MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

About Journal of Black Sea Studies

The Journal of Black Sea Studies an international peer-reviewed journal. It was established in 2004 and is published by KaraM Araştırma ve Yayıncılık.

Journal of Black Sea Studies publishes four issues per year in December (Winter), March (Spring), June (Summer), and September (Fall) and does not publish so-called 'special issues'.

Journal of Black Sea Studies is an e-Journal (E-ISSN: 2536-5126).

It is Turkey's first ever regiocentric journal focusing on various branches of the social sciences such as history, linguistics, literature, international relations, economics and ethnography within the context of Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the Caucasus, and Anatolia. As of 2020, 17 volumes/68 issues featuring close to 1000 articles have been published. Since its inception, Journal of Black Sea Studies has established an important body of literature in contributing to various fields spanning history, sociology, and language to literature and international relations.

Prof. Dr. Osman Karatay (Ege University) has served as Journal of Black Sea Studies’s Editor-in-Chief since 2004, alongside vice-editors Asst. Prof. Dr. Yaşar Şimşek (Giresun University), Asst. Prof. Dr. Umut Üren (Kırklareli University), Dr. Hanife Alkan (Ondokuz Mayis University) and Dr. Abdullah Mert (Konya Necmettin Erbakan University). Prof. Dr. Bilgehan A. Gökdağ (Kırıkkale University) is the journal's current owner and managing editor. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Seyfettin Erol (Gazi University) and Prof. Dr. Yahya Kemal Taştan (Ege University) had previously served on our journal's editorial board as well.

Purpose & Scope

The Journal of Black Sea Studies sets out to foster academic research focusing on the Turkic World and the surrounding region through the lens of topics such as inter-country relations, regional history, socio-political issues, linguistics, and Turkology. At the same time, it also sets out to bring those within this specific academic community together through published scholarly literature. In placing particular emphasis on nations surrounding the Black Sea, Journal of Black Sea Studies’s publishing philosophy is to ultimately contribute to the web of knowledge in this field, as well as to contribute to Turkey's strategies towards this region.

Journal of Black Sea Studies will continue to publish articles that represent its region of focus in the broadest and most up-to-date sense possible.

Language Of Publication

The language of publication is normally Turkish, however, high-quality manuscripts in other Turkic languages alongside English and Russian that meet submission guidelines are considered for each issue. Translated articles as well as book reviews that are in line with journal's scope can be published.

Subsections

In the Journal of Black Sea Studies, at least of an issue is reserved for original research articles. Review articles that contribute to the field, translations with reference to the field, and book review and review articles can also be included.

Limitations

Journal of Black Sea Studies maintains a quota on the number of articles it publishes in each issue. This entails a maximum of 20 articles per issue, including book reviews and descriptions. If the number of articles deemed fit for publishing exceeds this quota, the articles are then placed onto a waiting list upon being reviewed. The editorial board may give priority to those articles that are deemed as being of particularly high quality as well as of carrying the potential to be influential in their particular field.

Open Access System

Journal of Black Sea Studies is an open access (OA) journal providing users and institutions with unrestricted and free access to its content. This means that users are not required to pay a fee or to ask permission from either the author or journal in order to access and use articles in their full form, as is outlined by Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI).

Responsibility

The views and opinions in the published articles belong to the authors and do not reflect the views and opinions of our journal.

Scanned by the Databases and Indexes

Journal of Black Sea Studies is listed in numerous national and international bibliographic databases and indexes including ULAKBİM TR DİZİN Acarindex, Araştırmax, ASOS, CEEOL, DOAJ, Index Copernicus, Index Islamicus, International Medieval Bibliography, İSAM Türk Tarih, Edebiyat, Kültür ve Sanat Makaleleri Veritabanı, J-Gate, MLA International Bibliography, CiteFactor, Serials Solutions, Ulrich’s periodicals directory, CNKI, InfoBase, and SOBİAD.

Archiving System

All articles submitted to be published in the Journal of Black Sea Studies and the referee reports of these articles have been archived indefinitely in the article tracking system of the website named karamdergisi.com. The editorial board guarantees that the articles, referee reports and personal information in our archive will not be shared with third parties.

