Kadri Kiran

A taxonomic revision of the Temnothorax bulgaricus species-group from the Aegean Region revealed that it consists of five species. Temnothorax mersinensis sp. nov., from Mersin Province of Türkiye, is described based on the morphological and morphometrical evidence. Temnothorax caucasicus (Arnoldi, 1977) bona species is restored from synonymy of Temnothorax nadigi (Kutter, 1925). Redescriptions of Temnothorax bulgaricus (Forel, 1892), T. caucasicus, and T. nadigi are provided. The lectotype of Temnothorax cypridis (Santschi, 1930) is designated. We also provide a key to the T. bulgaricus species-group, and each species is supplemented with photographic documentation. Temnothorax nadigi is recorded from Greece for the first time.

A new era for TUJNS: quality, transparency, and visibility through professional publishing - Trakya University Journal of Natural Sciences

Online Makale Sistemleri, bilimsel yayıncılığın dijitalleşmesiyle birlikte ortaya çıkan yönetilebilirlik, izlenebilirlik ve hız gereksinimlerini karşılayan temel araçlar hâline gelmiştir. Bu bölümde, söz konusu sistemlerin ortaya çıkış nedenleri, işleyiş mantığı ve editöryal süreçlere katkıları ele alınmaktadır. Yazar, editör ve hakem arasındaki etkileşimin standartlaştırılması; veri güvenliği, raporlama ve arşivleme süreçlerinin iyileştirilmesi; değerlendirme aşamalarının şeffaf ve izlenebilir hâle gelmesi, sistemlerin sunduğu başlıca avantajlar arasındadır. Bununla birlikte kullanıcı dijital okuryazarlığındaki farklılıklar, sistemlere adaptasyon güçlükleri, teknik sınırlılıklar ve yapay zekâ tabanlı modüllerin yol açabileceği etik riskler önemli dezavantajlar olarak değerlendirilmektedir. Bölümde ayrıca, makalenin sisteme yüklenmesinden yayınlanmasına kadar uzanan temel süreç akışı açıklanmakta ve sistemlerin dergi politikasına bağlı olarak nasıl özelleştirilebildiği tartışılmaktadır. Son olarak, çevrimiçi gönderi sistemlerinin yalnızca teknik bir yazılım değil, bilimsel yayıncılıkta etik ilkelerin uygulanmasını doğrudan etkileyen bir editöryal ekosistem olduğu vurgulanmaktadır. Online Manuscript Submission Systems have become essential tools in scholarly publishing, emerging from the need for greater manageability, traceability, and efficiency in digital editorial workflows. This chapter discusses the rationale behind their development, the principles underlying their operation, and their contributions to editorial and peer-review processes. These systems standardize interactions among authors, editors, and reviewers; enhance data security, reporting, and archiving; and improve transparency and accountability during evaluation stages. However, challenges such as variations in users’ digital literacy, difficulties in system adaptation, technical limitations, and potential ethical risks associated with AI-driven modules represent notable drawbacks. The chapter further outlines the core manuscript workflow—from submission to publication—and explains how individual journals may tailor system functionalities according to editorial policies and expectations. Ultimately, Online Submission Systems are portrayed not merely as technical platforms but as editorial ecosystems that directly influence the integrity, fairness, and sustainability of modern scholarly communication.

A review of the members of the Temnothorax kemali species-group revealed that it consists of two species: T. kemali (Santschi, 1934) widespread in the lowlands and highlands of the Aegean Region and western Anatolia, and T. guzel sp. nov. known from alpine habitats of Kütahya in Türkiye. A detailed description of both species, supplemented with rich photographic documentation and comments on their ecology, as well as a key to the T. kemali species-group are given.

Emeryopone loebli (Baroni Urbani, 1975) is recorded in Türkiye for the first time in two different localities. These records are the fourth and northernmost documentation of the species. One of these two records was recorded by citizen scientists, thus showing the importance of citizen science.

