ARTICLE WRITING RULES

Articles to be submitted to our journal should be prepared according to the “Article Template”. Click here to access the article template.

1. Title
Articles submitted for publication in Al Farabi International Journal of Social Sciences must have both Turkish and English titles. The title should be concise, clear and adequately reflect the content of the work. The Turkish title should be written in capital letters and bold, and should preferably not exceed twenty words. The English title should be written with only the first letter of each word capitalised and in italics. 12 point font, centred.

2. Author Name(s) and Address(es)
The author's surname should be written in full, in capital letters, centred and in 12 point font, in the middle of the title. The author's title, institution, email address and ORCID number should be indicated below the author's name and surname. The font size should be 10 points.

3. Abstract and Keywords
The Turkish and English abstracts should reflect the purpose, scope, method and results of the study. Articles written in a foreign language should also include a Turkish and English abstract and keywords. Care should be taken to ensure that there are no language errors in the foreign language abstracts. The abstract should be at least 200 and at most 300 words long, and at least 3 and at most 5 Turkish and English keywords should be written on a line below the abstract. The abstract should be a single paragraph and justified. The font should be Times New Roman, size 10, with single line spacing. The first letter of each keyword should be capitalised, with the rest in lower case (except for proper nouns and abbreviations in capital letters), and concepts should be listed from specific to general. Keywords should consist of a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 5 words.

4. Main Text
Articles should preferably be written using Microsoft Word software and should not exceed twenty pages. The page size should be A4, with margins set to ‘custom margins’ – 1 cm top and bottom, and 3 cm left and right. Texts should be justified and written with 6 pt spacing before and after paragraphs. The Times New Roman font should be used in the article, and the font size should be 11 pt. Paragraphs should be indented by 1.25 cm. Line spacing should be ‘SINGLE’. Punctuation marks should be written adjacent to the words preceding them. A single space should be left after the punctuation marks. The work should comply with grammar rules. The latest TDK Spelling Guide should be used as a basis for the use of punctuation marks and the spelling of words and abbreviations in the article. A clear and straightforward style of expression should be followed, and unnecessary information that goes beyond the scope and purpose should not be included. Valid scientific methods should be followed in preparing the article, and information such as the subject, purpose, scope, and rationale for the study should be provided in sufficient detail and in a specific order.
An article should contain, in order, an abstract, sections of the main text, a bibliography and (if applicable) appendices. The use of headings such as ‘Introduction’ and “Conclusion” depends on the type of study and the requirements of the subject. However, the article must have a concluding paragraph. The ‘Conclusion’ should be appropriate to the purpose and scope of the research and should be presented in outline form and in essence. Points not mentioned in the text should not be included in the ‘conclusion’. Main, intermediate and subheadings may be used to ensure a clear structure.

Main Headings
ALL LETTERS SHOULD BE CAPITALISED. Font type Times New Roman, font size 12 point, alignment justified, paragraph spacing 12 nk before, 6 nk after, no paragraph indentation, single line spacing.

Subheadings
Subheadings should be formatted as follows:
Under the main heading (INTRODUCTION, METHOD, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION, etc.)
First-level headings: Bold, left-aligned, all words capitalised, font size 12 pt, paragraph spacing 12 pt before, 6 pt after, single line spacing, no indentation.
Second-level headings: Bold, left-aligned, with only the first letter of each word capitalised, font size 11 pt, paragraph spacing 12 pt before, 6 pt after, single line spacing, no indentation.
Third-level headings: should be bold, left-aligned, with only the first letter of the first word capitalised, font size 11 pt, paragraph spacing 12 pt before, 6 pt after, line spacing single, no indentation.
Headings should not be used beyond the third level where possible.

Figures, Tables and Photographs
Figures, tables and photographs should not extend beyond the text area; if necessary, each should be placed on a separate page. Figures and tables should be numbered and labelled in both Turkish and English according to the language of the text. Table titles should be placed at the top, with the first letter capitalised and the font size set to 11 points. If there is a reference, it should be written below the table with a 1.25 cm indent and a font size of 10 points. The names of figures, photographs and graphs should be written below, with the first letters capitalised, a font size of 11 points and, if there is a reference, in brackets after the name, with a font size of 10 points. Tables should be created using the table command in the ‘WORD’ programme. In exceptional circumstances, ‘EXCEL’ tables may be used. Where necessary, explanatory footnotes or abbreviations should be provided immediately below the figures and tables. In addition, the rules specified for figures should be followed. It is preferable that figures, tables and images do not exceed ten pages. Figures, tables, and images should be placed within the text in such a way that they can be printed exactly as they appear.

Citation (References)
Citations and references in articles submitted to the AL FARABI International Journal of Social Sciences should be made according to the latest version of APA. Therefore, articles submitted must comply with the citation system. The page number of the source being cited must be provided in the text.
Example: ………………………(Alsu, 2017, p. 28).
When citing multiple sources, they should be listed in the same parentheses, from oldest to newest, separated by semicolons.
Example: ………………..(Alsu, 2017, p.12; Emek,2016, p.28)
For sources with two authors, a hyphen (&) is used. For sources with more than two authors, the abbreviation ‘et al.’ should be used after the surname of the first author.
Examples:………………………(Alsu & Emek. 2003, p. 15), (Alsu et al. 2017, p. 25)
Two works by the same author published in the same year are distinguished by adding a letter to the publication year.
Examples:…………(İlhan, 2003a, p. 25), (İlhan, 2003b, p. 58)
Works published in the same year by two authors with the same surname are indicated by adding the first letters of their names.
Examples: (Demir, A., 2003, p. 46), (Demir, H., 2003, p. 27)
When referring to an inaccessible publication within the text, the source and the work from which the quotation is taken should be indicated as follows:
Example: (Quoted from Köprülü 1911: 75; Çelik, 1998, p. 25)
When citing a manuscript work, the abbreviation [yz.] should be added after the author or translator's name, the folio number should be indicated as in the example, and the full bibliographic details should be provided in the bibliography.
Example: (Ahmedî, [yz.] 1410: 7b)
When citing archival documents, the abbreviation in the text should be as in the example, and the full name should be given in the bibliography.
Example: (BCA, Mühimme 15, p. 25).