PUBLISHING ETHICS

The ethics statement for the Journal of Black Sea Studies is based on those by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)'s Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors.

Manuscript(s) and the Responsibilities of Author(s)

Manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Black Sea Studies should not have been previously published elsewhere. Papers that have been presented at scientific conferences may be accepted on the condition that they have not been published elsewhere. If your manuscript has already been published and has been modified/expanded upon, you are required submit your manuscript both in its original state alongside the modified version to the journal by e-mail. This particular situation applies to manuscripts that have generated from graduate/doctoral theses and projects. All work reported in the manuscript must be original and should contribute to its respective discipline. All manuscripts to be submitted must conform with the fields outlined in "Purpose & Scope" section above. Manuscripts that do not conform with that will not be accepted. Should a manuscript that does not conform with those rules be submitted, the author will be alerted by the editorial board by e-mail, whereupon their manuscript will be rejected.

All submissions are controlled by the editing board to ensure that they conform with the spelling and punctuation standards outlined by the Turkish Language Association (TDK). Submissions that are deemed as having do not met these standards are unable to move on to the review phase.

The author must guarantee that work reported in the manuscript, including information, images, figures, tables, and quotes, must be original, properly cited, and free from any kind of plagiarism. They also must guarantee that their work has not been published elsewhere or submitted to any other journal(s) simultaneously.

In case it becomes apparent the submission has been previously published elsewhere (e.g. published under a different heading) or is currently being reviewed by another journal, Journal of Black Sea Studies will immediately terminate the review process and cut all ties with author. After that point, the author will be prohibited from submitting any further manuscript(s).

All submissions are checked for plagiarism using CrossCheck. In case of plagiarism, the publication shall be cancelled.

As of the 62th issue, all submissions are now required to be delivered with an accompanying iThenticate plagiarism report as well.

All sources listed in the References section of those submissions deemed suitable for publishing will be throughly controlled. Should references either be missing or deemed irrelevant, the author will be will be notified as to respond accordingly.

Ethics Committee Approval

For studies requiring ethics committee approval, it is mandatory to include the relevant Ethics Committee Approval (committee-date-number) at the end of the article.

Review Process (Blind Peer-Review)

You can follow the entire review process of your submission via the Journal of Black Sea Studies website: www.karamdergisi.com Each manuscript is reviewed by at least two field experts. All manuscripts pass through a double-blind peer-review process. Neither the authors know the identity of the reviewer, and vice versa. Reviewer reports are not published, but are rather kept confidential within the system. The abstract(s) of the article(s) is/are first checked by the reviewers prior to them receiving the manuscript(s). This is done to determine whether they will be willing to review the text(s) or not. If the reviewer's answer is affirmative, they will the receive the manuscript(s) in full. The reviewers are expected to deliver their report(s) within 20 days of the review process.

The author can access the results of the report(s) via their Journal of Black Sea Studies website account. In the event that one of the reviewer's reports is positive and the other is negative, the editorial board may choose either to terminate the review process or to forward the manuscript to a third reviewer. Reviewers release their reports on the Journal of Black Sea Studies website via their own personal accounts within 20 days of conducting their reviews. In case the reviewers are delayed in releasing their reports, the editorial board may appoint a new reviewer to the manuscript. The author is to take all of the items listed each report very seriously. If the author disagrees with the report in way, she/he must justify why. The approval of both reviewers does not mean that the manuscript will be published immediately. In case the editorial board feels that the reviewer's report is insufficient, it may wish to appoint an additional reviewer, or it may wish to make a final decision regarding the publishability of the manuscript. Either the reviewer(s) or editorial board controls each manuscript to ensure that the author has adhered to and therefore made the necessary corrections outlined in the report(s). 

Referees

• Referees should not accept publications outside of their field of expertise for evaluation.
• After the referees accept the invitation to arbitrate, they must comply with the international standards of refereeing.
• Referees can access articles via the article tracking system with the user name and password they define.
• Referees should evaluate with confidentiality and impartiality.
• Referees should submit their reports within 20 days and inform the editorial board if there is a delay.
• Referees should not share work that they accept for evaluation with other persons or in virtual environment.
• Referees should pay attention to the language used in their reports; the author should refrain from making derogatory and humiliating sentences.
• Referees should inform the editorial board if they detect plagiarism.

