JOURNAL OF SELCUK COMMUNICATION WRITING RULES

• Authors cannot have MORE THAN ONE article published in a single issue.
• All legal responsibility for the content of the studies lies with the author(s).
  
• Articles that do not comply with the writing and formatting rules will be returned to the author(s) without being evaluated.
  
• Studies produced from master's and doctoral theses will not be considered for evaluation.
  
• Papers presented at conferences or symposiums may be accepted provided that they have not been previously published in full text and that the presentation details are specified.

2. Shipping Files

• Anonymous Main Text: In the initial submission, identifying information such as author names, institutional details, email addresses, and ORCID IDs must not appear in the text. Additionally, author information must be removed from the document properties (metadata). This is mandatory for the double-blind peer review process. Authors must use the first submission template from the submission files menu when uploading their articles.
• Cover Sheet: A cover sheet must be included, indicating the title of the article, the order of authors, and the corresponding author; it should contain the author's first and last name, title, institution, email address, and ORCID number. Additionally, if the work has been presented at a scientific meeting or funded by a funding organization (name of the funding organization, project number, etc.), this information should be indicated as a footnote in the cover file.
• Copyright Declaration Form: This form, declaring that the work does not contain any content that infringes copyright, must be signed by all authors and uploaded. Click here for the relevant form.
• Contribution Ratio and Conflict of Interest Statement: This must be signed by all authors and uploaded to the system. Click here for the relevant form.
• Ethics Committee Approval Document (if applicable): For studies involving human subjects (field research, in-depth interviews, etc.), the ethics committee approval document must be added to the system. In addition to the ethics approval certificate, click here for the ethics consent form.
• Artificial Intelligence Usage Statement: Authors should disclose the use of generative artificial intelligence and AI-assisted technologies in their articles. Declaring the use of these technologies promotes transparency and trust among authors, readers, reviewers, editors, and contributors, and facilitates compliance with the terms of use of the relevant tool or technology (The use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in writing).
  Authors should use generative AI and AI-assisted technologies during the writing process solely to improve the readability and language of the article and should not use them to replace fundamental authoring tasks such as generating scientific, pedagogical, or medical insights, drawing scientific conclusions, or providing clinical recommendations. The application of technology should be done under human supervision and control, and all work should be carefully reviewed and edited. This is because generative AI (GIA) can produce outputs that may be incorrect, incomplete, or biased. Authors are ultimately responsible for the content of their work. Click here for the Ethical Guidelines on the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Scientific Research and Publication Activities at Higher Education Institutions.

3. Page Layout and Writing Style

• Articles: Must be prepared in MS Word, A4 size, with margins of 2.5 cm on the right, left, top, and bottom.
• Writing Style: Writing styles are specified below.

4. Article Structure

• Title in Turkish
• Abstract
• Keywords
• Title in English
• Abstract
• Keywords
• Introduction
• Theoretical Framework
• Methodology
• Findings
• Discussion
• Conclusion
• Extended Abstract
• References
• Appendices

An English extended abstract is mandatory for Turkish articles.

Word Count Rules

• Total Article Word Count: Including titles, abstracts, keywords, all main and sub-sections, extended abstract, references, and appendices, the article must be between 5,000 and 9,000 words.
• Abstract and Summary Word Count: Must be at least 150 and no more than 250 words.
• Keywords: Must be at least 5 and no more than 7 words.
• Extended Abstract: Must be at least 750 and no more than 1500 words.

5. Similarity Ratio Rules

• The similarity ratio of studies should be no greater than 15%. Studies exceeding this ratio will be rejected outright, bypassing the peer review process.
• Similarity checks should be performed using the iThenticate program, if possible.
• The "no repository" option must be selected during similarity detection. Otherwise, the system may show the work as having a 100% similarity ratio, resulting in rejection.
• If there is a discrepancy between the similarity ratio determined by the authors and the ratio determined by the Journal of Selcuk Communication editorial board, the latter will prevail.
• In the similarity report, exclude sections such as references, footnotes, and appendices from the analysis.
• Direct quotations and citations must follow APA 7 guidelines, and expressions that carry the risk of plagiarism must be avoided.

6. Some Content Rules

Abstract: Should include the purpose, scope, method, findings, and conclusions of the study. Avoid unnecessary theoretical discussions; provide information directly related to the research.

