Authors Guidelines

Journal Information

The Journal of Inquiry Based Activities (JIBA) is a scholarly peer-reviewed open access journal dedicated to advancing the understanding and application of student-centred learning and teaching approaches in education.

JIBA covers a broad range of areas related to learner-centred education at all levels from pre-school to higher education and non-formal education.  JIBA particularly welcomes applied studies that aim to develop innovative learner-centered methods and strategies. However, our scope is not limited to applied research. We also welcome descriptive research, theoretical papers, and systematic reviews on issues related to student-centered education and inquiry based learning. 

JIBA provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to all. For more detailed information regarding our open access policy, please see Journal Policies.

Publication Frequency

JIBA is published twice a year; April and October. The journal may publish a special issue each year at the discretion of the editorial board. The manuscripts for a special issue are subject to the same review process as the manuscripts submitted for regular issues.

Archiving

To ensure the permanent availability and electronic backup of its scholarly content, The Journal of Inquiry Based Activities (JIBA) utilizes a comprehensive digital preservation strategy; in the event that the journal ceases publication, all published articles will remain publicly accessible through long-term archiving agreements with services such as CLOCKSS and Portico, as well as being permanently deposited in institutional repositories and national digital archives.

Advertising

The Journal of Inquiry Based Activities (JIBA) does not accept or display any form of advertising on its website or within its published content. All editorial and publication decisions are made completely independently of commercial or financial interests, ensuring that the journal's educational and research materials remain entirely objective, unbiased, and free from commercial influence.

Revenue Sources Statement

JIBA operates as a non-commercial, platinum open-access journal with zero fees for both authors and readers. The journal's operations, digital infrastructure, and publication processes are funded and sustained entirely through voluntary institutional and organizational support provided by its hosting institution. JIBA does not charge Article Processing Charges (APCs), submission fees, or subscription fees, nor does it generate income through advertising or reprints. All editorial decisions are strictly merit-based, handled independently by the Editorial Board, and are completely unaffected by the journal’s financial or organizational sponsorship.

Direct Marketing Policy

The Journal of Inquiry Based Activities (JIBA) is committed to ethical, transparent, and professional communication. Any direct marketing activities—including the solicitation of manuscripts or the distribution of journal updates—are strictly targeted, appropriate, and unobtrusive, ensuring they do not burden the academic community. All information provided regarding the journal, its indexing, editorial board, and publication policies is strictly truthful, accurate, and never misleading to authors, readers, or the public. Furthermore, the editorial office does not engage in aggressive or predatory marketing practices, and all promotional activities are kept completely separate from peer-review and editorial decision-making processes.

Publication Language

Manuscripts must be submitted in English. For articles from Türkiye, the author may also publish the full-text article in Turkish, depending on his/her preference (the English version is mandatory in any case). 

Manuscript Submission

Authors are requested to submit their manuscript by using the Journal’s online submission system. They need to register with the journal prior to submission. The online submission system will guide authors stepwise through the submission process. Submission by email is not accepted. The manuscript schould not have been published previously or should not be under consideration for publication elsewhere. 

Authorship

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the study.  All those who have significantly contributed to the design, implementation, and/or analysis of the research data and/or to drafting or revising the article should be listed as co-authors. The corresponding author should verify that all co-authors have approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to its submission for publication. Those who contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the “Acknowledgements” section.

Publication Ethics

Manuscripts should be original and written considering the academic and ethical rules. All sources used must be appropriately cited accoding to APA Referencing Style (7th Edition).

Any form of plagiarism, including self-plagiarism, is strictly prohibited. All manuscripts submitted to JIBA are routinely screened for plagiarism. Authors are responsible for ensuring the submitted work is not plagiarized. If the research is based on prior research, appropriate citation should be reported. 

The research on which the paper is based must have been conducted in accordance with ethical rules.

For more detailed information regarding our ethics policy, please see Journal Policies.

Peer Review Process

The papers published by ATED are accepted via a rigorous and double-blind peer review process. A submitted manuscript is first reviewed by the editor regarding format and scope. The editor may reject a manuscript without further review if it does not fit the scope of the journal. If the manuscript is deemed appropriate for the journal, it is sent to two independent peer reviewers. Peer reviewers assess the paper based on the reviewer form. When the reviewers submit two different evaluations of a manuscript, the editor or a third reviewer will assess the manuscript. 

