Kitabiyat İlahiyat Araştırmaları İnceleme-Eleştiri Dergisi

The primary aim of Kitabiyat is to introduce the works published in the field of theology in recent years to the scientific community and to provide an interactive medium for the criticism and evaluation of these works. One of the main objectives of the journal is to contribute to the critical examination of scientific studies in the field of theology and to increase their academic value. In this context, Kitabiyat aims to pioneer the emergence and production of new and original ideas while providing the opportunity to criticize the existing academic accumulation. Kitabiyat has entered its publishing life with a mission that has no precedent in Turkey so far. Within the framework of this mission, the novelty brought to the world of science by Kitabiyat is that this journal has made itself exclusive to book/article reviews. In this respect, Kitabiyat is the first of its kind in our country and aims to have the ability to fill the gap in this direction.

Basic Islamic Sciences including Arabic Language and Rhetoric, Hadith, Islamic Law, History of Islamic Sects, Theology, Qur’anic Reading and Qiraat, Tafsir and Sufism; Philosophy and Religious Sciences including Religious Education, Philosophy of Religion, Psychology of Religion, Sociology of Religion, History of Religions, Islamic Philosophy and Logic; Islamic History and Arts, including the disciplines of Religious Music, History of Islamic Arts, Islamic History, Turkish-Islamic Literature; Textbooks, compilations, compilations, dictionaries, encyclopedias, catalog publications, translations, critical editions, etc., especially research books and articles. different types of works can be examined. In addition to these, thesis and symposium reviews, biographies and biographies can also be published in Kitabiyat.

WRITING GUIDE

Phase 1: Selection of the Text

• The text should be related to the fields included in the scope of Kitabiyat and should have an academic character.
• Although the main goal of Kitabiyat is to critique the works of the modern period, manuscripts, classical texts, etc. are also accepted.
  
• The text should address the critic’s field of study or be written on a subject that the author is interested in.
  
• The author of the critique should not have contributed to the text selected for evaluation at any stage. In the preface/introduction/any footnote of the text, there should be no expression of thanks to the criticizing author.

Phase 2: Reading and Writing Preparation

In the reading and writing process, some questions are expected to be answered and evaluated. It may not be possible to consider all of these questions in every text to be critiqued. After introducing and critiquing the main features of the text, such as its language, style, method, use of sources, main findings and claims, and target audience, authors may focus on a few findings or claims that they deem appropriate.

It is possible to state the questions expected to be answered in the critique text as follows:

• What are the subject organization, sections, titles and physical characteristics of the text?
  
• What are the purpose, main theme, main findings and claims, assumptions and arguments of the text? What is the originality of the main findings and claims and how are they justified?
  
• Is the text a continuation of another research project of the author or the output of a research process such as a doctoral thesis? If so, is this mentioned in the content?
  
• Are there sections such as index, maps, figures, graphs, illustrations, abbreviations, bibliography, etc. that will help to benefit from the text, how are they organized, and is it necessary to use them for the relevant text?
• Who(s) is the target audience of the book?
  
• What are the method(s) determined for the research in the text? Is the method suitable for the subject of the text?
  
• Has the author been able to take objectivity as a basis, or has he/she created his/her work under the shadow of any tradition, ideology or theory?
  
• How are the sources used in the text and what is the status of the sources (primary, secondary…)?
  
• Has the author achieved the goals set out in the text?
  
• What is the contribution of the text to the field? To what extent does the text address current debates in the field? Which problems does it offer solutions to? Is it in continuity with previous studies?
  
• What are the limitations of the research in the text? Is the subject covered in all its aspects?
  
• Are the topics sufficiently covered in line with the objective of the text?
  
• Are there any contradictory judgments or unanswered questions in the text? Which parts of the text-suggestions require further discussion?
  
• Does the author merely confirm existing knowledge or does he/she have a claim to build on?
  
• What is the starting point of the text and the way it deals with the topic?
  
• What is the language and style of the text? Are the terms of the field used appropriately and sufficiently in the text?
  
• Are there any inaccuracies in footnotes, bibliography, date, etc.?
  

The following issues can be taken into consideration in the process of the emergence of the critical text:

• Since the author’s nationality, political views, education, intellectual interests, and the environment and period in which he/she grew up may contain important clues about how the work in question was shaped, it would be appropriate to consider these issues.
  
