Kader

WRITING RULES

General Principles
• Kader is a peer-reviewed international Journal published twice a year as June and December.
• Kader aims to publish studies such as articles, book critiques and symposium evaluations on Islamic theology (Kalām), religious studies and interdisciplinary issues related to theology (Philosophy, Logic, Social Sciences and Humanities).
• The text submitted for publication may not be previously published or accepted for publication by another publisher.
• The language of the regular issues of Kader is Turkish and English. However the language of the special issue published every year in December is only English.
• Papers may not exceed 10.000 words, including appended material such as pictures, charts and maps etc. (and excluding keynotes, bibliographies, abstracts and summaries in English). Papers must be submitted with abstracts comprising the introduction, methodology, findings, discussions and conclusion sections briefly, both in Turkish and English (350-400 words) along with key words (5-7 words).
• Papers submitted for publication are subjected to Preliminary Examination, Similarity Screening, Peer Review and English Language Editing.
• The paper that is reviewed three times at the Preliminary Examination stage but fails to pass this process is returned to the author and is not processed again in the same publication period.
• The editor peruses the submitted paper with regard to both form and content before sending it on to referees. The editor then sends the paper to the internal reviewer from the members of the Editorial Board according to their field of expertise. The eligible manuscripts are sent to two external referees who are experts in their fields to be evaluated in terms of their scientific competence within the scope of double blind refereeing. If the paper is rejected by one of them, it is sent to third referee. In order for any paper to be published, at least two of the referees must approve it. The revision and improvement demanded by the referees must be implemented in order for a paper to be published. Authors are informed within the process about the decision regarding the publication of their papers. The final decision on whether or not to publish the articles belongs to the editor-in-chief. The editor's decision is final.
• The authors have to take notice of referees' report. The authors assume the responsibility of the paper with regard to the style, content, scholarly value and legal aspects.
• All texts published in Kader are copyrighted by the respective authors according to CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence; they cannot be used without proper reference.
• A maximum of one paper of the same type by the same author can be published in one issue.

The style features the submitted texts should meet:
• The texts submitted for publication should be written in A4 size with white space of 3,5 cm at the top, bottom, right and left side with at least 12nk line spacing, two sides, without line hyphenation and 10 points Isnad Font (You can download the font here). The tables, figures, pictures, graphics and etc. should not exceed 12X17 cm in order that they will not go beyond the edges of the page and will be easy for design. Therefore, smaller points and single space could be used in tables, figures, pictures, graphics and etc. The ISNAD Citation Style 2nd Edition is required in footnotes and references.
• The papers prepared according to the above-mentioned rules and format should be sent in "Word" format after becoming a member of the Dergipark system from the membership button on the main page of the journal.
Translations should be sent with original texts and translation permissions.
 

The information below must be given:
• The title of the paper (both in Turkish and English), the name and surname of the author, his/her title, institution, institution's ROR ID (https://ror.org/) and ORCID ID must be specified. Besides, information of the author (e-mail address) must be given.
 

Footnotes and bibliography referencing style:
Kader requires the authors to use the ISNAD Citation Style 2nd Edition. For more information you can visit the website http://www.isnadsistemi.org/en/guide/ and download the handbook and templates from http://www.isnadsistemi.org/en/downloads/.

Publication Intervals and Article Acceptance Dates
June (30th June) Issue
Submissions: 1st February – 31st March
December (31st December) Issue
Submissions: 1st August – 30th September

Once 25 article submissions are received for a publication period, submissions are closed.

Evaluation and Publication Fees
Kader does not charge any article submission, processing or printing fee from the authors. Our journal does not accept sponsorship and advertisements in accordance with its publication policies. All expenses of our journal are covered by the publisher.

Kader adheres to national and international standards of research and publication ethics. Our journal has adopted the International Ethical Publishing Principles published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

