt. and bold type. All titles should start in line with the beginning of a new paragraph (indention: 1 cm)

Publications Generated From Dissertations / Proceedings: If the manuscript contains a part of a dissertation, proceedings, or a project or is generated from any of them, this must be stated in the footnote with the related explanation.

Tables and Figures:

Titles of tables and figures should be written over the table/figure in bold. The initials of the title of the table should be written in capital and italic. Single space is used between the columns in the table.

See Sample Article Template for Sample table


References and Citation Rules

AKAF Journal complies with APA (American Psychological Association) system for referencing and citation. Before submitting articles, they should be edited according to APA 7th Edition. Manuscripts not in conformity with the APA 7th edition are returned to the author to fix this problem before the peer-review process.

Detailed information on APA 7th Edition can be accessed via https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples. In quoting and citations, the differences in citing and referencing styles in Turkish and English versions should be considered based on the language of the original text.

In the bibliography, the references only quoted/cited in the article should be included, any references that are not used in the text should not be included in the bibliography and references should be listed in an alphabetical order regarding the surnames of the authors.

Short quotations should be written in quotation marks. Quotations longer than 4 lines should be written as a separate paragraph, at an indent of 1 cm with 10 pt. Quotation marks should not be used for such cases.

If more than one article of an author published on the same issue is used, the letters "a, b, c, ..." should be used respectively to distinguish the publications and this usage should be included both in text and in the references part.

Orthography and punctuation of manuscripts should be based on the Turkish Language Association Orthography Guide: https://www.tdk.gov.tr/tdk/kurumsal/yazim-kilavuzu.


Citations in the Text:

Single Author: (Creswell, 2014) - (Creswell, 2014: 126)

Two Authors: (Yıldırım & Şimşek, 2013) - (Yıldırım & Şimşek, 2013: 23)

Three or More Authors: (Narin et al., 2019) – (Martin et al., 2020)

Note: Page numbers are required for direct citations.

Affiliation names:

First Citation in The Text: (World Health Organization [WHO], 2020)

Recurring Citations: (WHO, 2020).

Usage Samples in-Text Citations:

Creswell (2014), Yıldırım and Şimşek (2013), Narin et al. (2019)

For cases more than one author is cited in parenthesis, the manuscripts should be separated with “;” (semicolon): (Creswell, 2014; Yıldırım & Şimşek, 2013; Narin et al. 2019).

Reference types:

Book:

Book with a single author:

Creswell, J. W. (104). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approach (4. ed.). Sage Publications.

Narin, B. (2017). Gazetecilik 2.0: İnternet gazeteciliğinde hipermetinsellik. Gece Kitaplığı.


If the same author has published more than one article in same year:
Carlson, N. R. (2007a). Foundations of physiology and psychology. (7th edition). Pearson Allyn & Bacon.

Carlson, N. R. (2007b). Physiology of behaviour. Pearson Allyn & Bacon.

Books with two authors:
Yıldırım, A., & Şimşek, H. (2013). Sosyal bilimlerde nitel araştırma yöntemleri (9. bs.). Seçkin Yayıncılık.

Çaylı, E. & Depeli, G. (2012). İfade özgürlüğünün on yılı 2001-2012. IPS İletişim Vakfı Yayınları.

Books with more than three authors:
Telli Aydemir, A., Doğu B., Özçetin, B., İslamoğlu, G., Bayraktutan, G., Binark M. & Çomu, T., (2014). Siyasetin yeni hali: Vaka-i sosyal medya - seçimden seçime, gezi direnişi'nden hükümet cemaat çatışmasına. Kalkedon.

Books without an author:
Atlas of Anatomy. (2002). Cobham, Taj Books.

Note: In APA 7th edition, there is no “publication place” information in book tags. If there is a DOI number, it should be added to the bottom as “http…”. In APA 7th edition, instead of writing “Doi:…” the web address starting with “http” is to be added.

Translated Books:
Castro, F. (2008). My life (A. Hurley, Trans.). Dover. (Original work published 2006).

Fiske, J. (2003). İletişim çalışmalarına giriş (S. İrvan, Çev.). Bilim ve Sanat. (Original publication date 1990).

Books with Editors:
Mansell, R., Avgerou, C., Quah, D., & Silverstone R. (Eds.). (2007). The Handbook of Information and Communication Technologies. Oxford University Press.

Hülür, H., & Yaşın, C. (Eds.). (2017). Yeni medya geleceğin gazeteciliği. Ütopya.

Note: In books with a single editor, the term (Ed.), and in books with multiple editors the term (Eds.) is used. In APA 7th edition, usage of “Doi:…” format while writing Doi number is replaced by the rule of writing the whole web address starting with "http".

