Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences

Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences, aims to provide a global platform for scientific knowledge exchange among academic researchers, communication professionals and policy makers. 

Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences is an open access, peer-reviewed, scholarly and international journal published biannually in June and December in June and December since 1992. The manuscripts submitted for publication in the journal must be scientific and original work in Turkish or English.

Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences – focuses on systems, theories, methods and applications in communications. Original articles, reviews, case reports and book reviews on all aspects of communications are published to provide a global platform for scientific knowledge exchange among academic researchers, communication professionals and policy makers. Contributions are welcome from anthropology, philosophy, history, political sciences, psychology and all other fields, which have relevant and insightful comments about communications. The target group of the journal consists of academicians, researchers, professionals, students, related professional and academic bodies and institutions.

MANUSCRIPT ORGANIZATION

Language
The language of the journal is both Turkish and American English.

Manuscript Organization and Format
All correspondence will be sent to the first-named author unless otherwise specified. Manuscpript is to be submitted online via http://connectist.istanbul.edu.tr and it must be accompanied by a cover letter indicating that the manuscript is intended for publication, specifying the article category (i.e. research article, review etc.) and including information about the manuscript (see the Submission Checklist). In addition, a “Copyright Agreement Form” that has to be signed by all authors must be submitted.
1. The manuscripts should be in A4 paper standards: having 2.5 cm margins from right, left, bottom and top, Times New Roman font style in 12 font size and line spacing of 1.5.
2. Articles should be between 6,500 and 8,500 words (including Endnotes, References, and Tables and Figures) and the page numbers must be at the bottom and in the middle.
3. The name(s) of author(s) should be given just beneath the title of the study aligned to the right. Also the affiliation, title, e-mail and phone of the author(s) must be indicated on the bottom of the page as a footnote marked with an asterisk (*).
4. Before the introduction part, there should be an abstract between 180 and 200 words in English. Underneath the abstracts, five keywords that inform the reader about the content of the study should be specified. Extended abstract in English is mandatory for only Turkish manuscripts.
5. The manuscripts should contain mainly these components: title, abstract and keywords; sections, end notes and references.

1. INTRODUCTION
The problematic of the research should be defined with reference to the relevant literature. Before moving into subheadings, in the last paragraph of the introduction section, the significance and originality of the research should be stated; the aim and methodology of the study should be indicated, and the limits of the research should be drawn.
Subheading(s) related to the topic
2. AIM AND METODOLOGY
- Introductory remarks for the aim and methodology
2.1. .Aim
After the major aim of the study is indicated, research (sub)questions and/or hypothesis/hypotheses should be formulated.
2.2. Method (If the study is a detailed qualitative/quantitative research, the following subheadings below should be included in the content of this section even if they are not formulated as separate subheadings).
2.2.1. Research Model
2.2.2. Universe, Sample / Subjects/ Participants
2.2.3. Data Collection Tool
2.2.4. Operation
The types of scale, questionnaire, interviews etc. should be clarified, and especially researches including statistical analyses should have reliability and viability coefficients.
3. FINDINGS
4. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
After restating the aim of the study in short, findings should be summed up very briefly and discussed with reference to the relevant literature.
Then the original opinions related to the research findings should be stated by the author as concluding remarks.
Before finalizing the study some suggestions should be formulated for future researches to contribute to the relevant field.

5. ENDNOTES
6. REFERENCES
7. TABLES AND FIGURES 

7. The studies other than research articles should be prepared as following:
INTRODUCTION
-The problematic of the research should be defined with reference to the relevant literature. Before moving into subheadings, in the last paragraph of the introduction section, the significance and originality of the research should be stated; the aim and methodology of the study should be indicated, and the limits of the research should be drawn.
Subheading(s) related to the topic
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
After restating the aim of the study in short, the author should sum up the ideas, concepts, etc. elaborated in the article and discuss them with reference to the relevant literature.
Then the original opinions related to the discussion/review in the article should be stated by the author as concluding remarks.
Before finalizing the study some suggestions should be formulated for future researches to contribute to the relevant field.
ENDNOTES
REFERENCES

8. In order to emphasize some parts of the study the author(s) should use single quotation. The author(s) should use italic only for the names of books, films and newspapers. Any quotation over 40 words should be organized as a block quote that starts on a new line indented space from the left margin without quotation marks. The block quote should be single-spaced. 
9. Submissions that do not adhere to author guidelines will not be included in any review process and will be returned to authors.
10. Authors are responsible for all statements made in their work submitted to the Journal for publication.
11. The author(s) can be asked to make some changes in their articles due to peer reviews.
12. The studies that were sent to the journal will not be returned whether they are published or not.

