International Journal of Volga - Ural and Turkestan Studies

The aim of publication of the International Journal of Volga - Ural and Turkestan Studies is to promote the production of scholarly knowledge in the fields of social and human sciences on the regions of the Volga - Ural and Turkistan, within the general definition of the Turkic World. Creating a literary base for academic studies on the research area, developing solutions for historical and current issues, and cultivating new approaches and perspectives are among the main objectives of publication of the journal.
The journal is published biannually, in February and August. It publishes articles written in both Turkish and English. The journal has the policy of applying the double-blind peer review system, and similarity checks are conducted using plagiarism detection software, with the expectation of a maximum similarity rate of 20%.
The targeted audience by the journal includes academics, researchers, students, and specialists - experts from various institutions and organizations.

The general scope of the journal encompasses scholarly research produced in the fields of social sciences and humanities concerning the Volga - Ural and Turkestan regions, within the framework of the definition of the Turkic World. The specific scope of the journal focuses on scholarly research and studies related to the philosophical systems, mythological and religious beliefs of Turks in the regions they inhabit with an emphasis to the regions of Volga – Ural and Turkestan, archaeology and art history of Turkestan, historical stages of the Turkic language, the contemporary Turkic dialects and literatures, the socio-political and socio-economic history of Turks abroad, and the political and economic relations among contemporary Turkic republics.

Keywords: Contemporary Turkic World, Turkestan and Volga-Ural Regions, Independent Turkic Republics, Autonomous Turkic Republics, Turkic Thought, History of Turkic Culture, History of the Turkish Language, Contemporary Turkic Dialects and Literatures, Archaeology of Turkestan and Turkic Art.

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JOURNAL WRITING RULES

Title: Maximum 12 words summarizing the topic, Times New Roman, 14 fonts, bold, centered and only first letters are capital.
Author(s) information: No information about the author(s) (name, institution etc.) should not be included on the manuscript. However, after the approval of the manuscript, when a file is sent to the author to add information such as the name(s) and contact information, the following conditions should be taken into consideration: The name(s) and surname(s) of the author(s) need to be written clearly under the title, centered, in “Times New Roman”, “12 fonts”, bold and with a line spacing. The title(s) of the author(s), affiliated institute(s) and contact information should be written as (*) foot note, in “Times New Roman”, “10 fonts” with 1 line spacing.
Abstract: Turkish and English abstracts giving general information about the article need to be written. The length of the abstracts should be at least 200 and at most 300 words. Turkish abstract and English abstract should be written in “Times New Roman”, “10 fonts” and with 1 line spacing. Within the abstract, the subject, purpose, method, main findings and general result of the article should be introduced.
Keywords: In this section, minimum 3 and maximum 7 keywords need to be written. Keywords should be written in “Times New Roman” and “10 fonts”.
Main Sections: They should be written in “Times New Roman”, “12 fonts” and with 1.5 line spacing.
Introduction: It includes information about the purpose, significance, conceptual – theoretical framework and study in general.
Method: It gives information about the method and the process followed in the study.
Findings: It is the main section in which the collected data and findings are discussed.
Result: It is section where the conclusion reached through findings is presented.
Discussion: It is the section referring to similar studies about the same topic and discussions in literature.
Suggestions: It includes the suggestions made in light of the findings and discussions.
Note: The sequencing of the main sections may vary depending on the field and type (theoretical, empirical etc.) of the study; however, inclusion of method, discussion and suggestions sections is an obligation for empirical studies.

Referencing:
Both in-text referencing and list of references at the end should be organized according to APA 6 style.

