Submissions

Author Guidelines

Nesir: Journal of Literary Studies is a peer-reviewed, open-access academic platform published twice a year (April and October). It accepts research articles and book reviews focused on literature, written in either Turkish or English.

This guide outlines the essential principles and rules regarding the submission process, content, format, evaluation, and publication procedures for authors wishing to submit to Nesir. Its purpose is to clarify in advance all technical and academic questions that authors may encounter during the submission process, thereby making the publication workflow transparent, consistent, and effective.

Submission Process

Manuscripts are accepted only through the journal’s online submission system (OJS) on the website nesirdergisi.com. The process consists of two main steps:

Creating an Account and Logging In

• On the homepage, click the “Register” link in the upper right corner to create a new user account.
• After completing the registration, click “Edit My Profile” to fill in or update the required sections including identity, contact, roles, general information, password, notifications, and API key.
• It is mandatory to enter an ORCID ID in the “General” tab. If you do not have an ORCID ID, you can create one at https://orcid.org.
• In the “Contact” tab, your institution’s name must be entered in English. Example: Samsun University, Department of Turkish Language and Literature
• After completing your profile, return to “Submissions” and click “New Submission” to start the process.
• For future logins, click “Login” in the upper right corner and enter your credentials to access the system. You can then select “New Submission” to begin.
• If you forget your password, click the “Forgot your password?” link and enter your registered email address. The system will send you a password reset link.

Submission Steps

Start

• Select the submission language.
• Select the submission type.
• Carefully read and confirm the submission requirements.
• Enter any notes for the editor (if applicable).
• Confirm corresponding author details.
• Accept the copyright notice.
• Accept the policy statement.
• Click “Save and Continue” to proceed to the next step.

Upload Submission

• Upload all required files for evaluation:
• Cover page: Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx)
• Manuscript text: Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx)
• Figures and tables (if applicable): High-resolution TIFF (.tif or .tiff) or JPEG (.jpg or .jpeg)
• Similarity report: PDF format
• Click “Save and Continue” to proceed to the next step.

Enter Metadata

• Enter the title, abstract, and contributors (only English).
• Enter keywords (only English). After typing each keyword, press the “enter” key.
• Enter references formatted according to the 18th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style.
• Click “Save and Continue” to proceed.

Confirmation

• Review all entered information and uploaded files.
• Complete the process by selecting “Finish Submission.”

Submission Requirements

Language

• Manuscripts may be written in Turkish or English.
• For Turkish texts, the Türk Dil Kurumu (Turkish Language Association) and Necmiye Alpay’s Türkçe Sorunları Kılavuzu (Metis, 2018) should be used as primary references.
• For English texts, Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary should be used as the main reference for spelling.
• If the manuscript is in Turkish, all non-Turkish words in the text (Latin, English, Arabic, etc.) must be italicized, except for proper nouns. For Arabic, Ottoman Turkish, or Persian-origin words appearing in Turkish texts, if there is a widely accepted spelling in modern Turkish, that form should be preferred.
• If the manuscript is in English, all non-English words (Turkish, Arabic, French, etc.) must be italicized, except for proper nouns.
• Unless the conceptual framework or theoretical context of the manuscript requires it, transliteration alphabets should not be used for words in languages written in Arabic script.
• In cases where transliteration is necessary, only the following diacritical marks, as specified by the Chicago Manual of Style, should be used:
  • Ayin: (‘)
  • Hamza: (’)
  • Circumflex: (^)

Submission Types

• The journal accepts submissions in the form of research articles and book reviews.
• Other academic text types (e.g., translated articles, critical editions) are only published by decision and planning of the editorial board.

Originality

All submissions must be original, unpublished, and not under simultaneous review elsewhere.

Format

• Manuscripts must be prepared in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) format using Times New Roman font, 12-point size, and 1.5 line spacing. Footnotes must be in Times New Roman, 10-point size, single-spaced, and left-aligned.
• Text should be prepared in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) format.
• Main text: Times New Roman, 12-point, 1.5 line spacing.
• Footnotes: Times New Roman, 10-point, single-spaced, left-aligned.
• Leave one blank line between paragraphs.
• Each new paragraph must start with a first-line indent (approximately 1.25 cm).
• Page margins must be set to Word’s default value of 2.5 cm on all sides.