The high level of morphological crypsis of the hyper-diverse Palearctic Tetramorium caespitum group have challenged taxonomists for decades. Within this group, Wagner et al. (2017) offered a multidisciplinary solution for the delimitation of ten European species of the Tetramorium caespitum complex. Anatolia, harboring a high level of endemism in ants, has never been subject of focus research within this genus. In this study, the Tetramorium caespitum complex diversity in Anatolia and the Caucasus region was investigated by examining 191 nest-samples using an in-depth integrative-taxonomic approach. Quantitative morphometric and microsatellite data of 505 and 133 workers, respectively, and genital-morphology data of 33 nests were collected. Unsupervised analyses provided independent species-hypotheses based on the morphological and molecular disciplines. Based on the final species-hypotheses, we confirm T. caespitum (Linnaeus, 1758), T. hungaricum Röszler, 1935, T. indocile Santschi, 1927, T. caucasicumWagner et al., 2017, T. impurum (Foerster, 1850), T. immigrans Santschi, 1927, and T. flavidulum Santschi, 1910 as valid species of the T. caespitum complex occurring in Anatolia. A lectotype of T. flavidulum was designated. The host of the temporary social-parasitic species Tetramorium aspina Wagner et al., 2018 is T. caucasicum instead of T. immigrans – as it was suggested before. An identification key to species complexes of the T. caespitum group and to workers of the species of the T. caespitum complex in Anatolia is provided. Every cluster we identified could be linked to described species and the region’s species-composition is similar to those of the Balkans and Central Europe.

The dominance of English in scientific papers and the use of English in locally funded research may hinder local comprehension and raise concerns about transitioning from vernacular languages to a universal language in scholarly journals. Additionally, the impact of publication language on journal sustainability is an intriguing area requiring further investigation. This study investigated how the publication languages of 42 Turkish psychiatric journals published between 2010-2023 impact journal sustainability. It examined the effect of publication languages and language changes on sustainability by analyzing information from the DergiPark platform, TR Index, and journal websites. Among the analyzed journals, 8 have ceased publication, while 34 continue. The terminated journals include 3 with Turkish articles, 2 with English articles, and 3 with both Turkish and English articles. Among the 34 ongoing journals in 2023, 3 only accepts Turkish publications, 8 only accept English publications, 22 accept both Turkish and English publications, and 1 accepts both Turkish and English versions of each article. The Turkish-only journal is not indexed by any major indexes. Of the eight English-only journals, one is SCI-Expanded and TR Index, three are indexed by TR Index and DOAJ, three are indexed by TR Index and one is not indexed by any major index. Among the 22 journals publishing in both languages, one is indexed by all the major indexes, four by TR Index and DOAJ, two by DOAJ and six by TR Index only, nine are not indexed by any major index. The use of the local language in journal publications may adversely affect the journal's sustainability, but it is not solely determined by indexing and citation in major index. Furthermore, publishing in English does not guarantee citations from international journals or ensure the long-term viability of the journal.

Background: Although Turkey publishes more than 3000 peer-reviewed scientific journals, fewer than 5% of them are covered by major indexing databases, and only 1 of the 10 scientific journals published by Trakya University (Turkey) is among those quality journals. In November 2017, Trakya University organized a workshop titled ‘Increasing the quality of academic journals at Trakya University’, the ultimate goal of which was to bring together all stakeholders in the process of academic publishing, to review the criteria of publishing quality, and to recommend measures to enhance the quality of academic journals published from Turkey. Objectives: To review the current status of academic journals published by Trakya University in terms of international publishing standards, to devise measures to enhance their quality, and also to help other journals do the same. Methods: Information was collected from the websites of 10 academic journals pub-lished by Trakya University in the fields of natural, medical, and social sciences to assess the extent to which each journal met a set of criteria defining quality academic publishing. These journals were then compared in terms of their success in meeting those criteria. Results: No single measure can improve the quality of all the ten journals published by Trakya University. Balkan Medical Journal topped the list in that it satisfied nearly all the criteria whereas the journals that met the fewest criteria were Trakya University Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences Faculty, Trakya University Journal of Faculty of Letters, and Journal of Balkan Libraries Union. Timeliness in ensuring ethical standards was the criterion most often met by the journals, but all 10 failed to meet the criteria related to data accessibility and good reporting guidelines. Of the 8 crite-ria related to fairness of the blind-review processes, all 10 met 6 but none met all 8. In terms of transparency and implementation of best practices, the highest compliance was in terms of the criteria related to the name of the journal, its governing body, and archiving, but no journal made any effort to market itself, that is, to expand its circulation. Conclusions: The strengths and weaknesses of each journal with reference to the quality of academic publishing were highlighted. The method described in the paper can also be used for evaluating other journals.