• Information about the author should contribute to the introduction and evaluation of the text. The academic title of the authors should not be mentioned unless it is very necessary.
  
• In the process of reading the work to be criticized, notes should be taken on all these issues related to the text, as well as the weaknesses and strengths of the text.
  
• One should not only focus on the weak and problematic aspects of the text, but also keep its good and successful aspects on the agenda.
  
• During the writing process, it should be decided what the main thesis-issue of the critique will be.
  
• Authors are expected to refer to other studies when providing information and making evaluations.
  
• Authors should cite the relevant pages in the article when providing information, observations and evaluations from the text that is the subject of the critique. Example: “The author states that the target audience of the book is… (p. 13)”.
  
• The citation system used in the critique should be in accordance with the ISNAD Citation System 2nd edition (with footnotes).

• Click here for ISNAD Citation System in Turkish.
• Click here for ISNAD Citation System in English.
• Click here for ISNAD Citation System in Arabic.
  
  

Bibliography
The works cited in the text for information, determination and evaluation should be added to the end of the text under the title “Bibliography” in accordance with the Isnad Citation System 2nd edition.



Form and Style of Writing

• Authors should not see themselves as “judge/judges” and should avoid a judgmental and targeting attitude.
  
• The articles should consist of title, introduction, development, conclusion and bibliography. Academic language and style should be used in the articles. Sarcastic, insulting, belittling and degrading expressions should not be used. However, excessive praise and unnecessary glorifying expressions should also be avoided. Objective and constructive language should be used and the focus should be on the content of the work rather than the author, avoiding personalization. Descriptions and evaluations should be handled systematically with simpler and clearer expressions. Short sentences should be preferred as much as possible. Attention should be paid to the logic and coherence between sentences and paragraphs. The plan followed while criticizing the text may not be parallel to the order in the text.

• Taking into account that the reader may have little knowledge of the subject, uncommon terminology should be used to a minimum or technical concepts should be briefly explained. Spelling errors in the text can be pointed out by giving only a few examples; other errors should be mentioned in a footnote. The author is expected to quote as little as possible and to construct the text in his own words. It should be taken into account that the author has the right to reply to the criticized work.

Form and Organization

• Articles should be written in Microsoft Office Word program.
  
• There is no word limit for the manuscript (unnecessary and insignificant details and repetitions should be avoided).
  
• For Turkish and English texts, the font should be Book Antiqua, 12 pt, lines should be 1,2 spaced, footnotes should be 10 pt and single spaced. Paragraph spacing should be set as 6 pt. before and 6 pt. after and should be justified. The paragraph indent for the main text (except footnotes and bibliography) should be 1,25 cm on the first line. For Arabic texts, the font should be Traditional Arabic, 15 pt, lines should be single-spaced, footnotes should be 13 pt and single-spaced. Paragraph spacing should be set as 3 pt. before, 3 pt. after and justified.
  

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES

• Authors should take into account the Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive specified by the Council of Higher Education.
• Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must submit completely original work. If they have used the work or words of others, this must be cited in accordance with scientific ethics. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. For this reason, a similarity rate report is requested from all authors submitting manuscripts to the journal.
• Multiple, Duplicate, Redundant or Simultaneous Submission/Publication: Authors should not submit a manuscript that has already been published in another journal for consideration. Simultaneous submission of a manuscript to more than one journal is unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.
  
• Authorship: Only individuals who fulfill the authorship criteria should be listed as authors in the manuscript. These authorship criteria are as follows: (i) contributed to the design, implementation, data collection or analysis, (ii) drafted or made substantial intellectual contributions to or critically revised the manuscript, or (iii) saw, approved and agreed to submit the manuscript for publication. The corresponding author should ensure that all authors (as defined above) are included in the list of authors and that they have seen the final manuscript and agree to its submission for publication.
  
• Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Authors should disclose conflicts of interest at the earliest possible stage (usually by submitting a disclosure form at the time of manuscript submission and including a declaration in the manuscript). All sources of financial support for the study should be declared (including grant/funding/reference number if available).
  
• Peer Review Process: Authors are required to participate in the peer review process and are obligated to cooperate fully by responding promptly to editors’ requests for raw data, clarifications and evidence of ethical approval, and copyright permissions. In the event of an initial decision of “revision required”, authors should revise and resubmit their manuscript by the deadline given for reviewers’ comments in a systematic manner.
  