Submission File Format

Authors must upload the following files separately in the system during submission:

• Cover page: Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx)
• Main text: Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx)
• Figures and tables (if any): High-resolution TIFF (.tif/.tiff) or JPEG (.jpg/.jpeg) format
• Similarity report: PDF format (.pdf)

Cover Page

The cover page must include the following information completely and in the order specified. This document must be prepared as a separate Microsoft Word file (.doc or .docx), and no identifying information about the author(s) should appear in the manuscript file itself:

• Article title in English
• Author(s) full name(s), academic title(s), institution (university and department), institutional e-mail address, and ORCID ID
• Clear indication of the corresponding author and institutional e-mail address
• Financial support statement
• Conflict of interest statement
• Acknowledgments
• Ethics committee approval (if applicable)

You can access the cover page template via this link.

Main Text Format

The article text must be structured in the following order:

• Title in English
• Abstract in English (150–200 words)
• Keywords in English (4–6 words)
• Main text (introduction, development with subheadings, and conclusion)
• References
• Tables, figures, and illustrations (if any, each with appropriate captions and source information)

Title

• The main title should be formatted in Times New Roman, 14 pt, bold, centered, with each word capitalized.
• The Introduction and Conclusion sections must be explicitly marked with separate headings, and the main text must be structured using subheadings and, if necessary, sub-subheadings.
• All headings except the main title must be formatted in Times New Roman, 12 pt.
• Heading levels must be distinguished as follows:
  • Main Heading: Bold, centered, each word capitalized
  • Subheading: Bold, italic, left-aligned, each word capitalized
  • Sub-subheading: Italic, left-aligned, each word capitalized

Abstract

• Abstracts should be 150–200 words in length.
• Formatting: Times New Roman, 10 pt, single-spaced.

Keywords

• Keywords should consist of 4–6 words.
• The first word should be capitalized; all others lowercase unless proper nouns. Keywords should be separated by commas, and no period should be added at the end.

Main Text

• Word count: 5,000–15,000 words (excluding abstract, and references; including footnotes, tables, figures, and appendices)
• To ensure double-blind peer review, the text must not contain any identifying information about the author(s) or their institutions. Please review the Anonymization Steps for Authors and Reviewers.

References

• All citations and references must comply with the 18th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style.
• Footnote referencing is preferred. In-text (parenthetical) references are only permitted for scripture citations or comparable exceptional cases.
• Footnotes should be placed preferably at the end of the sentence or after punctuation.
• For articles or book chapters, only the relevant page number(s) should be cited.
• Authors are expected to provide a DOI or permanent URL for any source accessible online.
• The 18th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style does not require place of publication or page ranges for editorial book chapters published after 1900, but this information may be included to aid the reader, especially when the publisher is less well known.
• Abbreviations such as ibid. and idem are no longer recommended. Similarly, Turkish abbreviations such as a.g.e. (“adı geçen eser”) and a.y. (“aynı yer”) are optional and may be used if the citation remains unambiguous.
• All author names, titles, publisher names, and institutional affiliations in references must be rendered in the Latin (Roman) alphabet. Bibliographic information for works published in Cyrillic, Arabic, Greek, Chinese, or other scripts must be presented with Latin transliteration and, if needed, translation.
• You can view sample footnote and reference formats here.

Figures and Tables

• Figures must be submitted separately from the main text file and labeled with figure numbers. They should preferably be in TIFF (.tif or .tiff) format and at least 300 dpi resolution. Compressed formats such as JPEG (.jpg/.jpeg) are accepted only in exceptional cases.
• Figures embedded within Microsoft Word documents will not be considered for review. All figures should be uploaded via a cloud service (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneNote, WeTransfer, etc.) and shared together with a figure list.
• Figures containing text must be submitted in an editable format, prepared in software that allows editing (e.g., Adobe Illustrator (.ai) or editable .EPS files). All text appearing in the figure must also be provided as a separate plain text file.
• Figures should be cited in the text as “(Figure 1),” “(Figure 2),” numbered sequentially starting from 1. The numbering and order must exactly match these references.
• When listing figure captions, insert two points (:) after the number, followed by a space. Only the first letter of the first word should be capitalized; the rest should be in lowercase (publication titles retain their original capitalization).
• Tables are also considered figures. However, all tables must additionally be submitted in an unformatted Microsoft Word document as a separate file.
• Unless strictly necessary, scanned images from books, journals, or other printed materials should not be submitted, as they may cause print-quality issues.
• All visual materials serve as documentation regarding their source. For archival materials, the archive name and location must be specified; for figures taken from other publications, the source information must be clearly indicated at the end of the caption. All such figures must also be included in the References.
• Nesir reserves the right not to publish figures that do not meet the above requirements, lack proper references, fail to comply with technical standards, or do not align with the journal’s design principles, provided the author is duly informed.