Editorial Board

• Editorial Board is responsible for the development of the journal and keeping it up to date.
• Editorial Board is responsible for meeting the information needs of readers, authors and referees.
• Editorial Board is responsible for ensuring integrity with academic sensibilities.
• The Editorial Board is responsible for determining the referees according to the subject of the study in order for the refereeing process to proceed in a healthy way.
• Editorial Board is responsible for preventing possible conflict of interest between authors and referees.
• Editorial Board is responsible for not sharing personal information in accordance with the principles of confidentiality statement.
• Editorial Board is responsible for updating the referee pool.

Publication Fee

The Journal of Black Sea Studies charges authors a 'publishing fee' of 500 (fivehundred) Turkish Liras is upon successful acceptance of their manuscript. The Journal of Black Sea Studies used to be published in both print and electronically until its 58th issue. The collected fees are used to keep the Journal of Black Sea Studies website (www.karamdergisi.com) running, as well as are used for digital object identifier (DOI) and typesetting costs. Until the Journal of Black Sea Studies’s 58th issue, a printed version of the journal used to be sent to the author, to the journal's staff members, and to leading libraries across Turkey.

Unfortunately, due to ever increasing publishing and distribution fees, the journal is now no longer issued in its physical form. Agin, the 'publication fee' is used to keep the Journal of Black Sea Studies website running, as well as is used for digital object identifier (DOI) and typesetting costs. No fee is collected for book descriptions and reviews.

WRITING RULES

1. Title

The title of the manuscript is to be written in both Turkish and English. Its content should be concise, clear, and of reasonably high quality, and should be written in Cambria 14, bold, using capital letters.

2. The Name(s) and Address(es) of the Author(s)

The author's first and last name should be written beneath the title, aligned right. The author's last name should be written entirely in capital letters. The author's affiliations, e-mail address, title, and ORCID iD number should be indicated as a footnote written in Cambria 9. Note: The latter should only be added once their manuscript as been approved for publication.

3. Abstract and Keywords

An abstract of 150 to 200 words that reflects the aim, scope, and results/conclusions of the study should be included. It should not contain references, figures, or charts. A minimum of 3 and maximum of 5 different keywords must be included directly beneath the abstract. An English version of both the abstract and the keywords must also be included. Manuscripts written in a language other than Turkish should also include a Turkish version of its title, abstract, and keywords. Both the abstract and keywords are to written in Cambria 9.

4. Main Text

A4, Portrait. Margins: 3 cm (left/right) and 3 cm (top/bottom). Spacing: Single-spaced. Paragraphs spacing: 6 points. Font: Cambria 11. Hyphens normally used to divide words at the end of a line should not be used. Paragraph indentation: 1 cm. There should be no spacing between punctuation and the word preceding them. Authors must pay attention to following the conventions of proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation as outlined by the Turkish Language Association (TDK). Components such as the topic, aim, scope, findings, and conclusions should be presented in such a way that it ensures scientific competence.

• Main headings: Must be written in the first letter of each word must be capitalized.
• Figures, tables, photographs: Figures and tables should be labelled and numbered: Eg. Table 1, Graphic 3, Figure 7, etc. Numbers and headings should be written beneath figures and tables. Spacing of tables before and after paragraphs: 0 points, single spacing.
• Additional inserts: (Table, Figure and Graph) Additional inserts beyond tables, figures, and graphics also should be numbered and labelled (e.g. Additional Table 1, Additional Graphic 3, Additional Figure 7, etc.). Moreover, these should be included after the References section.

References & In-text Citations: Must be presented in APA 7 format.