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and pays regard to Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing published 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) on https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines-new/principles-transparency-and-best-practice-scholarly-publishing

All parties involved in the publishing process (Editors, Reviewers, Authors and Publishers) are expected to agree on the following ethical principles.

All submissions must be original, unpublished (including as full text in conference proceedings), and not under the review of any other publication synchronously. Each manuscript is reviewed by one of the editors and at least two referees under double-blind peer review process. Plagiarism, duplication, fraud authorship/denied authorship, research/data fabrication, salami slicing/salami publication, breaching of copyrights, prevailing conflict of interest are unnethical behaviors.

All manuscripts not in accordance with the accepted ethical standards will be removed from the publication. This also contains any possible malpractice discovered after the publication. In accordance with the code of conduct we will report any cases of suspected plagiarism or duplicate publishing.

Research Ethics

The journal adheres to the highest standards in research ethics and follows the principles of international research ethics as defined below. The authors are responsible for the compliance of the manuscripts with the ethical rules.

- Principles of integrity, quality and transparency should be sustained in designing the research, reviewing the design and conducting the research.

- The research team and participants should be fully informed about the aim, methods, possible uses and requirements of the research and risks of participation in research.

- The confidentiality of the information provided by the research participants and the confidentiality of the respondents should be ensured. The research should be designed to protect the autonomy and dignity of the participants.

- Research participants should participate in the research voluntarily, not under any coercion.

- Any possible harm to participants must be avoided. The research should be planned in such a way that the participants are not at risk.

- The independence of research must be clear; and any conflict of interest or must be disclosed.

- In experimental studies with human subjects, written informed consent of the participants who decide to participate in the research must be obtained. In the case of children and those under wardship or with confirmed insanity, legal custodian’s assent must be obtained.

- If the study is to be carried out in any institution or organization, approval must be obtained from this institution or organization.

- In studies with human subject, it must be noted in the method’s section of the manuscript that the informed consent of the participants and ethics committee approval from the institution where the study has been conducted have been obtained.

Author's Responsibilities

It is authors’ responsibility to ensure that the article is in accordance with scientific and ethical standards and rules. And authors must ensure that submitted work is original. They must certify that the manuscript has not previously been published elsewhere or is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere, in any language. Applicable copyright laws and conventions must be followed. Copyright material (e.g. tables, figures or extensive quotations) must be reproduced only with appropriate permission and acknowledgement. Any work or words of other authors, contributors, or sources must be appropriately credited and referenced.

All the authors of a submitted manuscript must have direct scientific and academic contribution to the manuscript. The author(s) of the original research articles is defined as a person who is significantly involved in “conceptualization and design of the study”, “collecting the data”, “analyzing the data”, “writing the manuscript”, “reviewing the manuscript with a critical perspective” and “planning/conducting the study of the manuscript and/or revising it”. Fund raising, data collection or supervision of the research group are not sufficient roles to be accepted as an author. The author(s) must meet all these criteria described above. The order of names in the author list of an article must be a co-decision and it must be indicated in the Copyright Agreement Form. The individuals who do not meet the authorship criteria but contributed to the study must take place in the acknowledgement section. Individuals providing technical support, assisting writing, providing a general support, providing material or financial support are examples to be indicated in acknowledgement section.

All authors must disclose all issues concerning financial relationship, conflict of interest, and competing interest that may potentially influence the results of the research or scientific judgment.

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published paper, it is the author’s obligation to promptly cooperate with the Editor to provide retractions or corrections of mistakes.

Responsibility for the Editor and Reviewers

Editor-in-Chief evaluates manuscripts for their scientific content without regard to ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, citizenship, religious belief or political philosophy of the authors. He/She provides a fair double-blind peer review of the submitted articles for publication and ensures that all the information related to submitted manuscripts is kept as confidential before publishing.

Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the contents and overall quality of the publication. He/She must publish errata pages or make corrections when needed.

Editor-in-Chief does not allow any conflicts of interest between the authors, editors and reviewers. Only he has the full authority to assign a reviewer and is responsible for final decision for publication of the manuscripts in the Journal.

Reviewers must have no conflict of interest with respect to the research, the authors and/or the research funders. Their judgments must be objective.

Reviewers must ensure that all the information related to submitted manuscripts is kept as confidential and must report to the editor if they are aware of copyright infringement and plagiarism on the author’s side.

A reviewer who feels unqualified to review the topic of a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.

The editor informs the reviewers that the manuscripts are confidential information and that this is a privileged interaction. The reviewers and editorial board cannot discuss the manuscripts with other persons. The anonymity of the referees must be ensured. In particular situations, the editor may share the review of one reviewer with other reviewers to clarify a particular point.

All expenses of the journal are covered by the Istanbul University. Processing and publication are free of charge with the journal. There is no article processing charges or submission fees for any submitted or accepted articles.