AUTHOR GUIDELINES

1) General Publication and Evaluation Principles

The journal publishes original, previously unpublished scientific studies prepared in Turkish and English in the field of commerce and finance.

Submitted studies first undergo a preliminary review by the Editorial Board. Those found suitable are evaluated by at least two reviewers, experts in the field, using the double-blind peer-review method. For this reason, author information must not appear in the main text and must be submitted on a separate title page. In case of conflicting reviewer reports, the study is sent to a third reviewer. The final publication decision rests with the Editorial Board.

Revisions requested for a study must be completed within the specified period; studies not resubmitted in time are removed from evaluation.

Studies must have a similarity rate of no more than 20% in the similarity check performed excluding the references and must fall within the range of 6,000–10,000 words, including the references.

The scientific and legal responsibility for published studies rests with the author(s).

Manuscripts not submitted in accordance with the author guidelines will not be taken into evaluation.

The literature review may be presented as a table or as paragraph text, depending on the nature of the research.

2) Submission Files and Title Page Rules

Studies must be submitted to the journal as two separate files:

Main Text File: As required by the double-blind peer-review process, this file must not contain any information that would reveal the identity of the author(s) (name, title, institution, e-mail, acknowledgments, etc.). The file must begin with the manuscript title and include all main text sections.

Title Page File: This is a separate file from the main text that contains author information. The title page must include the following:

• The Turkish and English titles of the manuscript
• The full name, title, and affiliation of all authors (university, faculty/department, city, country)
• The e-mail addresses of all authors
• The ORCID numbers of all authors (mandatory)
• The name, full postal address, telephone number, and e-mail address of the corresponding author

The order of the authors' contributions must be clearly indicated on the title page. The corresponding author must also be the person/account that uploads the manuscript to the journal system.

3) Manuscript Structure, Formal Rules, and Technical Standards

3.1. Page Layout and Formatting

Studies must be prepared with margins of 2.5 cm on all edges. The text must be written in Times New Roman, 11-point, with 1.5 line spacing, and in justified alignment.

3.2. Title and Abstract

Title: In Turkish manuscripts, the main title appears in Turkish at the very top of the page, and the English title is given immediately above the English abstract. In English manuscripts, this order is reversed. Both titles are centered and set in bold capital letters. Each title must be no more than 15 words. This rule applies to the main title of the manuscript; for the format of section headings, see 3.3.

Abstract: Each study must include an abstract of 150–250 words, as a single paragraph, summarizing its purpose, method, findings, and conclusion. Each abstract is given in its own language, together with the corresponding keywords: a Turkish abstract + 3–5 Turkish keywords, and an English abstract + 3–5 English keywords. In Turkish manuscripts, the Turkish abstract comes first, followed by the English abstract; in English manuscripts, the reverse order is followed. The number of Turkish and English keywords must be equal, and they must appear in the same order. The abstract must be written in Times New Roman, 10-point, and italic.

3.3. Sectioning and Headings

• Main headings must be numbered beginning with "1. Introduction".
• Subheadings must be numbered according to their levels, in the form "2.1.", "2.1.1.".
• In all headings, the first letter of each word must be capitalized and the remaining letters lowercase.
• Abbreviations must not be used in headings.
• Different heading levels must be formally distinguishable from one another (for example, through the use of bold/italic or uppercase-lowercase letters).
• A blank line must be left before main headings.

3.4. Section Contents

The journal is open to a wide range of subjects in commerce and finance and to different methodological approaches; for this reason, the section layout may vary according to the subject and method of the study. The following structure is a suggestion, and the author(s) may organize their studies so as to provide equivalent content:

Introduction: The subject of the study, the research question/problem, the aim, and the contribution to the field are set out; general information about the data and methods used is provided.

Conceptual/Theoretical Framework and Literature: The theoretical discussions supporting the study and the relevant empirical literature are presented.

Data and Method: The data set used and its source, the variables, the sample/period, and the model or econometric/analytical method applied are explained.

Findings: The results of the analysis are presented, supported by the necessary tables and figures.

Conclusion, Discussion, and Recommendations: The findings are interpreted in light of previous studies, the implications are discussed, and policy/practice recommendations as well as suggestions for future research may be offered.

Depending on the discipline and method, the sections and subheadings may differ.

3.5. Figures and Tables

• All visuals other than tables (graphs, figures, pictures, photographs, drawings, diagrams, maps) are considered "Figures".
• Tables, graphs, and figures must be used only when necessary; data that can be given within the text must not also be presented as a separate table.
• All figures and tables must be placed at the relevant points within the text, numbered in order, and centered on the page where they appear.
• The table title must be placed above the table and the figure title below the figure; the number part must be in bold and the title text in normal type.
• Text within tables must be in 10-point with single line spacing; tables and figures must not be split across pages.
• Figures/tables must be referred to by their number within the text.