In-text referencing

If there is a general reference within the text and reference is made to the whole text, it is enough to write surname, year.
Example: Yavuz, 2013

If there is a citation made from a certain page, then it is written as follows (Arpacı and Kuyu, 2010, s. 72), (Arpacı, Kuyu and Huysuz, 2000, s. 12-13).
In the sequencing of the citations within a parenthesis, alphabetical order is followed.
Example: (Arpacı, 2013; Arpacı and Kuyu, 2010, s. 15; Karman, 2000; Zengin, Warrant, Güner, Aykut and Karpat, 2013)

The studies of the same writer with the same publication year should be written as follows; Peler, 2009a and Peler 2009b.
If the number of authors is between three and five, in the first citation, the surnames of all the others need to be written and in the following citation of the same source, only the surname of the first writer needs to be written.
Example: In the first citation (Kejanlıoğlu, Adaklı and Çelenk, 2004); in the following citations (Kejanlıoğlu et al., 2004).

In articles having six or more authors, in the first citation, only the surname of the first author is written.
Example: (Abisel et al., 2005).

If there is a double citation, the following format is followed;
Example: (Sancar cited in Zizek, 2009). While Sancar (2009) is included in the list of references with all the related information, Zizek is not given in the list of references.

Abbreviations are given in a parenthesis when given for the first time, then not given in the parenthesis.
Example: The first citation within the text is shown as Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı (MEB, 2012), the first citation within a parenthesis is shown as (Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı [MEB], 2012).

If not necessary, footnote should not be used. If it is necessary, then it should used as follows; (Surname, Publication Date: Page Number)
Direct quotations are written within “”. If the direct quotation is longer than 40 words, then it should be written without using “” as a separate paragraph, indented and in 10 fonts. 

Bibliography

Journals with a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number; 
Herbst-Damm, K. L., & Kulik, J. A. (2005). Volunteer support, marital status, and the survival times of terminally ill patients. Health Psychology, 24, 225-229. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.24.2.225 

When there are more than seven authors in journals with DOI numbers;
Gilbert, D. G., McClernon, J. F., Rabinovich, N. E., Sugai, C., Plath, L. C., Asgaard, G., ... Botros, N. (2004). Effects of quitting smoking on EEG activation and attention last for more than 31 days and are more severe with stress, dependence, DRD2 A1 allele, and depressive traits. Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 6, 249-267. doi:1 0.1 080/1462220041 0001676305

For journals without DOI numbers; URL numbers are written;
Sillick, T. J., & Schutte, N. S. (2006). Emotional intelligence and self-esteem mediate between perceived early parental love and adult happiness. E-Journalof Applied Psychology, 2(2), 38-48. Retrieved from http://ojs.lib.swin.edu.au/index.php/ejap   

DOI number is given in electronic articles;
Von Ledebur, S. C. (2007). Optimizing knowledge transfer by new employees in companies. Knowledge Management Research & Practice. Advance online publication. doi: 1 0.1 057/palgrave.kmrp.8500141.
In the source utilised from the electronic address, the URL number to access the source is given.

Magazine articles;
Chamberlin, J., Novotney, A., Packard, E., & Price, M. (2008, May). Enhancing worker well-being: Occupational health psychologists convene to share their research on work, stress, and health. Monitor on Psychology, 39(5). 26-29.

Electronic magazine articles;
Clay, R. (2008, June). Science vs. ideology: Psychologists fight back about the misuse of research. Monitor on Psychology, 39(6). Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/  

Articles on special topics or issues of the journal;
Haney, C, & Wiener, R. L (Eds.). (2004). Capital punishment in the United States
[Special issue]. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 10(4).
Greenfield, P., & Yan, Z. (Eds.). (2006). Children, adolescents, and the Internet
[Special section]. Developmental Psychology, 42, 391-458.

Single-authored article from the journal;
Belk, R. (2014). Sharingversuspseudo-sharing in Web 2.0. The Anthropogist. 18(1), 7-23.

Editorial of unknown authorship;
Editorial: "What is a disaster" and why does this question matter? [Editorial]. (2006). Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 14, 1-2.

Printed book;
Surname, A. (Year of publication). Book title. Place of Publication: Publisher

Edited book;
VandenBos, G. R. (Ed.). (2007). APA dictionary of psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Chapter in edited book;
Author, A A, & Author, B. B. (1995). Title of chapter or entry. In A Editor, B. Editor, & C. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pp. xxx-xxx). Location: Publisher.

