Peer Review Principles
Review Principles
1) Manuscripts that have not been previously published or are not currently under review for publication in another journal and approved by each author are accepted for consideration.
2) Submitted and pre-checked manuscripts are scanned for plagiarism using Turnitin software.
3) Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Journal of Theology Faculty conducts a double blind refereeing process. All manuscripts will first be evaluated by the editor for suitability for the journal. The eligible manuscripts are sent to at least two independent expert referees to evaluate the scientific quality of the manuscript.
4) The Editor-in-Chief evaluates manuscripts independently of the ethnicity, gender, nationality, religious beliefs and political philosophy of the authors. He/she ensures that manuscripts submitted for publication undergo fair double blind peer review.
5) The editor-in-chief does not allow conflicts of interest between authors, editors and reviewers.
6) The editor is responsible for the final decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of articles. The editor's decision is final.
7) Editors are not involved in decisions about manuscripts written by themselves or by family members or colleagues, or that relate to products or services in which the editor has an interest. Any such submission is subject to all of the journal's usual procedures.
Reviewers should ensure that all information about submitted manuscripts remains confidential until the manuscript is published and should report to the editor if they notice any copyright infringement or plagiarism on the part of the author.
If the referee does not feel qualified for the topic of the manuscript or is unlikely to be able to provide a timely response, he/she should inform the editor and ask him/her not to involve himself/herself in the refereeing process.
During the review process, the editor makes it clear to the reviewers that the manuscripts submitted for review are the private property of the authors and that this is a privileged communication. Reviewers and editorial board members may not discuss manuscripts with other persons. Care should be taken to keep the identity of the reviewers confidential.

Review Process
Refereeing Type: Double Blind
Double Blinding: After the plagiarism check, eligible manuscripts are evaluated by the editor-in-chief in terms of originality, methodology, importance of the topic covered and compatibility with the scope of the journal. The editor ensures that the manuscripts undergo double-blind refereeing in a fair manner, and if the manuscript complies with the formal principles, he/she submits the manuscript to the evaluation of at least two referees from Turkey and/or abroad, and if the referees deem it necessary, they approve the publication of the manuscript after the requested changes are made by the authors.
Review Time: Pre-Publication
Author-Referee Interactions: Editors mediate all interactions between reviewers and authors.
Time in Review: 8 weeks. The period until the first decision is approximately 60 days for research articles that are included in the referee process for review in the Journal of the Faculty of Theology of Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University.
Acceptance Rate: We publish approximately 50% of the articles received by our journal. Approximately one quarter of all submissions are rejected in the preliminary review without being sent for peer review.
Plagiarism Check: Yes -Turnitin. Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Journal of Theology Faculty scans articles to prevent plagiarism.
Referee Process Policy Web Address:
Number of Reviewers Reviewing Each Article: Two
Permitted Duration: 20 days. This period can be extended by adding 10 days.
Decision: In order for the article to be accepted for publication by the Editor, at least two referees must make an acceptance decision.
Suspicion of Ethical Violation: Referees should inform the Editor if they suspect misconduct in the research or publication. The Editor is responsible for taking the necessary actions in accordance with COPE recommendations.

The Editor-in-Chief reviews the research paper on the day of submission and, if he/she feels that the paper is worthy of further consideration, sends it to the Deputy Editor for a more detailed review. If Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Journal of Theology Faculty is not considered to be the right journal for the study, the authors are immediately notified so that they can submit their work elsewhere without delay. The usual reasons for rejection at this stage are insufficient originality and the topic being outside the scope of the journal.

The next step for the research article is the Editorial Board meeting. The members will read the article and discuss its importance, originality and scientific quality. Even if the topic of the article is relevant, current and important to the scope of the journal, it will be rejected if it does not have a research question or if it has serious flaws.

If the article is suitable for Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Journal of Theology Faculty, the field editor sends the article to two external referees. The referees are asked to confirm their reports and declare any conflicts of interest on the manuscript sent to them. The final decision is made by the Editor-in-Chief after the external referee evaluation processes.

Some manuscripts may also be seen by the ethics editor of the Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Journal of Theology Faculty and third parties deemed appropriate by the editor in cases where serious research misconduct is suspected.

For all manuscripts we aim to reach a final decision on publication within 6 to 8 weeks after submission. If we propose a publication subject to revision, we usually ask authors to revise and upload their manuscript within the following month.

Accepted articles are published on https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/ifdmaku as they are prepared. After publication, the articles are selected for the next issue.

Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Journal of Theology Faculty provides open access to articles as part of its commitment to readers and authors. All our articles are freely accessible online.
If you notice any errors in your published article, email the editor-in-chief, who will let you know if the correction should be made.

Peer Review Principles for Papers Submitted by The Editorial Staff
Editorials and analysis articles written by the editors of Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Journal of Theology Faculty do not undergo external referee evaluation. Original research articles are sent to at least two external referees as blind referees. During this period, the roles of those editors are suspended.


Guidelines for Reviewer

Considering that Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Journal of Theology Faculty aims to publish original and important articles, we ask the referees to help in the evaluation of the article applications we receive.
Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Journal of Theology Faculty has adopted a double blind review model.

Selection of Reviewers
The referees are selected among experts who have a PhD degree in the field of science to which the article relates and who have publications. The information of the experts from Turkish universities can be accessed from YÖK Academic website and the information of the experts from abroad can be accessed from Publons.

Duties and Responsibilities of Reviewers
1) Objectivity: Reviews should be conducted objectively. Reviewers should be aware of any personal bias and take this into account when reviewing an article. The reviewer should clearly articulate the considerations that support his/her judgement.
2) Contribution to Editorial Decision: Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and provides the author with the opportunity to improve the manuscript. In this respect, a referee who feels inadequate in reviewing an article or who thinks that he/she cannot complete the review in a short time should not accept the referee invitation.
3) Confidentiality: All manuscripts received by the journal for review must be kept confidential. Reviewers should not share reviews or information about the manuscript with anyone or communicate directly with the authors. Information contained in the manuscript should not be used by a reviewer in his/her own research without the express written permission of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review should be kept confidential and should not be used for personal gain.
4) Sensitivity to Violations of Research and Publication Ethics: Reviewers should be alert to potential ethical issues in the manuscript and report them to the editor.
5) Conflict of Interest: Reviewers should not agree to review a manuscript with potential conflicts of interest arising from their relationship with the authors or the organisations with which the manuscript is affiliated.
6) Request of Citation to the Reviewer: If a referee suggests that an author include citations to the referee's (or their collaborators') work, this should be for genuine scientific reasons and not for the purpose of increasing the referee's citation count or increasing the visibility of their work. See also COPE-Ethical guidelines for peer reviewers.
Making a Review
Referees' evaluations should be objective. During the referee process, referees are expected to make their evaluations taking into account the following points.
• Does the article contain new and important information?
• Does the abstract clearly and accurately describe the content of the article?
• Is the method defined in a coherent and understandable way?
• Are the interpretations and conclusions proved by the findings?
• Are sufficient references given to other studies in the field?
• Is the language quality sufficient?
• Abstract / summary / keywords / accurately reflect the content of the article?

Guidelines for Editor

Selection of Editors
Editors are selected among experts who have a PhD degree and have publications in accordance with the scope of the journal.

The Group of Turkey Editors' Workshop
Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University encourages editors to be in contact with other editors, as they think it will be useful for them. Our editors are members of the Turkish Editors Workshop Group.

Duties and Responsibilities of Editors
Coordinating the Peer review
The editor should ensure that the peer review process is fair, impartial and timely. Research articles should be reviewed by at least two external reviewers, and the editor should seek additional feedback when necessary.
Selection of Reviewers
The Editor will select reviewers with appropriate expertise in the relevant field, taking into account the need for appropriate, inclusive and diverse representation. The Editor will follow best practices to avoid the selection of fraudulent reviewers.
Protecting Confidentiality
The editor must maintain the confidentiality of all material submitted to the journal and all communications with reviewers. In exceptional circumstances and in consultation with the publisher, the editor may share limited information with editors of other journals to investigate suspected research misconduct. The editor must protect the identity of the referees. Information contained in a submitted manuscript should not be used in the editor's own research without the express written permission of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained during the refereeing process should be kept confidential and should not be used for personal gain.
Neutrality
The editor should evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnicity, citizenship or political philosophy of the authors.
Investigation of Allegations
An editor who finds convincing evidence of ethical violations should contact the Editorial Board and the Publisher to have the manuscript corrected, retracted, or otherwise amended.
Conflict of Interest
The editor should not be involved in decisions about manuscripts written by him/herself or by family members. Furthermore, such a paper should be subject to all the usual procedures of the journal. The editor should follow ICMJE guidelines on disclosure of potential conflicts of interest by authors and reviewers.
Publication Decision
The editor is responsible for reviewing the referee reports and deciding which of the manuscripts submitted to the journal should be published. The editor must comply with the policies determined by the Editorial Board.
Citation Request for Journal
The editor should not attempt to influence the ranking of the journal by artificially increasing any journal metric. The editor will not request that articles from his/her journal or any other journal be cited, except for scientific reasons.

