The NİYAZ Journal of Alevism-Bektashism Studies is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal published in both print and electronic formats in English and Turkish, and free of charge. It operates in accordance with its publication ethics policy, adhering to principles of transparency and fairness throughout the publication process, maintaining confidentiality during the peer review and editorial stages. During the publication prcess, the journal will follow the principles outlined in the Publication Ethics and Misconduct Statement, which is based on the guidelines and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Council of Science Editors (CSE). All parties involved in the publication process (editors, authors, reviewers, and publishers) are expected to comply with ethical standards.
The roles and responsibilities of all parties involved in the publication process of the NİYAZ Journal of Alevism-Bektashism Studies are determined based on these principles. All parties are required to adhere to these guidelines while fulfilling their duties. Unethical behavior and misuse of the provided conditions are unacceptable. If such situations are identified, the relevant article cannot be published in the NİYAZ Journal of Alevism-Bektashism Studies.
EDITOR RESPONSIBILITIES
Fair Review and Impartiality
All authority regarding the content and publication of the journal rests with the Editorial Board. All submitted manuscripts are subject to peer review as deemed appropriate by the Editor and/or the Journal's Editorial Board. Editors remain impartial to the authors of manuscripts. Manuscripts are evaluated solely on the basis of basic scientific criteria such as scientific quality, originality and relevance to the scope of the journal. Decisions on editorial revision or publication are not influenced by the policies of external institutions or governments. Rejection of manuscripts that do not meet the basic academic standards or the scope of the journal will be based on reasoned decisions. No manuscript that has not successfully completed the peer-review process or has not been peer-reviewed can be published in the journal.
Confidentiality
The editor, language editors, and other personnel involved with the journal must not share any information regarding a submitted manuscript with anyone other than the manuscript’s authors, reviewers, potential reviewers, editorial advisors, and the publisher.
Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
Editors will maintain the confidentiality of information and/or ideas obtained during the manuscript review process and will not use them for personal gain. Editors, language editors, and members of the Editorial Board will not use unpublished information, thoughts, or hypotheses from a submitted manuscript in their own research without the explicit written permission of the authors. Editors will not review manuscripts if there is a potential conflict of interest arising from any competition, collaboration, or other relationships with authors, companies, or institutions associated with the manuscripts. In such cases, the editor will request that another member of the Editorial Board handle the manuscript. If conflicts of interest or relationships are discovered after the manuscript has been published, corrections will be issued, and the publication will be removed from the journal's digital format and article index.
Publication Decisions
Editors are responsible for evaluating all submitted manuscripts for publication. They must ensure that each manuscript is reviewed by at least two expert reviewers in the relevant field. In collaboration with the Editorial Board, editors are responsible for assessing the originality, validity, and relevance of the work to researchers and readers. They have the authority to decide which manuscripts will be published based on reviewer comments and current legal requirements related to issues such as defamation, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. Editors may discuss decisions with each other, the Editorial Board, and the Advisory Board. They may provide authors with feedback on issues related to the research methodology, scientific and logical errors, and content-related problems, as well as guidance on writing style, spelling, and punctuation errors.
Participation and Cooperation in Investigations
Editors (in collaboration with the publisher and/or institutions) will take necessary measures when ethical concerns arise regarding a submitted or published manuscript. Unethical publishing behavior will be investigated even if it emerges years after the article is published. If issues of ethical principle violations are identified as a result of the investigation, corrective actions or retractions will be taken for the relevant manuscript. For published articles, a notice of the issue will be included in subsequent issues. Additionally, manuscripts with proven ethical violations will be removed from the journal's digital format and index.
REVIEWER RESPONSIBILITIES
Editorial Contribution
Peer review assists editors in guiding authors to improve their manuscripts and make editorial decisions. Peer review is a fundamental component of formal academic communication and is central to scientific work.
Timeliness
Reviewers who feel inadequately qualified to assess the research topic of a manuscript or believe that completing the review promptly is impossible should inform the editors without delay and decline the review invitation to allow for other reviewers to be contacted.
Confidentiality
All manuscripts accepted for review are considered confidential documents. Therefore, sharing of manuscripts should only occur under exceptional and specific conditions, and should not be done without permission from the editor. This applies to reviewers who decline a review invitation as well.