• Major Errors in Published Works: Authors are obligated to notify journal editors or publishers immediately if they discover significant errors or inaccuracies in their published work and to cooperate with journal editors or publishers to correct a typographical error or to withdraw the manuscript from publication. If the editors or publisher learns from a third party that a published paper contains a significant error or inaccuracy, the author has an obligation to immediately correct the paper, withdraw it, or provide proof of its accuracy to the journal editors.

Compliance with YÖK Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive
The YÖK Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive, Article 4, under the heading “Actions contrary to scientific research and publication ethics” is as follows. Authors should seriously refrain from the matters detailed below:

• Plagiarism: Presenting the ideas, methods, data, practices, writings, forms or works of others as one’s own work in whole or in part without citing the authors in accordance with scientific rules,
  
• Forgery: Producing data that is not based on research, editing or altering a submitted or published work on the basis of untrue data, reporting or publishing such data, presenting research that has not been conducted as if it has been conducted,
  
• Distortion: Falsifying research records and data obtained, falsifying methods, devices and materials that were not used in the research, excluding data that are not in accordance with the research hypothesis, manipulating data and/or results to fit relevant theories or assumptions, falsifying or shaping research results in line with the interests of the persons and organizations receiving support,
  
• Republishing: Presenting more than one work containing the same results of a research as separate works in associate professorship exam evaluations and academic promotions,
  
• Slicing: Inappropriately dividing the results of a research into parts in a way that disrupts the integrity of the research and presenting them as separate works in associate professorship exam evaluations and academic promotions by publishing a large number of publications without citing each other,
  
• Unfair authorship: Including people who have not made active contributions among the authors, not including people who have made active contributions among the authors, changing the order of authors in an unjustified and inappropriate manner, omitting the names of active contributors from the work during publication or in subsequent editions, using one’s influence to get one’s name included among the authors even though one has not made active contributions,
  
• Other types of ethical violations: Failure to clearly indicate the persons, institutions or organizations providing support and their contributions to the research in the publications of the research conducted with support; sharing the information contained in a work that he/she was assigned to review as a referee with others before publication; misusing the resources, places, facilities and devices provided or allocated for scientific research; making completely groundless, unwarranted and deliberate accusations of ethical violations.

Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers

• Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Assist editors in editorial decisions and help authors improve their manuscripts through editorial communication.
  
• Reviewer: Any reviewer who does not feel qualified to review the manuscript proposal or who knows that review of the manuscript cannot take place in a timely manner should immediately notify the editors and decline the invitation to review, so that a new reviewer can be assigned.
  
• Confidentiality: All manuscripts submitted for review are confidential documents and should be treated as such. They should not be shown or discussed with others unless authorized by the editor. This also applies to reviewers who decline an invitation to review.
  
• Standards of Impartiality: Comments on the manuscript should be made impartially and suggestions should be made in such a way that the authors can use them to improve the manuscript. Personal criticism of the authors is not appropriate.
  
• Acceptance of Sources: Reviewers should cite relevant published but not cited works. Reviewers should also inform the editor of any significant similarities between the manuscript under review and any other manuscript (published or unpublished).
  
• Disclosure and Disagreements: Reviewers should not use unpublished information in a manuscript submitted for their own research purposes without the express written permission of the authors. They should also provide clear and detailed reasons for rejecting a manuscript.
  
• Conflicts of Interest: Reviewers should not have any conflict of interest with the research, the authors and/or research funders. Conflicts of interest should be reported to the editor.

Ethical Responsibilities of Editors

• Impartiality and Publisher’s Freedom: Editors evaluate manuscript proposals based on their relevance to the scope of the journal and the importance and originality of the work. Editors establish a transparent and objective process without taking into account the race, gender, ethnicity, nationality or political views of the authors who submit manuscript proposals. The decision to revise or publish cannot be influenced by institutions other than the editorial board of the journal. The editors take care to ensure that the published issues contribute to the reader, researcher, practitioner and the scientific field and are of original quality.
• Independence: The relationship between the editors (Editor and Associate Editors) and the publisher is based on the principle of editorial independence. According to the written agreement between the editors and the publisher, all decisions of the editors are independent of the publisher and the journal owner. Editors should reject incomplete and erroneous research that does not comply with the journal policy, editorial rules and level without any influence.
  
