Referee Guide
Selçuk University Journal of Seljuk Studies aims to publish original and scientific articles. Therefore, the contributions of referees, who are experts in their fields, to the article evaluations of our journal are very important.
Selection of Referees
The referees are selected among experts who have a PhD degree in the field of science to which the article relates and who have publications. The information of the experts from Turkish universities can be accessed from the Academic website of the Council of Higher Education and the information of the experts from abroad can be accessed from Publons.
Duties and Responsibilities of Referees
The evaluation of academic studies with "Blind Refereeing" directly affects the quality of publication. The evaluation process of our journal is carried out with the principle of double-blind refereeing. Blind refereeing is conducted on the basis of peer review. Reviewers cannot communicate directly with the authors, and evaluations and comments are communicated through the journal management system. In this process, reviewer comments on evaluation forms and full texts are communicated to the author(s) through the editor. In this context, referees who evaluate articles for Selçuk University Journal of Seljuk Studies are expected to have the following responsibilities:
• The reviewer should make the evaluation objectively only with regard to the content of the study without allowing nationality, gender, religious beliefs, political views and commercial concerns to influence it.
• If it is thought to be faced with a conflict of interest in the evaluation, it should refuse to review the study and inform the journal editor.
• While evaluating the article, care should be taken about scientific ethical violations, and if an ethical violation is detected, the situation should be reported to the editor.
• The evaluation should contribute to the development of the article.
• Referees who think that they are not competent in the subject of the article sent for review or cannot complete the review on time should decline the invitation to referee.
• Referees should not recommend references to an author's work for self-interest. They should contribute to the development of the article.
• They should make the evaluation in a constructive and courteous manner. They should not make derogatory personal comments containing hostility, slander and insult.
Making a Review
Referees' evaluations should be objective. During the refereeing process, referees are expected to make their evaluations by considering the following points.
• Does the article contain new and important information?
• Does the abstract clearly and accurately describe the content of the article?
• Is the methodology described in a coherent and understandable manner?
• Are the interpretations and conclusions substantiated by the findings?
• Are adequate references given to other studies in the field?
• Is the language quality adequate?
• Do the abstract and keywords accurately reflect the content of the article?
Editor's Guide
Selection of Editors
Editor-in-chief(s) and field editors are selected from among experts who have a PhD degree and academic studies in accordance with the scope of the journal. Language editors are selected from among faculty members/staff teaching foreign languages at universities. Assistant editors are required to have at least a master's degree.
Duties and Responsibilities of Editors
The editors of Selçuk University Journal of Seljuk Studies should have the duties and responsibilities specified in the "COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" and "COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) as open access.
General Duties and Responsibilities
• The editor should ensure that the peer review process is fair, impartial and timely. Research articles should be reviewed by at least two external peer referees, and the editor should seek additional advice when necessary.
• The editor will select referees with appropriate expertise in the relevant field, taking into account the need for appropriate, inclusive and diverse representation. The editor will follow best practices to avoid the selection of fraudulent referees.
• The editor must maintain the confidentiality of all material submitted to the journal and all communications with referees, unless otherwise agreed with the authors and referees concerned. In exceptional circumstances and in consultation with the publisher, the editor may share limited information with editors of other journals where the editor deems it necessary to investigate suspected research misconduct. The editor must protect the identity of referees. Information contained in a submitted article should not be used in the editor's own research without the express written permission of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained during the refereeing process should be kept confidential and should not be used for personal gain.
• The editor should evaluate articles without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnicity, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
Relations with readers
• The editors pay attention to the originality of the published studies and ensure that the study makes a scientific contribution to the readers, researchers and practitioners.
• Editors take into account the feedback from all stakeholders and endeavour to provide explanatory and informative feedback.
Relations with authors
• Editors should make a positive or negative decision based on the importance, original value, validity, clarity of expression and the aims and objectives of the journal.
• Unless there is a serious problem with the articles that are suitable for publication, they should be included in the preliminary evaluation stage.