• In-text citations must be enclosed in parentheses, and must include the author's last name, the year of publication, and the page number(s): i.e. (Sanders, 2015, p. 157).
• When more than one source is being cited, then same information for the additional sources (i.e. the author's last name, the year of publication, and the page number(s)) are listed from the earliest to the latest year. Each additional citation is separated by a semi-colon: i.e. (Blumenthal, 1979, p. 54; Sanders, 2015, p. 157).
• When once source as multiple authors, only the last name of the first author, followed by the abbreviation 'et al.' is to be written: i.e. (MacCrimmon et al. 2002, p. 56).
• When the author's name is included in the text of the sentence where the citation takes place, then just the date of publishing and page number(s) should be included in parentheses: i.e. "Smith (2011, p. 42) discovered that..."
• When more than one study by the same author and published in the same year is cited, a lower case letter should be included next to the publishing year: i.e. (Bloomberg, 2012, p. 69), (Bloomberg, 2012b, p. 163).
• When the names of more than one author sharing the same last name are cited, then the author's first name should also be included: i.e. (Wilmot, Bella 2014, p. 325), (Wilmot, Stella 2014, p. 127).
• When citing a source within a source, both sources are to be cited: i.e. (Briggs, 1911: Taken from p 75 of...; Benassi, 2008, p. 60).
• When showing archival documents, their source should abbreviated in-text, and given in full in the Resources section: i.e. (BCA, Mühimme 15: 25).
• Quotes taken from online newspapers should include the name of the news agency, alongside the year the article was published: i.e. (Daily Sabah 2018). Quotes taken from the authors from other internet websites (non-newspaper) should include the name of the author and the year of publication of the article: i.e. (Amanpour, 2018).
• Footnotes: The use of footnotes should be avoided whenever possible. They should only be used for explanations, and should be organized using automatic numbering.
• Quotations: Quotations must be indicated using quotation marks (" "). They should be no larger than 5 lines long. Quotations longer than 5 lines should be included beneath the preceding line. They should presented in block form with 1 cm spacing on either side, be single-spaced, and written in 10 point font. Paraphrased quotes should be presented according to the conventions of APA style. 

5. References

All sources cited in the manuscript must be included in the References Section. The author should refrain from including supplemental sources that she/he has not benefited from in the writing of her/his article. All references should be listed in alphabetical order according to the author's last name. Book and journal/magazine titles should be written in italics.

a) Books

LAST NAME, F. (Year of Publication). Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publishing House.

• ÖZTÜRK, R. (1997). Uygur ve Özbek Türkçelerinde Fiil. Ankara: Türk Dil Kurumu Yayınları.

If the book has an preparer, editor, and/or translator, then they are listed in parenthesis following the title of the book: i.e. Author's Last Name, Author's First Name (Year of Publication). Title of Book, [preparer (prep/hzl.), editor (ed.), translator (tra/çev.) First and Last Name]. Place of Publication: Publishing House.

• KARPAT, K. H. (2001). Ortadoğu’da Osmanlı Mirası ve Ulusçuluk. (tra/çev. Recep Boztemur). Ankara: İmge Bookstore.

When books have two authors, the names of both authors is provided. However, when writing the second author's names, first their first, followed by their last name should be written. 

• ANHEGGER, R. – H. İNALCIK (1956). Kânûnnâme-i Sultânî Ber Mûcebi ‘Örf-i  Osmanî. Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Yayınları.

For more than two authors, only the name of the first author is mentioned, followed by the abbreviation 'et al'. 

• YALÇIN, D. et al. (2012). Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Tarihi I. Ankara: Atatürk Araştırma Merkezi.

Multiple works written by same author are to be listed in chronological order. 

• TEKİN, T. (2003). Orhon Türkçesi Grameri. İstanbul: Sanat Kitabevi.
• TEKİN, T. (2013). Irk Bitig. Ankara: Türk Dil Kurumu Yayınları.

When those works are published within the same year, then a letter is placed next to the publication year.

• ÜNLÜ, S. (2012a). Harezm Altınordu Türkçesi Sözlüğü. Konya: Eğitim Yayınevi.
• ÜNLÜ, S. (2012b). Karahanlı Türkçesi Sözlüğü. Konya: Eğitim Yayınevi.

When the author of the book is unknown, the title of the work is written in place of the author, and is categorized in alphabetical order.

• Türkçe Sözlük (2011). Ankara: Türk Dil Kurumu Yayınları. 

For individual book chapters:   AUTHOR'S LAST NAME, F. (Year of Publication). "Title of Chapter". Title of Book. (ed. First and Last Name). Place of Publication: Publishing House. Page Range. 

