ARTICLE PUBLICATION PRINCIPLES AND WRITING RULES
General Principles
General Rules for the Article Submission Process
Before formatting your work according to our journal's writing rules, please review our Ethical Principles and Publication Policy page.
If your article meets the necessary prerequisites for publication in our journal, please confirm that all documents are ready by checking the Article Submission Process Checklist before clicking the submit button.
All applications, evaluations, publication processes, and notifications are handled through the TÜBİTAK ULAKBİM DergiPark system at https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/cyy. The article uploaded to the system must be formatted according to the principles, formal requirements, citation styles, and writing rules of the language in which it is written, as specified on the journal's Writing Rules page, and the Copyright Transfer Form must be filled out and signed by all authors. You can access the Copyright Transfer Form from the Forms and Guides tab and the Ethical Principles and Publication Policy tab.
Articles submitted to the journal are checked during the initial evaluation phase for the presence of the following:
Information required to be entered into the DergiPark system.
The article file prepared according to the writing rules template.
An ethics committee approval, if required, or a statement declaring that the research is not subject to ethics committee approval.
The Ethics Statement Form.
The Copyright Transfer Form.
The Plagiarism Report.
The Author Contribution Statement Form.
Submissions that do not comply with the journal's Article Publication Principles and Writing Rules will be rejected.
General Rules for the Article Submission Process
Articles must be saved in "MS Word" format and uploaded to the Comtemporary Local Governments page on the TÜBİTAK ULAKBİM DergiPark system at https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/cyy after logging in.
The Copyright Transfer Form and the Plagiarism Report must be uploaded along with the article file. The maximum similarity rate determined by the editorial board is 20%.
For studies requiring ethics committee approval, the Ethics Committee Approval must be uploaded to the system. If ethics committee approval is not required, the Research Statement Form Not Subject to Ethics Committee Approval must be filled out and signed by all authors and uploaded to the system. To download the form and view other documents and forms, please visit the Forms and Guides tab.
The Ethics Statement Form must be filled out.
Please fill out and sign the Author Contribution Statement Form, which contains statements explaining the authors' contributions to the article, and upload it to the system. To download the form and view other documents and forms, please visit the Forms and Guides tab.
Author information must be entered completely into the system. If there is more than one author, all authors must be added using the "add author" option, paying attention to the author order, and the corresponding author must be specified. In accordance with ethical principles, adding or removing authors and/or changing the author order is not permitted after the article submission. The ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) number, which can be obtained from the internationally valid address https://orcid.org/, must also be entered in the author information.
When uploading the article to the DergiPark system, the following information should be written in the "Note to the Editor" section (other notes that authors wish to convey to the editor can also be written in this field): A note explaining if the article has been presented as a paper, thesis, etc., elsewhere or prepared with the support of a project/research grant; the type of article (research article, review, case study, etc.); and the "field of science" and "code" appropriate to the article's subject area from the "UAK Associate Professorship Exam Application Requirements" "main field" tables.
Since the article file uploaded to DergiPark for evaluation is the version shared with the reviewers, it must meet the following anonymity requirements in accordance with the blind peer-review policy:
a. Information identifying the author must be removed from the full-text file.
b. Document author names, comments, or other identifying information in the file properties must be anonymized. (To do this in Microsoft Word format, follow the steps below from the menu: File > Inspect Document > Inspect Document > Inspect > Document Properties and Personal Information > Remove All > Close > Save.)
c. File names of uploaded documents (including the article file and supplementary materials) should not contain author names or identifying information.
d. Authors should avoid making self-citations in a way that reveals their identity in the current article.
Authors who have made the revisions as a result of the peer review and uploaded the updated article to the system must also upload a response to reviewers file, showing what changes were made for each correction suggested by the reviewers.
B. General Rules for Article Format
You can access the Article Writing Template from the Forms and Guides tab.
Articles submitted to the journal, including figures, tables, and references, but excluding the extended abstract, should be between 5000-9000 words.
The Turkish abstract (approximately 150-250 words) and keywords (maximum 5 words), as well as the English title, abstract, and keywords, must be complete.
Each work must contain the following sections in order: Turkish title and abstract, Turkish keywords, English title and abstract, English keywords, Introduction, Main Text, Method, Findings, Conclusion and Discussion, References, and Extended Abstract.
