Mesned Journal of Theological Studies Publication ProcessArticle Evaluation Policy: Double-Blind Refereeing + Open Refereeing
1) Articles that have not been published before or that are not under evaluation in another journal for publication and that are approved by each author are accepted for evaluation.
2) Submitted articles are scanned for plagiarism using TURNITIN software after passing the pre-checking process. The similarity rate should be less than 20%.
3) After the plagiarism check, the appropriate articles are evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief for genuineness, methodology, significance of the subject covered, and compatibility with the scope of the journal.
4) Selected articles are sent to at least two national/international referees for evaluation by double-blind refereeing.
5) The publication decision is made by the Editorial Board after the editing made by the authors in line with the requests of the referees, and the referee process.
6) The pre-review and peer review process takes an average of 10 weeks from article submission.

Responsibilities of the Editor
1) Editor evaluates the articles in terms of their scientific content, regardless of the authors’ ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, citizenship, religious belief, or political philosophy.
2) Editor ensures that the articles submitted for publication are fairly evaluated by double-blind referee method and that all information related to the submitted articles is kept confidential before publication.
3) Editor briefs the referees that the information regarding the articles must be kept confidential and this is a privileged interaction. The referees and editorial board cannot discuss the articles with third party. Anonymity of the referees must be protected. In certain cases, the editor may share review of a referee with other referees to clarify a particular point.
4) Editor is responsible for the content and general quality of the publication. It is also his/her responsibility to issue a correction notice or implement a withdrawal if necessary.
5) Editor does not allow any conflict of interest between authors, editors, and referees. He/she has full authority to appoint referees and is responsible for the final decision regarding the publication of articles in the Journal.

Responsibilities of the Referees
1) Referees must not have any conflict of interest with the research, authors and/or research funders. Their judgments must be objective.
2) Referees must ensure that all information regarding the submitted articles is kept confidential and must notify the editor in case of copyright infringement and plagiarism by the author.
3) A referee who feels incompetent to review the subject matter of an article or knows that immediate review will be impossible must notify the editor and be exempt from the review process.

Referee Process
Articles that have not been published before or that are not under evaluation in another journal for publication and that are approved by each author are accepted for evaluation. Submitted articles are scanned for plagiarism using TURNITIN software after passing the pre-checking process. After the plagiarism check, the appropriate articles are evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief for genuineness, methodology, significance of the subject covered, and compatibility with the scope of the journal. The Editor-in-Chief evaluates the articles regardless of the authors’ ethnic origin, gender, nationality, religious belief, and political philosophy. Editor ensures that the articles submitted for publication undergo a fair double-blind peer-review. Selected articles are sent to at least two national/international referees for evaluation. If the referees deem it necessary, author make changes on the article. The Editorial Board decides whether to publish the article corrected by the author. The Editor-in-Chief does not allow any conflict of interest between authors, editors, and referees. He/she has full authority to appoint referees. The evaluations of the referees should be objective. During the refereeing process, the referees are expected to make their evaluations by considering the following points:
1) Does the article contain new and significant information?
2) Does the abstract clearly and properly describe the content of the article?
3) Is the method clearly and entirely defined?
4) Are the comments and conclusions made proven by the findings?
5) Are the other research on the field adequately cited?
6) Is the language quality sufficient?

Referees must ensure that all information regarding the submitted articles is kept confidential until the articles are published and must report the editor in case of copyright infringement and plagiarism by the author. If the referee does not feel qualified about the subject of the article or if it is impossible for him/her to provide a timely response, he/she must notify the editor of this situation and ask the editor not to involve him/her in the referee process. During the evaluation process, the editor clearly states to the referees that the articles submitted for review are exclusively owned by the authors and this is a privileged interaction. Referees and editorial board members cannot discuss articles with third party. The identity of the referees must be kept confidential.

Preliminary Review and Plagiarism Scanning
Articles are reviewed by the editor in terms of their compliance with journal publication principles, academic writing rules and ISNAD Citation Style, and they are also checked for plagiarism using the TURNITIN software. The plagiarism similarity rate is required to be less than 20%. The preliminary review is completed within a maximum of 20 days.

Scientific Field Editor Review
The article, which has passed the Preliminary Review and Plagiarism Scanning phase, is examined by the relevant scientific field editor in terms of problematic and academic language-style. This review is completed within a maximum of 20 days.

Referee Process (Academic Evaluation)
The article, which has passed the scientific field editor review, is submitted for the evaluation of at least two referees who have a doctoral thesis, book chapter or article on the subject matter. The referee process is carried out confidentially with the double-blind referee methodology. The referee is requested to either state his opinion and thought about the article he has reviewed on the text or justify it with a minimum 150-word explanation on the online referee form. If the author does not agree with the referee’s opinions, he is given the right to object and defend his own opinions. Scientific field editor provides communication between author and referee by maintaining the confidentiality. If both referee reports are positive, the article is submitted to the Editorial Board with a proposal to consider its publication. In case one of the two referees has a negative opinion, the article is sent to a third referee for evaluation. Articles can be published with the positive opinion of at least two referees. Translated articles are sent to language and related field experts to be evaluated in terms of their compatibility with the original text, the appropriate use of field terminology, and its language. Translated articles for which language experts express negative opinions are not published. The publication of book and symposium evaluations and doctoral thesis summaries is decided after the consideration of the relevant scientific field editors.
Correction Phase: If the referees want corrections in the article they have examined, the relevant referee reports are sent to the author, and he/she is asked to correct his/her article. Revision (Minimum 10 Days - The period may be extended if major revision is requested). The author submits his/her corrections to the scientific field editor by specifying them in red colour.

Scientific Field Editor Check
The scientific field editor checks whether the author has made the requested corrections in the article. The control process is completed within a maximum of 5 days.

Referee Check
The referee requesting correction checks whether the author has made the requested corrections in the article. It is also requested that the articles which are passed the referee process include an abstract of minimum 150 words and maximum of 250 words, along with a detailed summary of at least 750 words.

Turkish Language Check
Articles that have passed the referee process are reviewed by the Turkish Language Editor, and if necessary, corrections are requested from the author. The control process is completed within a maximum of 15 days.

English Language Check
Articles that have passed the Turkish language check are reviewed by the English Language Editor and if necessary, corrections are requested from the author. The control process is completed within a maximum of 15 days.

Editorial Board Review
The articles that have passed technical, academic and linguistic reviews are examined by the Editorial Board and their final publication status is decided. In case of objection from the members, the Board decides by a large majority.

Typesetting and Layout
The typesetting and layout of the articles which are approved to be published by the Editorial Board are made to prepare them for publication.

Submission of Data to National and International Indexes
The printed copy of the published issue is sent to the reference libraries in the country and abroad within 60 days at the latest. The article metadata is forwarded to the relevant indexes within 15 days.