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The peer-review system as a critical tool in academic processes is regarded to be essential. It is not used only to evaluate the manuscriptssubmitted to the journals but also in tenure decisions, academic promotions, and grant applications. However, during the last few decades,the system has also become a subject of academic research and criticized from various aspects. Many scholars studied the process andpresented biases emerging due to the characteristics of the authors and reviewers. In this paper, the journals published by the faculties ofeconomics and administrative sciences and the faculties of political sciences and indexed by TR Dizin are studied. It is observed that thelanguage of the article, number, title, gender, and institutional affiliation of the authors do not influence the acceptance period. However,there is a difference between the average acceptance periods of the journals, which are quite similar. Moreover, being a faculty member ofthe publisher provides a significantly shorter acceptance period on average. The reason for such differentiation may be either the existenceof a considerable extent of bias at the editorial stages of the process or the communication of the editors with the reviewers in a way thatinfluences the process., Akademik süreçlerin önemli bir aracı olan hakemlik sistemi sadece akademik çalışmaların yayınlanmaya uygunluklarının belirlenmesindedeğil, araştırma bursu ve akademik pozisyon başvuruları ile terfi taleplerinin değerlendirmesindeki etkin rolüyle de vazgeçilmez olarakgörülmektedir. Bununla birlikte son yıllarda kendisi akademik çalışmaların konusu hâline gelen sistem çeşitli yönlerden eleştirilmekte,makale yazarı ve hakemlerin niteliklerine bağlı yanlılıklar içerdiğini ortaya koyan çalışmalar yapılmakta ve bu olumsuzlukları giderebileceğidüşünülen alternatifler aranmaktadır. Bu çalışmada iktisadi ve idari bilimler ve siyasal bilgiler fakültelerinin çıkardığı, TR Dizin kapsamındaolan ve son üç yıldaki sayılarında makalelerin başvuru ve kabul tarihlerini yayınlayan dergiler taranmış ve makalelerin ortalama kabulsürelerinin yazım dili, yazar sayısı, yazarların unvanı, cinsiyeti ve bir üniversite mensubu olup olmadıklarına göre farklılaşmadığı sonucunaulaşılmıştır. Öte yandan, aynı alanda yayın yapan benzer nitelikteki dergilerin ortalama kabul sürelerinde büyük farklar gözlenmiştir. Dahada önemlisi, makale yazarlarının dergiyi çıkaran üniversiteye mensup olmaları makale kabul sürelerini anlamlı düzeyde kısaltabilmektedir.Bu durum çift kör hakemlik sürecinin editörlerce işletilen aşamalarında önemli ölçüde yanlılık oluştuğu, bazı yazarların makaleleri içinyanlılığa sebep olacak şekilde hakem seçildiği veya editörlerin hakemlerle süreci etkileyecek şekilde iletişim kurduğu anlamına gelmektedir

Purpose Böhm-Bawerk’s time preference approach had significant importance among many other theories of interest. His assertion based on inherent human nature and the distinction he made between the positive and normative aspects of interest were remarkably authentic. As it is assumed that any efficient evaluation, judgment or regulation on the legitimacy of interest has to consider the theory of time preference, especially Böhm-Bawerk’s approach, the paper aimed to examine the Islamic economists’ response to the time preference theory of interest. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents Böhm-Bawerk’s time preference theory of interest. Then, it evaluates the Islamic economists’ views on the concepts of the time value of money and time preference qualitatively by scrutinizing the relevant literature. Findings It is observed that there is not any proper response of Islamic economists to the assertions of the causes of time preference. Responding to such challenges requires an approach that is mostly developed in the positive domain. Originality/value Although it is evident that interest is regarded as destructive in Islamic economics, the consideration is primarily normative. However, a convincing assertion also requires to be justified in the positive domain. Empirical works are exhibiting the problems with interest-based transactions. Besides, this paper raises the need for theoretical expositions of Islamic economists in response to the interest theories, which claim that the existence of interest is inevitable.

COVID-19 affected higher educational institutions around the world. This study focused on academics’ perceptions and practices of online education based on their academic discipline and previous online education experience. The survey research design used and an e-survey was conducted in May 2020, during which the lockdown restrictions were rather tight in Turkey. The analyzes were carried out on the responses of 8,242 academics’ using the omnibus chi-square test and t-tests. The results point out that academics’ time allocation to preparation for courses, student counselling, and lectures are varying due to their academic disciplines. Generally, academics have a negative perception of online education though there is a difference between the experienced ones and others. In particular, academics with online education experience exhibited lower negative perceptions of online education than those lacking such experience. Maybe one of the most problematic parts of this transition process for academics is how to ensure the reliability of exams. Our results showed that even the academics with online education experience have a higher level of distrust towards educational measurement and evaluation methods.