Manuscript Preparation

Article  Formatting  and Length

JIBA accepts different types of papers for publication: applied research articles, descriptive studies, case studies, theoretical papers, literature reviews, etc. There are no strict formatting requirements. Depending on the article type, the format and structure may vary, but all manuscripts must contain the essential elements needed to convey your manuscript, for example Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion, Conclusions, and References. 

In articles designed to develop inquiry-based activities, the format may be as follows: Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Methods, Activity Implemetation, Results and Discussion, Conclusions ans Suggestions, and References. 

The manuscript length must be between 3000 and 8000 words. Articles that are longer than 8000 words may still be considered for publication, provided the length is clearly justified by the scientific content.

A title page must be submitted along with the manuscript. The title page should be a Microsoft Word document separate from the main manuscript. You can download the title page template  here: Title page template. Please provide all of the required information on the title page. Submissions containing incomplete information will be returned without peer review.

Manuscripts must be submitted as Microsoft Word (.doc  or .docx) format.  

Title

The title should be concise and informative, and should not exceed 20 words. Abbreviations should not be used in the title, except for those that are widely known (e.g. COVID-19).

Abstract and Keywords

Please include an abstract of 100 to 200 words. The abstract should appropriately summarize the purpose, method, key findings, and conclusions of the article. Include also 4 to 6 keywords which can be used for indexing purposes.

Referencing Format

Citations and references should be made in accordance with APA References Style (7th edition).  Please make sure that all sources cited in the text are included to the Reference List, and vice versa. Footnotes can be used only to give additional information. Don’t use them for citation purpose. Include the DOI numbers of the sources in the Reference list, if applicable. If you provide the URLs, please make sure that the links are valid and working. 

Tables and figures

All tables and figures must have a caption (title) explaining their contents. Number tables and figures consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text.  Please submit tables as editable text and not as images. They must be placed within the text at the appropriate points. Please prepare tables according to APA Referencing Style (7th Ed.).

Make sure that the image quality of the documents such as photos, pictures or illustrations is high. Don't submit them as a separate file. Please edit the images containing photographs of research participants in a way that the identity of the participants is not revealed. 

It is the responsibility of the author to obtain written permission for a figure, illustration, or table that has already been published elsewhere.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

Authors should include a statement disclosing any financial or other substantive conflicting, or competing, interest that may be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support should be disclosed.

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments (people, grants, funds, etc.)  should be placed in a separate section before the reference list. Authors must obtain permission to include the names of all individuals included in the Acknowledgements section. 

Copyright and Licensing Policy

The Journal of Inquiry Based Activities (JIBA) is a fully Open Access journal. This means all content is freely available without charge to the user or their institution.

1. Copyright Retention

  • Author Ownership: Authors retain the copyright to their work published in JIBA. You do not transfer ownership of your intellectual property to the journal.

  • First Publication Rights: By submitting your manuscript, you grant JIBA a non-exclusive license to publish, archive, and distribute the work as the version of record, identifying JIBA as the original publisher.

2. Creative Commons Licensing

To ensure widespread sharing, collaboration, and pedagogical use of inquiry-based activities, all articles are published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

Under this license, others are free to:

  • Share: Copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.

  • Adapt: Remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.

The condition: The user must give appropriate credit to the original authors, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.

3. Self-Archiving and Repository Policy (Green Open Access)

JIBA actively encourages authors to self-archive their work to maximize its reach and impact.

  • Pre-prints: Authors may deposit their preprint (the version before peer review) in any repository or website at any time.

  • Post-prints & Publisher's Version: Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their accepted manuscript (post-print) or the final published PDF (version of record) to institutional repositories, personal websites, or academic networks (e.g., ResearchGate, Academia.edu) immediately upon publication.

  • Citation Requirement: Any self-archived version must include a full citation and a link (including the Digital Object Identifier / DOI) to the original article on the JIBA website.

4. Third-Party Materials

  • If your manuscript includes third-party materials (such as images, diagrams, or excerpts from textbooks), you must secure written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce them under the CC BY 4.0 license before publication.

  • Proper attribution to the original source must be clearly stated in the figure captions or text.