• Confidentiality: Editors should not share information about a submitted manuscript with anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers and editorial board. They should ensure that manuscripts evaluated by at least two reviewers are evaluated according to a double blind review system and should keep the names of the reviewers confidential.
  
• Disclosure and Disagreements: Editors and editorial board members may not use unpublished information in a manuscript submitted for their own research purposes without the express written permission of the authors. Editors should not be in conflict of interest with the authors of manuscripts they accept or reject. They should also provide clear and detailed reasons for rejecting manuscripts.
  
• Publication Decision: The editors ensure that all manuscripts accepted for publication are peer-reviewed by at least two referees who are experts in their fields. The editors are responsible for deciding which manuscript to publish from the manuscripts submitted to the journal, based on the validity of the work in question, its importance for researchers and readers, the comments of the referees, and other legal requirements. Editors have the responsibility and authority to accept or reject manuscripts. Therefore, they must use their responsibility and authority appropriately and in a timely manner.
  
• Ethical Concerns: Editors will take measures when ethical concerns arise regarding a submitted or published manuscript. As a matter of fact, they continue their work processes without compromising intellectual property rights and ethical standards. Any reported unethical publishing behavior will be investigated, even if it occurs years after publication. Editors follow the COPE Flowcharts in case ethical concerns arise. If the ethical concerns are significant, a correction, retraction, or the concerns may be published in the journal.
  
• Collaboration with Journal Boards: Editors ensure that all advisory committee members follow editorial policies and guidelines. Inform advisory committee members about editorial policies. Ensure that advisory board members evaluate their work independently. Contribute to new advisory board members and make decisions as appropriate. Send work for evaluation that is appropriate to the expertise of advisory board members. Interact regularly with the advisory board. Organize regular meetings with the editorial board for publication policies and journal development.

Notifying the Editor of the Situation that Does Not Comply with Ethical Principles
Any unethical behavior on the part of editors, reviewers, or authors, or any unethical situation regarding a manuscript in the review process, in early view, or in a published manuscript, should be reported to kitabiyatilahiyat@samsun.edu.tr.

PUBLICATION POLICY AND PRINCIPLES

• The submitted manuscripts should coincide with the purpose and scope of the journal.
• Kitabiyat publishes academic studies within the scope of theology.
  
• Manuscripts submitted to the journal must be prepared in Turkish, English or Arabic in order to be accepted.
  
• The submitted book/article critiques should be original and should not be unpublished or submitted to another journal for publication.
  
• Copyright and publication rights of the author(s) are reserved.
  
• Manuscripts should be prepared according to the journal’s writing guidelines.
• All documents and files should be submitted as Word documents (.doc or .docx).
  
• Manuscripts that contain incomplete information or do not conform to the format of the journal will not be evaluated and will be returned to the author.
  
• Manuscripts that do not use the ISNAD Citation System will be returned to the author for correction.
  
• Manuscripts exceeding the word limit will be returned to the author to reduce the word count.
  
• All expenses of the journal are covered by the publisher. The publication of articles in the journal and the execution of the manuscript processes are not subject to a fee. No processing fee or submission fee is charged for manuscripts submitted to the journal or accepted for publication.
  
• After the manuscript is submitted to the journal for publication, none of the authors’ names can be deleted from the author list, a new name cannot be added as an author, and the order of authors cannot be changed without the written permission of all authors.
  
• This journal checks for plagiarism in manuscripts submitted for review. Plagiarism, duplication, false authorship, data fabrication, slicing and dicing, publication by slicing, copyright infringement, and concealment of conflict of interest are considered unethical behavior. All articles that do not comply with accepted ethical standards are removed from publication. This includes manuscripts that contain possible irregularities or improprieties detected after publication.
• This journal checks manuscripts submitted for review for plagiarism: 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 manuscript 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.
  
• After the plagiarism check, eligible manuscripts are evaluated by the editor-in-chief for originality, importance of the subject matter and compatibility with the scope of the journal. The editor submits each manuscript that meets the formal guidelines to at least two referees from Turkey and/or abroad.
  
• If the referees deem necessary, changes are made by the author. The Editorial Board decides whether or not to publish the text corrected by the author.
  
• The manuscript is subject to an average of 120 days from submission to acceptance/rejection.
  
• The scientific and ethical responsibility of the published articles belongs to the authors and the determinations and evaluations made do not reflect the opinion of the journal.
  

No fee is charged to the author or his/her organization under any name.