In bilig, the style of the MLA citation system are applied as of the 97th issue. The main points regarding citations, references and bibliography are shown below with examples, and the 8th version of the MLA citation system (https://style.mla.org/) should be taken as a basis for sources without examples.
The following rules should be observed while preparing an article for submission to bilig:
1. Title of the article: The title should suit the content and express it in the best way, and should be written in bold letters. The title should consist of no more than 10-12 words.
2. Name(s) and address(es) of the author(s): The article file should not contain the name (s) and address (s) of the author. Information regarding the author (s) should be written in the relevant fields in the Manuscript Handling System during the application.
3. Abstract: At the beginning of each article, a concise abstract of no more than 200 words must be provided in both Turkish and English, and the article should be clearly summarized. The abstract should not include references to sources, figures and charts. Keywords of 5 to 8 words should be placed at the end of the abstract. There should be a single space between the body of the abstract and the keywords. The keywords should be comprehensive and suitable to the content of the article. The English and Russian versions of the title, abstract and keywords should be placed at the end of the article. In case the Russian abstract is not submitted, it will be added later by the journal.
4. Body Text: The body of the article should be typed on A4 (29/7x21cm) paper on MS Word in size 12 Times New Roman or a similar font using 1,5 line spacing. Margins of 2,5 cm should be left on all sides and the pages should be numbered. Turkish articles, including the abstract and references, must not exceed 8,000 (eight thousand) words, while English articles should be fewer than 10,000 (ten thousand) words. Passages that need to be emphasized in the text should not be bold but italicized. Double emphases like using both italics and quotation marks should be avoided
5. Section Titles: The article may contain main and sub-titles to enable a smoother flow of information. The main titles (main sections, bibliography and appendices) should be bold and their first letters be capitalized; subtitles, only the first letters should be capitalized; sub-headings should be written in italics with their first letters capitalized.
6. Tables and Figures: Tables should have numbers and captions. In tables vertical lines should not be used. Horizontal lines should be used only to separate the subtitles within the table. The table number should be written at the top, fully aligned to the left; the table caption should be in the lower line and the first letter of each word in the caption should be capitalized. Tables should be placed where they are most appropriate in the text. Figures should be prepared in line with black-and-white printing. The numbers and captions of the figures should be written aligned to the left of the figure. The figure number should be written in italics, ending with a period. The caption should immediately follow the number. The caption should not be written vertically, with only the first letter capital, and the references should be stated.
7. Pictures: Pictures should be attached to the articles scanned in high-resolution print quality. The same rules for figures and tables apply in naming pictures.
The number of pages for figures, tables and pictures should not exceed 10 pages (one-third of the article). Authors having the necessary technical equipment and software may themselves insert their figures, drawings and pictures into the text provided these are ready for printing.
8. Quotations and Citations: Direct quotations should be placed in quotation marks. Quotations shorter than 2.5 lines should be placed within the flowing text. If the quotation is longer that 2.5 lines, it should be turned into a block quote with a 1.5 cm indentation only from the right and left, and the font size should be 1 point smaller. Footnotes and endnotes should be avoided as much as possible. They should only be used for essential explanations and should be numbered automatically.
Citations within the text should be given in parentheses as follows:
(Köprülü 15).
When sources with two authors are cited, the surnames of the authors should be given as follows:
(Taner and Bezirci 22).
When sources with three or more authors are cited, the surname of the first author is given and ‘et. al’ is added.
(Gökay et. al 18).
If the text already includes the name of the cited author, only the page number should be given:
In this respect, Tanpınar (131) says …
When two or more works belonging to the same author are cited, the first few words of the publication should be distinguished after the author's surname:
(Dilçin, Divan Şiiri 86).
(Dilçin, Fuzulî’nin Şiiri 110).
In manuscripts belonging to authors with the same surname, the name of the author should be shortened before the surname:
(S. Kaplan 41).
(M. Kaplan 16).
In electronic manuscripts with no page number, only the surname or title should be written.
In encyclopaedias and other sources without authors, only the name of the source should be written. If the title is long, the first 2-3 words should be given.
Personal interviews should be cited within the text by giving the surnames and dates should also be cited in the bibliography.
