Bilingual Publication and Multilingual Structured Abstract Policy

1. Publication Language Policy

The Turkish Studies journal has adopted a policy of publishing bilingual full texts and multilingual structured abstracts in order to enhance its international academic visibility and citation impact. Approximately 30 million annual accesses have been recorded for each journal, with a significant proportion originating from international users. Articles published in the journal receive a high number of international citations, largely attributable to English structured abstracts. In light of this, the journal implements a bilingual publication model (English + Turkish) or (English + the language of the article), along with multilingual (8 languages) structured abstracts. The selected languages—English, Arabic, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Hindi, and Turkish—are among the most widely used in academic publishing, particularly in the social sciences. Subject to the availability of qualified experts, Persian and Urdu may be incorporated into the structured abstract system in the coming years.

Within this framework:

·  Articles are published as bilingual full texts in English/Turkish or English/the language of the manuscript.

·  Each article includes structured abstracts in English, Arabic, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Hindi, and Turkish.

2. Multilingual Structured Abstract Implementation

Rationale for the Multilingual Language Set

The Turkish Studies journal adopts a multilingual approach to structured abstracts in order to increase international academic visibility, broaden access for researchers across diverse geographical regions, and strengthen citation potential.

The selected language set has been determined by considering the journal’s disciplinary profile, international academic circulation networks, and editorial sustainability criteria. Authors are required to prepare structured abstracts only in Turkish or English; translations into other languages are carried out by the editorial board.

Turkish and English serve as the journal’s primary publication languages and function as the main carriers of national and international academic communication. English, as the lingua franca of contemporary academia, is indispensable for indexing, global scholarly circulation, and citation impact. Therefore, all articles are prepared both as full texts and structured abstracts in English.

Arabic holds a broad academic influence in fields such as theology, Islamic history, and cultural studies, providing direct access to researchers in the Middle East and North Africa. It is a global language with official status in numerous countries and occupies a central position in religious, legal, cultural, and academic production within the Islamic world. A substantial proportion of scholars in these regions primarily operate in Arabic, making structured Arabic abstracts strategically essential.

French, owing to its long-standing academic tradition in the humanities and its prominence in Francophone scholarly communities, is a strategic language for fields such as history, literature, philosophy, and religious studies. It is widely spoken across Europe, Africa, the Americas, and parts of Asia and Oceania. Given that many scholars in these regions primarily use French, structured French abstracts are of strategic importance.

Spanish enhances the visibility of articles and increases regional citation potential by facilitating access to the strong social sciences and humanities literature in Latin America and Spain. As a widely spoken global language with significant academic circulation, structured Spanish abstracts are also strategically valuable.

Chinese (Mandarin), due to its large volume of academic production and growing scientific influence in East Asia, has been included as part of the journal’s long-term internationalization strategy. With nearly two billion speakers and extensive global academic, economic, and cultural circulation, it represents a critical component of global scholarly communication.

Russian extends access to academic communities across Eurasia, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe, particularly in disciplines such as history, political science, and international relations. It maintains a strong tradition in scientific and academic literature and is widely used as a lingua franca in many regions.

Hindi has been incorporated as a complementary language to enhance access to South Asian academic communities, particularly in fields such as education, sociology, and cultural studies. With a vast number of speakers, it contributes to expanding regional visibility and academic reach.

For these reasons, preparing structured abstracts in a detailed and meticulous manner significantly increases citation potential, enabling articles to gain global recognition.