Senectus

Aim

Senectus is a peer-reviewed international journal published biannually in September and March by Istanbul University Faculty of Letters Sociology Research Center with the support of the Darülaceze Foundation.

The purpose of the journal is to publish theoretical and applied academic studies on topics related to aging process and late-life experiences applying a multidisciplinary perspective. In this context, it aims to follow on the continuity and change in studies on old age and aging and primarily publish studies examining the demographic, economic, historical, legal, psychological, anthropological, and sociological elements determining them. Our mission is to provide a platform for dialogue for researchers from various disciplines related to the field, as well as for policymakers and practitioners. Moreover, we hope that the journal will serve as a source of knowledge useful for scholars and institutions dealing with this topic in Turkey and, consequently, will have a share in the development of proposals for the betterment of living conditions for its aging population. As such, we prioritise intra- and interdisciplinary works which not only exhibit methodological excellence but also provide a fresh and unique contribution to the ongoing debate on aging and late life.

Scope

Within the scope of the field of aging/old age studies, the journal is open to works evaluating the international developments in this field from the local perspective and comparative studies. We also welcome articles aiming to introduce the changes and new perspectives abroad to the Turkish literature, as well as ones which aspire to share the recent developments in Turkey and its historical record with the international audience. Within this framework, we will publish articles, case study analyses, research notes, and book reviews, especially concerning (although not limited to):

- The relation between aging/old age and social, political, economic, legal, and technological changes
- The effects of individual and demographic aging on shareholders such as local and national government, NGOs, universities, and field workers
- The proposals for solutions regarding care, policies, and social policies towards older people, as well as analyses of current solutions
- Physical and psychological changes occurring as a result of aging, behavioural and social transformations, age-related health developments (tracking, treatment, and prevention)
- Public debates regarding aging societies
- Historical and contemporary evaluations of old age/older people
- Economic behaviours of aging people and old people-oriented sectors
- Employment, retirement, income, and consumption habits in older people
- Lifespan approach
- Intergenerational relations and transitions
- The experience of aging and family relations
- Loneliness and social ostracism
- Social rights and inequalities (such as the right to live, the right to access basic services, and the right to political representation)
- Comparative analyses based on national and international databases
- Proposals for good practices in Turkey

Manuscript Organization
Formatting and content requirements for manuscripts ​

General Formatting Requirements
Font: The font used in the entire manuscript should be Times New Roman, font size 10. For tables and figures, see below.

Page Layout:

Page margins for bottom, top, right, and left should be pre-set as 0.98 inch.
Text should be typed as a single-column document.
Text should be justified with no hyphenation breaks in words at the end of a line.
Paragraphs and headings should not be indented, but aligned with the main text.

Paragraph Format:

Paragraph indents should be pre-set in the tabs section as follows:

Before and after: 6 pt
Line spacing: 1.5
Page Limit: Manuscripts prepared in compliance with the guidelines should not exceed 25 pages (10.000 words).

Manuscript Sections

Title: Article titles should be boldfaced and centered.

Author(s)’s Names: The main document is used for peer-review, which may include the title, abstract, key words, main body, references, figures and tables and supplementary materials. The names of all authors and their institutions should not be included in the main document.

Abstract: Abstracts should be between 150–200 words. No citations should appear in the abstract.

Keywords: 5–8 words representing the manuscript should be given as keywords.

Main Text:

Qualitative and quantitative studies should contain the following sections: Introduction, Method, Findings, and Discussion.

The Methods section must include Sampling/Study Population, Data Collection Tools, and Procedure as subsections if an original research method has been used.

Literature reviews should elaborate on the problem, analyze the relevant literature, emphasize the gaps and inconsistencies in the literature, and discuss actions toward solving these problems.

Other types of studies can allow slight variations in sections, but they should not contain too many details and sub-sections that could distract readers’ attention and compromise readability.

References: Both in-text citations and references should comply with the APA guidelines as provided in the Publication Manual of American Psychological Association (APA) (6th edition).

Tables, Figures, and Appendices

Tables and Figures: Tables, figures, pictures, graphics, and similar aspects should be embedded in the text, and not provided as appendices.

Under the Paragraph tab, ensure that the indentation is as follows:

Before and after: 0
Spacing: Single
Tables and figures should be left aligned, and the text wrapping feature should be turned off.

Appendices: Each appendix should be displayed on a separate page after the references section.

Format for Five Levels of Heading

1st Levef of Heading: Centered, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading

2nd Level of Heading: Flush Left, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading

3rd Level of Heading: Indented, boldface, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period. (In a lowercase paragraph heading, the first letter of the first word is uppercase and the remaining words are lowercase.)

4th Level of Heading: Indented, boldface, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period.

5th Level of Heading: Indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period. More than five levels of headings are not advisable.

Table and Figure Headings: Table and figure numbers should be typed as “Table 1” or “Figure 1”

Table and figure headings should be in italics.

Other Guidelines

Emphasis: Do not use boldfaced characters in text. Emphasis should be expressed using quotation marks (“”) or italics.

Listing: Lists in text should be horizontal and not vertical. Further, the list should use Roman numeral [(i), (ii), and so on], not Arabic (1, 2).

