File Type: The article must be submitted as an editable Word document (.doc or .docx). PDF submissions are not accepted. Please use American, not British, English. Except in scientifically justified cases, do not use underlined text. Use a spell checker to avoid simple typographical errors. Our journal employs a double-blind peer-review process. This document should remain anonymous and must not contain author names, institutional affiliations, or any personal information that could reveal the authors’ identities. Acknowledgments, project/thesis/conference sources, grants, and similar information should be provided in the Author Declaration Form.
Anonymity: Information about the computer username where the Word document was saved may reveal the author’s identity. To prevent this, select File > Info, then Check for Issues > Inspect Document. Choose Document Properties and Personal Information, then click Inspect. Finally, select Remove All to delete Document Properties and Personal Information.
Title: The article title should be as brief as possible while clearly reflecting the content. Most readers are attracted to articles that interest them by scanning the titles in the journal’s publication list. Articles with short, clear, and concise titles are more likely to be downloaded and cited. Avoid using abbreviations in the title. If an animal or plant name appears in the title, include its Latin name in parentheses and italics.
Abstract: An abstract of no more than 250 words should be written. It should briefly describe the background, problem, aim, original contribution, method, findings, and conclusions of the research. Since readers often read the abstract independently of the full article, it must provide an accurate and comprehensive understanding of the article’s scope. The abstract should not include a bibliography or non-standard abbreviations. Include at least three and no more than five keywords that accurately represent the study. Avoid using keywords combined with conjunctions. Carefully select keywords and separate them with commas, as they are used for indexing the study in databases.
Headings: As a rule, a maximum of three heading levels is accepted. Level 1 headings are used for top-level and are reserved for main sections. Level 2 headings are subsections of Level 1, and so on. The number of heading levels should be determined based on the length and structure of the article. In some cases, only Level 1 headings (main headings) may be sufficient. No blank lines should be added before or after any heading, even if it appears at the bottom of a page. Second and third-level headings must contain at least two headings; avoid using only one subheading.
Introduction: The introduction should not serve as a place to list textbook information related to research. Instead, this section should present the research problem clearly. The variables associated with this problem must be introduced, and the relationships between them should be established. A summary of the relevant literature is necessary to identify which aspects of the research problem have been previously explored, the current level of scientific understanding, and the new research required for a comprehensive understanding and resolution of the problem. The significance of the research should be highlighted by specifying the scientific gap it aims to address and the theoretical or practical problem it seeks to solve. The research purpose must be clearly stated and further elaborated through research questions or hypotheses. Additionally, the assumptions underlying the research, as well as any limitations—those the researcher had to omit or exclude for various reasons—should be disclosed, as they influence the accuracy and validity of the research findings.
The author is obligated to define any specific or technical terms used in the text. This ensures that readers do not interpret terms differently from the author’s intended meaning, thereby avoiding potential ambiguities. When formulating the research problem, the author should ensure that a concise plan or roadmap outlining the main sections of the research naturally follows the completion of the introduction. In other words, the introduction should directly prepare the reader for the subsequent stages and main sections of the research.
Material and method: The materials and methods should be described in sufficient detail and comprehensiveness to enable another researcher to replicate the study. Brief descriptions are appropriate for standard techniques, while newly developed or research-specific methods require more detailed explanations. If the research involves a sample drawn from a specific population (universe/population) for generalization purposes, the relevant population and sample should be characterized by their main attributes. The sources, techniques, researchers involved, and dates of raw data collection should be specified, along with assessments of their validity and reliability. The analysis and interpretation of the collected data should be clearly explained, including the techniques and procedures employed. The rationale for selecting these analytical methods and any validation checks performed should also be provided. For studies requiring ethical committee approval, information about this approval should not be included in this section to preserve anonymity. Instead, such information is collected via the declaration form and incorporated into the declarations and acknowledgments section during typesetting.
Results: This section should contain only the results of the study derived from data analysis; interpretations and discussions regarding the significance of the results should be reserved for the subsequent section, Discussion. The results must be clearly presented and easily understood by the reader. A common approach is to first create tables and figures, then write the accompanying text based on them. One frequent error in academic writing is the unnecessary repetition of information already presented in tables or figures. Instead, the text should emphasize the key patterns or trends that emerge from the tables and figures.
All results related to the hypotheses should be reported, even if they contradict expectations. Do not conceal unexpected findings. Concealing or giving minimal attention to results that are inconsistent with expectations is a common mistake. Because raw data is often voluminous, it is generally not included in the main text of the article. Instead, it is recommended to share it as supplementary material or in an online archive.
Tables and Figures: Tables and figures should be included within the text. Although there is no strict numerical limit, as a rule, the number of tables and figures should be limited to only those that are necessary. Each table and figure must have a title that enables interpretation without referring to the main text. Additionally, tables and figures should include all essential information, such as the variable name, its unit, and a description (legend). Data should be presented both as absolute values and as percentages.
