Writing Rules

Writing Rules

Manuscripts submitted to Sociolumen must comply with the following writing, formatting, and academic presentation requirements. Authors must use the journal’s current article template. Manuscripts that do not comply with these requirements may be returned to the authors for correction before editorial evaluation.

1. Accepted Article Types

Sociolumen accepts only the following two types of manuscripts:

• Research Article: A study based on a clearly defined research question that presents original findings, analyses, and conclusions obtained through scientific methods.
• Review Article: A study that systematically, comprehensively, and critically examines the existing literature on a specific subject and provides an original evaluation or conceptual contribution by comparing different perspectives and findings.

Book chapters, book reviews, translations, conference abstracts, letters to the editor, and other similar publication types are not considered for evaluation.

2. Publication Language

Manuscripts may be submitted in Turkish or English. The language must be clear, academic, inclusive, and grammatically correct.

For manuscripts written in English, either American or British English may be used, but the selected variety must be applied consistently throughout the manuscript. Authors are responsible for ensuring that their manuscripts are linguistically ready for publication.

The article title, abstract, and keywords must be provided in both Turkish and English.

3. File Format and Page Layout

Manuscripts must be prepared using the current Sociolumen article template and submitted as a Microsoft Word .docx file.

The following page layout must be used:

• Page size: A4
• Top margin: 1.5 cm
• Bottom margin: 1.5 cm
• Left margin: 2.5 cm
• Right margin: 2.5 cm
• Main-text font: Book Antiqua
• Main-text font size: 10 pt
• Line spacing: 1.15
• Paragraph alignment: Justified
• First-line indentation: 1.25 cm
• Space before and after paragraphs: 0 pt

Pages must be numbered consecutively. Repeated blank lines, manually inserted spaces, decorative fonts, and unnecessary formatting must not be used.

The Sociolumen colours, heading styles, table formats, and page structure defined in the template must not be changed. All grey instructions and placeholder text included in the template must be deleted before submission.

4. Article Title

The article title must accurately reflect the content of the study and should be concise, clear, and informative. It is recommended that the title not exceed 20 words.

The primary title in the language of the manuscript must be formatted as follows:

• Font: Book Antiqua
• Font size: 14 pt
• Font style: Bold
• Alignment: Centred

The title in the second language must be formatted as follows:

• Font: Book Antiqua
• Font size: 12 pt
• Font style: Bold
• Alignment: Centred

Titles must use the colour scheme defined in the template. Authors must not modify the title colours. Unnecessary abbreviations, formulas, and special symbols should be avoided in titles.

5. Öz and Abstract

The Turkish “Öz” and English “Abstract” must each contain between 150 and 250 words.

Each abstract must clearly and concisely present the study’s:

• Purpose
• Method
• Scope
• Principal findings
• Conclusion

The Öz and Abstract must be formatted as follows:

• Font: Book Antiqua
• Heading font size: 8 pt
• Abstract-text font size: 8 pt
• “Öz” and “Abstract” headings: Bold
• Line spacing: Single
• Alignment: Justified
• Paragraph indentation: None
• Space before and after paragraphs: 0 pt

The Öz and Abstract must not contain citations, footnotes, tables, figures, reference information, or unexplained abbreviations.

6. Anahtar Kelimeler and Keywords

Four to six keywords must be provided below both the Turkish Öz and the English Abstract.

Keywords must be formatted as follows:

• Font: Book Antiqua
• Font size: 8 pt
• Line spacing: Single
• Alignment: Justified

The labels “Anahtar Kelimeler” and “Keywords” must be bold, while the keywords themselves must be written in regular type.

Keywords must accurately represent the main subjects of the study and should not consist solely of words already used in the article title.

JEL codes may be provided after the keywords when relevant to the subject area of the study.

7. Article Length

Research and review articles should normally contain between 4,000 and 10,000 words, excluding the titles, Öz, Abstract, references, tables, figures, and appendices.

Manuscripts outside these limits may be considered with the editor’s approval when supported by a valid scholarly justification.

8. Structure of a Research Article

Research articles should generally include the following sections:

1. Title
2. Öz and Anahtar Kelimeler
3. Title in the second language
4. Abstract and Keywords
5. Introduction
6. Literature Review or Theoretical Framework
7. Method
8. Findings
9. Discussion
10. Conclusion and Recommendations
11. Ethics and Transparency Statements
12. References
13. Appendices, if applicable

The structure may be adapted according to the research method and the conventions of the relevant academic discipline.

9. Structure of a Review Article

Review articles should generally include the following sections:

1. Title
2. Öz and Anahtar Kelimeler
3. Title in the second language
4. Abstract and Keywords
5. Introduction
6. Purpose and Scope of the Review
7. Literature Identification or Review Method
8. Thematic or Conceptual Discussion
9. Critical Evaluation
10. Conclusion and Recommendations
11. Ethics and Transparency Statements
12. References
13. Appendices, if applicable

Review articles must not consist solely of summaries of existing studies. They must provide a critical evaluation of the literature and an original scholarly contribution.

10. Section Headings

Section headings must be numbered consistently and organised according to a clear hierarchy.

Heading levels must be formatted as follows:

• First-level headings: Book Antiqua, 12 pt, bold
• Second-level headings: Book Antiqua, 10 pt, bold
• Third-level headings: Book Antiqua, 10 pt, bold and italic

Headings must be left-aligned, concise, and informative. A full stop must not be placed at the end of a heading. Excessive heading levels should be avoided.

The automatic heading-numbering system defined in the template must be retained. Heading numbers must not be typed or modified manually.

