Lectio Socialis

Lectio Socialis, a distinguished journal in the realm of social sciences, is committed to fostering a dynamic and autonomous platform where scholars and researchers hailing from diverse corners of the world can disseminate their scholarly works in English or Turkish. Our primary objectives encompass a multifaceted spectrum.

Firstly, the journal is steadfast in its dedication to amplifying scholarly discourse and promoting intellectual exchange on a range of critical topics. These subjects encompass, but are not limited to, the crucial issues surrounding gender disparities, mainly focusing on the pervasive problem of violence against women. Furthermore, the journal is resolutely committed to shedding light on pressing global concerns, such as the imperative battle against climate change.

A second cardinal objective of Lectio Socialis is to illuminate the intricate interplay between economic, political, and societal dynamics that underscore multifarious challenges. This extends to comprehensive examinations of poverty, deprivation, inequality, and the fundamental pursuit of social justice. Notably, our journal holds studies that incorporate a perceptive and incisive political economy framework in high regard.

Lectio Socialis is committed to promoting rigorous scholarship that enhances our understanding of social sciences. Our goal is to contribute significantly to the advancement of "emancipatory" social sciences across the globe. We believe that social sciences can be a powerful tool for liberation, empowerment, and transformative change, particularly in challenging and overcoming the constraints of economic structures. Our focus is on breaking free from oppressive systems and fostering a more just and equitable society.

Lectio Socialis invites a diverse range of scholarly contributions within its clearly defined scope. Our primary focus lies on original scientific research and review studies conducted within the social science disciplines. Specifically, these encompass Political Science, Public Administration, International Relations, and Economics.

Moreover, our scope extends to embrace interdisciplinary studies, particularly those that bridge the gap between social sciences and humanities, including subjects like History, Philosophy, Anthropology, Sociology, and Psychology, when closely intertwined with social science themes.

We appreciate the academic significance of research presented at congresses and, as such, we accept submissions of studies whose abstracts have previously been disseminated in such forums. In alignment with our commitment to fostering scholarly excellence, we prioritize research articles written in English, which exhibit a comprehensive and meticulous analysis, employing both qualitative and quantitative research methods.

We also provide the opportunity for studies derived from master's theses or doctoral dissertations to be considered for publication. While submissions falling under this category are indeed welcome, we also value a wide array of scholarly contributions from various sources. To ensure the originality and unique contribution of content, submitted works should not have been previously published nor currently under review by another journal.

In addition to original research articles and review papers, Lectio Socialis offers a platform for diverse content, including translations of articles, enlightening book reviews, and engaging interviews with esteemed scholars, all of which will be thoughtfully included when deemed appropriate.

By adhering to these distinct parameters, Lectio Socialis maintains its commitment to enriching scholarly discourse within the fields of social sciences and humanities.

Lectio Socialis adheres to a set of comprehensive guidelines to ensure the quality and integrity of published works within its biannual editions (January and July). The following rules delineate the parameters for manuscript submission, preparation, and citation:

1. Manuscript Length and Publishing Criteria

- Manuscripts should ideally fall within the range of 4000 to 10000 words.

- Submissions exceeding the upper word limit might be considered, subject to the Editor-in-Chief's discretion.

- Manuscripts must be exclusive to Lectio Socialis and not have been previously published or submitted elsewhere.

2. Submission Process

- Manuscripts must be submitted via the Lectio Socialis webpage on DERGİPARK (www.deripark.org.tr/lectio) after journal subscription.

- Submissions through email will not be accepted.

- The submission should include the author's name, contact information, and ORCID along with the paper title.

- The first page should include the paper's title and author names and affiliations. The second page should repeat the title, abstract (between 150 and 220 words), and 3 to 5 keywords. The subsequent pages should be numbered. 

- It is a must to disclose the contribution rate and specific type of each author at the end of articles that involve multiple authors. This helps to provide transparency and ensures that credit is given where it is due, while also establishing clear expectations and accountability for each author's role in the creation of the article. Example of an author contributions section:

"Author contributions:
J. Erbas: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – Original Draft
A. Aslan: Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Writing – Review & Editing
M. Lee: Investigation, Software, Visualization
All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript."

- If the research was funded by any agencies, institutions, or organizations, it should be declared in the Acknowledgements section. Also, if there is any Conflict of Interest, the authors should declare it.

- For manuscripts in Turkish, provide both Turkish and English titles, abstracts, and keywords. Turkish submissions necessitate an extended English summary of at least 1000 words.

- An ethics committee approval must be obtained for research conducted in all disciplines, requiring ethical committee decision, and this approval should be stated and documented in the article. In studies requiring ethical committee permission, information about the permission (board name, date, and issue number) should be included in the method section and on the last page of the article. Research that requires permission from an Ethics Committee includes the following:

    - Any research that involves collecting data from human participants through methods such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, and experiments using qualitative or quantitative methods.

