Author Guidelines

Dear Authors,

Holistence Review is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access journal publishing high-quality interdisciplinary research across Social Development, Public Policy, Human Service Systems, and Social Wellbeing. To ensure a streamlined review process and rapid indexing inclusion (Scopus/WoS), all submissions must strictly adhere to the mandatory submission components matrix and the formatting criteria outlined below.

Authors submitting manuscripts are expected to comply with the rules set out in this guide in order to ensure the quality, integrity, and conformity of their work with international academic standards. Our journal uses the APA 7th Edition (American Psychological Association, 7th Edition) citation and reference style.

Manuscripts that do not comply with these rules may be returned to the authors without being considered for content evaluation.

1. Pre-Submission Ethics and Policy Checklist

Before submitting your manuscript, please carefully review the following points and confirm that your study complies with these principles:

• Aims and Scope: Ensure that your manuscript is consistent with the aims and scope of our journal.
• Publication Ethics: Confirm that your manuscript does not contain plagiarism, duplicate publication, false authorship, data manipulation, undisclosed conflicts of interest, or similar ethical violations. Our journal reserves the right to screen all submitted manuscripts using similarity detection software.
• Ethics Committee Approval: For research involving human participants, the necessary ethics committee approval must be obtained. Where required, this information should be submitted to the editor during the application process and included in the relevant statement section of the final text after acceptance.
• Copyright and License: Our journal is open access. Copyright remains with the authors, and published articles are distributed under the CC BY 4.0 license.

2. Manuscript Submission Process and File Preparation

Our journal uses a double-blind peer review system. Therefore, authors must upload these files below to the system.

File 1: Main Manuscript File (Blind File) (Mandatory)

This file is the main text to be reviewed by the referees and must not contain any information that may reveal the identity of the author(s).

It must include:

• Article title
• Abstract
• Keywords
• Main text
• References
• Tables and figures

It must not include:

• Author names and surnames
• Professional titles,
• Institutional affiliations
• ORCID IDs
• Email addresses
• Corresponding author information
• Acknowledgements, funding information, conflict of interest statements, ethics approval, data availability statements, author contributions, or similar declarations that may lead to the identification of the author(s) or institution(s)

File 2: Title Page (Mandatory)

This file is seen only by the editor and is not sent to the referees.

The title page must include the following information:

• Full title of the manuscript
• Full names of all authors
• Academic titles
• Institutional information: University, Faculty, Department, City, Country
• Email addresses
• ORCID IDs
• Corresponding author information

The following statements must appear on the title page:

• Author contributions
• Funding information
• Conflict of interest statement
• Acknowledgements
• Ethics approval / ethical statement
• Data availability statement
• Artificial intelligence use and disclosure statement

File 3: Cover Letter (Mandatory)

A formal correspondence addressed to the Editorial Board. The cover letter must explicitly summarize why the submission falls squarely within the aims and scope of Holistence Review, highlight the unique scientific contribution of the work, and state that the manuscript is not currently under consideration elsewhere.

File 4: Ethics Committee Approval Document (Mandatory if Applicable)

For all empirical studies involving human participants, animals, or sensitive data, authors must upload an official, scanned copy of their Ethics Committee Approval. This document is for [EDITORIAL OFFICE ONLY] internal verification and will strictly be kept confidential to preserve double-blind peer review anonymity.

File 5: Dataset / Supplementary Material (Optional / Highly Encouraged)

In compliance with Open Science protocols, authors are highly encouraged to upload their raw, de-identified datasets (e.g., SPSS files, Excel matrices, qualitative code books) to ensure empirical transparency and enhance indexing evaluation metrics.

You may access the relevant files through the links above: Article Template and Cover Page File.

3. Manuscript Format for Initial Submission

Strict typesetting rules are not mandatory for the initial submission; however, authors are expected to follow the basic writing and page layout rules below:

• File Type: Microsoft Word (.docx)
• Font: Times New Roman
  • Main text: 12 pt
  • Abstract: 10 pt
• Line Spacing: Single
• Paragraph Spacing: 6 pt before, 6 pt after
• Page Layout: A4, 2.5 cm margins on all sides
• Page Numbers: Must appear on all pages
• Length: It is recommended that the total length, including references, tables, and figures, should not exceed 8,000 words

4. Manuscript Structure and Content

4.1. Title

The title should reflect the content of the manuscript clearly and concisely. Unnecessarily long titles are discouraged.Only the first letter of the first word should be capitalized; all other words should be in lowercase Times New Roman 18 point, unless they are proper nouns.

