Middle East Journal of Refugee Studies

The Middle East Journal of Refugee Studies aims to publish theoretical and empirical studies that interpret migration within a broad context, encompassing social, political, economic, and demographic aspects of human mobility. Additionally, the journal places importance on expanding and strengthening the connection between state actors involved in policy-making and migrant associations, alongside fostering academic discussions on issues related to migration and migrants.

The Middle East Journal of Refugee Studies publishes high-quality, original, theoretical, and applied research, as well as book reviews, national and international legal texts, translations, and case law.

The journal is multidisciplinary, focusing on migration processes and stages examined across various fields of social sciences, including sociology, anthropology, demography, psychology, history, economics, politics, and geography.

**General Principles**

The *Middle East Journal of Refugee Studies* is published by the International Refugee Rights Association and has been issued biannually since 2016. It is a peer-reviewed and academic journal with publication languages in Turkish and English. The primary aim of the journal is to provide a platform where researchers, non-governmental organizations, and policymakers can communicate, benefit from each other's practical experiences and research findings through published works, and direct their focus toward new research questions. Articles submitted to the journal must not have been previously published or under review elsewhere.

**Ethics Committee**

If the submitted study requires ethics committee approval (e.g., research conducted using qualitative or quantitative approaches that involve collecting data from participants through surveys, interviews, focus group studies, observation, experiments, or discussion techniques; research involving the experimental or other scientific use of humans or animals, including material/data; clinical studies on humans; animal studies; or retrospective studies under the Personal Data Protection Law), a section titled "Ethical Considerations" must be added under the methodology section of the text. This section should include details of the ethics committee approval, including the name of the committee, the date, and the approval number. Additionally, the approval document must be uploaded to the system. For intellectual and artistic works, compliance with copyright regulations is mandatory, and this compliance must be explicitly stated in the manuscript.

**Article Submission Process**

Submissions, evaluations, publication processes, and notifications are carried out via the DergiPark system. The article uploaded during submission must comply with the journal's writing guidelines and specified requirements, and a copyright transfer form must be completed and uploaded to the system. Since the articles are sent for blind review, the document uploaded as the article must not include any author information.

**Documents to be Uploaded to the System:**

- **Similarity report** (Must be generated through iThenticate or Turnitin software and show a similarity rate below 20%).
- **Cover page** (Including the article title, academic titles, institution, faculty/institute/school, department, e-mail addresses, and ORCID IDs of all authors in order. It should also detail whether the work is derived from a thesis, supported by a project, or presented as a conference paper).
- **Article** (Excluding author information).
- **Ethics committee approval** (if applicable).
- **Copyright transfer agreement.**

**Article Evaluation Process**

Submitted articles will undergo an initial evaluation to ensure the completeness of the required documents, such as the manuscript file, copyright transfer form, and similarity report, as well as compliance with the journal's writing guidelines. If these criteria are met, the article will be sent to two reviewers. If the two reviewers provide conflicting opinions, a third reviewer will be consulted. Throughout the process, the identities of the authors and reviewers will remain confidential. If revisions are required based on reviewer feedback, the authors must upload the revised version to the system. The final decision on whether the article will be published is made by the editors and the editorial board based on the reviewers' reports. Accepted articles proceed to the typesetting stage, while rejected articles are declined. The scientific responsibility for the articles lies with the authors.

**General Appearance and Page Layout**

The manuscript, including tables, charts, figures, and maps, must use the Times New Roman font in 11-point size. Adequate margins should be left: 3 cm at the top and right, and 2 cm at the bottom and left. Submitted articles must include an abstract, keywords, and references, and their word count should be between 5,000 and 10,000. The order of sections must be as follows, with priority given to the language of the manuscript:

1. Title in Turkish.
2. Abstract in Turkish.
3. Keywords in Turkish.
4. Title in the foreign language.
5. Abstract in the foreign language.
6. Keywords in the foreign language.
7. Main text.
8. References.

**Article Title**

The title must be in bold, justified, and written in 11-point size.

**Abstract**

At the beginning of the manuscript, a concise abstract in both Turkish and English (150–200 words), written in 10-point size, must summarize the topic. Abstracts should not reference sources or include figure and table numbers. Keywords (minimum 3, maximum 8) must follow the abstract in both Turkish and English, separated by one blank line. The first line of the abstract should be left-aligned, with no indentation, and the line spacing must be set to 1.15.

**Headings**

Research articles should include the following sections: Introduction, Methodology, Results, Conclusion, and Discussion. Main headings should be centered, bold, and written in 11-point size. Level 2 and Level 3 headings must be left-aligned, 11-point size, bold, with only the first letter of each word capitalized. Level 4 and Level 5 headings should also be left-aligned, 11-point size, bold, italic, and with only the first letter of each word capitalized. Subheadings must be unnumbered, left-aligned, bold, and italic in 11-point size.

**Line Spacing**

The line spacing for the text is set to 1.15. A 6-pt space should be left before and after each paragraph.

**Paragraph Alignment and Indentation**

The first line of each paragraph must be indented by 1.25 inches from the left margin. The text must be justified.

**Tables and Figures**

Table titles should be placed above the table, while figure titles should be placed below the figure. All titles should be bold, 11-point size, with only the first word capitalized. Source information should appear below the table, centered, and in 10-point size.

Example:

- **Table 1: Table Title**
- **Figure 1: Figure Title**

**Citations**

The reference style for submitted articles must comply with the APA 6 (American Psychological Association Manual) standards. All in-text citations must correspond to entries in the reference list. In-text citations must include the author's last name, publication year, and page number.