Chapter in an Edited Book
Kayıhan, B. (2019). Toplumsal hareketlerin Twitter’a yansımaları ve hashtag aktivizm ile ilgili çalışmalar. İçinde H. Hülür & C. Yaşın (Eds.), Bilgi doğruluk ve Twitter. (ss. 140-157). Ütopya Yayınevi.

Greenstein, S., & Prince, J. (2007). Internet diffusion and geography of the digital divide in the United States. In E. Mansell, C. Avgerou, D. Quah & R. Silverstone R. (Eds.), The Handbook of Information and Communication Technologies (pp.168-195). Oxford University Press.
Note: DOI numbers must be added if available. In APA 7th edition, usage of “Doi:…” format while writing Doi number is replaced by the rule of writing the whole web address with “http”.

Article:
Yetkin, B. (2020). Siyasal iletişimde bilişimsel propaganda: Türkiye’de 23 Haziran 2019 İstanbul Yerel Seçimleri ve botlar, cyborglar, troller. İletişim Kuram ve Araştırma Dergisi, 2020(52), 24-45.

Gallacher, J. D., Heerdink, M. W., & Hewstone, M. (2021). Online engagement between opposing political protest groups via social media is linked to the physical violence of offline encounters. Social Media + Society, 7(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305120984445

Note: In APA 7th edition, the usage of the “Doi:…” format while writing the Doi number is replaced by the rule of writing the whole web address with “http”. DOI numbers must be added if available. In articles, the name of the article should be written in lower case in a plain font, and the name of the Journal should be written in italic with capital initials. Journal volume number should be italic, issue number should be in the parentheses and plain font.

Dissertation / thesis:
Çiçek, T. (2020). Dijital gazetelerde hayvanların ideolojik temsili [Unpublished postgraduate thesis]. Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli Üniversitesi.

Proceedings:
Turancı, E. (2020, 21-23 October). Public Relations and advertising students’ attitude of Moodle: Open-source learning platform. [Conference presentation abstract]. 7th International Communication Days Communications Education In The Digital Age Symposium, Istanbul, Turkey.

Kayıhan, B. (2020, 4-6 Kasım). Fail ile Yapı Arasında İlişkisel Haber Okuma Süreci. [Conference presentation abstract]. IV. İlişkisel Sosyal Bilimler Kongresi, Ankara, Türkiye.

Electronic Sources:

World Health Organization. (2018, May 24). The top 10 causes of death. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/the-top-10-causes-of-death

Citation of the news on a web page:
Toner, K. (2020, September 24). When Covid-19 hit, he turned his newspaper route into a lifeline for senior citizens. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/04/us/coronavirus-newspaper-deliveryman-groceries-senior-citizens-cnnheroes-trnd/index.html

Newspaper:
Exploration of the Coast (1987, November 24). The Guardian.

Movie:
Ledoux, P. (Producer) & Besson, L. (Director). (1994). Léon [Movie]. ABD: Columbia Pictures & Gaumont.

Facebook post:
News From Science. (2019, June 21). Are you a fan of astronomy? Enjoy reading about what scientists have discovered in our solar system—and beyond? This [Image attached] [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/ScienceNOW/photos/a.117532185107/10156268057260108/?type=3&theater

In the text: (News From Science, 2019)

Instagram post:
Philadelphia Museum of Art [@philamuseum]. (2019, December 3). “It’s always wonderful to walk in and see my work in a collection where it’s loved, and where people are [Photograph]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/B5oDnnNhOt4/

In the text: (Philadephia Museum of Art, 2019)

Twitter post:
APA Databases [@APA_Databases]. (2020, September 2). We have curated a collection of Journal articles from APA PsycArticles on #COVID19. View: https://bit.ly/2QrWj76 for recent coverage [Image attached] [Tweet].Twitter. https://twitter.com/APA_Databases/status/1301175576703664128.

Gates, B. [@BillGates]. (2019, September 7). Today, it's difficult for researchers to diagnose #Alzheimers patients early enough to intervene. A reliable, easy, and accurate diagnostic would [Thumbnails with a link attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/BillGates/status/1170305718425137152.

In the text: (APA Databases, 2020; Gates, 2019)

For more citation examples: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/

Submission and Tracking: All submissions and the subsequent review process are managed via the DergiPark system.

You can download the copyright form from here.