Temel tüketim maddesi olarak sahip olduğu önem, kırmızı et fiyatlarının çeşitli yönlerden incelenmesine sebep olmaktadır. Fiyat hareketlerinin belirleyicileri arasında yer alan mevsimsel olayların etkileri, bu olaylar fiyat serilerinin oluşturulduğu takvim sisteminde gerçekleştiğinde daha kolay tespit edildiği halde, her yıl bu takvim içinde farklı tarihe kayan Kurban Bayramı gibi dönemlerin etkilerini tespit etmek çeşitli zorluklar içermektedir. Kurban Bayramının kırmızı et fiyatları üstündeki olası etkisini incelemeyi amaçlayan bu çalışmada, Miladi takvime göre üretilmiş fiyat serileri, Kurban Bayramının bir tarihte sabit olduğu Hicri takvime dönüştürülmüş ve fiyat artışlarının Miladi ve Hicri aylardaki değişimleri karşılaştırılmıştır. Aylık fiyat değişimlerinin, Miladi takvimle karşılaştırıldığında, Hicri takvimde belirli dönemlere daha fazla yoğunlaşması, Hicri takvimde belirlenen olayların fiyat hareketlerini etkilediğini göstermiştir. Kırmızı et fiyatlarında en yüksek ortalama artış, kurbanlıklara olan talebin en fazla arttığı Kurban Bayramı döneminde değil, Ramazan ayı ve öncesinde; ortalama en düşük artış da Kurban Bayramı ayından sonraki ikinci ayda gerçekleşmektedir. Bu gözlem, Kurban Bayramı döneminde daha yüksek gelir beklentisi ile önceki aylarda piyasaya sürülmeyen kurbanlıklardan elde kalanların, devam eden bakım maliyetlerinden kurtulmak amacıyla, düşük fiyatlarla satıldıkları şeklindeki değerlendirmeleri doğrulamaktadır., Its importance as an essential consumption good causes red meat prices to be evaluated in various aspects. Although the seasonal effects yielded from the fixed dated events are relatively easy to detect, it is harder to observe the impacts of events shifting to a different date each year, such as Feast of Sacrifice. In this work, to evaluate the effect of the feast on red meat prices, the price series produced in the Gregorian calendar is transformed into series of Hijri calendar in which the Feast of Sacrifice is fixed at a date and the differences of the price increments in Gregorian and Hijri calendars are compared. The higher concentration of the monthly price changes in some periods of the Hijri calendar than any period in the Gregorian calendar implies that the events defined in the Hijri calendar may affect the price movements. It is observed that the red meat prices increase most in Ramadan and previous months but not during the Feast of Sacrifice, in which the demand for sacrificial animals is high, and increase least in the second month after the month of the feast. The observation confirms the claim that the sacrificial animals are not put on the market beforehand by expecting a higher profit during the feast of sacrifice; however, the ones that remained unsold are sold out in a few months at low rates to avoid the care cost.

This chapter presents the reasons for prohibiting interest or limiting its rate that arise from various motivations such as belief, ethics, or protection of the needy and lists many problems that are asserted to be the consequences of the practicing interest. It briefly introduces some of the more economics-related reasons that depend on the claimed features of interest. The mentioned features are being an income received without working, benefiting from the poor people, enhancing the inequality in the distribution of wealth, causing economic instability, discounting the future, restraining investment, and causing a form of slavery. The chapter evaluates the instruments that were used in the past and are still being used today for the restriction of interest in four groups that are formed regarding their sources of enforcement, namely legal arrangements, religious beliefs, social norms of ethics, and financial means.

The chapter presents the literal meaning of the word interest and the changes in it throughout history and scrutinizes its ascribed meaning as an economics term in aspects of definitions made by several scholars, various breakdowns that ease to handle the issue, and the determinants on which the interest rate depends. It notes that the word interest implies the net and real interest in this book. It reviews the history of interest in Mesopotamia, Ancient India, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Byzantium, and Medieval Europe, in terms of the perceptions of people, practiced rates, regulations made, and the enforcement tools of defaulted loans. In particular, the chapter asserts that, since the Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam strictly intervened in the practice of interest-based transactions, considering their approach to the issue is essential in comprehending how the perception of interest and its applications evolved to present conception.