Examples:

- Single author: (Duyan, 2020, p. 45).
- Two authors (Turkish): (Duyan ve Arslan, 1997, s. 55).
- Two authors (Foreign): (Nielsen & Borlund, 2011, p. 43).
- Three or more authors (Turkish): (Yılmaz ve ark., 2016, s. 33).
- Three or more authors (Foreign): (Tom et al., 2016, p. 33).

**References**

The reference list must use a hanging paragraph style. Examples of correctly formatted references are as follows:

- **Journal Article:**
Çakır, S. (2011). Geleneksel Türk Kültüründe Göç ve Toplumsal Değişme. *Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 24*, 129-142.

- **Book:**
Sapolsky, R. M. (2017). *Behave: The biology of humans at our best and worst.* Penguin Books.

- **Chapter in an Edited Book:**
Watson, J. B., & Rayner, R. (2013). Conditioned emotional reactions: The case of Little Albert (D. Webb, Ed.). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. *(Original work published 1920).*

- **Website:**
Dünya Gazetesi. (2010, June 18). 2009’da 591,742 çift evlendi. Retrieved February 21, 2021, from [https://www.dunya.com](https://www.dunya.com).

- **Unpublished Dissertation or Thesis:**
Acar, A. E. (2011). Kronik Hastalıkların, Hastaların Aile İşlevleri ve Yaşam Doyumları Üzerine Etkisi (Unpublished Master’s Thesis). Dokuz Eylül University Institute of Educational Sciences, İzmir.  

The journal publishes theoretical and applied studies that address the topic of refugees from disciplinary or interdisciplinary perspectives. Within this framework, the journal welcomes articles that:

Examine the phenomenon of refugees in the context of international law, domestic law, war, migration, trauma, and state policies,
Provide unique theoretical and conceptual insights into the field of refugee studies,
Employ different/new research methods to analyze the phenomenon of refugees,
Focus on psychological, psychiatric, sociological, and anthropological analyses related to refugees,
Present the ethnic and demographic characteristics of refugees,
Investigate refugee camps in terms of health, hygiene, physical characteristics, and basic needs,
Analyze the social, economic, and political impacts of refugees on the countries they migrate to, as well as the implications of the refugee phenomenon for national and regional security,
Highlight the social, economic, and political challenges faced by refugees in their host countries.
The journal aims to serve as a platform for original, international, disciplinary, or interdisciplinary studies, fostering high-quality discussions on refugee issues. It also seeks to contribute to the development of policies concerning refugees in Turkey and the Middle East. Therefore, submitted works are expected to not only meet technical standards but also provide unique contributions to discussions on refugee studies. The ultimate goal is to build a body of knowledge that benefits individuals and institutions engaged in refugee research.

In addition to high-quality, original, theoretical, and applied research, the journal also publishes book reviews, national and international legal texts, and judicial precedents.

While the journal is open to studies from various fields of expertise, it prioritizes research that examines refugee issues through the lenses and dimensions of law, political science, international relations, sociology, criminology, health, social services, education, psychology, anthropology, and geography.

General Principles
The Middle East Journal of Refugee Studies has been published biannually since 2016 by the International Refugee Rights Association. The journal is peer-reviewed and academic, with publication languages in Turkish and English. Its primary objective is to create a platform where researchers, non-governmental organizations, and policymakers can communicate, benefit from each other's practical experiences and research findings, and explore new research questions through published works. Articles submitted to the journal must not have been previously published or under review elsewhere.

Ethical Board
If ethical board approval is required for submitted studies (e.g., research involving the collection of data from participants through qualitative or quantitative methods such as surveys, interviews, focus group studies, observations, experiments, or communication techniques; research involving experimental or other scientific use of humans or animals, including materials/data; clinical studies on humans; research on animals; or retrospective studies under the Personal Data Protection Law), the "ethical board approval" section must be explicitly included in the methodology section. The relevant decision, including the name of the board, date, and reference number, must be stated and uploaded to the system. Compliance with copyright regulations for intellectual and artistic works must also be adhered to and indicated in the manuscript.

Article Submission Process
Applications, evaluations, publishing processes, and notifications are conducted through the DergiPark system. Articles must comply with the journal's submission guidelines, and a copyright transfer form must be completed and uploaded to the system. Since manuscripts will be sent for peer review, the version uploaded must not include author information.

Documents to be uploaded to the system:

Similarity report (from iThenticate or Turnitin, with a similarity index below 20%)
Cover page (including article title, full names of all authors in order, academic titles, institution/university, faculty/institute/school, department/field, email addresses, ORCID IDs, and any details about thesis, project support, or conference presentations)
Manuscript (excluding author information)
Ethical board approval document
Copyright transfer form
Article Evaluation Process
Submitted articles will first be checked for required information, files, copyright transfer form, similarity report, and adherence to the journal's writing guidelines. If these criteria are met, the article will be sent to two reviewers. In case of conflicting reviews, a third reviewer will be consulted. Throughout this process, the identities of authors and reviewers remain confidential.

If revisions are required, the author must upload the revised manuscript to the system. Based on the reviewers' reports, the editorial team and the publication board will decide whether the article is approved for publication. Accepted articles proceed to the typesetting stage, while rejected articles are removed from consideration. The scientific responsibility for published articles rests solely with the authors.

No submission or processing fees are charged for articles published in our journal. No fees are collected from authors or their affiliated institutions under any circumstances.