Objectivity Standards
Reviews should be conducted objectively. Suggestions for improving the manuscript should be clearly stated with supporting arguments. Criticisms of the authors' personal characteristics and personal opinions are inappropriate. To ensure consistency in the review process, reviewers must complete the Peer Review Report available under the "Documents" section of the "Manuscript Submission" tab and upload it to the “Process Files” section on DergiPark after the review.
Source Acknowledgment
Reviewers should identify published work related to the manuscript that has not been cited by the authors. They should indicate if any statements in the manuscript are based on observations, derivations, or arguments previously reported in other publications. Reviewers must inform the editors if they identify any similarity or overlap between the manuscript under review and other manuscripts they are aware of (published or unpublished).
Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
Reviewers with conflicts of interest arising from competition, collaboration, or other relationships with authors, companies, or institutions related to the manuscript should disclose these conflicts and inform the editors immediately. They should decline the review invitation to allow the editors to find alternative reviewers.
An author whose manuscript is published in an issue of the NİYAZ Journal of Alevism-Bektashism Studies cannot serve as a reviewer for that same issue. Similarly, a manuscript authored by a reviewer cannot be published in the same issue they are reviewing. Manuscripts submitted by authors for an issue where they are serving as a reviewer will be published in the subsequent issue.
AUTHOR RESPONSIBILITIES
Writing Standards
Authors must prepare their manuscripts in accordance with the content, purpose, scope, publication principles, and writing guidelines of the NİYAZ Journal of Alevism-Bektashism Studies. They should present their work accurately and provide an objective discussion on the significance of their study. The manuscript should include sufficient details and references, guiding other researchers who may conduct similar studies. Review articles should be accurate, objective, and comprehensive, and editorial opinions or perspectives should be clearly stated in the text. Articles that do not originate from the author or deliberately use incorrect statements are unethical and unacceptable.
If a reviewer’s initial assessment deems a "revision necessary," authors must respond systematically, accurately, and promptly to the reviewer’s comments. After revising their manuscripts, they should submit them back to the journal by the specified deadline. Authors are also responsible for systematically and promptly responding to requests from editors during the editorial process, as well as suggestions from the final reader during the layout stage. Failure to fulfill these obligations may result in the rejection of the manuscript.
Data Access and Retention
During the editorial review and peer review process, authors may be required to provide raw data, explanations, ethical approvals, and copyright permissions. Authors must cooperate by responding promptly to these requests and should be prepared to make such data publicly available. After publication, authors should ensure that these data are accessible to other researchers for at least 10 years (preferably through an institutional or subject-based data repository or other data center), provided that participant confidentiality is protected and legal rights to proprietary data are not violated. Legal rights related to proprietary data do not prevent their disclosure.
If an article is withdrawn during the peer review process, the authors of that manuscript will not be allowed to submit articles to the NİYAZ Journal of Alevism-Bektashism Studies for two years.
Originality and Plagiarism
Authors must produce and present original works. If they have used the work and/or words of others, they must appropriately cite these sources and acknowledge publications that have influenced the nature of the work discussed in the manuscript.
Plagiarism can take various forms, from presenting another author’s paper as one’s own to copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another’s paper without attribution, or claiming results from research conducted by others. Any form of plagiarism constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. A plagiarism check will be conducted before the peer review process, and manuscripts with a similarity rate exceeding 25%, excluding the bibliography, will not be accepted by the journal. If scientific misconduct or plagiarism is detected after the publication of the manuscript, the publication will be removed from the journal’s digital format and article index. Authors who engage in such misconduct will be barred from submitting manuscripts to the NİYAZ Journal of Alevism-Bektashism Studies for five years.
Authors may only submit original works to the journal, and they must properly attribute and cite any quotes used within the content. Articles derived from master’s and doctoral theses are accepted for publication. However, articles based on postgraduate theses must not directly quote or copy the thesis text and must not constitute an exact replica of the thesis. The first page of articles derived from theses and below the author’s affiliation must indicate the thesis from which the article was produced. Articles should not contain expressions or sections identical to those in a book, another article, or any other work authored by the article's authors.
