Kocaeli University Faculty of Law Journal is a national, peer-reviewed journal published biannually in June and December.
Manuscripts submitted to the journal must not have been previously published or submitted for publication elsewhere.
The journal accepts articles in Turkish and English. However, it is also possible to publish manuscripts written in other foreign languages deemed appropriate by the editor. All articles must be written using the Latin alphabet.
Our journal accepts scholarly works in the field of law, including research articles, case commentaries, and translations. The author must indicate the type of the manuscript (e.g., article, case review, translation) just above the title. All manuscripts published in the journal undergo peer review. Reviewers assess whether the categorization aligns with the content, but the final classification decision belongs to the editors.
Manuscripts should be submitted via email to: kouhfd@kocaeli.edu.tr
Each manuscript should include the following sections: abstract, introduction, main text, conclusion, and references.
Abbreviations should be spelled out in full upon first use in the text, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. A separate list of abbreviations should not be included.
The manuscript title, an abstract of 150 to 250 words, and five keywords must be provided both in Turkish and English.
Manuscripts must be submitted in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx, Microsoft Office 98 or later versions).
Including footnotes, the word count of the manuscript should be between 5,000 and 25,000 words. Submissions falling outside this range will be rejected without peer review.
Manuscripts must be formatted as follows:
Paper size: A4, portrait
Margins: Top: 2.5 cm; Bottom: 2.5 cm; Left: 2.5 cm; Right: 2.5 cm
Main Text: Times New Roman, 12-point font, 1.5 line spacing, justified
Footnotes: Times New Roman, 10-point font, single spacing, justified
Paragraphs in footnotes should not be indented and must have 0 pt spacing before and after.
The English title should be included below the Turkish title and both should be centered. The author’s full name should be aligned to the right, following the title. An asterisk (*) must be placed after the author’s name, and a footnote must provide the author’s title, affiliated institution (including faculty and department if affiliated with a university), email address, and ORCID ID.
The sections "Abstract", "Introduction", "Conclusion", and "References" should not be numbered. These headings must be bold, 12-point font, 1.5 line spacing, justified, and indented 1.25 cm.
Headings within the main text must be numbered and formatted as follows:
I. ALL CAPS, BOLD
A. Capitalized Initials, Bold
Capitalized Initials, Bold
a. Lowercase with Capital Initial, Bold
aa. Lowercase with Capital Initial, Bold
aaa. Lowercase with Capital Initial, Bold
All headings must be in bold, Times New Roman, 12-point font, and 1.5 line spacing.
Citations within the text must be given as footnotes at the bottom of each page. See: Citation Guidelines
For translations, the original text must also be submitted. The author must obtain permission from the rights holder of the original text in accordance with applicable legislation and provide proof of this. Information on the original text and the permission must be included in a footnote marked with an asterisk above the title.
In studies requiring ethics committee approval, information regarding the approval (committee name, date, and approval number) must be included in the methodology section and on the first/last page of the article. For clinical and experimental studies involving humans or animals, the ethics committee approval must be documented and declared in the article. Similarly, if data collection tools such as scales are used, written permission from the copyright holder of the scale must be documented and indicated in the article.
Authors are required to complete and submit the Ethics Statement Form and the Copyright Transfer Form with a wet signature.
Manuscripts submitted by the author are considered final and ready for publication. Therefore, after editor and peer review, manuscripts that meet the required criteria may be published without further notification to the author.
Prior to peer review, the editor checks manuscripts for formatting. If the manuscript contains excessive spelling or grammatical errors, violates publication/ethical standards or legal obligations (e.g., copyright infringement), the author will be asked to make the necessary corrections.
Manuscripts that meet formatting requirements are subjected to plagiarism screening. Articles found to involve plagiarism or unethical conduct are rejected outright. If the similarity index exceeds 20%, the editor reviews the content in detail and, if deemed appropriate, returns it to the author for revision.
A double-blind peer review process is applied. Author information is removed before manuscripts are sent to reviewers. Reviewer and author identities remain confidential and are not disclosed. The editor selects two reviewers with expertise in the relevant field. The manuscript must receive approval from both reviewers to be published. Reviewers may accept, request revisions, or reject a manuscript with justification. If revision is requested, the author is expected to make the necessary changes promptly. The revised manuscript is sent back to the same reviewer. If one reviewer accepts and the other rejects the manuscript, the editor may decide to send it to a third reviewer. If the third reviewer also rejects it, the manuscript is returned to the author and will not be published.
Editors or members of the editorial board may submit manuscripts to the journal. In such cases, the author will not be involved in the editorial process, and the process will proceed in accordance with principles of impartiality and publication ethics.
Authors may withdraw their manuscripts at any time before the peer review process is completed.
No fees are paid to authors or reviewers.