STYLE GUIDE
METAFOR: Journal of Literary Studies adopts the author–date citation system of The Chicago Manual of Style. For citations, quotations, and references, authors may consult the examples provided under the “Style Guide” section. The latest edition of The Chicago Manual of Style can be accessed here.
Manuscripts that do not conform to the Chicago author–date citation system and to METAFOR’s formatting template outlined below will not be considered for review.
Author Information: The author’s name, institutional affiliation, ORCID ID, and email address must be provided in the cover form.
– Cover Form
The completed cover form must be submitted together with the manuscript.
Article Title: The title must be consistent with the content of the manuscript, formatted in bold, and capitalized using title case.
The Turkish title must appear directly below the English title. Titles should be followed, respectively, by the English abstract, English keywords, Turkish abstract, and Turkish keywords. The font size and placement of titles and abstracts must conform to the journal template.
Abstract and Keywords: Submitted manuscripts must include an abstract of 150–250 words, written as a single paragraph, clearly outlining the main argument of the article.
Each article must include five keywords. Keywords should consist of representative terms and concepts that reflect the content of the manuscript. In selecting keywords, priority should be given to terms and usages commonly recognized in international academic databases.
Main Text: The formatting of the main text must conform to the journal template, and the manuscript must be prepared and submitted in Microsoft Word format.
Research articles must be between 5,000 and 7,500 words in length, excluding the title, abstract, and keywords. Book reviews must be between 3,000 and 4,500 words.
For English-language manuscripts, spelling and usage should follow American English (US English), with either Merriam-Webster Dictionary or the Oxford English Dictionary accepted as authoritative references.
For Turkish articles and book reviews, current conventions and definitions established by the Türk Dil Kurumu (TDK) must be followed.
If the equivalent of a term in a language other than Turkish is to be provided, it should be given in parentheses and in italics.
In Turkish texts, Arabic and Persian words should follow their established orthographic forms in modern Turkish.
Except where required by theoretical or technical considerations, transliteration alphabets should not be used for Arabic or Persian terms.
Unless there is more than one author, the first-person plural (“we”) should not be used in the text.
In research articles, the Introduction and Conclusion sections should not be numbered.
Book reviews must begin with the full bibliographic details of the work under review.
Headings: The levels, formatting, and numbering of headings must conform to the journal template.
Figures, Tables, Graphs, and Images: Authors may use tables, figures, graphs, and images where necessary to support their research. In such cases, each item must be assigned a sequential number and a title.
Numbers and titles should appear above figures and below tables and graphs. In titles, the first letter of each major word should be capitalized.
Figures and tables should be placed within the flow of the text, preferably on separate pages where appropriate. Tables must be created using Microsoft Office programs.
Images must be submitted as separate high-resolution files. Their numbering and titles must be clearly indicated within the file.
Quotations and Citations: Citations must consistently follow the author–date format of the Chicago style (see The Chicago Manual of Style).
The proportion of direct quotations within the text must not exceed twenty percent.
Direct quotations of up to 40 words should be enclosed in quotation marks and followed immediately by a parenthetical reference.
Quotations longer than 40 words should not be enclosed in quotation marks; instead, they should be presented as block quotations, indented 2 cm from the left margin.
In direct quotations, the original spelling and punctuation of the source must be preserved. Any omissions within a quotation should be indicated by ellipses (...).
In in-text citations, the reference must be provided in parentheses at the end of the sentence or clause, and punctuation marks must follow the parentheses.
Example: (…) as noted (Arslan 2026, 76).
If the author’s name or the date of the work is mentioned within the sentence, only the page number should be provided in parentheses.
Example: As Arslan (2026) notes, (…) (76).
If more than one author with the same surname is cited, initials must also be included in the parenthetical reference.
Example: (C. C. Arslan 2026, 76).
If multiple works are cited within the same parentheses, they must be listed alphabetically by the authors’ surnames and separated by semicolons.
Example: (Andrews 2014, 136; Arslan 2026, 76).
If multiple works by the same author are cited within the same reference, they should be listed chronologically from earliest to latest, and the author’s surname should appear only once at the beginning.
Example: (Gürbilek 1992, 25; 2004, 78).
If an author has multiple works published in the same year, these should be distinguished by adding letters (a, b, c, etc.) after the year.
Example: (İleri 1980a, 49).
If a cited work has been accessed through another source, this must be indicated as a secondary citation.
Example: (as cited in Gürbilek 2004, 95).
Footnotes: Footnotes should not be used to indicate sources of citations, but only where necessary to provide supplementary information relevant to the discussion. Their use should be kept to a minimum.