Electronic version of the printed book;
Freud, S. (1953). The method of interpreting dreams: An analysis of a specimen dream. In J. Strachey (Ed. & Trans.), The standard edition of the complete
psychological works of Sigmund Freud (Vol. 4, pp. 96-121). Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books The original work is dated 1900)
Shotton, M. A (1989). Computer addiction? A study of computer dependency [DX Reader version]. Retrieved from http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/html/index.asp 
Schiraldi, G. R. (2001). The post-traumatic stress disorder sourcebook: A guide to healing, recovery, and growth [Adobe Digital Editions version]. doi: 1 0.1036/0071393722

Only electronic printed book;
O'Keefe, E. (n.d.). Egoism & the cnsts in Western values. Retrieved from http://www.onlineoriginals.com/showitem .asp litem I D~ 135 .

A book with multiple editions;
Strunk, W. Jr. & White, E. B. (2000). The elements of style (4.Baskı). New York: Longman.

The work translated into Turkish;
Morris, C. (2002). Understanding psychology (trans. A. Erkuş, A. D. Batıgün and B. Ayvaşık) Ankara: TPD.

Technical and research reports;
Author surname, A. (Year). Study title (Report No. xxx). Location: Publisher.
Kessy, S. S. A.. & Urio, F. M. (2006). The contribution of microfinance institutions to poverty reduction in Tanzania (Research Report No. 06.3). Retrieved from Research on Poverty Alleviation website: http://www.repoa.or.tz /documents_storage/Publications/Reports/06.3_Kessy_and_Urio.pdf   

Symposiums and congresses;
Surname of the author, A. (Year, Month). Title of the paper or poster, Name of the symposium, Place of the symposium.
Pişkin, M., & Ayas, T. (2005, September). Investigation of bully and victim high school students in terms of shyness, introversion, extraversion and self-esteem variables. Paper presented at the VIIIth National Psychological Counselling and Guidance Congress, Marmara University, Atatürk Faculty of Education, Istanbul.

Meeting presentation with summary available online;
Liu, S. (2005, May). Defending against business crises with the help of intelligent agent based early warning solutions. Paper presented at the Seventh International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems, Miami, FL. Abstract retrieved from http://www.iceis.org/iceis2005/abstracts_2005.htm

Online regularly published proceeding;
Herculano-Houzel, S., Collins, C. E., Wong, P., Kaas, J. H., & Lent, R. (2008). The basic nonuniformity of the cerebral cortex. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105, 12593-12598. doi:10.1073/pnas.0805417105

Proceeding published in book form;
Katz, I., Gabayan, K., & Aghajan, H. (2007). A multi-touch surface using multiple cameras. In J. Blanc-Talon, W. Philips, D. Popescu, & P. Scheunders (Eds.), Lecture Notes in Computer Science: Vol. 4678. Advanced Concepts for Intelligent Vision Systems (pp. 97-108). Berlin, Germany: Springer-Verlag. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-74607-2_9.

Unpublished master's and doctoral theses;
Author surname, A. A. (1978). Title of master's or doctoral thesis (Unpublished master's or doctoral thesis). Name of the university, Location.
Atkıncı, H. (2001). The effect of primary education programmes on the development of creative thinking (Unpublished master's thesis, Onsekiz Mart University, Çanakkale.
Aydın, F. (2009). The effects of cooperative learning method on 10th grade geography course success, attitude and motivation (Unpublished doctoral dissertation), Gazi University, Ankara.

Source taken from the internet;
Messinis, D. (2014).PopeVisitsTurkey.http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/pope-visits-turkey/, retrieved on 24 October 2013.

Duties and Responsibilities of Authors

Authorship and Contribution
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 minor contributors, e.g. language editing, they should be acknowledged in the acknowledgements section. The corresponding author should ensure that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript and agree to its submission for publication. Authors are expected to carefully review the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and to provide the final author list at the time of original submission. Only in exceptional circumstances will the editor consider the addition, deletion, or reorganisation of authors after the manuscript has been submitted. All authors must agree to any such addition, deletion or reorganisation. Authors take joint responsibility for the work.