• TOGAN, İ. (2012). “Bugünü Anlamak İçin Orta Asya Tarihine Bir Bakış”. Bağımsızlıklarının Yirminci Yılında Orta Asya Cumhuriyetleri Türk Dilli Halklar – Türkiye İle İlişkiler I. Kitap. (ed. Ayşegül Aydıngün - Çiğdem Balım). Ankara: Atatürk Kültür Merkezi Yayınları: 19-50.

b) Scholarly Articles

Journals: AUTHOR'S LAST NAME, F. (Year). “Tile of the Article”. Name of the Journal. Volume No. (Roman Numerals) / Issue: Page Range.

• İLHAN, S. (1990). “Türk Çağdaşlaşması”. Atatürk Araştırma Merkezi Dergisi. VII/19: 7-19.

Printed Newspapers: JOURNALIST'S LAST NAME, F. (Year. Month. Day). “Title of Article”. Name of the newspaper: Page Number (If Available).

• TALU, E. E. (1945.01.13). “Vah Velid”, Son Posta: 1-7.

c) Theses

AUTHOR'S LAST NAME, F. (Date). Title of Thesis. Location (City): Name of University/Institute. (Unpublished Undergraduate/Graduate/Doctoral Thesis).

• MERT, O. (2002). Kutadgu Bilig’de Hal Kategorisi. Erzurum: Atatürk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü. (Unpublished Doctoral Thesis).

d) Academic Papers

AUTHOR'S LAST NAME, F. (Year). “Title of Paper”. Name of Symposium/Panel/Congress (Date). Location (City): Publishing House: Page No.

• ERDAL, M. (2011). “Kutadgu Bilig Metni”. Doğumunun 990. Yılında Yusuf Has Hacib ve Eseri Kutadgu Bilig Bildirileri (October 26 - 27 2009). Türk Dil Kurumu Yayınları: 201-208.

e) Internet Resources

Name of Website/Newspaper (Date). “Title of Article”. Access Date: Link

• Sputnik (2018). “AB Liderleri Brexit Anlaşmasını Onayladı”. Accessed On: 02.12.2018. https://tr.sputniknews.com/avrupa/201811251036312530-ab-brexit-anlasmasi-onay/

Internet sources of whom the author is known: AUTHOR'S LAST NAME, F. (Date of Article). “Title of Article”. Access Date: Link

• KİREÇCİ, M. A. (2018). “Brexit Süreci ve Jeopolitik Etkileri”. Accessed On: 01.12.2018. https://www.dunyabulteni.net/dubam/brexit-sureci-ve-jeopolitik-etkileri-h425454.html 

f) (Handwritten) Manuscripts

Author of the Manuscript. Title of the Manuscript. Name/Tile of the Library/Collection Where the Manuscript Is Kept. Archive/Catalog Number.

• Firdevsî-i Rumî. Süleymân-nâme-i Kebîr. Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi Kitaplığı. H. 1535.

When the author of the manuscript is anonymous, the title of the manuscript is written in its place in italics.

g) Archival Documents

Archival documents used/featured within articles are to be listed in a separate 'Archival Documents' directly below the Resources section. These are to be presented in abbreviations:

Archival Documents

Genelkurmay Başkanlığı ATASE Başkanlığı Arşivi Belgeleri, Folder (F), File (Fi), Index (I).

F: 145, Fi: 103, I: 26-1.

F: 587, Fi: 43, I: 1-42. 

h) Abbreviations and Acronyms

Abbreviations and acronyms within the manuscript are to be listed and expanded in the 'Abbreviations/Acronyms' section directly above the Resources section. They are to be listed alphabetically.

Abbreviations/Acronyms

Ar. Arapça; Az. Azerbaycan Türkçesi; DLT Dîvânu Lugâti’t-Türk; DS Derleme Sözlüğü; EDPT An Etymological Dictionary of Pre-Thirteenth-Century Turkish.

i) Sources Written in Non-Latin Scripts

Sources written in non-Latin scripts (e.g. Cyrillic, Persio-Arabic, Greek etc.) are to be transcribed into Latin script and listed in the Resources section.