Extended Abstract: The extended abstract should comprehensively include the purpose, scope, theoretical framework, method, findings, and conclusions of the study.

Method: The method section should clearly state the purpose and importance of the study, the study design, data collection methods, analysis process, measurement tools used, research universe/sample group, and validity and reliability analyses. It must be stated who developed the data collection tools used in the study or from which source they were obtained.

7. Declarations

[This section should be added after the article has been accepted for publication following the peer review process. At this stage, authors should format their work according to the final version template.

• Acknowledgments: Should be brief and straightforward. Anonymous reviewers and editors should not be thanked. Financial support, institutional contributions, or professional assistance (language editing, etc.) should be acknowledged if provided. [To be added after the article is accepted]
• Author Contribution Statement: The contribution of each author to each stage and the percentage of their contribution should be clearly stated.
• Conflict of Interest Statement: Any conflicts of interest should be explained in detail. If there are none, the statement “There is no conflict of interest” should be used.
• Ethics Statement: If ethics committee approval has been obtained, the name of the ethics committee, date, and approval number should be provided. For anonymous submissions, the phrase “[ETHICS COMMITTEE INFORMATION TO BE ADDED]” should be used.
• Artificial Intelligence Use Statement: Originality should be the basis for writing articles. Therefore, it is prohibited to write the content of the article directly using artificial intelligence. However, artificial intelligence may only be used to improve the grammar and readability of the text. If artificial intelligence has been used in any way, this must be clearly stated at the end of the article under the heading “Declaration of Artificial Intelligence Use in the Article Writing Process.” This declaration must specify the name and purpose of the artificial intelligence technology used. It must be clearly stated that the authors have reviewed and edited the content produced by artificial intelligence and take full responsibility for all content. This statement is not required for artificial intelligence tools used only for proofreading (spelling, grammar, formatting, etc.). The use of AI in visual production or modification of visuals is prohibited. However, if this use is part of the research, it must be explained in detail in the methods section and presented in a way that ensures the reproducibility of the study.

8. Reference Citation
In-text citations and reference list (bibliography) formatting should follow the American Psychological Association (APA) 7th Edition style guidelines. Authors should follow the rules and format specified in the APA Publication Manual published by the American Psychological Association for both direct quotations and creating a reference list. Citation management tools such as Zotero, Mendeley, or EndNote, or sample templates provided by us, can be used for formatting references.

According to APA 7th edition, two basic methods are used for in-text citation: paraphrasing (conveying someone else's idea in your own words) and direct quotation (conveying the original statement word for word). In both methods, the source must be cited; this should be done either narratively (author's name in the sentence) or in parentheses (author, year).

Paraphrasing: Paraphrasing is rephrasing someone else's or your own previously published idea in your own words. In academic writing, paraphrasing is preferred over direct quotation. This method is used to summarize, synthesize, emphasize key points, and make comparisons. When paraphrasing, the source must be cited, and the page or paragraph number should be included if necessary (especially in long and complex texts). A paraphrase can span multiple sentences; in this case, citing the source in the first sentence is sufficient. However, if the paragraph changes or you move to another source, you must cite the source again. (See: APA Style – Paraphrasing Guidelines)

Direct Quotations: Direct quotations are expressions taken word for word from a source. Direct quotations should be used if a conceptual definition is to be given verbatim and the author's expression is original, concise, and compelling. Short quotations, those fewer than 40 words, are enclosed in quotation marks and must be cited. Long quotations, those 40 words or more, are written without quotation marks, as a separate paragraph, and indented as a block. (See: APA Style – Quotation Guidelines)

Online source rule: Adding the access date and the phrase “retrieved from” is not required, except in special cases. Such information should only be used for web pages or sources that are not historically fixed, where the content may change over time. If the access date must be provided, the following format should be used: U.S. Census Bureau. (n.d.). U.S. and world population clock. U.S. Department of Commerce. Retrieved January 9, 2020, from https://www.census.gov/popclock/.

In-text citation

Referans Listesi

9. Review Process

In articles accepted for review, corrections requested by the editor or reviewers should be highlighted in yellow within the text. This practice ensures that changes made are easily noticeable and verifiable.