Author Change Requests
Addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the author list can only be made before the manuscript is accepted and only if approved by the Editor of the journal.
If such a change is requested, the Editor will request from the responsible 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.

Article Writing
Authors of original research papers should address the topic in an original way and with an objective discussion. The paper 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 should provide assurance that the article 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 that, if they have used the work or words of others, this is properly cited. Privately obtained information, such as in conversations, correspondence or discussions with third parties, should not be used without the express written permission of the source.

Data Access and Preservation
Authors may be asked to provide research data supporting their articles 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. The journal recommends uploading research data to TUBITAK's Aperta Portal.

Multiple and Simultaneous 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 Questionnaires and Interviews
For research in all disciplines that require ethics committee approval (ethics committee approval must be obtained, this approval must be stated and documented in the article. In researches requiring ethics committee approval, information about the approval (name of the committee, date and number) should be included in the method section, as well as 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.

Conflict of Interest
Any financial or other interest that may cause the person to be conflicted in his/her work, significantly impair his/her objectivity, or provide an unfair advantage in favour of any person or organisation. 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 disclosed. If there is no source of funding, this should also be indicated. Examples of potential conflicts of interest that should be disclosed include consultancies, salaries, grants. Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed at the earliest possible stage.

Error Reporting
When an author notices a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her published work, he/she should notify the journal immediately. It is also the author's obligation to co-operate in withdrawing or correcting the manuscript if deemed necessary by the editor. If the editor or publisher learns 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 adhere to the policy for graphic images implemented by the journal.

PUBLICATION PRINCIPLES
1. International Journal of Volga - Ural and Turkestan Studies (IJVUTS) accepts articles in Turkish and English. 
2. Articles written in different languages but having a special importance in their fields will be sent to reviewers if approved by the absolute majority of the publication board.
3. IJVUTS is a journal published electronically. The whole volume of the journal or PDF formats of the articles are available free of charge. Therefore, hardcopy of the journal is not sent to writers or third parties.
4. All the scientific and legal responsibilities of the articles are taken by the author. In this regard, our journal cannot be put under any obligation. The authors sending their manuscripts to the journal are regarded to accept and acknowledge this.
5. IJVUTS does not accept articles published or sent for revival anywhere else. The authors subscribing to the internet site of the journal and uploading their manuscripts are considered to accept this beforehand. In this regard, our journal acts based on the author’s statement and the author is under the obligation of making declaration of the truth. If the opposite is detected, every legal, scientific and ethical responsibility is taken by the author.
6. Authors are obliged to make truthful statements. Any legal, scientific and ethical responsibility belongs to the authors in case of detection of any contrary situation.
7. The manuscripts uploaded into the system of the journal are sent to two reviewers to be evaluated. If two of the reviewers approve it, the article proceeds through the process of publication. If both of the reviewers refute the article, the article cannot be published. If one of the reviewers approves but the other refutes, the manuscript is sent to third reviewer and based on the evaluation of the third reviewer, decision is made.
8. Appointment of reviewers, their works and evaluation processes are kept secret. Which reviewers evaluate which manuscripts is only known by the publication board and editors of the journal. In this regard, no information is given to authors. (For Review Forms)
9. Reviewers can require corrections for manuscripts they have reviewed. These corrections can be large-scale or small-scale corrections. Two chances are given to authors for the corrections. For each of these corrections, time given to the author cannot be more than 15 days. The articles that cannot be corrected within due time are refuted.
10. If any study that was presented as a thesis, paper, poster etc. anywhere previously was turned into a manuscript and uploaded to the system of the journal, information about the prior presentation of the article should be given in the first page of the article in the form of footnote. If this is not done, the author is viewed to have committed “ethical violation”.
11. Copyrights of the articles uploaded to the system of the journal are delivered to the journal. No signature or confirmation is required from the author for this operation. No fee is paid to the author for the publication of the article.
12. Maximum effort is invested for the fastest review of the article uploaded to the system of the journal. The author is informed about whether the article is accepted for the publication or not within 10 weeks on average after the uploading of the article into the system over the system. The author cannot withdraw his/her article before the end of this period.
13. The corresponding author of the co-authored articles will be the one uploading the article into the system, no contact is made with the other author(s) and except for the corresponding author, no one is informed about the process.
14. IJVUTS is issued twice per-year in February and August. This may change depending on the publication system of the journal, review process and technical issues. The journal does not assume any responsibility for any change that can occur at the time of publication.
15.IJVUTS has a right to directly publish any article uploaded into the system or sent for publication, place it into the line of articles waiting for publication, put it into the process of publication after corrections are done or refute it. Authors are regarded to know and acknowledge this. In this regard, they cannot start any initiative to put the journal under pressure and make any request.
16. We have a policy of screening for plagiarism.  In the journal, similarity scanning is performed using the software Intihal.net. This rate is expected to be at most 20% in the checks made during the pre-control phase.