PUBLICATION POLICIES

General Principles
• Kader is a field journal focusing on Islamic faith and comparative faith research, aiming to contribute to current knowledge and debates in the field with the studies it publishes. Kader is a peer-reviewed international academic journal published twice a year (June-December).
• The target audience of the journal is researchers, students and related academic institutions.
• Our journal publishes scientific studies in Turkish and English in genres such as research articles, translation articles, book reviews, etc. through a double blind peer review process. The final decision on whether or not to publish the articles belongs to the editor-in-chief. The editor's decision is final. Click here for more information.
• The journal is published twice a year in June and December, and article submissions are open from February 1st to March 31st for the June issue and from August 1st to September 30th for the December issue but once 25 article submissions are received for a publication period submissions are closed,
• Articles submitted to the journal should not have been published or decided to be published anywhere before.
• The publication language of the regular issues of our journal is Turkish and English, and the language of the special issue published in December is only English.
• A maximum of one study of the same type by the same author can be published in one issue of our journal.
• The copyright of the works published in our journal belongs to the authors and is published as open access with CC-BY-NC-ND license. Click here for more information.
• Articles published in our journal are digitally archived in LOCKSS. Articles published in our journal can be accessed free of charge at https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/kaderdergi/archive. Click here for more information.
• Kader does not charge any fee from authors for article evaluation and publication process. Our journal also does not accept sponsorship and advertisements in accordance with its publication policies. All expenses of our journal are covered by the publisher.

Ethics Committee Approval
For all research conducted in all scientific disciplines requiring ethics committee approval, an ethics committee decision must have been obtained, and information regarding the decision must be stated in the article text. Our journal does not consider studies that do not have an ethics committee decision. In studies requiring ethics committee approval, information regarding the approval (committee name, date, and number) must be included in the article text. 
Research Requiring Ethics Committee Approval
In our journal, research requiring ethics committee approval includes the following studies:
• All research conducted using qualitative or quantitative approaches that involve collecting data from participants using methods such as surveys, interviews, focus group studies, observation, and interview techniques.
• Retrospective studies within the framework of the Personal Data Protection Law.
For such studies to be considered for evaluation, the relevant ethics committee approvals must have been obtained and these approvals must be clearly stated in the article text.

Principles of Research Ethics
• Integrity, quality, and transparency must be ensured in the design, review, and conduct of research.
• The research team and participants must be fully informed about the purpose, methods, and anticipated uses of the research; the requirements for participation in the research; and any risks involved.
• The confidentiality of the information provided by research participants and the anonymity of respondents must be ensured. Research must be designed in a way that protects the autonomy and dignity of participants.
• Research participants must participate voluntarily and not be coerced in any way.
• Harm to participants must be avoided. The research should be planned in a way that does not put participants at risk. The consent of the legal guardian should be obtained for children, those under guardianship, or those with certified mental illness.
• Research independence should be clear and transparent; any conflict of interest should be disclosed.
• If the study is to be conducted at any institution or organization, approval should be obtained from that institution or organization to conduct the study.

Special Issue Publication Policy
A special issue in English is published once a year in December 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 blind model.

1- Volume: 19 Issue: 3 (SPECIAL ISSUE)
Our journal, “Volume: 19 Issue: 3 (SPECIAL ISSUE)” was made available to our readers on 31.12.2021. This issue was published under the editorship of Prof. Dr. Mehmet BULGEN. Please click here to access our special issue.

2- Volume: 20 Issue: 3 (SPECIAL ISSUE)
Our journal, “Volume: 20 Issue: 3 (SPECIAL ISSUE)” was made available to our readers on 31.12.2022. This issue was published under the editorship of Prof. Şaban Ali DÜZGÜN. Please click here to access our special issue.

3- Volume: 21 Issue: 3 (SPECIAL ISSUE)
Our journal, “Volume: 21 Issue: 3 (SPECIAL ISSUE)” was made available to our readers on 31.12.2023. This issue was published under the editorship of Prof. Şaban Ali DÜZGÜN. Please click here to access our special issue.

4- Volume: 23 Issue: 3 (SPECIAL ISSUE)
Our journal, “Volume: 23 Issue: 3 (SPECIAL ISSUE)” was made available to our readers on 31.12.2025. This issue was published under the editorship of Prof. Şaban Ali DÜZGÜN. Please click here to access our special issue.

Correction, Retraction, 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 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; there is evidence that the findings are unreliable and that the authors' institutions have not investigated the incident; or the potential investigation seems unfair or inconclusive. COPE guidelines (1-2-3-4-5-6) are taken into account in relation to correction, retraction or expression of concern.

Plagiarism Action Plan and Journal's Measures
The journal respects intellectual property and aims to protect and promote the original work of its authors. Plagiarized manuscripts are contrary to the standards of quality, research and innovation. Therefore, all authors submitting manuscripts to the journal are expected to adhere to ethical standards and avoid plagiarism in any form. If an author is suspected of plagiarism in a submitted or published manuscript, the Ethics Editor of the journal will first review the manuscript. The paper is then reviewed by the Editorial Board. The Journal then contacts the author(s) to send a statement within two weeks. If the journal does not receive a response from the author(s) within the specified period, the journal contacts the author's affiliated university and requests an investigation of the allegation.
The Journal will take the following serious measures against published manuscripts found to contain plagiarism:
1. The journal will immediately contact the author(s)' affiliating university to take definitive action against the author(s).
2. The journal will remove the PDF copy of the published article from its website and disable all links to the full-text article. The phrase Plagiarized Article will be added to the title of the published article.
3. The journal will deactivate the author's account and reject all future submissions from the author for 3 years.