3.6. Equations

Equations must be given a sequence number. Equations must not be in image format (the Word equation tool must be used).

3.7. Appendices

Content that needs to be presented without interrupting the main text, such as questionnaire forms, detailed data tables, variable definitions, or additional analysis results, may be given in the appendices section. Appendices must appear after the references.

If there is more than one appendix, each must be numbered in order in the form "Appendix A", "Appendix B" and given with a descriptive title. Each relevant appendix must be referred to in the main text.

3.8. Abbreviations

At the first use of an abbreviation, the full form must be written and the abbreviation given in parentheses.

3.9. Writing of Numbers (International Standard)

• Decimal separator: period (.) (for example, 10.25)
• Thousands separator: comma (,) (for example, 1,000; 1,250,000)

4) Citation and References (APA 7)

4.1. General Principles

In the journal, in-text citations and references must be prepared according to the APA 7th edition (American Psychological Association) style. For detailed information: https://apastyle.apa.org

Only works cited within the text must appear in the references, and every work in the references must be cited within the text. The author(s) are responsible for the accuracy of the sources.

Priority in citations must be given to primary sources. A source whose original cannot be reached may be cited through another work that cites it (for example, Freud, 1900, as cited in Yılmaz, 2021). In this case, only the source actually consulted is added to the references.

4.2. In-Text Citation Forms (APA 7)

Parenthetical citation:

• Single author: (Gürbüz, 2005)
• Two authors: (Bildik & Gülay, 2007)
• Three or more authors: (Ersoy et al., 2020)

Narrative citation:

• Gürbüz (2005) argued that …
• Bildik and Gülay (2007) found that …
• Ersoy et al. (2020) stated that …

Page number (for direct quotations; recommended for paraphrases of a specific passage):

• Single page: (Gürbüz, 2005, p. 12)
• Page range: (Bildik & Gülay, 2007, pp. 70–72)

Multiple sources within the same parentheses: Written in alphabetical order and separated by semicolons: (Bildik & Gülay, 2007; Ersoy et al., 2020; Gürbüz, 2005)

Multiple works by the same author in the same year: (Sönmezer, 2014a, 2014b)

Distinguishing authors with the same surname: (F. Baloğlu, 2011; B. Baloğlu, 2010)

Group (institutional) author — the first citation spells out the name; subsequent citations use the abbreviation:

• First use: (International Monetary Fund [IMF], 2020)
• Subsequent uses: (IMF, 2020)

4.3. Legislation / Law Citations

In citations to laws, communiqués, regulations, etc., the law number and article must be clearly indicated. Example:

• Parenthetical: (Capital Markets Law No. 6362, 2012, Art. 4)

Whichever abbreviation is chosen for the article reference, it must be applied consistently throughout the text; do not alternate between forms.

Consistency:

• Correct: … (Art. 4) … (Art. 12) … (the same form used throughout)
• Incorrect: … (Art. 4) … (Article 12) … (mixed forms)

4.4. Reference List Arrangement (APA 7)

• No heading number must be given to the references section.
• References must be arranged alphabetically by the author's surname.
• Printed and online sources must be listed together, without being separated into different sections.
• For internet sources, the type of source must be correctly identified (report, web page, or data set?).
• If a DOI exists, the https://doi.org/ format must be used in accordance with APA 7.
• If there is no DOI, a URL may be given. (An access date is generally required only for sources whose content changes over time.)

4.5. Reference Examples (in APA 7 Format)

Article (with DOI):
Kılıç, E., & Çankaya, S. (2020). Oil prices and economic activity in BRICS and G7 countries. Central European Journal of Operations Research, 28(4), 1315–1342. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10100-019-00647-8

Article (without DOI):
Ersoy, H., Gürbüz, A. O., & Fındıkçı, M. (2020). Covid-19'un Türk bankacılık ve finans sektörü üzerine etkileri, alınabilecek önlemler. İstanbul Ticaret Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 19(37), 146–173.

Book (with DOI):
Ferran, A. (2021). Applied corporate finance: Making value-enhancing decisions in the real world (2nd ed.). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81631-5

Book (without DOI):
Gürbüz, A. O., Ataünal, L., Aybars, A., & Ersoy, H. (2024). İşletmelerin yeniden yapılandırılması. İstanbul Ticaret Odası.

Chapter in a book:
Çankaya, S. (2014). Pros and cons of financial innovation. In H. Dinçer & Ü. Hacıoğlu (Eds.), Globalization of financial institutions (pp. [page range]). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01125-7_12

Report:
Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency. (2023). Türk bankacılık sektörü temel göstergeleri: Aralık 2023. BDDK. https://www.bddk.org.tr

Data set:
Borsa İstanbul. (2023). Pay piyasası endeks verileri [Data set]. Borsa İstanbul DataStore. https://datastore.borsaistanbul.com