Footnotes must be created using the “Insert Footnote” function in Microsoft Word.
References: All sources cited in research articles and book reviews must be included in the reference list. Sources that are not cited in the text must not be included in the reference list.
In direct quotations, if the cited source itself refers to another work, it is not necessary to include that secondary work in the reference list.
References must be arranged alphabetically, and their formatting must conform to the journal’s template.
If multiple works by the same author are listed, the author’s name must be repeated for each entry.
If available, DOI numbers for cited works must be included in the reference entries.
CITATION AND REFERENCE EXAMPLES
Book
Reference List
Peacock, A. C. S. 2019. Islam, Literature and Society in Mongol Anatolia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hamarat Yardımcı, Zehra, and M. Sabri Koz, eds. 2024. Ermeni Harfli Türkçe Kelile ve Dimne. Istanbul: Turkuaz Yayınları.
In-Text Citations
(Hamarat Yardımcı et al. 2022, 117–18)
(Peacock 2019, 162)
Book Chapter
Reference List
Vásáry, István. 2003. “The Beginnings of Western Turkic Literacy in Anatolia and Iran (13th–14th Centuries).” In Irano-Turkic Cultural Contacts in the 11th–17th Centuries, edited by Éva M. Jeremiás, 245–253. Budapest: Avicenna Institute.
Tekin, Gönül. 2003. “Türk Edebiyatı: 13–14. Yüzyıllar.” In Osmanlı Uygarlığı 2, edited by Halil İnalcık and Günsel Renda, vol. 2, 496–567. Istanbul: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yayınları.
In-Text Citations
(Vásáry 2003, 251)
(Tekin 2003, 499)
Translated Book
Reference List
Andrews, Walter G. 2014. Şiirin Sesi, Toplumun Şarkısı. Translated by Tansel Güney. Istanbul: İletişim Yayınları.
Arslan, C. Ceyhun. 2026. Osmanlı Kanonu: Arap ve Türk Edebiyatlarının Oluşumu. Translated by Senem Özden Gerçeker. Istanbul: Koç Üniversitesi Yayınları.
In-Text Citations
(Andrews 2014, 136)
(Arslan 2026, 76)
Journal Article
Reference List
Hagen, Gottfried. 2023. “Towards a Social Pre-History of the Ottoman Turkish Language.” Turcica 54: 245–285. https://doi.org/10.2143/TURC.54.0.3292410.
Kut, Günay. 1994. “13. Yüzyılda Anadolu’da Şiir Türünün Gelişmesi.” Türk Dili Araştırmaları Yıllığı - Belleten 39 (1991): 127–136.
Johanson, Lars. 1994. “Rūmī and the Birth of Turkish Poetry.” Journal of Turkology 1, no. 1: 23–37.
In-Text Citations
(Johanson 1994, 35)
(Hagen 2023, 250)
(Kut 1994, 135–136)
Newspaper / Online Article
Reference List
Yıldız, Zeynep. 2025. “Birlerken’de Dağılan İktidar ve Şair Öznede Birlenen Kadın İmgesi.” Sanatkritik, June 30. https://sanatkritik.com/yazilar/birlerkende-dagilan-iktidar-ve-sair-oznede-birlenen-kadin-imgesi/
In-Text Citation
(Yıldız 2025)
Thesis / Dissertation
Reference List
Yazar, Sadık. 2011. “Anadolu Sahası Klâsik Türk Edebiyatında Tercüme ve Şerh Geleneği.” PhD diss., Istanbul University.
Pelvanoğlu, Emrah. 2006. “Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar'ın Şiir Eleştirisinde Avrupa Merkezlilik.” MA thesis, İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University.
In-Text Citations
(Yazar 2011, 98)
(Pelvanoğlu 2006, 71)
Encyclopedia Entry
Reference List
Akün, Ömer Faruk. 2026. “Divan Edebiyatı.” TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. Accessed April 21, 2026. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/divan-edebiyati.
In-Text Citation
(Akün 2026)
Webpage
Reference List
Metafor. 2026. “Makaleler.” Accessed April 21, 2026. https://metafor.bogazici.edu.tr/tr/makaleler
In-Text Citation
(Metafor 2026)
Manuscript
Reference List
Sinan Paşa (Sinâneddîn Yûsuf b. Hızır el-Bursevî). Ecvibe ʿan Esʾileti’l-Kestelī. Köprülü Yazma Eser Kütüphanesi (Istanbul), Mehmed Âsım Bey Collection, MS 00721-003.
In-Text Citation
(Sinan Paşa, 12a)