9. References: References should be placed at the end of the text, the surnames of authors in alphabetical order. The work cited should be entered with the surname of the author placed at the beginning:
Example:
İsen, Mustafa. Tezkireden Biyografiye. Kapı Yayınları, 2010.
Köprülü, Mehmet Fuat. Azeri Edebiyatının Tekâmülü. MEB Yayınları, 1961.
If a source has two authors, the surname of the first author should be placed first; it is not functional to place the surname of the other authors first in alphabetical order.
Example:
Taner, Refika, and Asım Bezirci. Edebiyatımızda Seçme Hikâyeler. Gözlem Yayınları, 1981.
If a source has more than three authors, the surname and name of the first author should be written, and the other authors should be indicated by et.al.
Example:
Altaev, Zhakypbek et. al. “Essence and Typology of Intellect in al-Farabi’s Epistemology.” bilig, no. 95, 2020, ss. 79-95.
The titles of books and journals should be italicized; article titles and book chapters should be placed in quotation marks. Page numbers need not be indicated for books. Shorter works like journals, encyclopedia entries and book chapters, however, require the indication of page numbers.
Example:
Berk, İlhan. Poetika. Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 1997.
Demir, Nurettin. “Türkçede Evidensiyel.” bilig, no. 62, 2012, ss. 97-117.
Aydıngün, İsmail, and Ayşegül Aydıngün. “Crimean Tatars Return Home: Identity and Cultural Revival.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 33, no. 1, 2007, ss. 113-128.
Translator’s, compiler’s and editor’s names (if there are any) should follow the author and title of the work:
Example
Shaw, Stanford. Osmanlı İmparatorluğu. Çev. Mehmet Harmancı, Sermet Matbaası, 1982.
Aydemir, Yaşar. “Lâmiî Çelebi’nin Mecmualara Yansıyan Şiirleri.” Bursalı Lâmiî Çelebi ve Dönemi, ed. Bilal Kemikli ve Süleyman Eroğlu, Bursa Büyükşehir Belediyesi Yayınları, 2011, ss. 149-172.
If there is no author name, the name of the editor, preparer or compiler should be given first:
Tarlan, Ali Nihat, pre. Hayâlî Divanı. Akçağ Yayınları, 1992.
For encylopedia entries, if the author of the encylopedia entry is known, the author’s surname and name are written first. These are followed by the date of the entry, the title of the entry in quotation marks, the full name of the encyclopedia, its volume number, place of publication, publisher and page numbers:
Example:
İpekten, Haluk. “Azmî-zâde Mustafa Hâletî.” İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 4. cilt, Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı Yayınları, 1991, ss. 348-349.
For theses and dissertations, the surname and name of the thesis author should be followed by the full title of the thesis in italics, the thesis type, the name of the university where the thesis was prepared, the date the thesis was written:
Example:
Karakaya, Burcu. Garîbî’nin Yûsuf u Züleyhâ'sı: İnceleme-Tenkitli Metin-Dizin. Yüksek Lisans Tezi. Ahi Evran Üniversitesi, 2012.
Handwritten manuscripts should be cited in the following way: Author. Title of the Work. Library. Collection. Catalogue number sheet.
Example:
Âsım. Zeyl-i Zübdetü'l-Eş‘âr. Millet Kütüphanesi, A. Emirî Efendi, No. 1326, vr. 45a.
To cite a study found on the Internet, it is sufficient to provide the author's surname, name, title of the article, publisher (website name), date of publication, and link address.
Example:
Gökçek, Fazıl. “Mehmet Akif Ersoy.” Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü, 03 Ocak 2018, http://teis.yesevi.edu.tr/madde-detay/ersoy-mehmet-akif.
In personal interviews, the surname, name, interview type and date of the source person should be given as follows:
Demir, Adem. Phone Call. 22 May 2018.
An article accepted for publication but not yet published can be cited in the following way:
Example:
Bayram, Bülent. “G.T. Timofeyev’in Notları Çerçevesinde 20.Yüzyıl Başında Orta İdil’de Çuvaşların Etnik-Kültürel İlişkileri.” bilig, (yayımlanacak), doi: 10.12995/bilig.9801.
October 27, 2025
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