Correction, Retraction, Publication of an Expression of Concern
Editors may consider publishing a correction if minor errors are identified in the published article that do not affect the findings, interpretations and conclusions. Editors should consider retracting the manuscript in the case of major errors/violations that invalidate findings and conclusions. Editors should consider publishing a statement of concern if there is evidence that the findings are unreliable and that the authors' institutions have not investigated the incident, or if the possible investigation appears unjustified or inconclusive, if there is a possibility of research or publication misconduct by the authors. With regard to correction, withdrawal or expression of concern, the COPE and ICJME guidelines are taken into account.
Communication
The editor will use the journal's standard electronic submission system for all journal communications. Bk. COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors
1. The editor should seek the views of authors, readers, reviewers and editorial board members to improve the processes of the journal.
2. Encourage research on the refereeing process and academic publishing and improve journal processes in the light of new publications.
3. Support initiatives to reduce violations of research and publication ethics.
4. Support initiatives to educate researchers on publication ethics.
5. Evaluate the effects of journal policies on author and reviewer behaviour and revise journal policies as necessary.
6. Ensure that all manuscripts received by the journal are reviewed by appropriately qualified referees.
7. Adopt processes that promote the accuracy, completeness and openness of all publications.
8. Ensure the organisation and use of appropriate guidelines and checklists for peer-reviewed publishing.
9. Inform readers about the steps taken to ensure objective and impartial evaluation of manuscripts from journal staff or editorial board members.
10. The editor's decision to accept or reject an article for publication should be based on the importance, originality and clarity of the article and the validity of the work and its relevance to the journal's mandate.
11. Guide authors in the publication process.
12. The author should regularly review the guidelines and provide links to relevant COPE guidelines.
13. Publish a conflict of interest declaration for contributors to the manuscript and publish a correction if a conflict of interest arises after publication.
14. Follow COPE flowcharts in cases of questionable or disputed authorship.
15. Publish the submission and acceptance dates of the articles.
16. Editors should guide reviewers in all matters expected of them, including the need to treat submitted material confidentially.
17. The stages of the refereeing process should be clearly published.
18. The reviewers should be asked to disclose any conflicts of interest before they begin to review a manuscript.
19. Encourage reviewers to comment on the originality of submissions and to be alert to ethical plagiarism.
20. Unless they contain defamatory statements, referees should send all of their comments to the authors.
21. The editor should endeavour to ensure that peer review in their journals is fair, impartial and timely.
22. Establish a list of referees and update it on the basis of the performance of the referees.
23. In cases of misconduct by referees, COPE should follow the flowchart.
24. The editorial board should provide guidance to its members on the following tasks: Act as ambassadors for the journal; Support and promote the journal; Attract the best authors and the best work to the journal; Review submissions to the journal; Attend and contribute to editorial board meetings.
25. Consult with editorial board members periodically (e.g. once a year) to gauge their views on the functioning of the journal, inform them of any changes in journal policies, and identify future challenges.
26. The editor should decide which articles to publish based on the quality and suitability of the journal without interference from the journal owner/publisher.
27. Have a written contract with the owner or publisher of the journal. The terms of this contract must comply with the COPE Code of Conduct for Journal Editors.
28. Ensure that those involved in the editorial process (including themselves) receive adequate training and follow the latest guidelines, recommendations and evidence on the review process and journal management.
29. The editor is obliged to take action if he/she suspects inappropriate behaviour or if there is an allegation of misconduct. This duty extends to both published and unpublished articles.
30. The editor should be alert to intellectual property issues and work with their publishers to address possible violations of intellectual property laws and agreements.



Guidelines for Author
Duties and Responsibilities of Authors
Authorship and Contributorship
Authorship should be limited to those who made significant contributions to the conception, design, conduct, or interpretation of the study. All significant contributors should be listed as co-authors. If there are those who have contributed little to the work, e.g. language editing, they should be acknowledged in the acknowledgements section. Before manuscripts are submitted, authors are expected to carefully review the list and order of names and provide the final author list at the time of original submission. Authors take joint responsibility for the work.
Author Change Requests
Adding names to or deleting names from the author list or reorganising the list can only be done before the article is accepted and only if approved by the Editor of the journal. If such a change is requested, the Editor will request from the corresponding author (a) the reason for the change in the author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail) from all authors that they agree to the addition. Only in exceptional cases will the editor consider the addition, deletion or reorganisation of authors after the article has been accepted.