    - Any research that involves the use of humans or animals (including materials/data) for experimental or other scientific purposes.

    - Clinical studies conducted on human subjects.

    - Research conducted on animals.

    - Retrospective studies that comply with personal data protection laws.

    - Furthermore, when submitting case reports that mention obtaining an "Informed Consent Form," it is crucial to obtain permission from the owners before using any scales, surveys, or photographs that belong to others. It is also important to ensure that all ideas and works of art used are in compliance with copyright regulations and to state this explicitly.

An example Ethics Approval Statement to be included at the end of an article is as follows:

"Ethics Approval Statement
This study was granted ethical approval by the Human Subjects Ethics Committee of Istanbul Yeni Yuzyil University, with decision no. 2019/1 during their meeting held on January 7th, 2019, in Istanbul, Turkey. All procedures that involved human participants were carried out in compliance with ethical standards, and informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study."

3. Peer Review Process

- Manuscripts will undergo double-blind refereeing, ensuring the anonymity of authors.

- Initial language review may result in rejection for manuscripts with subpar language quality.

- Manuscripts will then be evaluated by two referees, and authors are expected to address reviewer feedback within a week.

- If two reviewers reject a manuscript, the review process concludes with rejection.

- When submitting the revised version of a manuscript, it is important for the corresponding author to provide a separate file titled "Respond to Reviewers". This file should include a point-by-point response to the reviewers' comments and suggestions, explaining how each comment has been addressed in the revised manuscript. This will help ensure that the revised manuscript meets the requirements and expectations of the reviewers and increases the likelihood of its acceptance for publication.

4. Manuscript Editing and Formatting

- Upon successful review, the editing process will commence.

- All manuscripts must be paginated.

- Utilize the provided template for manuscript formatting, accessible through the provided link (Please, click on the link).

- Sentence Case for Titles, Headings, and Captions: In keeping with the stylistic standards of "Lectio Socialis," all article titles, headings, subheadings, and table and figure captions should be formatted in sentence case. This means that the first letter of the title, as well as the first letter of any proper nouns, should be capitalized. All other letters should be in lowercase unless grammar dictates otherwise.

Examples:
1. Correct: "Reexamining the role of identity in contemporary politics"
- Explanation: Only the first letter of the sentence and the proper noun 'Reexamining' is capitalized.
2. Incorrect: "Reexamining The Role Of Identity In Contemporary Politics"
- Explanation: This example incorrectly capitalizes the first letter of each word.
3. Correct: "Secularization trends in Turkey: A comparative analysis"
- Explanation: The first letter of the sentence and the proper noun 'Turkey' are capitalized.
4. Incorrect: "Secularization Trends In Turkey: A Comparative Analysis"
- Explanation: This title incorrectly capitalizes the first letter of each word.

- Adhere to APA 7th Edition for citations and references. See below for in-text citation examples. In-Text Citation Examples (APA 7th Edition):

Direct Citation:
- According to Johnson (2019, p. 42), "climate change impacts are evident globally."
- "Climate change impacts are evident globally" (Johnson, 2019, p. 42).

Indirect Citation:
- Johnson (2019) discussed the global evidence of the impacts of climate change.
- Climate change impacts are discussed as evident globally (Johnson, 2019).

Multiple Authors:
- Smith and Brown (2020) suggested a comprehensive approach.
- A comprehensive approach is suggested (Kurt et al., 2023).

Works by the Same Author and Year:
- Smith (2018a) emphasized the ecological impact.
- Smith (2018b) focused on social implications.

Examples for the Bibliography section prepared according to APA 7 rules:

Journal Articles:

Johnson, A., Smith, B., Lee, C., Jones, D., & Brown, E. (2021). The effects of exercise on mental health in college students. Journal of Health Psychology, 26(3), 345-356. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105320987654

Miller, K. L., Davis, R. A., & Jones, S. M. (2020). Exploring the impact of social media use on body image in adolescent girls. Journal of Adolescent Health, 67(6), 783-789. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.07.012

Smith, C. D., Johnson, B. A., & Brown, M. E. (2019). An examination of the relationship between sleep and academic performance in college students. Journal of Sleep Research, 28(2), e12871. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.12871

Tucker, R. W., Davis, J. L., & Lee, S. M. (2018). The impact of mindfulness practice on stress reduction in healthcare professionals. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 23(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000074

Note: In this example, the references are listed in alphabetical order by the last name of the first author. The titles of journals are in sentence case and italicized. The volume number is italicized, and the issue number is in parentheses, followed by the page range. A DOI (digital object identifier) is included for each reference, when available.