This journal checks for plagiarism in manuscripts submitted for review: Pre-checked manuscripts are scanned for plagiarism using iThenticate or Turnitin software. Authors are notified if plagiarism/self-plagiarism is detected. If necessary, editors may check the article for plagiarism at various stages of the review or production process. High similarity rates may result in a manuscript being rejected before or even after acceptance. This rate is expected to be less than 15%.

Use of Artificial Intelligence
The use of artificial intelligence-based tools in stages that do not directly affect the original content of the work, such as literature review and language control, is acceptable in articles submitted to our journal. However, such use must be carried out in accordance with ethical rules. The use of artificial intelligence for the creation of false data, content manipulation, or other unethical purposes is strictly prohibited.
In articles that utilize artificial intelligence-supported processes, this must be clearly stated in the article submission. All responsibility for the use of artificial intelligence lies with the authors. For detailed information please see our Generative Artificial Intelligence Policy page.
 

CODE OF ETHICS
The publication processes implemented at Kader constitute the basis for the development and distribution of knowledge in an impartial and reputable manner. The processes implemented in this direction directly reflect on the quality of the work of the authors and the institutions supporting the authors. Peer-reviewed studies are studies that embody and support the scientific method. At this point, it is important that all stakeholders of the process (authors, readers and researchers, publishers, referees and editors) comply with standards for ethical principles. Kader expects all stakeholders to carry the following ethical responsibilities within the scope of publication ethics.
The following ethical duties and responsibilities have been prepared in open access, taking into account the guidelines and policies published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Publishing an article in a peer-reviewed journal is an essential building block in the development of a harmonious and respected knowledge network. It is a direct reflection of the quality of the work of the authors and their supporting institutions. Peer-reviewed articles support and shape the scientific method. It is therefore important for all parties involved in publishing - authors, journal editors, reviewers and publishing organizations - to agree on standards of expected ethical behavior:

1. Authors' Ethical Responsibilities
• No copyright fee may be charged for articles submitted to the journal.
• Authors are expected to submit original work.
• The reference list must be complete, and all sources cited must be clearly indicated.
• Authors who wish to withdraw their submitted work from the journal due to delay or other reasons must submit a written request.
• Authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest.
• Authors may be asked to provide raw data related to their articles as part of the review process; in such cases, authors should be prepared to submit the requested data and information to the editorial board and scientific committee.
• If the author(s) notice an error or mistake in their published, advance view, or review-stage work, they are obligated to inform the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor in the correction or retraction process.
• Changes to author responsibilities (such as adding authors, changing author order, or removing authors) cannot be proposed for a work that is already in the review process.
• An article that has completed the review process cannot be retracted by the author without a reasonable justification falling within the scope of publication ethics; if such a request is made, the article in question will be removed from the system through a rejection process.
• The editorial board assumes that authors of manuscripts submitted to Kader agree to comply with these conditions.
• Manuscripts submitted by authors to Kader must not violate scientific research and publication ethics.

Actions contrary to scientific research and publication ethics include:
a) Plagiarism: Presenting the ideas, methods, data, applications, writings, figures, or works of others, either partially or entirely, as one's own work without properly citing the original authors in accordance with scientific rules,
b) Fabrication: Producing data that is not based on research, editing or altering a submitted or published work based on false data, reporting or publishing such data, presenting research that has not been conducted as if it had been conducted, 
c) Distortion: Tampering with research records and obtained data, presenting methods, devices, and materials not used in the research as if they had been used, not evaluating data that does not fit the research hypothesis, manipulating data and/or results to fit relevant theories or assumptions, distorting or shaping research results in line with the interests of the individuals and organizations providing support, Submitting multiple works containing the same results of a single research as separate works in associate professorship examination evaluations and academic promotions.
d) Salami slicing: Submitting multiple publications as separate works in associate professorship examination evaluations and academic promotions by dividing the results of a research into parts in an inappropriate manner that disrupts the integrity of the research and without referencing each other.
e) Unfair authorship: Including individuals who have not made an active contribution among the authors, not including individuals who have made an active contribution among the authors, changing the order of authors without justification and in an inappropriate manner, removing the names of those who have made an active contribution from the work during publication or in subsequent editions, including one's name among the authors by using one's influence despite not having made an active contribution,

