EDITORIAL WORKFLOW

Editorial Pre-review

Each application is initially subjected to an Editorial Pre-review. The Editorial Pre-review is conducted by the Editorial Board of the Journal. During this preliminary evaluation phase, the suitability of the manuscript for the Journal and its adherence to ethical principles, as well as its scientific competence, are assessed. Manuscripts that are deemed insufficient or unsuitable are returned to the author while manuscripts found to be adequate and appropriate proceed to the next stage.

Editorial Processing Charge (EPC)

For a manuscript that has successfully passed the Editorial Review stage, the initiation of the Peer Review Process requires the payment of Editorial Processing Charge (EPC) and the receipt of the payment must be sent via email (iibfdergi@mehmetakif.edu.tr).

Peer-Review process

Once the EPC payment has been made, the Peer-Review process for the manuscript is initiated. Two referees are appointed in the Peer-Review Process.

The Peer-Review process operates as follows:

• If both referees provide negative reports, the manuscript is rejected.
• If both referees provide positive reports, the manuscript proceeds to the Final Editorial Review (FER) stage.
• If both referees provide revision recommendations (major or minor), the author is informed with the referees' reports.
  • The revised version of the manuscript, based on the referees' recommendations, is sent to the referees if they wish to review it again. Subsequent steps are taken based on the referees' new reports (if two rejections are received, it results in rejection; if two acceptances are received, it proceeds to the FER stage; if two revisions are received, it undergoes reevaluation).
  • If the referees do not wish to review the revised manuscript, it moves to the FER stage.
• If one referee provides a positive report while the other provides a negative report, a third referee is consulted.
  • If the third referee provides a negative report, the manuscript is rejected.
  • If the third referee provides a positive report, all referee reports (including the negative report) are sent to the author, and the necessary revisions are expected.
    • The revised version of the manuscript, based on the referees' recommendations, is sent to the referees (excluding the referee who provided a negative report) if they wish to review it again. Subsequent steps are taken based on the referees' new reports (if a second rejection occurs, it results in rejection; if a second acceptance occurs, it proceeds to the FER stage; if two revisions occur, it undergoes reevaluation).
    • If the referees do not wish to review the revised manuscript, it moves to the FER stage.

Final Editorial Review (FER)

Final Editorial Review (FER) stage is carried out by the Journal's Editorial Board. The Editorial Board reserves the right to make the final decision. Editorial Board has the right to make the final decision to whether to publish the work, or reject it, or send it to other reviewers for new reports. At this FER stage, one of the following decisions is made:

• The manuscript is accepted for publication. Accepted manuscripts are passed to the Article Proof stage. During the Article Proof stage, if deemed necessary, proofreading may be requested.
• A new Peer-Review Process must be initiated. If the referee reports are not deemed sufficient by the Editorial Board, the Peer-Review Process is initiated anew with new referees.
• The manuscript is rejected. Manuscripts found to be in violation of the Journal's publication guidelines or ethical standards, or deemed insufficient from a scientific perspective, can be rejected by unanimous decision of the Editorial Board.
  

Article Proof and Final Revisions

During the Article Proof stage, final checks are conducted within the manuscript text to minimize substantive errors. If deemed necessary, authors may be asked for revisions or proofreading.

Manuscripts that successfully pass the final Article Proof stage are prepared for publication in the Journal by the Journal's layout team and made ready for publication.

NOTE:
Negative report: Rejection
Positive report: Acceptance or major/minor revision
EPC: Editorial Processing Charge
FER: Final Editorial Review