Books:

Smith, J. (2019). The power of habit: Why we do what we do in life and business. Random House.

Jones, R. H. (2018). The psychology of persuasion. Oxford University Press.

Book Sections/Chapters:

Johnson, M. (2020). The role of motivation in learning. In R. Davis (Ed.), Handbook of educational psychology (pp. 121-137). Routledge.

Brown, N. (2019). Understanding group dynamics. In J. Lee (Ed.), The psychology of teamwork (pp. 55-73). Springer.

Websites:

American Psychological Association. (2021). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). American Psychological Association. https://apastyle.apa.org/

Jerkins, S. (2020). COVID-19: How to protect yourself and others. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html

Note: For book references, the author's name, publication year, book title, and publisher are included. For website references, the organization or author, publication year (if available), webpage title, and URL are included. When citing webpages, it is important to include the date accessed if the content is likely to change over time.

By adhering to these formatting guidelines, authors ensure consistency and readability across the journal's publications. If you have any questions or require clarification regarding formatting, please contact the editorial team.

5. Plagiarism Prevention and Language Editing

- Plagiarism is strictly prohibited, and all submissions will undergo scrutiny through tools like iThenticate.

- Authors are encouraged to consider language editing, particularly if English is not their first language.

- When submitting a manuscript, the use of AI is typically restricted to language editing tasks, such as grammar and spelling checks, and should not be used for more substantive editing or decision-making tasks. While AI technology can be helpful in identifying errors or inconsistencies in text, it is important to note that it is not a substitute for human expertise and judgment. Authors should carefully review and revise their own work, before submitting their manuscript. Additionally, it is important to disclose any use of AI tools or technology in the manuscript submission process to ensure transparency and ethical practices.

6. COPE Compliance

- Lectio Socialis adheres to the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) Codes of Conduct.

7. Open Access Policy

- Lectio Socialis is an advocate of open access, promoting unfettered access to published articles with proper attribution.

- Authors are not subject to charges for submissions or publication.

8. Review Timeframe

- The peer-review process typically spans three months on average.

By following these meticulous writing guidelines, Lectio Socialis strives to maintain the highest standards of academic excellence, integrity, and accessibility, contributing to the advancement of global scholarly discourse.

Lectio Socialis fully accepts the COPE Code of Conduct and is managed under this code. The journal’s necessary policies in line with this code are as such:

Editor's Responsibilities

The journal maintains complete editorial independence from all authorities and institutions. The editor-in-chief is responsible for overseeing the unbiased review process of submitted manuscripts. The editor-in-chief ensures that reviewers are not affiliated with the same institution as the authors to maintain independence. If necessary, the editor-in-chief publishes corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies. Readers and authors can contact the editor-in-chief regarding any concerns they might have. The editor-in-chief guarantees the freedom of expression and intellectual standards, free from any business interests. The journal does not accept any advertisements. If deemed necessary, the author must provide approval from a research ethics committee to ensure compliance with international research and publication ethics. The editor-in-chief has to respond to the complaints received by e-mail and allow the authors whose work has been criticized to respond. The decision made by the editor to either accept or reject a manuscript for publication should be based on the manuscript's importance, authenticity/originality, clarity, and relevance of the study to the journal's scope. If authors feel the need to appeal the decision made, the editor-in-chief will review the appeal. If the appeal is about the editor-in-chief's conclusion, the issue will be brought to the Editorial Board. The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, and potential reviewers. Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted paper cannot be used by the editor or the editorial staff for their research purposes.

Reviewers' Responsibilities

The process of peer review is crucial in helping editors make informed decisions and assisting authors in improving their manuscripts. If a referee chosen for reviewing a manuscript feels unqualified to do so, they must inform the editor-in-chief. Manuscripts submitted for review must be kept confidential and only shared with the editor. It is vital to approach reviews objectively. Manuscript reviewers should identify any unpublished work that is not cited in the manuscript, as well as any significant similarity between the manuscript and a published work. Any confidential information or ideas acquired through peer review are considered privileged and must not be used for personal gain. Reviewers must abstain from reviewing manuscripts in which they have any conflicts of interest due to competitive, collaborative, or any other relationships or connections they may have with any of the authors, companies, or institutions associated with the papers.