Writing Manuscript
Authors of original research papers should address the topic in an original way and with an objective discussion. The manuscript should include sufficient detail and references to allow others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly false statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable.
Originality
The author must ensure that the manuscript is original, has not been previously published elsewhere, and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, in another language.

Using Original Sources and Citation
Authors must ensure that they have written entirely original work and, if they have used the work or words of others, that this is properly cited. Privately obtained information, such as in conversations, correspondence or discussions with third parties, must not be used without the express written authorisation of the source.
Data Access and Retention
Authors may be asked to provide research data supporting their manuscript for editorial review and/or to comply with the journal's open data requirements. Authors should be prepared to provide public access to such data, if possible, and to retain such data for a reasonable period after publication. Our journal recommends uploading research data to TUBITAK's Aperta Portal.
Multiple and Concurrent Publication
An author should not publish an article containing the same research in more than one journal. It is unethical to submit the same article to more than one journal at the same time. An author should not submit a previously published article for consideration in another journal, except in the form of an abstract.

Publication of Studies Based on Surveys and Interviews
Ethics committee approval must be obtained for research in all disciplines that require ethics committee approval, and this approval must be stated and documented in the article. In studies requiring ethics committee permission, information about the permission (name of the committee, date and number) should be included in the method section and also on one of the first/last pages of the article; in case reports, information on the signature of the informed consent form should be included in the article.

Conflicts of Interest
A conflict of interest arises when professional judgement about a primary interest may be influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain or personal competition). All sources of financial support received during the conduct of the research and preparation of the manuscript and the role of sponsors in the study should be explained. If there is no source of funding, this should also be indicated. Examples of possible conflicts of interest that need to be disclosed include consultancies, salaries, grants.

Notification of Error
When an author notices a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her published work, he/she should notify the journal immediately. The author is obliged to co-operate in withdrawing or correcting the article if deemed necessary by the editor. If it becomes known from a third party that a published work contains errors, it is the author's obligation to co-operate with the editor, including informing the editor.

Image Integrity
It is unacceptable to enhance, darken, move, remove or add a specific feature in an image. Authors must comply with the policy for graphic images implemented by the journal.






Manuscript Preparation

Language: Turkish, English, Arabic and German and Persian
The language of the journal is Türkiye Turkish, English, Arabic, German and Persian

Types of Article: Research Article – Book Review
The journal publishes Research Articles and Book Reviews. Research Articles should not exceed 15,000 words. Due to the nature of the work, the final decision-maker in case of exceeding the specified limit is the Editorial Board. Book Reviews should be in the range of 500-1500 words.

Article Format: MS Word Template
Image Format: JPEG Minimum 300 dpi
Bibliography Style: ISNAD Citation System

Author Change: Only the manuscript is processed before it is accepted. Authors should carefully review the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the final author list at the time of original submission.

Citation Style
Articles should be prepared according to the Isnad Citation System 2nd Edition (Footnoted).
ISNAD Turkish (PDF)
ISNAD English (PDF)
ISNAD Arabic (PDF)
ISNAD Persian (PDF) (Link verilecek)

Submission Checklist
It is hoped that this list will be useful during the final check of the manuscript before it is uploaded to the journal system.
Make sure the following items are available:
1. Author information added.
• E-mail address
• Full mailing address
• Telephone number
2. All necessary files have been uploaded.
• Article text
• Copyright Transfer Form
• Ethics Committee Approval Certificate (It is mandatory for articles that require data to be collected from individuals using scales, questionnaires, interviews and other data collection tools).
• Similarity Report
3. The article was "spell-checked" and "grammar-checked".
4. All references mentioned in the bibliography are cited in the text and vice versa.

Submit Manuscript
The account of the corresponding author of the study should be used in the submissions. All correspondence regarding the application is sent to the corresponding author by e-mail sent through the journal system.
When uploading the manuscript file, please make sure that it does not contain any elements that could decipher the author's identity due to the double-blind peer-review process.

Files You Need to Upload Separately:
1. Article text
2. Copyright Transfer Form
3. Ethics Committee Approval Certificate
4. Similarity Report (Link verilecek)

Manuscript Process Tracking
You can follow your article throughout the process by going to your author area in the Journal System. Here, the articles you have submitted will be listed under the heading "Submitted Articles". If your manuscript is submitted for external peer review, you will find the reviewer comments in the decision letter. Please click on "Manuscripts in Decision" and click on "View decision letter".