Manuscripts that are submitted to TUDEJ are subjected to a three-stage process including preliminary examination, scientific evaluation, and preparation for publishing. These procedures are planned and implemented by the editors. The utmost care is taken for the timely completion of these procedures by the editors and the Editorial Board.
A. Preliminary Examination
This process includes four stages.
1. Formatting and Submission Rules: The preliminary examination personnel checks the suitability of the submitted manuscript in terms of scope, the authenticity report, ethics committee approval, the transfer of copyrights, formatting of the manuscript according to the TUDEJ Writing Template, the citations, and the currency of the manuscript. The author(s) are informed with a preliminary examination report. Manuscripts that are not compatible with the writing rules and template of the journal are not reviewed, and they are sent back to the author(s) for revision within 15 days. In this sense, for the appropriate formatting of the manuscript according to the writing rules of the journal, the author(s) must have reviewed the writing rules beforehand and used the template file. Manuscripts that are not found adequate (suitable) upon preliminary examination are Rejected or sent back for Revision. Unless a manuscript has been rejected due to its scope, the author(s) may make a new submission.
2. Plagiarism Screening: Manuscripts that are found suitable in terms of formatting and writing rules are subjected to plagiarism checks afterward. The evaluation of plagiarism is based on the authenticity report to be uploaded by the author(s). The maximum similarity ratio allowed for the journal is 15%. The Editorial Board may ask for additional plagiarism screening if it is considered necessary.
3. Language Review: Manuscripts that are submitted are reviewed by Language Editors for academic writing. Manuscripts that are not found adequate upon language review are Rejected or sent back for Revision.
4. Editorial Preliminary Examination: Manuscripts that are suitable for the publication, writing, and similarity ratio criteria of TUDEJ are included in an editorial preliminary examination. In this process, the editorial team of the journal examines the introduction, methodology, results, and discussion parts of the manuscripts based on the scope and objectives of the journal, as well as suitability for academic reporting procedures. Manuscripts that are not found suitable in terms of the journal’s publication and writing rules, as well as its scope, and those that are inappropriate or not authentic, are rejected without peer review.
In summary, in the Preliminary Examination:
- A plagiarism report is requested from the author(s) during the submission of manuscripts. The similarity ratio information on the report is checked by the Editor for suitability.
- Whether the submitted manuscript is formatted according to the writing guidelines of the journal is checked.
- The suitability of the submitted manuscript for the scope and subject areas of the journal is checked.
- The suitability of the citations and references of the submitted manuscript is checked based on the APA citation style.
- Whether the required files (Copyright Transfer Statement, Ethics Statement, Authenticity Report, Title Page File, and Main Manuscript File) are uploaded completely and in the correct format is checked. Relevant examples can be seen on the files for submission page of the website: https://tudej.com.
B. Scientific Evaluation
Manuscripts that pass the preliminary examination process can be peer-reviewed in two ways:
- Depending on the qualities of the study in question, the manuscript is sent to editors or submitted by the editors of the subject area to at least 2 reviewers who specialize in the subject area. The reviewers inform the Publication Board about whether they will be able to review the manuscript within 10 days of its reception. If a reviewer does not provide a response within the specified period, another reviewer is appointed. After the approval of reviewer status, the reviewer has 20 days to review the manuscript. The next stage is initiated after the reports of at least two reviewers have been received. If a reviewer does not provide a review report within 20 days, another reviewer is appointed.
- The journal may request the review reports of more than two reviewers in order to collect a sufficient number of reviews in a shorter time. If a sufficient number of reviews are obtained, the editor or assistant editor for the subject area may or may not cancel the reception of further reviews without waiting for the completion of the 20-day review period.