PUBLICATION ETHICS
Publication Ethics can be defined as a self-regulatory mechanism that insists on integrity on behalf of authors, reviewers and publishers to establish higher standards of editorial processing. Ethical standards for publication exist to ensure high-quality scientific publications, public confidence in scientific findings, and respect for people's opinions.
• Honest researchers do not plagiarise.
• They do not misattribute sources.
• They do not hide objections they cannot refute.
• They do not distort opposing views.
• They do not destroy or conceal data.

Peer-reviewed studies are studies that support and realise the scientific method. At this point, it is of great importance that all parties involved in the publication process (authors, readers and researchers, publisher, referees and editors) comply with ethical principles. Our journal adheres to national and international standards in research and publication ethics. It complies with the Press Law, the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works and the Directive on Scientific Research and Publication Ethics of Higher Education Institutions. Our journal has adopted the International Ethical Publishing Principles published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA). It also undertakes to comply with the decisions of the Turkish Editors' Workshop.
• Press Law (National Legislation)
• Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works (National Legislation)
• Higher Education Institutions Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive (National Legislation)
• Transparency and Best Practice Principles in Academic Publishing (International Criteria)
• Turkey Editors' Workshop Decisions (National Criteria)

Replay
Republishing is the publication of the same article or substantially similar articles in more than one journal. The editor sends such an article back without reviewing it. Thereafter, the editor may impose an embargo for a certain period of time on the author who has attempted to republish, publicise this situation in the journal in which the author has previously published (perhaps by simultaneous announcement with the editor of the journal that published the previous article), or apply all of these measures together.

Simultaneous submission of the same work to more than one journal
Authors may not submit the same article to more than one journal at the same time. If the editor learns of possible simultaneous submission, he/she reserves the right to consult with the other editor(s) receiving the manuscript. In addition, the editor may return the manuscript without review or reject the manuscript without considering the reviews, or take this decision in discussion with the other editor(s) involved, and may decide not to accept submissions from authors for a certain period of time. It may also write to the authors' employers or take all of these measures together.

Suicide Prevention Control
Plagiarism is presenting the ideas, methods, data, applications, writings, figures or works of others as one's own work in whole or in part without citing their owners in accordance with scientific rules.
IJVUTS scans all submitted articles to prevent plagiarism. Studies submitted for review are checked for plagiarism using Intihal.net software. The similarity rate is expected to be less than 20%. The main measure of similarity is the author's compliance with the rules of citation and citation. If the similarity rate is 1%, but citation and quotation are not done properly, plagiarism may still be in question. In this respect, citation and quotation rules should be known and carefully applied by the author.
Plagiarism, duplication, false authorship/confessed authorship, research/data fabrication, article slicing, slicing and dicing, copyright infringement and concealment of conflict of interest are considered unethical behaviours. All articles that do not comply with accepted ethical standards are removed from publication. This includes articles containing possible irregularities and non-conformities detected after publication.