In-Text Formatting and Writing Details

Quotations

• Use "double" quotation marks for quotations; for quotations within quotations, 'single' quotation marks should be preferred.
• Avoid "straight" (vertical) quotation marks and inappropriate characters such as improper apostrophes; instead, use curly, directional quotation marks (“ ”, ‘ ’).
• Periods and commas should be placed inside the quotation marks; colons and semicolons outside. Question marks should be placed inside the quotation marks only if they belong to the quoted sentence; otherwise, they should appear outside.
• Quotations that are three lines or longer should not be placed in quotation marks; instead, they should be formatted as a separate, indented paragraph, 10-point font, single-spaced.
• Leave one blank line before and after such long quotations; the block quotation should be indented 1 cm from both left and right margins.
• Any additions by the author to the quotation must be presented in square brackets. Omissions from the text should be indicated with an ellipsis in brackets [...]. (It is not necessary to use ellipses at the start or end of the quotation.)
• If an interruption or side comment is inserted within a sentence, use an em dash (—, U+2014) without spaces. This dash functions like parentheses.

Capitalization

• All English titles and work names should follow Chicago’s headline-style capitalization. According to this style, all words are capitalized except for articles (a, an, the), short conjunctions (and, but, for, or, nor), and prepositions shorter than four letters (on, out, over, etc.).
• For Turkish titles, use the Turkish Language Association (Türk Dil Kurumu) title capitalization rules. According to TDK, all words are capitalized except for ile, ve, ya, veya, yahut, ki, da, de conjunctions and mı, mi, mu, mü question particles.
• For titles in other languages, the standard orthographic rules of the relevant language apply. In case of doubt, Chicago’s sentence-style capitalization, where only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized, is preferred.
• Names of institutions, offices, government entities, and similar proper nouns should be capitalized (e.g., Encümen-i Dâniş, Maarif Nezareti, Ottoman Empire). General references to these entities should be lowercase (e.g., council, ministry, empire).
• Titles are capitalized only when used together with a person’s name (e.g., prince, pasha, but Prince Mustafa, Ziya Pasha).
• Historical period names are lowercase if they do not include a proper noun (antiquity, medieval period, late Ottoman, Tanzimat period, early republic). For the names of literary and cultural movements (realism, romanticism, naturalism, modernism), Merriam-Webster Online should be used to maintain consistency with English usage. For literary types, periods, and traditions specific to Turkish literature, Turkish Language Association guidelines should be followed (e.g., folk literature, divan poetry, mesnevi tradition).
• Arabic prefixes (al- / el-) do not have to be capitalized at the start of a title. However, if they appear at the beginning of a sentence, bibliographic entry, or footnote, they should be capitalized.

Dates

• For dates, the European format (day, month, year) should be used instead of the American format (month, day, year) (example: “14 February 2025”; not “February 14, 2025”).
• Centuries should be written out in words (not “16th century”, but “sixteenth century”).
• For approximate dates, an expression like “ca. 1800” may be used.
• The abbreviations BCE and CE are preferred (example: “CE 150”, “BCE 323”).
• Birth and death dates should be written as “b. 1882 / d. 1776”.