Other types of ethical violations include:
a) Failing to acknowledge individuals, institutions, or organizations that provided support for research resulting in publications,
b) Using theses or studies that have not yet been submitted or defended as sources without the permission of the owner,
c) Sharing information contained in a work assigned for review with others prior to publication without the express permission of the author,
ç) Using resources, facilities, opportunities, and equipment provided or allocated for scientific research for purposes other than those intended,
d) Making unfounded, inappropriate, and deliberate allegations of ethical violations,
e) Publishing data obtained without the explicit consent of participants in surveys and attitude studies conducted as part of scientific work, or without the permission of the institution if the research is to be conducted at an institution,
f) Failure to comply with the obligation to inform and warn those concerned about possible harmful practices related to scientific research conducted by researchers and officials,
g) In scientific studies, failing to use data and information obtained from other persons and institutions to the extent and in the manner permitted, failing to respect the confidentiality of this information, and failing to ensure its protection,
h) Making false or misleading statements regarding scientific research and publications in academic appointments and promotions,

2. Editors' Ethical Duties and Responsibilities

General duties and responsibilities
Editors are responsible for every publication in Kader. In this context, editors have the following roles and obligations:
• Striving to meet the information needs of readers and authors,
• Continuously ensuring the development of the journal,
• Carrying out processes aimed at improving the quality of the works published in the journal,
• Supporting freedom of thought,
• Ensuring academic integrity,
• Continuing work processes without compromising intellectual property rights and ethical standards,
• Demonstrating openness and transparency in publishing matters requiring correction or clarification.

Relationships with readers
• Editors should make decisions taking into account the information, skills, and experience expectations of all readers, researchers, and practitioners. They should ensure that published works contribute to readers, researchers, practitioners, and science, and are original in nature. In addition, editors are responsible for considering feedback from readers, researchers, and practitioners and providing explanatory and informative feedback.

Relationships with authors
The duties and responsibilities of editors towards authors are as follows:
• Editors should make positive or negative decisions based on the importance, original value, validity, clarity of expression, and the aims and objectives of the journal.
• They should accept studies that are suitable for publication for preliminary evaluation, provided they do not have serious problems.
• Editors should not disregard positive referee recommendations unless there is a serious problem with the work.
• New editors should not change decisions made by previous editors regarding works unless there is a serious problem.
• The “Blind Refereeing and Evaluation Process” must be published, and editors should prevent any deviations from the defined processes.
• Editors should publish an “Author Guide” that details everything authors can expect from them. These guides should be updated at regular intervals.
• Authors should receive clear and informative notifications and feedback.

Relationships with reviewers
The duties and responsibilities of editors towards reviewers are as follows:
• Articles submitted to the journal by editors are evaluated by two independent reviewers, provided they are not members of the editorial group.
• Reviewers should be selected according to the subject of the work.
• Editors are responsible for providing referees with the information and guidelines they need during the evaluation process.
• Editors must ensure there is no conflict of interest between authors and referees.
• Editors must keep the identities of referees confidential in the context of blind refereeing.
• Editors should encourage referees to evaluate the work in an impartial, scientific, and objective manner.
• Should evaluate referees based on criteria such as timeliness and performance.
• Should establish practices and policies to improve referee performance.
• Should take the necessary steps to dynamically update the referee pool.
• Should prevent rude and unscientific evaluations.
• Should take steps to ensure that the referee pool is diverse.

Relations with the editorial board
Editors should ensure that all editorial board members proceed with the processes in accordance with publication policies and guidelines. They should inform editorial board members about publication policies and keep them abreast of developments. They should train new editorial board members on publication policies and provide them with the information they need.

Additionally, editors should:
• Ensure that editorial board members evaluate submissions impartially and independently.
• Identify new editorial board members who can contribute and are suitably qualified.
• Assign submissions to editorial board members based on their areas of expertise.
• Maintain regular interaction with the editorial board.
• Organize meetings with the editorial board at regular intervals to discuss publication policies and the journal's development.

Relationships with the journal owner and publisher
The relationship between editors and the publisher is based on the principle of editorial independence. Pursuant to the written agreement between the editors and the publisher, all decisions made by the editors are independent of the publisher and journal owner.