The appointed reviewers must not share any document or detail regarding the manuscript submitted for their review with any person. Being included in the team of reviewers means that the reviewer has agreed to this condition. The “Blind Review Method” is used in the peer review process. The Blind Review Method is the foundation of the objective evaluation of scientific studies, and this method is preferred by many scientific journals to ensure the highest quality in scientific publications. All manuscripts that are submitted to TUDEJ and found suitable in the Preliminary Examination are reviewed in a double-blind manner. Double-blind peer reviews involve keeping the identities of the reviewers hidden from the author(s) and the identities of the author(s) hidden from the reviewers. The reviewers are given 20 days to review the manuscript they are assigned. While the reviewers may decide upon the review of the revisions of a manuscript that it shall be accepted, they may also request multiple revisions if needed. If a revision is requested by a reviewer, the author(s) must make the necessary revisions and submit the revised files to the journal via the same system. If needed, a revised manuscript is reviewed again by the reviewer(s) requesting the revision or correction. The Editorial Board decides whether a manuscript will be published based on the opinions of the reviewers. If the reviewers have conflicting opinions regarding the manuscript, the Editorial Board may send the manuscript to a different reviewer if found necessary. In the case of a disagreement between the opinions of two reviewers in the admission process, the admission of the manuscript depends on the opinion of the Editor or a third reviewer.
A reviewer shall provide one of the following responses:
- Can be published.
- Can be published after the requested revisions.
- Must be reviewed again after the requested revisions.
- Cannot be published (Rejection).
The final decision about manuscripts that are subjected to peer review and examined by assistant editors is made by the Editor-in-Chief. In cases where serious academic misconduct is suspected, opinions of third parties specializing in the subject matter selected by TUDEJ editors are requested, and the final detailed report is shared with the author(s).
Appeals to the Evaluation Results
The author(s) reserve the right to object to the results of the evaluation of their manuscript. After the results of the evaluation are communicated to the author(s), the author(s) may object to these results (within 15 days) via e-mail by referencing opinions and comments regarding the manuscript. The Editorial Board will review the objection/appeal within 1 month. A reviewer with expertise in the subject area of the manuscript subjected to the objection/appeal is appointed. This reviewer examines the manuscript, a final evaluation is made along with the opinions of the other reviewers, and the outcome is announced to the author(s).
C. Preparation for Publishing
In the process of preparation for publishing, the layout editor undertakes the initial formatting of the article. The article that has been formatted based on the layout of the journal is sent to the author(s) for their final reading. In this process, the author(s) may be asked to make some formatting revisions or complete missing information if any. After final reading by the author(s), the article is selected for publication in the relevant issue of the journal. Articles accepted for publication are published in the order of their dates of acceptance.
D. Responsibilities
The responsibilities of the author(s), editor(s), and reviewers are as follows:
Author responsibilities
- The author must abide by research and publication ethics.
- The author must not attempt to have the same study published in multiple journals.
- The author must report all works they have used in the writing of the article in the list of references without any exceptions.
- The author must state their specific purpose of using artificial intelligence tools in detail if they have used such tools.
Editor responsibilities
- The editor must review the manuscript in terms of scientific content without regard to the ethnic origin, gender, nationality, religious beliefs, or political opinions of the author(s).
- The editor must subject the manuscripts that are submitted for publication to fair double-blind peer review and ensure that all information about the submitted manuscripts is kept confidential prior to publication.
- The editor must let the reviewers know that their correspondence is confidential and that this is a privileged interaction. They must inform the reviewers and the Publication Board that they must not discuss this correspondence with other people. The anonymity of the reviewers must be provided. In certain cases, the editor may share the review report of a reviewer with other reviewers to clarify a point.
- The editor is responsible for the content and general quality of the publication. They are also responsible for publishing a correction note or issuing a retraction when necessary.
- The Editor-in-Chief must not allow any conflict of interest among the authors, editors, and reviewers.
Reviewer responsibilities
- The reviewer must have no conflicts of interest regarding the study in question, the author, and/or providers of research funds.
- The review process conducted by the reviewer must be objective.
- The language and tone used by the reviewer must not be offensive toward the author(s).
- The reviewer must ensure that all information about the submitted manuscripts is kept confidential prior to their publication.
- The reviewer must inform the editor if they identify a copyright infringement or plagiarism in the study they are reviewing.
- A reviewer who feels inadequate to review a manuscript or thinks they will not be able to complete the said review in the given time must withdraw from the review process.