• "Evaluation and Publication Processes" must be published and editors must prevent deviations that may occur in the defined processes.
• Editors should publish an "Author's Guidelines" that includes every subject that will be expected from the authors in detail. These guides should be updated at certain time intervals.
• Authors should be notified and returned in an explanatory and informative manner.
• The Editor is in constant communication with the author in order to prevent any problems that may arise during the process.
Relations with referees
• Editors should determine the referees in accordance with the subject of the article.
• Editors are obliged to provide the information and guidelines that the referees will need during the evaluation phase.
• Editors are obliged to observe whether there is a conflict of interest between authors and referees.
• Editors should keep the identity information of the referees confidential in accordance with the principle of Blind Reviewing. Since the evaluation process is carried out by double-blinding method, the identity information of the referees is kept confidential. The referee list of each issue is announced in the relevant issue.
• Editors should encourage referees to evaluate the manuscript in an impartial, scientific and objective manner. Referees should avoid using offensive language and style.
• Editors should take the necessary steps to dynamically update the referee pool.
• Unkind and unscientific reviews will be blocked or censored by the editors.
Investigation of Allegations
An editor who finds convincing evidence of ethical violations should contact the Editorial Board and the Publisher to have the manuscript corrected, retracted, or otherwise amended.
Conflict of Interest
Editors should ensure that the publication process of manuscripts is completed in an independent and impartial manner, taking into account conflicts of interest between the author(s), referees and other editors. The editor should not intervene in the process of articles written by himself/herself, his/her family members, or any other person with whom he/she has a vested interest, and should not take part in the decisions related to the article.
Publication Decision
The editor-in-chief is responsible for decisions regarding the acceptance or rejection of articles in line with the referee reports. The editor-in-chief must comply with the policies determined by the editorial board in these decisions.
Journal Citation Request
The editor should not attempt to influence the ranking of the journal by artificially increasing any metric of the journal. The editor will not request citation of articles from his/her journal or any other journal, except for scientific reasons.
Protection of personal data
Unless the explicit consent of the individuals used in the studies is documented, they are responsible for rejecting the article. Editors are also responsible for protecting the individual data of authors, referees and readers.
Prevention against possible misconduct and malpractice
Editors are obliged to take precautions against possible misconduct and malpractice. In addition to conducting a rigorous and objective investigation in the identification and evaluation of complaints regarding this situation, it is among the responsibilities of the editor to share the findings on the subject.
Ensuring the integrity of academic publications
Editors should ensure that judgments containing errors, inconsistencies or misdirection in articles are promptly corrected.
Protection of intellectual property rights
The editors are responsible for protecting the intellectual property rights of all published articles and defending the rights of the journal and the author(s) in case of possible violations.
Political and commercial concerns
Editors should not be influenced in their independent decision-making processes by the journal owner, publisher or any other political or commercial factors.
Correction, Withdrawal, Publication of an Expression of Concern
Within the scope of the duties and responsibilities of the author(s) and the editorial board during the withdrawal phase of a study or article in accordance with the publication policies of Selçuk University Journal of Seljuk Studies; In case the author(s) realises a mistake or error related to the published, early appearance or evaluation stage of the work, they have the obligation to cooperate with the editor of the journal in the withdrawal process. The author(s) who wish to withdraw their work under review are obliged to fill in the "Withdrawal Form" and send it to the editorial board by sending an e-mail to usad@selcuk.edu.tr, signed and scanned with the wet signature of each author. The editorial board reviews the withdrawal notification and provides a response within one week at the latest.
The editorial board of Selçuk University Journal of Seljuk Studies has the obligation to initiate an investigation into the article in case of suspicion of copyright and plagiarism regarding a work published, in early view or at the evaluation stage. If the editorial board determines that copyright and plagiarism have been committed in the article under evaluation as a result of the investigation, it withdraws the work from the evaluation and returns it to the authors by citing the detected situations in detail.