Direct Quotations: Direct quotes should be left-indented from the main text and typed in 9-point font. They need not be italicized. Please refer to the sample manuscript for examples.

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement
Senectus is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and pays regard to Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) on https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines-new/principles-transparency-and-best-practice-scholarly-publishing

All submissions must be original, unpublished (including as full text in conference proceedings), and not under the review of any other publication synchronously. Authors must ensure that submitted work is original. They must certify that the manuscript has not previously been published elsewhere or is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere, in any language. Applicable copyright laws and conventions must be followed. Copyright material (e.g. tables, figures or extensive quotations) must be reproduced only with appropriate permission and acknowledgement. Any work or words of other authors, contributors, or sources must be appropriately credited and referenced.

Each manuscript is reviewed at least two referees under double-blind peer review process. Plagiarism, duplication, fraud authorship/denied authorship, research/data fabrication, salami slicing/salami publication, breaching of copyrights, prevailing conflict of interest are unnethical behaviors.

All manuscripts not in accordance with the accepted ethical standards will be removed from the publication. This also contains any possible malpractice discovered after the publication. In accordance with the code of conduct we will report any cases of suspected plagiarism or duplicate publishing.

Research Ethics
Senectus adheres to the highest standards in research ethics and follows the principles of international research ethics as defined below. The authors are responsible for the compliance of the manuscripts with the ethical rules.

- Principles of integrity, quality and transparency should be sustained in designing the research, reviewing the design and conducting the research.
- The research team and participants should be fully informed about the aim, methods, possible uses and requirements of the research and risks of participation in research.
- The confidentiality of the information provided by the research participants and the confidentiality of the respondents should be ensured. The research should be designed to protect the autonomy and dignity of the participants.
- Research participants should participate in the research voluntarily, not under any coercion.
- Any possible harm to participants must be avoided. The research should be planned in such a way that the participants are not at risk.
- The independence of research must be clear; and any conflict of interest or must be disclosed.
- In experimental studies with human subjects, written informed consent of the participants who decide to participate in the research must be obtained. In the case of children and those under wardship or with confirmed insanity, legal custodian’s assent must be obtained.
- If the study is to be carried out in any institution or organization, approval must be obtained from this institution or organization.
- In studies with human subject, it must be noted in the method’s section of the manuscript that the informed consent of the participants and ethics committee approval from the institution where the study has been conducted have been obtained.

Author's Responsibilities
It is authors’ responsibility to ensure that the article is in accordance with scientific and ethical standards and rules. And authors must ensure that submitted work is original. They must certify that the manuscript has not previously been published elsewhere or is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere, in any language. Applicable copyright laws and conventions must be followed. Copyright material (e.g. tables, figures or extensive quotations) must be reproduced only with appropriate permission and acknowledgement. Any work or words of other authors, contributors, or sources must be appropriately credited and referenced.

All the authors of a submitted manuscript must have direct scientific and academic contribution to the manuscript. The author(s) of the original research articles is defined as a person who is significantly involved in “conceptualization and design of the study”, “collecting the data”, “analyzing the data”, “writing the manuscript”, “reviewing the manuscript with a critical perspective” and “planning/conducting the study of the manuscript and/or revising it”. Fund raising, data collection or supervision of the research group are not sufficient roles to be accepted as an author. The author(s) must meet all these criteria described above. The order of names in the author list of an article must be a co-decision and it must be indicated in the Copyright Agreement Form.

The individuals who do not meet the authorship criteria but contributed to the study must take place in the acknowledgement section. Individuals providing technical support, assisting writing, providing a general support, providing material or financial support are examples to be indicated in acknowledgement section.

All authors must disclose all issues concerning financial relationship, conflict of interest, and competing interest that may potentially influence the results of the research or scientific judgment. When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published paper, it is the author’s obligation to promptly cooperate with the Editor-in-Chief to provide retractions or corrections of mistakes.

Responsibility for the Editor and Reviewers
Editor-in-Chief evaluates manuscripts for their scientific content without regard to ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, citizenship, religious belief or political philosophy of the authors. He/She provides a fair double-blind peer review of the submitted articles for publication and ensures that all the information related to submitted manuscripts is kept as confidential before publishing.

Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the contents and overall quality of the publication. He/She must publish errata pages or make corrections when needed.

Editor-in-Chief does not allow any conflicts of interest between the authors, editors and reviewers. Only he has the full authority to assign a reviewer and is responsible for final decision for publication of the manuscripts in the Journal.

Reviewers must have no conflict of interest with respect to the research, the authors and/or the research funders. Their judgments must be objective.

Reviewers must ensure that all the information related to submitted manuscripts is kept as confidential and must report to the editor if they are aware of copyright infringement and plagiarism on the author’s side.

A reviewer who feels unqualified to review the topic of a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.

The editor informs the reviewers that the manuscripts are confidential information and that this is a privileged interaction. The reviewers and editorial board cannot discuss the manuscripts with other persons. The anonymity of the referees must be ensured. In particular situations, the editor may share the review of one reviewer with other reviewers to clarify a particular point.

All expenses of the journal are covered by the Istanbul University. Processing and publication are free of charge with the journal. There is no article processing charges or submission fees for any submitted or accepted articles.