Author Guidelines
Submission Guidelines
The International Journal of Alevi-Bektashi Studies publishes original research articles, review articles, historiographical essays, book reviews, and special issue contributions. Research articles should normally be 7,000–10,000 words and must not exceed 12,000 words, including notes and references. Review articles and historiographical essays should be 3,000–6,000 words, while book reviews should be 800–2,000 words. Special issue contributions are accepted by invitation or through approved proposals.
Manuscripts should be submitted in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx) in English (preferred) or Turkish. Authors should provide a title, an abstract of 150–250 words, and four to seven keywords. Manuscripts must be fully anonymized for double-blind peer review. Author information—including name, institutional affiliation, ORCID iD, email address, and a 100–150 word biographical note—should be submitted in a separate file.
Manuscripts should be prepared in Times New Roman, 12-point font, and double-spaced. Citations must be provided in footnotes rather than endnotes, and a bibliography is required.
The journal follows the Chicago Manual of Style (Notes and Bibliography system). Footnotes should be numbered consecutively and set in 10-point, single-spaced font. Repeated references may use ibid.; after an interruption, use the author’s surname and a shortened title. Acknowledgments should appear at the bottom of the first page and be marked with an asterisk following the article title.
A comprehensive bibliography is required for all scholarly submissions. Bibliographies should include all relevant secondary literature. Submissions relying exclusively on primary sources or with insufficient engagement with secondary scholarship may be returned for revision before review.
Figures, tables, maps, and images must be submitted in high-resolution format suitable for publication. Authors are responsible for securing all necessary permissions and copyright clearances. All visual materials must be cited in the text, accompanied by captions, and numbered consecutively.
Style and Transliteration Guidelines
For English-language submissions, American spelling and punctuation should be used (e.g., color, analyze, traveling). Use the serial (Oxford) comma (e.g., blue, green, and yellow).
In quotations, follow American punctuation conventions, placing commas and periods inside quotation marks. Spell out numbers from one to one hundred, except where numerical expression is required by The Chicago Manual of Style. Use “percent” in text (e.g., 20 percent), and “%” in tables, figures, and parentheses. For Turkish submissions, modern standard Turkish orthography and punctuation applies.
For Ottoman Turkish texts in Arabic script and for names of historical figures, Sufi orders, and religious movements in a Turcophone context, use the transliteration system of the Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi (İA). For Arabic and Persian, use the IJMES transliteration system. Do not assimilate the definite article al- to the following noun, except in proper names ending in -Allāh, which should be rendered as -ullāh. Diacritics should not be used in personal names or month names unless they appear in quotations, titles, or extended transliteration. The letters ʿayn (ʿ) and hamza (ʾ) should be retained. When a surname appears alone, the definite article should be omitted.
Alevi-Bektashi terminology and saintly lineage names should generally be rendered in modern Turkish orthography, except in direct quotations. Thus, use semah rather than semāʿ, and İmam Zeynel Abidin ocağı rather than Imām Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn. Exceptions include mürşid, talib, and seyyid, which are preferred over mürşit, talip, and seyit.
Dynastic names and well-known place names should follow standard English usage without diacritics. Less common but modern Turkish place names should follow Turkish orthography; other place names should be transliterated.
Technical terms should be rendered in Arabic or Turkish transliteration depending on context. In ambiguous cases, both forms may be given at first mention. Terms commonly used in English without diacritics—such as Sunni, Shiʿi, Sufi, shaykh, dervish, sultan, shah, imam, sayyid, ulema, qadi, and shariʿa—should not be transliterated.
For specific documents, provide Hijri dates followed by Common Era dates, separated by a slash (e.g., 1299/1881). For historical events and general references, use Common Era dates only.
Peer Review Policy
The International Journal of Alevi-Bektashi Studies employs a double-blind peer review process. All submissions undergo initial editorial screening to assess suitability for the journal’s scope and scholarly standards. Manuscripts that pass this stage are sent to at least two independent reviewers.
Reviewers evaluate submissions based on originality, methodological rigor, contribution to the field, and clarity of presentation. Editorial decisions include acceptance, acceptance with minor revisions, revise and resubmit, or rejection.
The editorial board is committed to maintaining fairness, confidentiality, avoidance of conflicts of interest, and timely handling of submissions throughout the review process.