11. Anonymous Manuscript and Title Page

Sociolumen applies a double-anonymous peer-review process. Therefore, the anonymous manuscript must not contain any information that could reveal the identities of the authors.

The following information must be removed from the anonymous manuscript:

• Authors’ full names
• Academic titles
• Institutional and departmental affiliations
• Email addresses
• ORCID identifiers
• Acknowledgements
• Identifying project or funding information
• Self-citations that may reveal author identity
• Personal information stored in the Word document properties

Author information must be entered into the relevant fields of the submission system and provided in the separate title page requested by the journal.

The title page must include:

• Turkish and English titles of the manuscript
• Full names of all authors
• Academic titles
• Institutional and departmental affiliations
• City and country information
• Email addresses
• ORCID identifiers
• Corresponding-author contact information
• Author-contribution statement
• Funding information
• Conflict-of-interest declaration
• Acknowledgements, if applicable

12. Tables and Figures

Tables and figures must be numbered consecutively according to the order in which they are first mentioned in the manuscript.

Each table and figure must include:

• A table or figure number
• An informative title
• An explanatory note where necessary
• Source information if reproduced or adapted from another source
• Copyright or permission information where required

Tables and figures must be formatted as follows:

• Font: Book Antiqua
• Table and figure titles: 8 pt and bold
• Text within tables: 8 pt
• Table and figure notes: 8 pt
• Line spacing: Single

Tables must be created as editable Word tables and must not be inserted as images. Figures must be of sufficient resolution and suitable for publication.

The same data should not be presented unnecessarily in both a table and a figure. Authors are responsible for obtaining the necessary permissions for copyrighted tables, figures, photographs, scales, and other materials.

13. Citations and References

Sociolumen uses the APA 7 author–date citation system.

Every source cited in the manuscript must appear in the reference list, and every entry in the reference list must be cited in the manuscript.

Examples of in-text citations:

• One author: (Yılmaz, 2024)
• Two authors: (Yılmaz & Kaya, 2024)
• Three or more authors: (Yılmaz et al., 2024)
• Direct quotation: (Yılmaz, 2024, p. 25)
• Multiple sources: (Kaya, 2022; Yılmaz, 2024)

References must be arranged alphabetically according to the authors’ surnames. DOI numbers must be presented as active links in the https://doi.org/... format.

The reference list must be formatted as follows:

• Font: Book Antiqua
• Font size: 10 pt
• Line spacing: Single
• Alignment: Justified
• Hanging indentation: 1.25 cm
• Space before and after paragraphs: 0 pt

All references must comply fully with APA 7 requirements.

14. Footnotes

Footnotes should be used only for essential explanations that would otherwise interrupt the flow of the main text. Footnotes must not be used solely for citations.

Footnotes must be formatted as follows:

• Font: Book Antiqua
• Font size: 8 pt
• Line spacing: Single
• Alignment: Justified

Footnotes must be numbered consecutively throughout the manuscript. Endnotes must not be used.

15. Ethics and Transparency Statements

Before the reference list, manuscripts must include the following statements as applicable:

• Ethics-committee approval
• Informed consent
• Author contributions
• Conflict of interest
• Funding
• Data availability
• Use of artificial intelligence
• Acknowledgements

If a statement does not apply to the study, this must be explicitly indicated.

For studies requiring ethics-committee approval, the full name of the committee, decision date, and approval number must be provided. Where ethics approval is not required, the authors must explicitly explain that the study did not require ethics-committee approval.

Information that could reveal the identity of an author or institution must be removed during anonymous review and restored to the final manuscript after acceptance.

16. Disclosure of Artificial Intelligence Use

If generative artificial-intelligence tools have been used for language editing, translation, data processing, coding, or any other purpose, the name and version of the tool and its purpose of use must be clearly disclosed.

Artificial-intelligence tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors. All AI-generated content, references, and citations must be verified by the authors.

Authors retain full responsibility for the scholarly accuracy, originality, reliability of sources, and ethical compliance of the manuscript.

If generative artificial intelligence was not used, authors should include the following statement:

“This study did not use generative artificial intelligence.”

17. Originality and Similarity Rate

Manuscripts submitted to Sociolumen must be original, must not have been previously published, and must not be under consideration by another journal at the same time.

Submitted manuscripts are screened using similarity-detection software. The overall similarity rate, excluding the reference list, must not exceed 15%.

However, the similarity percentage alone is not sufficient to determine plagiarism. Editors also assess the nature of the similarities, their distribution among sources, and their acceptability under scholarly publication ethics.

18. Final Checklist

Before submission, authors must ensure that:

• The manuscript is either a research article or a review article.
• The current Sociolumen article template has been used.
• The manuscript has been fully anonymised.
• Author information has been entered into the submission system and provided on a separate title page.
• Both Turkish and English titles are included.
• The Turkish Öz and English Abstract each contain between 150 and 250 words.
• Four to six keywords are provided in both languages.
• The main text is formatted in Book Antiqua, 10 pt, with 1.15 line spacing.
• Table and figure titles, contents, and notes are formatted in 8 pt.
• All in-text citations and reference entries have been cross-checked.
• The reference list follows APA 7 and is formatted in 10 pt, single spacing, with a 1.25 cm hanging indent.
• Tables and figures are completely and consecutively numbered.
• Ethics and transparency statements have been provided.
• The similarity rate, excluding the reference list, does not exceed 15%.
• All grey instructions and placeholder text have been removed.
• The page structure, colours, and predefined styles of the template have not been changed.
• The manuscript complies with Sociolumen’s publication-ethics principles and editorial policies.