Numbers

• Numbers that can be expressed in two words or fewer should be written in words (“seven people”, “one hundred fifty years”).
• In the following cases, numerals should be used:
  • Dates (example: “1 January 1923”),
  • Percentages (example: “74 percent”),
  • Units of measure (example: “6 km”),
  • Specific document parts (example: “page 2”, “figure 1”).
• For number ranges, an en dash (–) (U+2013) should be used without spaces and shortened as follows:
  • Numbers under 100 or exact hundreds → all digits shown: 71–72, 100–104
  • 101–109 and similar → only changing part shown: 101–8, 808–33
  • 110–199 and similar → as many digits as needed: 321–28, 1187–210
• For numbers one thousand or greater, periods should be used to separate thousands and commas for decimals (example: Istanbul’s population is 15.701.602 people or 15.7 million). This does not apply to page or line numbers or to years of four or fewer digits.
• Use periods as thousand separators and commas as decimal separators:
  • 15.701.602 people, 15,7 million
• However, years of four digits or fewer and page/line numbers should not be separated.
• Avoid beginning a sentence with numerals; if necessary, rephrase or write out the number.
• In sentences listing multiple numbers of the same type, numerals can be preferred to avoid confusion: expressions like “three 2-storey buildings” are acceptable.
• Object dimensions should be written with the × sign (U+00D7): 20 × 15 cm (not x).

Plagiarism Check, Ethical Principles, and AI Use

Commitment to ethical principles in academic publishing is directly related to the content and production process of the manuscript. Nesir: Journal of Literary Studies expects authors to act in accordance with the principles of academic integrity and transparency. Below, the basic rules regarding plagiarism, ethical permissions, and AI use are presented under separate headings.

Plagiarism Check

• All authors are required to upload a similarity report in PDF (.pdf) format, generated from the final version of their submission.
• The preferred plagiarism detection tools are iThenticate and Turnitin.
  
  • Manuscripts with a similarity rate below 15% are accepted for editorial pre-evaluation.
  • Manuscripts with a similarity rate between 15–25% are returned to the author with a request for substantial revision at the discretion of the editorial board. The author is expected to revise the text thoroughly and provide a new similarity report.
  • Submissions with a similarity rate exceeding 25% are returned to the author without editorial evaluation.
• The similarity report must clearly display all matching sources and must be generated from the final version of the manuscript.
• Before a manuscript is accepted for publication, its final revised version is subjected to a second plagiarism check by the managing editor.

Ethical Responsibilities and Permissions for Quotations

• All content presented in the manuscript is the responsibility of the authors.
• Obtaining any necessary permissions for the use of previously published texts, tables, figures, etc., is the sole responsibility of the author.
• Quotations must be properly cited. Partial self-citation must also comply with ethical standards.

Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools

• Nesir accepts the use of AI tools in research and writing processes only as a limited part of the research methodology.
• It must be remembered that texts, analyses, or content produced by tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot, or Gemini do not bear any scientific responsibility and therefore cannot be listed as authors.
• If authors have used any AI-supported production process, the purpose, scope, and tools must be transparently disclosed under the Acknowledgments section at the end of the manuscript.
• The full responsibility for any content created by AI rests with the authors. The editorial board reserves the right to request disclosure of AI-generated content whenever necessary.
• Read Nesir’s Artificial Intelligence Use Policy.

Review Process, Submission of Revisions, and Article Queueing

Research articles submitted to Nesir: Journal of Literary Studies are evaluated under a double-blind peer review policy. This process is conducted within the framework of the academic quality, originality, methodological adequacy, contribution to the field, and alignment with the scope of the journal. Based on reviewer reports, authors may be requested to submit revisions. The revision phase is an integral part of the final acceptance process and must be carried out diligently and within the designated timeframe. Articles that successfully complete the review process and are deemed suitable for publication are placed in the issue queue according to the journal’s publication schedule.

Review Process

• Preliminary Check: Research articles submitted for publication are first examined by the managing editors for formal compliance.
• Scope and Content Evaluation: Articles found to be formally compliant are evaluated by the relevant section editor for content quality and suitability within the journal’s scope.
• Initial Revision Request: The managing editor may request preliminary revisions from the authors on formal grounds; the section editor may do so on content and scope grounds, providing clear justification. In this case, authors must complete the necessary corrections and re-upload the revised manuscript within 7 days via the “Pre-Review Discussions” section of the system, responding and using the “Upload File” option. Revisions not submitted within this timeframe may be processed as “withdrawn” in the system and the work excluded from the publication process.
• Initial Rejection Authority: The managing editor may reject the article before the review process based on formal grounds; the section editor may reject it on content or scope grounds, providing justification.
• Peer Review Process: Articles deemed appropriate in terms of form, content, and scope are sent to at least two expert reviewers under the principle of mutual anonymity (double-blind peer review). The article is transmitted without the author’s name, accompanied by a manuscript ID number.
• Timeline: The peer review process takes approximately 60 days. If revisions are requested, this period may be extended.

