Author Guidelines

Author Guidelines – YAKALDER Forum-Journal of Society, Policy and Wellbeing

Authors submitting manuscripts to the YAKALDER Forum-Journal of Society, Policy and Wellbeing are expected to follow the rules outlined in these guidelines to ensure the quality, integrity, and conformity of the work to international standards. Our journal requires APA 7th Edition (American Psychological Association, 7th Edition) style for in-text citations and references.

Articles that do not comply with these rules may be returned to their authors without being evaluated for content.

1. Pre-submission Ethics and Policy Checklist

Before submitting, please read the following policies and confirm that your manuscript complies with them:

Purpose and Scope: Please make sure that your manuscript complies with the Purpose and Scope page of our journal.
Publication Ethics: Please check that your manuscript fully complies with our Ethics policies (plagiarism, duplicate publication, false authorship, conflict of interest, etc.). Our journal scans all submitted manuscripts with iThenticate software.
Ethics Committee Approval: Ethics Committee Approval Document must be obtained for all studies involving the collection of data from human participants through surveys, interviews, experiments or other methods, and this information must be specified in the “Methods” section of the article.
Copyright and License: Our journal is an open access journal. Copyright remains with the author (Copyright © The Author(s)) and all articles are published under the CC BY 4.0 license.

2. Manuscript Submission Process and File Preparation

Our journal applies the Double-Blind Peer Review process. For this process to work, authors must upload two (2) separate files to the system:

File 1: Main Text File (Blind File) – This file is the main text that the referees will review and should not contain any information that will decipher the identity of the authors.

It should contain: Title, Abstract, Keywords, Main Text (Introduction to Conclusion), References, Tables and Figures.
Should Not Include: Author names, institutional information, ORCID iDs, e-mail addresses, acknowledgments, or funding information (this information will be added to File 2).

File 2: Title Page – This file will only be seen by the editor and will not be sent to the referees.

Full title of the article.
Name-Surname, Title, ORCID iD (mandatory), Institution (Department, Faculty, University, City, Country) and e-mail address of all authors.
The Corresponding Author should be clearly identified.
Acknowledgements / Funding Statement (if any) for the funds or individuals who supported the study.

3. Manuscript Format for First Submission

For the efficiency of the evaluation process, strict layout rules (columnar structure, special fonts, etc.) are not required from authors at the first submission. Layout will be done by our production team after acceptance.

File Type: Microsoft Word (.docx).
Font: Times New Roman, 11 point (Main Text), 10 point (Abstract).
Line Spacing: 1.2 line spacing (including all text, headings, and references).
Paragraph Spacing: 6pt before and after
Page Layout: A4, margins 2.54 cm (1 inch) on all sides.
Page Number: Must be included on all pages.
Length: Recommended not to exceed 8,000 words (approximately 25–30 pages), including references, tables, and figures.

4. Article Structure and Content

4.1. Title – The title should clearly and concisely reflect the content of the article. Only the first letter of the first word should be capitalized; all other words should be in lowercase Times New Roman 12 point, unless they are proper nouns.

4.2. Abstract – The abstract should be between 200–250 words. It should give the reader a quick overview of the entire paper and answer four key questions:

Objective: What did this study aim to investigate?
Method: How was the research done?
Findings: What are the main findings?
Conclusion/Specificity: What do these findings mean or contribute?

4.3. Keywords – Immediately below the Abstract, provide 3 to 5 keywords.

4.4. Main Text – The text should follow a logical structure and usually include: 1. Introduction, 2. Literature Review, 3. Methodology, 4. Findings/Results, 5. Discussion and Conclusion.

4.5. Headings (APA 7 Format) – Use the following heading hierarchy:

Level 1: Bold, Left-aligned, Capitalized, 12 point (e.g., 3. Method)
Level 2: Bold, Left-aligned, Capitalized, 12 point (e.g., 3.1. Data Set)
Level 3: Bold Italic, Left-aligned, Capitalized, 12 point (e.g., 3.1.1. Demographic Data)
Use a decimal system with no more than three levels of headings.

4.6. Tables and Figures

Tables (Table 1, Table 2...) and figures (Figure 1, Figure 2...) should be numbered sequentially.
Table Title: Bold and above the table (e.g., Table 1), followed by an italic subtitle (e.g., Demographic Distribution of the Sample).
Figure Caption: Bold and above the figure (e.g., Figure 1), followed by an italic subtitle (e.g., Inflation Rates by Year).
Tables and figures should appear after the references, each on a separate page (indicated in-text as [Table 1 here]).
Sources must be noted below as Source: (e.g., Source: Şahin, 2024).
Table footnotes should use lowercase letters or asterisks for significance levels, placed below the table body.

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

5.1. In-Text Citations

Parenthetical: (Şahin, 2024)
Narrative: According to Şahin (2024)...
Two Authors: (Şahin & Karakoyun, 2024) or Şahin and Karakoyun (2024)...
Three or More Authors: (Baş et al., 2024) or Baş et al. (2024)...
Institution (First Citation): (Turkish Statistical Institute [TurkStat], 2024)
Institution (Subsequent Citations): (TurkStat, 2024)

5.2. Reference List – References should be listed alphabetically under the heading “References” in APA 7 format.

Journal Article (with DOI): Şahin, M., & Karakoyun, F. (2024). Economics of life 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 audit. In İ. M. Baş (Ed.), Current Issues in Finance and Accounting (pp. 75–92). Holistence Publications.
Thesis (Unpublished): Çetin, Z. (2022). Behavioral biases in financial markets [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Istanbul 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. Statements

The following statements should be included after the Conclusion section of the article:

Funding
Conflict of Interest
Ethics Committee Approval
Data availability statement
Author Contributions

7. Post-Acceptance Process

Once your article is accepted, it will be edited (converted to journal layout) by our production team. Authors will receive a proof copy for final checking before publication. At this stage, only typographical or formatting errors can be corrected; major changes, such as adding new data or paragraphs, are not allowed.

Author Guidelines