This chapter summarizes the theoretical development in the concept of interest and the essential assertions of the prominent interest theories developed on various conceptions such as productivity, abstinence, labor, exploitation, impatience, lendable funds, liquidity preference, and time preference. It introduces Bohm-Bawerk’s time preference theory of interest in detail by presenting his reason for developing a theory distinct from the existing ones. The significance of Bohm-Bawerk is not only for being considered as the founder of the modern theory of interest. His approach of dealing with the issue by making a distinction between the positive and normative aspects of the problem seems to be crucial in performing a scientific study and preventing the mistakes made in the former interest theories. The chapter also reviews the critiques of Bohm-Bawerk’s theory made by various scholars and the works that are testing the validity of the theory in the current economic system.

This chapter reviews the interpretation of Islamic economists on the concepts of the time value of money and time preference in detail. In particular, it overviews their approach to Bohm-Bawerk’s time preference theory of interest. It also evaluates the Islamic economists’ consideration of the consequences of interest rate control within the frame of price control phenomena. The work presents that the views of the Islamic economists on the concepts of the time value of money and the time preference are highly diversified. It concludes that the relevant literature is not comprehensive enough to help in building an opinion on the role of time preference in the existence of interest. It also states that the issue of the consequences of interest rate control has received far less attention compared to the concept of time preference among Islamic economists, and almost nothing asserted regarding the adverse effects of interest rate control.

The Introduction presents the concept of interest as an ever-present and much-debated phenomenon since ancient times. Although interest has always existed, many societies have condemned it and regulated interest-based transactions due to various concerns. The chapter introduces the issue in aspects of its history; the perceptions of people; the reasons and ways of arrangements made to regulate it; the efforts of scholars to explain the cause of its existence, particularly the ones on time preference; and the claimed distortive effects of interest rate control, a form of price control, on the market. It asserts that Islamic economics is the most cited interest-free economic system with its numerous supporters, relatively extensive literature, a growing market, and actively operating instruments. Hence, it is worth evaluating the Islamic economists’ interpretations of time preference and consequences of interest rate control. The chapter concludes by overviewing the content of the book.

The chapter briefly reviews the historical background of Islamic economics and its basic principles that differ from the conventional systems, particularly its main distinctive feature, namely the prohibition of interest. It introduces the pre-Islamic riba, briefs the origins of the ban in the Quran (holy book) and Sunnah (practices of the Prophet), shortly reviews the approach of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) to riba and interest, and presents the traditional view on the definition of riba. The chapter also summarizes the opposing views to the mainstream approach to the relation of riba and interest, the instruments developed to be alternative to the interest-based transactions, and other devious ways used to overcome the prohibition of interest. It presents the similarities of the devious ways used in Islamic economics with the ones used in Christianity and Judaism. Finally, it provides a chronological bibliography of Islamic economics on the concept of interest.

Interest is the price of loaned capital, and its regulation is a sort of price control. Hence, this chapter reviews the concept of price control and its mechanism as price ceilings and floors. It presents the probable consequences of various price control regulations, such as the limited price of a show, rent controls, maximum rail fares, regulated prices of consumer goods, minimum wage, and minimum unit price for an alcoholic beverage. The chapter introduces Steven Cheung’s price control model, which applies to any price control regulation by the proposed methodology that helps to investigate the relevant constraints of any price control rather than explaining the implications of a specific control. It reviews the consequences of interest rate regulations on various markets, the borrowers and lenders, and the whole economy in aspects of the efficient use of the capital, competition in the loan market, savings, investment, output, employment, and growth.

The detection of seasonal effects is essential in economic forecasting. However, the lack of indicators produced referencing calendars other than the Gregorian system makes it hard to observe the impact of the cultural, national, and religious days that annually shift in the Gregorian calendar, on the economy. Ramadan, the ninth month of the lunar-based Hijri calendar, has an impact on many issues, namely the Ramadan effect, due to the changes in the daily practices of the fasting Muslim people. We checked the existence of the Ramadan effect on consumer prices and industrial production in Turkey by reconstructing the monthly indicators in the Hijri calendar and testing the significance of the differences between their increase rates in Ramadan and other months. We observed that the Food Price Index and prices of some goods increase, and production decrease in Ramadan, significantly more than in other months. Considering the Ramadan effect would improve the accuracy of the inflation forecasting and seasonal adjustment models.