Thesis-Based Submission Policy

COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) recommends that theses can be converted into article format and that the implementation guidelines for this process belong to the journals. Journals should include a statement indicating that the work is derived from a thesis and consider the institutional rules governing the thesis publication. Since publications derived from theses inevitably include statements, discussions, literature reviews, methods, findings, and analyses from the thesis, care must be taken during the re-publication process. If these works have been published on a website, it should be ensured that the double-blind peer review process operates properly. In this regard, the policies of our journal are detailed below.

The Turkish Review of Communication Studies welcomes submissions based on master’s and doctoral theses. However, to uphold the integrity of the double-blind peer review process and ensure that thesis-based articles meet academic journal standards, authors must adhere to the following policy.

1. Declaration of Thesis Origin
Authors must explicitly declare in their submission whether their manuscript is derived from a thesis. This should be indicated in Author Declaration document (See submission forms)

* The declaration should include:
* The thesis title (even if modified for the article)
* The institution where the thesis was submitted
* The year of completion

2. YÖK Limited Access Encouragement
* Authors who have submitted their theses to Turkish universities are strongly encouraged to make their thesis available on the Yükseköğretim Kurulu (Higher Education Council, YÖK) website with limited access, if possible. This ensures that the thesis is officially recorded while restricting full-text access, thereby preserving the integrity of the double-blind peer review process.

3. Article vs. Thesis: Required Modifications
A thesis and a journal article serve different academic purposes. Authors must modify their work to fit the article format and address reviewer feedback.

Title and Abstract Changes:
* The article’s title must be significantly different from the thesis title to prevent easy identification by reviewers.
* The abstract must be rewritten to avoid direct matches in keyword searches.

Structural Adaptations:
The article should be reshaped to meet the expectations of a journal audience, which may involve:

* Focusing on a specific research question.
* Streamlining the literature review and methodology sections. It is also crucial that the thesis data is not outdated and that it includes up-to-date literature.

Language and Sentence Structure:
* The article must not directly replicate sentences, paragraphs, or verbatim excerpts from the thesis.
* Instead, it should be rewritten in a new and original language, ensuring that it presents the research in a distinct and refined manner.
* This is essential to prevent the submission from being classified as duplicate publication.

Revisions and Peer Review Compliance:
* Authors cannot refuse to make revisions on the basis that their work was already approved by a thesis supervisor or committee.
* The peer review process operates independently of a university’s thesis evaluation. Authors must take reviewer feedback seriously and incorporate necessary revisions.

4. Submission of Pre-Defended Theses
* Authors may submit a manuscript derived from a thesis that has been written but not yet defended.
* However, they must acknowledge that additional modifications may be required during both the thesis defense and the journal’s review process.
* The journal follows its own peer review schedule—requests for expedited review to align with a thesis defense will not be accommodated.
* If the paper is published, proper attribution must be made, clearly stating that the article is derived from the thesis.

5. Ethical Considerations for Editors and Reviewers
* If a reviewer discovers the author’s identity, they must immediately inform the editorial team. The editor may then consider assigning new reviewers to maintain the journal’s double-blind standards, or return the article.
* If the editor determines that the double-blind review process has been compromised or that the article has not been adequately adapted from the thesis, the submission may be returned at any stage of the review process with an explanation, in accordance with the guidelines outlined above.

By submitting a thesis-based article to the Turkish Review of Communication Studies, authors acknowledge their responsibility to respect the peer review process, editorial timeline, and necessary academic modifications.

Conference Paper Submission Policy

The Turkish Review of Communication Studies accepts submissions based on work previously presented at academic conferences, under the condition that the integrity of the peer review process is fully respected. Authors must adhere to the following guidelines:

1. Abstracts vs. Full Paper Submissions

Authors may expand orally presented conference abstracts into full-length articles for submission to the journal. However, if a full version of the paper has already been published in conference proceedings, it is considered duplicate publication and will not be accepted.

If the submitted paper is based on a conference presentation, this must be clearly disclosed in the Author Declaration Form, including:

* The name, date, and location of the conference,
* The title of the original presentation,
* And a statement clarifying that only an abstract—not a full paper—was previously published or presented.

2. Revisions to Maintain Anonymity
To ensure a fair double-blind peer review, authors must revise their manuscripts to prevent any identification. In particular:
* The title, abstract, and overall content should be significantly revised from the version shared publicly on conference websites or programs.
* Any identifying information (e.g., acknowledgments or self-references) should be removed or anonymized prior to submission.

3. Substantial Original Contribution
Submitted manuscripts must present a significant new contribution beyond the initial conference abstract or presentation. Merely reformatting or lightly editing the original content is insufficient.

4. Disclosure and Editorial Discretion
If reviewers recognize that a paper has been previously presented or overlaps substantially with a prior conference version, this must be disclosed to the editor. The editor retains the right to return or reject the manuscript at any stage if it does not comply with the journal’s ethical standards or submission policy.

By submitting a manuscript based on a conference presentation, authors acknowledge their responsibility to ensure transparency, revise appropriately, and uphold the standards required for journal publication.

Preprint Policy

In line with COPE's guidance , which encourages editors to consider whether the use of preprints may affect the integrity of anonymous peer review—and leaves final decisions to individual journals—the Turkish Review of Communication Studies has established the following preprint policy.

Our journal employs a double-blind peer review process, ensuring the anonymity of both authors and reviewers to promote the most objective evaluation possible. While we support the principles of open science and recognize the benefits of rapid dissemination through preprints, we also maintain strict standards to uphold the integrity of our review process.

Manuscripts that have been previously posted as preprints (i.e., made publicly available on reputable platforms such as arXiv, SSRN, OSF Preprints, etc.) may be submitted, provided that the following conditions are met:

* The existence of the preprint is clearly disclosed at the time of submission via the Author Declaration form.
* The manuscript submitted to the journal is substantially revised and not identical to the preprint version, to preserve the integrity of the double-blind review process.
* The preprint’s DOI or URL is included in the Author Declaration form for full transparency.
* The submission is still subject to our standard double-blind peer review process.

Note: Posting a preprint is not considered prior publication. However, the editor reserves the right to evaluate the preprint’s content and determine its suitability for peer review in line with the journal's editorial standards. Failure to comply with these guidelines may result in desk rejection or removal from the review process.