Footnotes
Footnotes are used only for mandatory explanations and are automatically generated with the ‘FOOTNOTE’ command.

Quotations
Direct quotations in the article should be enclosed in quotation marks, and the source should be indicated in parentheses at the end of the quotation. Quotations of fewer than five lines should be italicised within the sentence, while quotations of more than five lines should be indented 1 cm from the right and left margins of the page and presented in italics as a block. For non-direct quotations, the source should only be indicated in parentheses at the end.

References
All sources used in the article should be included in the ‘References’ section. Documents and works not mentioned in the text, even if they are related to the subject of the article, should not be included in the references. References should be listed alphabetically at the end of the main text according to the author's surname (for those prior to the Surname Law, the author's name is used). Work titles should be italicised and only the first letter of each word should be capitalised, except for proper nouns. If multiple works by the same author are included in the references, they should be listed in chronological order from oldest to newest. For works published in the same year, the labels ‘a, b, c...’ should be used as previously indicated. A 1.25 hanging indent format should be used for the bibliography (in MS Office Word, go to Paragraph-Indents and Spacing-Indent-Special-Hanging Paragraph). The DOI number should be provided as a direct link and should NOT have a full stop (.) at the end.
Example: Ergün, A. (2023). A bibliometric analysis of the research on geographic information systems in the field of education. e-International Journal of Educational Research, 14(5), 23-40. https://doi.org/10.19160/e-ijer.1322121 
According to APA 7, the practice of writing the publisher's location (city/state/country) in the bibliography of books or theses has been discontinued.

Book:
Öztürk, S. (2004). Macroeconomics. Science and Art Publications.

Book chapter:
Muecke, M. A. (1994). On the evaluation of ethnographies. In J. M. Morse (Ed.), Critical issues in qualitative research (pp. 187-209). Sage.

Journal:
Alsu, E. and Öztürk, S. (2009). Economic Outlook: Basic economic outlook for the Southeast Anatolia Region. Economic Outlook: Journal of Economic Research, 45 (2): 15–20.

E-journal:
Drichoutis, A. C., Lazaridis, P., & Nayga, R. M. Jr. (2006). Consumers’ use of nutritional labels: A review of research studies and issues. Academy of Marketing Science Review (e-journal), 2006 (9): http://www.amsreview.org/articles/drichoutis09-2006.pdf, (02.09.2011).

Thesis:
Alsu, E. (2007). The effect of capital structure on profitability and sustainability. An Application on BIST 100. [Unpublished Doctoral Thesis]. Hasan Kalyoncu University, Institute of Social Sciences.

Symposium and Conference Presentation:
Alsu, E. and Taşdemir, A. (2009). Foreign direct investment and export in Turkey: The period of 1991-2008. Presented at Econ Anadolu 2009: Anadolu International Economics Congress. Eskişehir, Turkey.

Symposium and Conference Paper:
Gül, O. K. & Ergün, A. (2025). Migration and culinary culture: The formation of a new gastronomic map in Western Anatolia after the population exchange (1923-1950). International Şanlıurfa Gastronomy Culture and Tourism Conference Proceedings, 1-10. Access Address: https://tr.discoveranatolia.org/_files/ugd/614b1f_0f7b1377b51f47939a6683fcf893c8a2.pdf 

Internet address:
University of Georgia (publication year, if available). “Points of pride”, http://www.uga.edu/profile/pride.html, (access date).

Reports:
TCMB (1995). Annual Report. www.tcmb.gov.tr, (01.05.2011).
Bikmen, F. and Meydanoğlu, Z. (2006). Civil society in Turkey: a process of change. International Civil Society Index Project Turkey Country Report. Istanbul: Tüsev Publications No: 39.

Electronic Sources:
MEB (2024). Teaching programmes. Retrieved on 01.04.2026 from https://tymm.meb.gov.tr/ogretim-programlari/ders/cografya-dersi.
Detailed information on other types of sources can be found at https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/.

ETHICS COMMITTEE DECISION
This is mandatory for studies/articles that require data collection from individuals using scales, questionnaires, interviews, and other data collection tools.
The author must have obtained approval from the Ethics Committee of the university to which they are affiliated or the institution where the study was conducted.
The committee's approval must be indicated on the first page of the article with the name of the committee, date, and number.
The start and end dates of data collection must be stated in the methods section of the article.
The approval document must be added as an additional file to DergiPark.
For studies that do not require an Ethics Committee decision, the author must upload a wet-signed statement declaring that an Ethics Committee decision is not required.
For TR Dizin's opinion on Ethics Committee approval, see
https://trdizin.gov.tr/about#applicationAndCriterias