• Running Headers & Tracking Fields: Document parameters labeled as [EDITORIAL OFFICE ONLY] must be left entirely blank by the authors.
• Metadata Panel (Left - 1.5 Inches Wide): Rendered in a highly compact 7.5 Pt font size with 8.5 Pt bold Navy headers. It isolates tracking fields like How to Cite This Article and open-access protocols.
  • How to Cite This Article: Locked for [EDITORIAL OFFICE ONLY].
  • Copyright & License: Authors retain unrestricted copyright and full publishing rights. Distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) License, tracked via the [ CC BY 4.0 Open Access Icon ] blueprint.

4.2. Abstract

The abstract should be between 150 and 250 words and present the main elements of the study clearly and briefly. Abstract Header must 11 point, bold and left-aligned

It is recommended that the abstract include the following elements:

1. Purpose: What problem or research question does the study address?
2. Method: What method or dataset was used in the research?
3. Findings: What are the main results?
4. Conclusion/Contribution: What is the contribution of the study to the field?

4.3. Keywords

Three to five keywords should be provided immediately below the abstract. Keywords must be 9.5 Pt font size, presenting 3 to 5 indexed terms separated by commas.

4.4. Main Text

The manuscript should be structured under clear headings so that readers can follow a logical flow. In general, the following section structure is recommended:

1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
3. Method
4. Findings / Results
5. Discussion and Conclusion

4.5. Heading Levels

Up to three heading levels may be used in the manuscript:

• Level 1: Bold, left-aligned, capitalized, 13 point (e.g., 3. Method)
• Level 2: Bold, left-aligned, 12 pt, capitalized, 12 point (e.g., 3.1. Data set)
• Level 3: Bold italic, left-aligned, 12 pt, capitalized, 12 point (e.g., 3.1.1. Demographic data)

It is recommended not to use more than three heading levels.

4.6. Tables and Figures

Tables and figures must function as independent analytical blocks structured rigorously under APA 7 parameters:

• Tables: Captions must sit above the grid. Table tags (e.g., Table 1.) are 11 Pt Bold. Table title are also 11 pt, but not bold. Gridlines must exclude all vertical lines, keeping only three primary horizontal boundaries. Text inside cells must be 10 Pt.
• Figures: Captions must sit above the frame. Images must be placed inside the template's standard boundary box at a minimum resolution of 300 DPI.
• Explanatory Footnotes (CRITICAL): Both tables and figures must present notes directly underneath set to exactly 9 Pt font size with single line spacing. The block must begin with the italicized label Note. (e.g., Note. Data derived from redacted census indices. *p* < .05).

4.7. Mandatory Statements and Declerations

Before the reference list, authors must complete the mandatory 10 Pt disclosure block covering four specific pathways:

1. Funding Statement: Disclose research grants or corporate sponsorships. Must be entirely blinded in the review manuscript.
2. Conflict of Interest: Standard transparency disclosure verifying no personal or financial biases.
3. Ethical Approval: Report institutional review board tracking dates and clear protocol numbers. Institutional names must be generalized in the review manuscript.
4. Declaration of Generative AI in the Writing Process: Authors must explicitly check and state the parameters of AI usage using the template's standardized disclosure clause.

5. Citation and Reference Guide (APA 7th Edition)

5.1. In-Text Citations

In-text citations must comply with APA 7 standards. Example usage formats:

• Parenthetical citation: (Şahin, 2024)
• Narrative citation: According to Şahin (2024)...
• Two-author work: (Şahin & Karakoyun, 2024)
• Three or more authors: (Baş et al., 2024)
• Institutional author, first citation: (Turkish Statistical Institute [TurkStat], 2024)
• Institutional author, subsequent citation: (TurkStat, 2024)

5.2. References

The reference list should be arranged alphabetically under the heading “References” and formatted in accordance with APA 7 rules. Every source cited in the text must appear in the reference list, and every work listed in the reference list must be mentioned at least once in the text.

Examples:

• Journal Article (with DOI): Şahin, M., & Karakoyun, F. (2024). Life economics and happiness index. Journal of Life Economics, 11(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.15607/jlecon.xxxxx
• Book: Baş, İ. M. (2023). New approaches in business management. Holistence Publications.
• Edited Book Chapter: Elmacı, O. (2023). Digitalization in accounting auditing. In İ. M. Baş (Ed.), Current issues in finance and accounting (pp. 75–92). Holistence Publications.
• Unpublished Thesis: Çetin, Z. (2022). Behavioral biases in financial markets [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. İstanbul Nişantaşı University.
• Website / Report: Turkish Statistical Institute. (2024, October 10). Household income and living conditions survey. https://data.tuik.gov.tr/Bulten/Index?id=xxxxx

6. Post-Acceptance Process

After the manuscript is accepted, it will be formatted by our publication team in accordance with the journal’s style. Authors will have the opportunity to review the proof copy for final checking before publication. At this stage, only spelling, typesetting, and formatting errors may be corrected; major content changes such as adding new data, new references, or new paragraphs are not permitted.