Reviewer Opinions and Decision

• If both reviewers recommend “Publishable,” the article is queued for publication.
• If one reviewer recommends “Publishable” and the other “Not Publishable,” a third reviewer is assigned or the editorial board makes the final decision.
• If one reviewer recommends “Publishable after revisions” (minor revision) and the other “Requires further review after revisions” (major revision), a third reviewer is assigned or the editorial board makes the final decision.
• If both reviewers recommend “Publishable after revisions” (minor revision), the article is accepted and queued for publication upon completion of revisions by the author and approval by the editorial board.
• If one or both reviewers recommend “Requires further review after revisions” (major revision), the article is sent back to the relevant reviewer or the editorial board makes the final decision.
• If both reviewers recommend “Not Publishable,” the article is rejected.

Submission of Revisions

• For articles receiving a “Revisions Required” decision, authors must submit a revised version within the timeframe specified based on the type of reviewer decision:
  • 7 days for minor revisions,
  • 28 days for major revisions.
• Revisions not submitted within this timeframe may be processed as “withdrawn” in the system and the work excluded from the publication process.
• In justified cases, authors may request an extension by writing through the system or to the editorial email address.
• Extension requests are evaluated by the editorial board and are accepted only under exceptional circumstances.
• Follow these steps to submit a revision:
  • An email notification including the editor’s decision will be sent to your registered email address. The email will contain a link to access reviewer comments.
  • Log in to the submission and tracking system using your existing username and password. On the evaluation page of the submission requiring revision, the “Upload File” option will appear.
  • In this section, re-upload the revised manuscript, response letter, preferably a marked version for clarity, cover page if necessary, and any additional files.
  • After giving each file a clear name, click Continue and confirm submission.

Article Queueing

• Each issue of Nesir includes a limited number of research articles.
• Articles that successfully complete the peer review process and are deemed suitable for publication are either published in the current issue or queued for the next issue, depending on the capacity planned by the editorial board.
• In this case, authors are informed via the system and additionally by e-mail that their article has been accepted but will be published in the next issue.
• This process does not affect the publication quality of the article but may affect the publication date. Articles placed in the queue are assigned a DOI, and the final publication date is announced.

Copyright and License

• Every manuscript submitted implies that it has not been previously published elsewhere, is not currently under review elsewhere, and that all authors approve its publication in Nesir.
• Nesir is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Under this license:
• Anyone with internet access can freely access the article.
• Provided that appropriate attribution is given to the original authors:
  • The article may be reproduced,
  • Shared,
  • Remixed,
  • Adapted.
• No fee is paid to authors for articles published in the journal.
• Copyright remains with the authors. Under the CC BY 4.0 license, third parties may use the article in any medium, provided that the original authors and source are credited.

Publication Fees

• Nesir is a completely open-access journal.
• No fees are charged for submission, editorial evaluation, peer review, or publication processes.
• Authors are not asked for any payment for technical processes such as peer review or DOI assignment.

Contact and Support

For technical problems or system errors:

• If you experience technical problems such as uploading manuscripts, file formatting, or logging in or out of the system, please e-mail: editor@nesirdergisi.com

For questions about the editorial process:

• For general questions about the evaluation process, revision requests, decision procedures, or requests to expedite the process, you may contact your managing editor. The "Discussion" section in the system is our preferred channel.

Support during the revision process:

• If you need technical guidance on how to upload revision files, how to address reviewer comments, or which section of the system to respond in, you can contact the editorial team via e-mail.

Regarding ORCID, similarity reports, or permissions:

• If there are issues such as entering your ORCID ID, uploading the similarity report to the system, or missing ethics committee approval documents, the editors will contact you. You can also send questions about such documents to the e-mail address above.

Post-publication inquiries:

• For all questions regarding corrections, DOI addresses, citation, and indexing of your published article, you may use the same contact address.