An English Extended Abstract should be added at the very end of the article (after the References). The extended abstract should preferably be between 1000-1200 words and should clearly state the purpose, problem, method, findings, and conclusions of the study, preferably with subheadings. The subheadings within the extended abstract may vary depending on the type of study.
Publications Produced from a Thesis/Project: If the work contains a part of a thesis or project, or has been produced from one, this information must be stated in a footnote and the necessary explanation must be provided.
Sızan, E. B. (2015). Mecliste Ankara: 1920-1923 Yılları Arasında Ankara Belediyesi. Çağdaş Yerel Yönetimler Dergisi. 33 (3), 39-70.
FORMAL SPECIFICATIONS
The page must have 2.5 cm margins on the right, left, bottom, and top.
Use Times New Roman 12-point font with a line spacing of 1 (Single).
Paragraphs should be "justified text".
Paragraphs should start with a one-tab indent (1.25 cm).
Paragraph Spacing should be (before) 0 nk and (after) 6 nk.
Footnote and Footnote Text Size: Times New Roman – 9-point font.
While the APA Citation system is required in the text, explanatory footnotes may be provided if necessary. These explanatory footnotes should be numbered from the References section as 1, 2, 3... Footnotes for author information should be given as *, **, ***...
Information inside Tables: 10-point font.
References should be 10-point and left-aligned.
Article title: 18-point font, bold, title case, centered.
Author names: 14-point font, bold, first names in lowercase, surnames in uppercase, right-aligned.
Abstract, Keywords, and their texts: italic, 10-point font.
English title of the article: bold, italic, 12-point font, and left-aligned.
Introduction and Conclusion Titles: should not be numbered. 14-point font, left-aligned, bold.
HEADINGS
1st Level: Left-aligned, Bold, Title Case, 14-point font.
1.1. Level: Left-aligned, Bold, Title Case, 12-point font.
1.1.1. Level: Left-aligned, bold, lowercase, 11-point font.
1.1.1.1. Level: Left-aligned, italic, lowercase, 11-point font.
Abbreviations should be written out in full the first time they are used, with the abbreviation in parentheses. In subsequent uses, only the abbreviation should be given.
A period should be placed after the table and figure number, followed by the table or figure title. The first words of the titles should be capitalized (Example: Table 1. Per Capita Income by Years). If the table or figure is taken from another work, the source should be placed under the table or figure in italics, with a smaller font size, and in accordance with citation rules.
For direct quotes of no more than three lines, "double quotation marks" should be used. Double quotation marks should not be used for anything other than direct quotes in the text.
When quoting a long passage (more than three lines) from a source, it should be indented from the right and left (0.5 cm) and written in 10-point font (without quotation marks). At the end of the quote, the source cited should be given in parentheses with the page number.
Special terms and phrases in the text should be shown in 'single quotation marks'. If not a proper noun, the words inside the quotes should be written in lowercase. For words or phrases to be emphasized (instead of underlined or bold), single quotes or italics should be preferred.
Foreign words in the text should be written in italics. If the foreign language equivalent of a Turkish term or phrase is also to be given, it should be written in italics in parentheses.
When numbers appear in the text, single-digit numbers should be written out, while two or more-digit numbers should be written as numerals.
When numbering in the text, a period should be used instead of the ordinal suffixes (e.g., -st, -nd, -rd, -th).
The % sign should be used for the word "percent".
If a quote is from another quote, the citation should be given with the expression 'as cited in'.
The Contemporary Local Governments journal references and citation rules are based on the APA system. The references should be listed under the heading 'References'. Articles must be formatted according to APA 7 rules before being uploaded to the system. Works not formatted according to the APA 7 system are returned to the author to fix this issue before being evaluated.
Detailed information about the APA 7 format can be accessed at: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples. When citing and referencing within the text, the differences between Turkish and English citation and referencing should be observed, taking into account the language of the main text.
The references list should only include sources cited/referenced in the text; any source not used in the text should not be included. The sources should be listed alphabetically by the author's surname.
If multiple publications by the same author in the same year have been used, the expressions “a, b, c...” should be used to distinguish the publications, and this usage should be included both in the in-text citation and in the references section.
The spelling and punctuation of the works should be based on the Turkish Language Association's Spelling Guide: https://www.tdk.gov.tr/tdk/kurumsal/yazim-kilavuzu.
When citing multiple authors within a single parenthesis, the works should be separated by a semicolon “;”: (Creswell, 2014; Yıldırım & Şimşek, 2013).