The Journal of Mediterranean Basin and African Civilisations (AKAF), published by Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University, operates in full compliance with international publication ethics standards.
All works are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This licence allows users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, or otherwise use them for any non-commercial purpose, provided that appropriate credit is given, a link to the licence is included, and any changes made are indicated.
AKAF follows the ethical standards issued by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME). The Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, as set out by COPE, have been adopted by the journal’s editorial board. The principles can be accessed at: https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines-new/principles-transparency-and-best-practice-scholarly-publishing.
Transparency Principle
The journal’s operations are conducted with transparency and in accordance with established procedures.
As the scientific publication of the Mediterranean Basin and African Civilisations Research and Application Centre at Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University, AKAF began its international e-journal publishing activities in 2019. It publishes original scholarly works at both national and international levels on the languages, histories, literatures, arts, and cultures of Mediterranean and African countries with which Turkey has historical and cultural ties.
While research- and analysis-based studies from all disciplines within the context of the social sciences and humanities relating to Mediterranean and African civilisations are considered, the journal particularly welcomes articles, translations, reviews, and book notices in Turkish or English in the fields of language, literature, translation studies, history, folklore, sociology, psychology, philosophy, anthropology, archaeology, art history, and related interdisciplinary areas.
The journal is published twice a year—at the end of June and December, or at the latest during the first week of the following month. The system remains open for submissions year-round. The article submission and review process is conducted via the DergiPark platform, allowing relevant parties to access information and track each stage of the process.
Authors submit their manuscripts through DergiPark, a platform providing hosting and editorial process management for peer-reviewed academic journals in Turkey. For more information on DergiPark, see: https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/page/about.
All correspondence and processes of the journal are conducted through DergiPark’s highly secure and continuously updated system. Article files, correspondence, and process records are archived via DergiPark.
As a rule, accepted articles are published in the next available issue. However, the Editorial Board may decide to schedule certain articles for a later issue depending on the number of accepted works or their thematic focus. In such cases, authors will be informed accordingly.
Open Access Policy and Copyright
AKAF is an open-access journal. Authors retain the copyright of their works published in AKAF, which are licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This licence permits the sharing, copying, and reproduction of the work in any medium or format, as well as its adaptation, transformation, and building upon it—provided that appropriate credit is given, a link to the licence is included, and the work is not used for commercial purposes. However, without written permission, neither the whole nor any part of the journal or its contents may be reproduced or quoted inappropriately or without proper citation.
AKAF does not charge any fees for submissions. Articles are published via the DergiPark system in accordance with its open-access policy. Submissions may be in Turkish or English. [The Copyright Agreement Form can be downloaded here.]