Authors' Duties

- The manuscript should not be under review by any other journal. The corresponding author can withdraw the submission at any time before the review process starts. Even if there is no feedback given to the author within six months of the review process starting, the author can still withdraw their submission.
- It is important to present the underlying data accurately in original research reports. The manuscript should contain enough detail and references that allow others to replicate the work. Authors may be asked to provide the raw data of their study along with the paper as part of the editorial review process. They should also be willing to make the data publicly available if possible.
- Authors should only submit entirely original works and appropriately cite or quote the work and/or words of others. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal is considered unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable. Manuscripts under review by Lectio Socialis should not be resubmitted to copyrighted publications. However, by submitting a manuscript, the author(s) retain the rights to the published material. In case of publication, they permit the use of their work under a CC-BY license, which allows others to copy, distribute and transmit the work as well as to adapt the work and to make commercial use of it.
- The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors who have made significant contributions to the manuscript are listed and have approved the final version of the paper for submission.
- For clinical and experimental studies and research requiring an ethics committee decision, authors should obtain ethics committee approval, and this approval should be stated and documented in the article. For studies requiring an ethical committee decision, information about the approval (name of the board, date and number) should be included in the method section and also on the first/last page of the article. In case reports, information about the volunteer informed consent form being signed should be included in the article.
- If the research published in Lectio Socialis benefits from a fund, the authors are required to provide information about the fund to disclose all sources of financial support.
- If an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their published work, they must promptly notify the editor-in-chief and cooperate with the editor-in-chief to retract or correct the article in the form of an erratum.
- A dedicated Author Contribution section must be included with the article to provide information about each author's contributions to the work. For this section, Lectio Socialis has adopted the CRediT classification, which allows for a standardized description of each author’s individual contributions to the reported study. This description is required for all authors during the submission process, and the submitting author is responsible for providing the contributions of all authors at submission. It is expected that all authors will have reviewed, discussed, and agreed to their individual contributions prior to submission.
- The contribution statement will be published with the final article and should accurately reflect the contributions to the work.

CRediT classification:  

CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) is a high-level taxonomy that includes 14 roles that can be used to represent the roles typically played by contributors to research outputs. The roles describe each contributor’s specific contribution to the scholarly output.

Conceptualization: This involves the formulation and development of overarching research goals and aims.

Data Curation: This refers to the management activities required to annotate (produce metadata), scrub data, and maintain research data (including software code, where necessary) for initial use and later reuse.

Formal Analysis: This involves the application of statistical, mathematical, computational, or other formal techniques to analyze or synthesize study data.

Funding Acquisition: This refers to the acquisition of financial support for the project leading to publication.

Investigation: This involves conducting research and investigation processes, specifically performing experiments or data/evidence collection.

Methodology: This involves the development or design of methodology and the creation of models.

Project Administration: This refers to the management and coordination responsibility for the research activity planning and execution.

Resources: This refers to the provision of study materials, reagents, materials, patients, laboratory samples, animals, instrumentation, computing resources, or other analysis tools.

Software: This involves programming, software development, designing computer programs, implementing the computer code and supporting algorithms, and testing of existing code components.

Supervision: This refers to the oversight and leadership responsibility for the research activity planning and execution, including mentorship external to the core team.

Validation: This involves the verification, whether as a part of the activity or separate, of the overall replication/reproducibility of results/experiments and other research outputs.

Visualization: This refers to the preparation, creation, and/or presentation of the published work, specifically visualization/data presentation.

Writing – Original Draft: This involves the preparation, creation, and/or presentation of the published work, specifically writing the initial draft, including substantive translation.

Writing – Review & Editing: This involves the preparation, creation, and/or presentation of the published work by those from the original research group, specifically critical review, commentary, or revision – including pre- or post-publication stages.

The list of contributions needs to follow the following format: [Contributor role: List of all authors under that role].

Example:

Conceptualization: Ahmet Kul, Fatma Yüksel (equal)
Formal Analysis: Ahmet Kul
Funding Acquisition: Fatma Yüksel
Writing – review and editing: Ahmet Kul
Writing –original draft: Fatma Kul

The corresponding author must confirm full access to all study data and take responsibility for data integrity and accuracy of analysis.

At Lectio Socialis, we firmly believe in the importance of equitable access to academic knowledge. It is with this principle in mind that we wish to emphasize that we do not impose any charges upon authors for manuscript submission, evaluation, or publication. Our commitment is to provide a platform for the dissemination of diverse ideas and perspectives, without any financial barriers. We invite you to submit your work to us with confidence in the knowledge that we place great value on your contribution and are dedicated to promoting inclusivity in academic publishing.

At Lectio Socialis, we also recognize the importance and value of reviewers in ensuring quality and independence in academic publishing. We greatly appreciate their voluntary contribution, which helps improve the quality of the manuscripts we publish. Their spirit of solidarity and commitment to advancing academic knowledge without any financial gain is truly commendable. Without their valuable input, we would not be able to provide high-quality academic content accessible to everyone. Therefore, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to all our reviewers for their valuable time and expertise.

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