Editorial and blind peer review processes
Editors are responsible for implementing the “Blind Peer Review and Evaluation Process” policies outlined in the journal's publication policies. In this context, editors ensure that each work undergoes a fair, impartial, and timely evaluation process.

Quality assurance
Editors are responsible for ensuring that every article published in the journal complies with the journal's publication policies and international standards.

Protection of personal data
Editors are responsible for protecting all personal data submitted to our journal in accordance with legal regulations and ethical rules.

Preventing potential abuse and misconduct
Editors are responsible for taking measures against potential abuse and misconduct. This includes conducting a thorough and objective investigation into any complaints regarding such issues, as well as sharing the findings related to the matter.

Ensuring academic publication integrity
Editors must ensure that any errors, inconsistencies, or misleading statements in the work are corrected promptly.

Protection of intellectual property rights
Editors are responsible for protecting the intellectual property rights of all published articles and defending the rights of the journal and author(s) in the event of possible infringements. Furthermore, editors are responsible for taking the necessary measures to ensure that the content of all published articles does not infringe on the intellectual property rights of other publications.

Constructiveness and openness to discussion
Editors should:
Consider persuasive criticism of works published in the journal and respond to such criticism constructively.
They should grant the author(s) of criticized works the right to respond.
They should not ignore or exclude works with negative results.

Complaints
Editors are responsible for carefully reviewing complaints from authors, reviewers, or readers and responding in an informative and explanatory manner.

Political and Commercial Concerns
The journal owner, publisher, and any other political or commercial elements shall not influence the editors' independent decision-making.

Conflicts of Interest
Editors shall ensure that the publication process is completed independently and impartially, taking into account conflicts of interest among authors, reviewers, and other editors. Our journal adheres to COPE principles (1-2) regarding potential conflicts of interest.

3. Responsibilities of Reviewers
The evaluation of all submissions through “blind peer review” directly impacts publication quality. This process ensures objectivity and independence in the evaluation of submissions. The evaluation process is conducted based on the double-blind peer review principle. Reviewers cannot communicate directly with authors; evaluations and comments are communicated through the journal management system. In this process, evaluation forms and reviewer comments on the full texts are communicated to the author(s) through the editor. Within the specified process, articles that pass the reviewers' evaluations are also scanned using a special program used for plagiarism detection to determine whether the articles have been published before and whether they contain plagiarism. In this context, reviewers evaluating work for Kader are expected to have the following ethical responsibilities:
• Articles submitted to the journal are evaluated by at least two reviewers.
• If one of the two referees expresses a negative opinion, the paper is referred to a third referee or to the editor for a final decision.
• Evaluations must be impartial.
• Those acting as referees must be experts in the subject on which they express their opinion.
• Referees should not have a conflict of interest with the research, the authors, and/or the research funders.
• Reviewers should indicate any relevant published works that have not been cited.
• Manuscripts under review must be kept confidential.
• In accordance with the principle of confidentiality, reviewers must destroy the manuscripts they have reviewed after the evaluation process. They may only use the final versions of the manuscripts they have reviewed after they have been published.
• They should evaluate objectively, based solely on the content of the work. Nationality, gender, religious beliefs, political beliefs, and commercial concerns should not influence the evaluation.
• Reviewers should conduct their evaluation in a constructive and polite manner. They should not make hostile, defamatory, or insulting personal comments.
• Authors should immediately inform the relevant editor in case of any misuse (e.g., plagiarism or similar unethical activities).
• Reviewers must adhere to the ethical rules to which the author of the reviewed article is subject and apply these rules meticulously.
• They should evaluate the work they have accepted for review in a timely manner and in accordance with the above ethical responsibilities.

4. Publisher's Ethical Responsibilities
The Journal Editorial Board acts with awareness of the following ethical responsibilities:
• Kader does not charge authors any fees.
• Editors are responsible for all processes related to works submitted to Kader. In this context, editors are the decision-makers, without considering economic or political gains.
• It commits to independent editorial decision-making.
• Kader maintains a database containing every published article, accessible online.
• It is responsible for taking measures against any scientific misconduct, citation fraud, and plagiarism related to editors.

5. If You Encounter an Unethical Situation
If you notice a significant error or inaccuracy in an article published in Kader, or if you encounter unethical behavior or content outside of the ethical responsibilities mentioned above, please report it by email to kaderdergi@gmail.com. We welcome complaints as they provide us with an opportunity for improvement, and we aim to respond quickly and constructively. Our journal follows the COPE Principles (1-2) regarding complaints.