Authors’ Responsibilities
• Submitted manuscripts must align with the journal’s aims and scope. Authors are responsible for ensuring their work complies with scientific and ethical standards. Practices such as plagiarism, duplication, fabricated authorship/denial of authorship, data fabrication, redundant publication, copyright infringement, and undisclosed conflicts of interest are considered unethical. If an ethical breach is discovered after publication, the article will be removed from the system.
• Manuscripts must be prepared in accordance with the journal’s submission guidelines. Submissions not meeting these requirements will be rejected before editorial evaluation and peer review. In such cases, the author must make the necessary revisions and submit a new application.
• Authors must upload a signed, scanned copy of the Ethics Statement Form, confirming that the work is original, has not been published elsewhere, and is not under consideration in another journal or language.
• Authors are required to obtain a plagiarism report and upload it as an additional file to the system. The similarity rate must not exceed 20%. For works with a similarity rate of 20% or higher, the editorial board has the right to request revisions or reject the submission, depending on the nature of the similarity. Manuscripts found to contain plagiarism will be returned, and responsibility for such violations lies entirely with the author.
• Manuscripts should be submitted via the Article Tracking System at https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/akaf. Authors can track the peer review process through their personal account using their email address and password.
• Material subject to copyright (e.g., tables, figures, or extended quotations) may be used only with the necessary permissions and acknowledgements. The works or contributions of other authors, as well as consulted sources, must be used appropriately and cited in the references. Individuals who did not make a direct academic or scientific contribution to the research should not be listed as authors. The order of authorship must reflect the collective agreement of all authors, and all authors must confirm this order by signing the Copyright Agreement Form. A digital copy of the signed form must be uploaded to the system at the submission stage.
• For translated works, written permission must be obtained from the author or copyright holder and included with the submission.
• Individuals who do not meet the criteria for authorship but contributed to the study (e.g., technical support, editorial assistance, general guidance, financial or material support) should be acknowledged in a “Thanks / Acknowledgements” section.
• Authors must disclose any financial relationships, conflicts of interest, or competing interests that could influence the results of the research or its interpretation.
• If an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their published work, they are obliged to promptly notify the editor and cooperate to correct or retract the article as necessary.
• Authors must hold the rights to use the data presented in the work, have obtained the necessary permissions for research/analysis, and, if applicable, possess documentation of consent from research participants.
• Manuscripts may not be submitted to more than one journal at the same time. A new submission can be made only after the conclusion of the previous submission’s review process.
• Changes to author responsibilities (e.g., adding or removing authors, changing the order of authors) cannot be proposed once the review process has begun.
• Submissions derived from theses, or presented as papers at congresses, symposia, or meetings, are eligible for publication. In such cases, authors must indicate to the editor which event the work was derived from, and this information must also be provided as a footnote in the article.
• Submissions must be received at least 30 days prior to the publication of the next issue in order to be considered for that issue; otherwise, they may be scheduled for a subsequent issue, depending on the journal’s publication capacity.
• The scientific, content-related, linguistic, and legal responsibility for works published in the journal rests entirely with the author(s).
Research Ethics
The Journal of Mediterranean Basin and African Civilisations (AKAF) upholds international standards of research ethics. Compliance with ethical principles is the responsibility of the author, and internationally recognised research ethics must be observed.
• For research involving human participants (e.g., surveys, interviews, experiments), Ethics Committee Approval must be obtained from the relevant institution. Studies lacking such approval will not be accepted. The Ethics Committee Approval document must be uploaded to the system along with the manuscript.
• In human research, it must be stated in the methodology section that informed consent has been obtained from participants.
• Participants in human studies must be informed about the purpose, method, and any potential risks of the research. Participation must be voluntary, not mandatory.
• If the research is conducted in an institution or organisation, documentation proving that the necessary permissions have been obtained from that institution must be provided.
• Any conflicts of interest in the research must be disclosed.
• For research involving children, individuals under guardianship, or those with a documented illness, consent from their legal guardian must be obtained and documented when required.
Responsibilities of Editors and Associate Editors
• The editor is responsible for overseeing the entire editorial and peer review process, from submission to publication, and for ensuring the quality and performance of the journal.
• The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for coordination among editors and associate editors, as well as for maintaining the overall quality of the publication. As a rule, editors handle manuscripts within their areas of expertise.
• Editors evaluate manuscripts independently of the authors’ ethnicity, gender, nationality, religious beliefs, or political views.
• Each manuscript is assigned both an editor and an associate editor, whose names are visible to authors in the DergiPark system. The assignment of manuscripts is based on the expertise of the editors and associate editors and is determined in advance, although exceptions may be made in cases of workload or leave.
• Editors assess submissions in terms of quality, content, and contribution to the field, and decide whether the manuscript will proceed to the review process. At this stage, manuscripts may be rejected without entering peer review.
• Associate editors check whether the manuscript files are complete and compliant with the journal’s author guidelines, ensuring that authors make any necessary revisions. Once the preliminary review is complete, associate editors forward the manuscripts to the relevant field editor for referee assignment.
• Associate editors maintain communication with authors, provide editors with updates and reminders, and help ensure an efficient process.
• Following the initial editorial evaluation, manuscripts deemed suitable are sent for peer review according to the principles of double-blind peer review and the transparent peer review model as applicable. Suitable manuscripts are sent to two national or international referees for evaluation.
• Editors prevent any conflicts of interest among authors, editors, and reviewers. If a referee fails to complete the review within a reasonable period, editors may contact them to expedite the process or appoint a new referee. Editors also monitor referees’ performance in terms of content, timeliness, and tone.
• Referees are selected from among experts in the relevant academic field who hold a doctoral degree and have published in that area. Since AKAF operates via the DergiPark system, referees must also be registered with DergiPark. Care is taken to avoid appointing referees from the same institution and/or department as the author, and peer evaluation principles are considered in referee selection. Information on referees from Turkish universities is obtained from the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) Academic website, while referees from abroad are identified via Publons.
• Following referee evaluation, editors review the reports, and the Editorial Board decides whether to accept the manuscript, send it to a third referee, or reject it. In cases of rejection, the reasons and referee reports are sent to the author.
• All information regarding submitted manuscripts remains confidential until publication. The Editor-in-Chief may, with the author’s knowledge, issue a correction or publish an erratum when necessary.
• The final decision on publication rests with the Editorial Board.

Reviewer Responsibilities
• Reviewers must evaluate manuscripts submitted for review objectively.
• Reviewers should accept or decline review requests based on whether the manuscript aligns with their field of expertise, and they should inform the editors of their decision as promptly as possible to ensure the smooth operation of the journal.
• Reviewers must maintain the confidentiality of all information related to the manuscripts they agree to review. If they detect any copyright infringement or plagiarism, they must report this—along with their reasoning—to the Editorial Board and prepare a written statement on the matter.
• By accepting a review invitation, reviewers confirm that they will complete the evaluation within the specified time frame. If this is not possible, they are expected to notify the editors without delay.
• Reviewers are expected to provide reasoned and constructive feedback. This practice supports the development of academic work and ensures that authors understand the basis of editorial decisions regarding their submissions.
• Reviewers must record their decision—together with a detailed rationale—in the “Notes to the Author” section of the review form.

Mediterranean Basin and African Civilizations is a free Journal. No fee is charged under any circumstances for the works submitted for publication.