The authors who would like to submit their papers to the Literacy Trek are advised to check that their manuscript fits well within the journal’s aims and scope. Additionally, the papers’ compliance to ethical issues are of primary concern based on the Literacy Trek publishing policies. Thus, before making submissions, the authors are advised to check their papers’ similarity indices using any available plagiarism-detecting software. For all details, please see the explanations below.

Submission Procedure

All manuscripts must be submitted through the journal's online, web-enabled system. The platform allows authors to log in and track the progress of their manuscripts in real time. The system accepts multiple file formats, including Word, PDF, LaTeX, and various image files, which are automatically converted into a single PDF for the peer-review process. Multiple files may also be uploaded as a single ZIP archive.

Should you experience any difficulties with the online submission process, please contact the Journal/Editorial Secretary for assistance.

Publication Eligibility and Scheduling

To maintain editorial independence and promote institutional and author diversity, The Literacy Trek applies the following policy regarding author publication frequency:

Frequency Limit: An author, whether as a primary author or a co-author, may not publish more than one (1) article in the same calendar year.

Cooling-off Period: Following the publication of an article, the same author must skip at least two (2) consecutive issues before another manuscript involving that author can be scheduled for publication. Accordingly, the earliest possible publication of a subsequent article will be in the third issue following the issue in which the author's previous article was published.

Queue System: Manuscripts that successfully complete the double-blind peer-review process but cannot be scheduled for publication due to these restrictions will be placed in the publication queue and deferred to the earliest eligible future issue..

Double-Blind Peer Review

The Literacy Trek employs a double-blind peer-review policy to ensure fairness and anonymity. Authors are required to remove all identifying information—including names and affiliations—from the manuscript. Additionally, self-citations and references should be handled carefully. To maintain anonymity, use "Author" in the text and references when referring to your own work.
After an initial review by the editorial team, each submission is assigned to at least two independent, external reviewers who are not affiliated with the authors' institutions. If the reviewers do not reach a consensus, a third reviewer is appointed to provide a final judgment. For a manuscript to be accepted for publication, it must be accepted by at least two reviewers.

Manuscript Types

The Literacy Trek accepts the following types of original manuscripts:

• Research Studies: These manuscripts report on original, empirical research that uses primary data to investigate a specific subject or topic. The aim is to contribute to a deeper understanding of a theory, principle, practice, process, or educational intervention.
• Review Studies: These papers offer a comprehensive synthesis and analysis of existing literature on a given topic. The journal particularly welcomes methodologically rigorous review types, including, but not limited to:

                 - Systematic Reviews

                - Meta-Analyses

                - Scoping Reviews

                - Integrative Reviews

                - Umbrella Reviews

                - Qualitative Reviews

Language of the Manuscript

All manuscripts submitted to The Literacy Trek must be written in clear, concise academic English. While professional editing services are not required, authors whose first language is not English are strongly encouraged to have their manuscripts professionally edited before submission to improve clarity and reduce the likelihood of a desk rejection.

Manuscript Preparation and Style

All manuscripts must adhere to the 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) (http://www.apastyle.org/index.aspx) except for the line spacing in references, tables, figures, and appendices (see below) and the position of tables and figures. Submissions that do not follow this style guide will be returned to the authors for correction before being sent for peer review.

All submissions should include at least five documents:

1- Title Page

2- Main Manuscript Text

3- Ethics Statement

4- Statement of AI Use

5- Similarity Report

1- Title Page
Please add a 'Title Page' with your submissions as a separate document. The title page is to contain:
• title: concise and informative (≤15 words)
• author(s): full names
• affiliation(s)
• full address for correspondence, telephone numbers, and e-mail address
• acknowledgement(s) of people, grants, funding, etc: Briefly mention funding sources, contributors, or collaborators.
• authors' ORCID number,
• short bio(s): 50 words per author,
• conflict of interest (if any): Declare any conflicts or state “No conflicts of interest.”

2- Main Manuscript Text

To maintain the integrity and consistency of our publications, authors are kindly requested to adhere to the Journal's manuscript template, which can be downloaded from:
https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/journal-file/29416

Anonymized Manuscript

The main manuscript text should be completely anonymized for double-blind peer review. Remove all author names and affiliations. When citing your own work, use "Authors" in both the text and the reference list to maintain anonymity. 

Word Count

Manuscripts, including all text, references, tables, and figures, must not exceed the specified word limits:

• Research Studies: 10,000 words maximum.
• Review Studies: 8,000 words maximum.

Inclusive Language

Use bias-free, gender-neutral, and inclusive language throughout the manuscript.

Permissions

Authors are responsible for securing written permission for any copyrighted material used, including figures, tables, and quotes.
 

3- Ethics Statement

A copy of the official approval document must be submitted as a supplementary file during the manuscript submission process. Also, all manuscripts must include a clear Ethics Statement in the methodology section. This statement should confirm that the study was approved by an Ethics Committee or an Institutional Review Board (IRB) and provide the approval number and the name of the approving institution. Also, the authors are expected to detail the ethical treatment of human research participants and gathering of informed consent if applicable and to declare all conflicts of interest or none.

4- Statement of AI Use

Authors must disclose any use of artificial intelligence tools in the manuscript's creation. They must submit our official Statement of AI Use document as part of their submission, which can be found at:
 

https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/journal-file/35045

5-Similarity Report

Authors may submit a similarity report generated by iThenticate or Turnitin as a supplementary file. The overall similarity index must not exceed 15%. The similarity report should be generated with the reference list excluded, direct quotations included, and matches of fewer than eight (8) words excluded.

Manuscripts submitted without an iThenticate or Turnitin similarity report will be screened by the journal using intihal.net. For manuscripts screened through intihal.net, the overall similarity index must be below 10%.

The Editorial Board reserves the right to reject manuscripts based on the nature and distribution of similarities, regardless of the overall similarity percentage.