The editors and members of the Editorial Board of the NİYAZ Journal of Alevism-Bektashism Studies are not responsible for the opinions expressed and content of the articles published in the journal. The originality of the article and any scientific errors within the manuscript are the responsibility of the authors.
Multiple, Redundant, Excessive, or Concurrent Submission/Publication
Manuscripts that essentially address the same research should not be published in more than one journal or primary publication. Therefore, authors are expected not to submit for consideration manuscripts that are the same or substantially similar to those previously published in another journal. Concurrent submission of the same manuscript to more than one journal is considered unethical behavior and will not be accepted. Additionally, works published in the NİYAZ Journal of Alevism-Bektashism Studies should not be published in another journal in the future. If any of the aforementioned or similar abuses are detected, the responsible author(s) will be barred from submitting their work to the journal for five years.
The publishing rights of the author(s) are protected under the
CC-BY-NC-SA
license. This license allows the content to be copied, modified, distributed, and reused for non-commercial purposes, as long as proper attribution is given and the same license is maintained.
Ownership of the Article
The individuals who should be listed as authors on a manuscript are those who meet the following criteria, as they take responsibility for the content:
Those who have made significant contributions to the conception, design, execution, data collection, or analysis and interpretation of the study.
Those who have drafted the manuscript or have critically revised it by reevaluating the ideas presented, generating hypotheses, discussing them around a problem that contributes to the existing literature, and providing solutions related to the topic.
Individuals who have contributed to the study through technical assistance, writing, or editing but do not meet the criteria for authorship should not be listed as authors. Mentioning them in the "Acknowledgments" section is at the discretion of the author. The corresponding author must ensure that all co-authors who meet the criteria above are included in the author list and that those who do not qualify are not listed as authors. Additionally, the corresponding author must confirm that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to its submission for publication.
For articles derived from master's and doctoral theses, the thesis advisor's name may be included as a second author, reflecting their contribution during the article process; however, they cannot be listed as the first author.
Disclosure and Conflict of Interest
Authors are expected to submit a disclosure form at the earliest stage possible when submitting their work, including a statement in the manuscript that discloses any conflicts of interest that might have influenced the interpretation or conclusions of the work. Potential conflicts of interest that must be disclosed by authors include financial connections such as receipt of fees, educational grants, membership in funds, employment, consulting, stock ownership, and other equity interests, as well as personal or professional relationships and non-financial connections that might influence the study. Any financial support received during the study, including grant numbers or other reference numbers if available, should be clearly acknowledged.
Citation of Sources
Authors must ensure that they properly cite the works of others and reference publications that have influenced the nature of their study. Information obtained through private means, such as conversations, correspondence, or discussions with third parties, should not be used or disclosed without explicit, written permission from the source.
Errors in Published Works
If authors discover significant errors or inaccuracies in their own published work, they are obligated to promptly notify the journal's editors and cooperate in correcting or retracting the paper. If the editors or the publisher learn from a third party that a published work contains significant errors or inaccuracies, they may request the authors to correct or retract the paper. It is the responsibility of the authors to provide evidence of the accuracy of their work to the journal's editors. If an author becomes aware of a significant error during the publication process, they are required to report this error to the editor immediately.
Publisher Responsibilities
Measures Against Publications Violating Ethical Principles
In cases where scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication, or plagiarism is alleged or proven, the publisher, in collaboration with the editors, will take necessary steps to clarify the situation. If scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication, or plagiarism is detected, the article will be rejected or appropriate measures will be taken by the authors to amend it. This may involve quickly publishing a correction/retraction, issuing a statement, or in severe cases, retracting the work. The publisher is responsible for working with editors to identify and prevent the publication of articles where research misconduct has occurred. Such misconduct must not be allowed or encouraged under any circumstances.
Participation and Cooperation in Investigations
The responsibility for the content of the published articles lies with the authors. In cases where suspicions arise or legal and administrative investigations occur related to allegations of plagiarism or scientific misconduct in articles published in the NİYAZ Journal of Alevism-Bektashism Studies, authors are expected to cooperate by providing relevant information and documents to the requesting authorities if required.