Forgery
To produce data that is not based on research, to edit or change the work presented or published on the basis of unreal data, to report or publish them, to show a research that has not been done as if it has been done.
Falsifying research records and data obtained, showing methods, devices and materials that were not used in the research as if they were used, not evaluating data that do not comply with the research hypothesis, manipulating data and/or results to fit the relevant theory or assumptions, falsifying or shaping the research results in line with the interests of the persons and organisations supported.

Protection of Personal Data of Participants
IJVUTS requires that all research involving personal or sensitive data or materials relating to human participants that are not legally publicly available be subject to formal ethical review.

Addressing Allegations of Research Misconduct
IJVUTS adheres to COPE's Ethical Toolkit for a Successful Editorial. Journal editors will take measures to prevent the publication of articles in which plagiarism, citation manipulation, data falsification, data fabrication, and other research misconduct have occurred. In no case will the journal editors knowingly allow such misconduct to occur. If IJVUTS editors become aware of any allegations of research misconduct related to an article published in their journal, they will follow COPE's guidelines regarding allegations.

Correction, Retraction, Expression of Concern
Editors may consider publishing a correction if minor errors are detected in the published article that do not affect the findings, interpretations and conclusions. Editors should consider retracting the manuscript if there are major errors/violations that invalidate the findings and conclusions. Editors should consider issuing a statement of concern if there is a possibility of research or publication misconduct by the authors; if there is evidence that the findings are unreliable and the authors' institutions have not investigated the incident; or if the possible investigation seems unfair or inconclusive. COPE guidelines regarding correction, retraction or expression of concern are taken into account.

Publication of Studies Based on Surveys and Interviews
IJVUTS adopts the ‘Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors’ and ‘Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers’ principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in order to provide ethical assurance in scientific periodical publishing. In this context, the following points should be complied with in the studies submitted to the journal:
1) For research in all disciplines that require ethics committee approval (ethics committee approval must be obtained, this approval must be stated and documented in the article.
2) In studies requiring ethics committee authorisation, information about the authorisation (name of the committee, date and number) should be included in the method section and 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.

Special Issue Publication Policy
A special issue may be published once a year upon the request of the Editorial Board. Articles submitted for inclusion in the special issue are first subjected to a preliminary editorial review. Then, they are examined for compliance with the journal's spelling rules and similarity screening is performed to prevent plagiarism. After these stages, they are included in the peer review process using the double-blinding model.

Editorial Confidentiality Obligation
The editors of IJVUTS Journal treat all submitted manuscripts as confidential documents, which means that they will not disclose information about a manuscript to anyone without the authors' permission. During the manuscript review process, the following people have access to the manuscripts: Editors, Referees, Editorial Board Members. The only situation where details about a manuscript may be passed to a third party without the authors' permission is if the editor suspects serious research misconduct.

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). We believe that we need to know the authors' competing interests in order to make the best judgement about how to handle an article, and that readers should know them if we publish the article.
Any interest, financial or otherwise, which may cause one to be conflicted in one's work, significantly impair one's objectivity, or give an unfair advantage in favour of any person or organisation. 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 disclosed. If there is no source of funding, this should also be indicated. Examples of potential conflicts of interest that should be disclosed include consultancies, salaries, grants. Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed at the earliest possible stage.
IJVUTS has an established process for handling submissions from editors, staff or editorial board members to ensure impartial review. Such submissions are first referred to other journals. If this is not possible, the author of the submission is suspended from the journal. These submissions are reviewed in a double blind process.
The editor should not be involved in decisions about manuscripts written by him/herself or family members. Furthermore, such a paper should be subject to all the usual procedures of the journal. The editor should follow the COPE guidelines on disclosure of potential conflicts of interest by authors and reviewers.

The International Journal of Volga - Ural and Turkestan Studies does not charge any fee for article submission, evaluation and publication stages. Articles are published for free.