In-text citation examples:
Single-author work: (Mardin, 2005: 56) (Creswell, 2014: 126)
Two-author work: (Horkheimer and Adorno, 1995: 35)
Three or more-author work: (Held et al., 2012: 215)
Institutional names:
First citation in the text: (World Health Organization [WHO], 2020)
Subsequent citations: (WHO, 2020)
When citing multiple authors within a single parenthesis, the works should be separated by a semicolon “;”: (Held et al., 2012: 215; Horkheimer and Adorno, 1995: 35).
References examples:
Book:
Single-author books:
Mardin, Ş. (2005). Jön Türklerin Siyasi Fikirleri, 1895-1908. İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları.
If the same author has multiple publications in the same year:
Mardin, Ş. (1990a). Türk Toplumunu İnceleme Aracı Olarak “Sivil…
Mardin, Ş. (1990b). Türkiye’de İktisadî Düşüncenin Gelişmesi…
Two-author books:
Horkheimer, M. & T. Adorno (1996). Aydınlanmanın Diyalektiği, Felsefi Fragmanlar I. (Trans. Oğuz Özügül). İstanbul: Kabalcı Yayınevi.
More than three authors:
Held, D., A. McGrew, D. Goldblatt, & J. Perraton (1999). “Globalization”. Global Governance, 5(4), 483-496.
No author:
Book Title. (2002). Publisher.
Note: In APA 7, the "publication location" information is not included in book entries. If there is a DOI number, it should be added at the end as “http...”. In APA 7, the rule of writing the full address starting with “http” has replaced the previous “Doi: ...” format.
Authorless/collective publications:
TODAİE (1963). Merkezi Hükümet Teşkilatı Kuruluş ve Görevleri, Merkezi Hükümet Teşkilatı Araştırma Projesi Raporu. Ankara: TODAİE Yayını.
Edited Book (Entire Book):
Sağır, Hayriye (2019). Küreselleşme ve Dönüşen Kent. Ankara: Orion Kitabevi.
Note: For books with a single editor, use the expression (Editor), and for books with more than one editor, use (Editors). In APA 7, the rule of writing the full address starting with “http” has replaced the previous “Doi: ...” format.
Edited Book Chapter:
Gül, Hüseyin (2019). Sürdürülebilir Akıllı Kent Yönetimi ve Politikaları. In Küreselleşme ve Dönüşen Kent. (Ed. Hayriye Sağır) (pp. 97-118). Orion Yayınevi.
Note: If there are DOI numbers, they should be added. In APA 7, the rule of writing the full address starting with “http” has replaced the previous “Doi: ...” format.
Article:
Erol, A. M., & Gormez, K., (2025). Fragmentation in the Sense of Community Comparison in Housing Estate and Single-Family Housing Residential Areas. International Review for Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development, vol.13, no.1, 279-302. https://doi.org/10.14246/irspsd.13.1_279
Note: In APA 7, the rule of writing the full address starting with “http” has replaced the previous “Doi: ...” format. If the article has a DOI number, it should be added. The article title should be in lowercase and a regular font, while the journal name should be in italics and title case. The journal volume number should be in italics, and the issue number should be in parentheses and a regular font.
Thesis:
Erol, Arzu Maltaş (2020). Yeni şehircilik akımı çerçevesinde insan odaklı kentsel dönüşüm ve geleneksel mahalle planlaması: Eskişehir Karapınar Mahallesi örneği [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Gazi University.
Paper:
Görmez, K., & Sızan, E. B., (2018, May 11-13). Kent Mekanını Kullanmak: Kentsel Dönüşüm – Kentsel Ayrışma Bır Çukurambar Hıkayesı. [Abstract Paper]. 8th International Conference Of Strategic Research On Scientific Studies And Education 2018, Vienna, Austria.
Internet:
OECD (2024). Bir Bakışta OECD Bölgeleri ve Şehirleri 2024. https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/support-materials/2024/12/oecd-regions-and-cities-at-a-glance-2024_134d05a6/RACG-Policy-Highlights-2024-turkish.pdf
Citing news from a website:
Tharoor, Kanishk (2016, June 27). The rise and fall of great world cities: 5,700 years of urbanisation – mapped. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/jun/27/rise-fall-great-world-cities-5700-years-urbanisation-mapped
For other citation examples, please visit: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/
These rules were updated as of September 22, 2025.