Tables and figures should be referenced in the text before their placement in the document. The reader should understand the purpose of including each table or figure. Ideally, tables and figures should be positioned at the top or bottom of the page, rather than in the center, to avoid disrupting the page layout and the flow of the text. For images sourced from other materials, the author must obtain permission, provide proper citation, and pay any required fees. Tables should be submitted in an editable format, such as Word or Excel. Tables submitted as image files (e.g., JPEG, TIFF) are not accepted. Very large tables that span more than one page cannot be included within the article text; instead, they may be submitted as an appendix if necessary.
Please ensure that all figures have sufficient resolution for publication. For figures with multiple panels, each panel should be clearly labeled using identifiers such as (A), (B), (C), (D), and so on. In charts, every axis must include a descriptive label, including the appropriate units. High-resolution figure files (in JPEG or TIF/TIFF format) may be requested during the typesetting phase.
Figures should not exceed one page in size and must have a resolution of 300 dpi. Please enlarge your figure to verify the image quality. Text within figures should be legible and of high quality. The smallest visible text should be no smaller than eight points when viewed at actual size. Images should be submitted in color mode (RGB).
Please see template file for examples of table and figures.
Conclusions: A well-written conclusion should synthesize the detailed information presented in the preceding sections of the article and clearly articulate the meaningful conclusions drawn. This section is where you explain what your findings reveal or suggest and communicate the scientific contributions of the study to the reader. Even if the reader reads only this section, they should be able to understand the study’s purpose, methodology, and most significant findings. To achieve this, the problem, purpose, method, and main findings should be summarized succinctly in a single paragraph without unnecessary repetition. The author should address the question of what their research accomplished, provide a definitive closing statement, and bring the problem introduced in the Introduction to a clear resolution. The discussion should conclude at this point. The conclusion should be stated clearly and concisely. Only ideas discussed within the article should be addressed in the conclusion; introducing new ideas may confuse the reader and require additional explanation. Caution is advised when drawing causal inferences from non-randomized experimental designs.
The author should propose a solution to the problem addressed in the study. It is important to explain how the findings contribute to theory and practice or to identify the changes that are necessary. Research may also uncover new problems, thereby highlighting new areas for further investigation. All recommendations should be grounded exclusively in and supported by the research findings. Personal or hypothetical suggestions that are not based on the findings should be avoided.
Declarations: It will be added according to the information in the declaration form.
References: References should be formatted according to APA guidelines. The manuscript template provides examples for various types of bibliographies. Every work cited in the text must be included in the reference list. Citations appearing in sections removed during revisions may remain as previously listed; therefore, it is recommended to verify that all references are cited in the text. Simple errors in your references can significantly affect reviewers’ perception of the academic quality of your article.
Long web page addresses or DOIs may be presented as shortened URLs (see the example of an official institutional report). Ensure that shortened links redirect correctly.
When citing sources with more than two authors, use the abbreviation “et al.”
If theses or dissertations are accessed from a database or archive, indicate the location of access. If no such access exists, include the information “[Unpublished doctoral dissertation/master’s thesis]” after the thesis title. An example of a bibliography entry for theses accessed from the YÖK National Thesis Center is provided below. If the author of a work is unknown or cannot be reasonably determined, treat the work as having no author. In this case, move the title of the work to the author position (followed by a period) and place it before the publication date. For example: “Generalized anxiety disorder. (2019).” Use “Anonymous” as the author only if the work is explicitly stated as “anonymous.” When citing web pages (websites), do not use “URL1,” etc. Instead, cite the source according to the type of bibliography the web page’s content corresponds to. For example, if citing a report on a government agency’s web page, format the citation according to the report’s style. The following example “Metsähallitus Parks & Wildlife Finland. (2025)” follows this format. If author information is not provided as personal names, use the institution’s name as the author.
Use the web page format that does not fall under other source categories. Web pages generally do not include author or date information. For examples of citations without a date or an identified author, see the APA 7 Citation and Bibliography Guide. If institutions are listed as authors of a work, use the most relevant institution as the author in the bibliography, rather than listing all institutions. For example, instead of “Republic of Turkey Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, General Directorate of Forestry, Bolu Regional Forestry Directorate,” use “Bolu Regional Forestry Directorate.” Names of higher-level institutions not included in the group author name can be added as publishers in the source entry. This approach allows for both identification of the institution responsible for the work and a concise, clear citation.
Single-authored sources should be listed by publication year, with the oldest first. Undated sources should be placed before dated ones and print sources should be listed last. Additionally, single-authored sources should precede multi-authored sources that begin with the same first author, even if the multi-authored work was published earlier.
For books, providing the publisher alone is sufficient; the place of publication does not need to be listed separately. If conference papers are published in book form, they should be cited as book chapters.
In institutional publications, cite the institution’s name. When listing sources, place a period after the institution’s name.
In multi-authored bibliographies, separate the last author’s surname with &.
DOIs and URLs should be clickable links but should not be underlined.
Numbers should be separated by an en dash (–) without spaces. Incorrect examples: 17 - 21, 25 - 35. Correct example: 33–53.
Do not leave a space between the number and the percentage sign.
When writing numbers, use a period to separate decimals.
For books with multiple editions, include the edition number in parentheses immediately following the book title. For example: Title of book (2nd ed.).
In book or article titles, the word following a colon begins with a capital letter.