Directives

Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University

Academic Incentive Allowance Directive

Purpose and scope

Article 1- (1) The purpose of this Directive is to determine, with regard to the implementation of the academic incentive allowance to be paid to the academic staff holding posts at our university, the characteristics of the activities to be taken as a basis in calculating academic incentive points according to the particularities of the scientific fields and the titles of the academic staff, the point values of these activities, the weightings of each type of academic activity in the calculation of the total score, the procedures and principles relating to the calculation of the academic incentive score, and the composition of the relevant commissions, along with other matters.

Legal Basis

Article 2- (1) This Directive has been prepared on the basis of Higher Education Law No. 2547 and other relevant legislation.

Definitions and abbreviations

Article 3- (1) In the implementation of this Directive;

a) AHCI: refers to the Arts and Humanities Citation Index (Art and Humanities Index),

b) Field indexes: refers to the indexes accepted for associate professorship applications, prepared by the Presidency of the Interuniversity Board and approved by the Council of Higher Education,

c) Research: refers to systematic studies which, provided that they do not fall within the scope of the project item, are of a nature that contributes to science, technology and art; which have been carried out in accordance with scientific principles for a period of at least four months in the country or abroad under an external assignment, for the purpose of producing new knowledge, solving/analysing technological problems, or developing innovative products, processes, works or designs; and whose final report has been found successful and concluded by the competent authorities of the relevant institutions,

ç) Citation: refers to a work being cited in another work within the year,

d) Professor’s salary : refers to the minimum monthly net salary of a professor,

e) Activity: refers to projects, research, publications, designs, exhibitions and patents concluded in the country or abroad in the preceding year for each calendar year that are of a nature contributing to science, technology and art, together with the citations made to such work, the papers presented at international meetings having a scientific committee, and the academic awards received,

f) Commission: refers to the academic incentive commission,

g) Award: refers to the awards received by the applicant for professional, scientific or artistic activities carried out in their own field,

ğ) Project: refers to the totality of activities carried out within the framework of scientific principles and of a nature that determines every stage of R&D activities, for which the purpose, scope, general and technical description, duration, budget, special conditions, the amounts of in-kind and/or cash support to be provided by other institutions, organisations and by natural and legal persons, and the principles for sharing the intellectual property rights that will arise as a result have been established,

h) Rector: refers to the Rector of Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University

ı) SCI: refers to the Science Citation Index,

i) SCI-Expanded: refers to the Science Citation Index-Expanded,

j) Exhibition: refers to exhibitions, biennials, triennials, performances, recitals, festivals or screening events of an artistic nature,

k) SSCI: refers to the Social Sciences Citation Index,

l) Calendar year: refers to the period between 1 January and 31 December,

m) Recognised national publishing house: refers to a publishing house that has been operating regularly at national level for at least five years and has previously published at least twenty books by different authors in the same field,

n) Recognised international publishing house: refers to a publishing house that has been operating regularly at international level for at least five years and has published at least twenty books by different authors in the same field in languages other than Turkish,

o) Design: refers to the original first drawing or original design of a structure, product or object,

ö) Paper: refers to a proceeding presented orally and published at a peer-reviewed international scientific conference, symposium or congress,

p) National patent: refers to a patent applied for under national legislation and granted by the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office following an examination report,

r) International patent: An international patent application filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty for which the written opinion section of the international search report or the international preliminary examination report states that at least one claim satisfies the patentability criteria (novelty, inventive step, industrial applicability), or a patent granted by the European Patent Office under an application filed pursuant to the European Patent Convention,

s) ULAKBIM: The TUBITAK National Academic Network and Information Center,

s) University: Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University,

t) Publication: A review, article, or short article (letter to the editor, commentary, case report, technical note, research note, abstract, or book review) published in a journal, a book or book chapter, editorship or editorial board membership, and audio and/or video recordings,

u) YOKSIS: The Higher Education Council Presidency's Shared Database,

shall have the meanings set out above.

University Academic Incentive Commission

Article 4- (1) The University Academic Incentive Commission, established to carry out the duties assigned to it under this Directive, consists of a vice-rector appointed by the Rector and one member from each faculty. In selecting members, preference is given to faculty members with a high publication count from different scientific fields. The Commission is chaired by the vice-rector. Commission members are appointed for three years; however, the Rector may make changes before this period ends.

A member whose term has expired may be reappointed. If a membership becomes vacant for any reason, a new member is selected using the same procedure to complete the remaining term.

(2) The Commission convenes with an absolute majority of the total number of members, including the chair, and makes decisions by an absolute majority of those present. In the event of a tie, the vote of the Commission chair determines the outcome. Members may not abstain.

(3) The Commission is responsible for preparing the academic incentive application calendar, checking and ensuring that applications submitted by unit academic incentive commissions comply with the Directive, and preparing the final report on incentive applications and submitting it to the Rector's Office by the end of February.

(4) The Commission is the final decision-making authority for resolving uncertainties regarding the documentation of activities and their classification within activity types.

Unit Academic Incentive Commission

Article 5- (1) To carry out the duties assigned to it under this Directive, a unit academic incentive commission composed of three members is established in each faculty. The members and chair of this commission are determined by the relevant faculty board. Commission members are elected for three years. A member whose term has expired may be reelected. If a membership becomes vacant for any reason, a new member is elected using the same procedure to complete the remaining term.

(2) The unit academic commission convenes with the full number of members, including the chair, and makes decisions by an absolute majority of those present. Members may not abstain.

(3) The unit academic incentive commission checks the compliance of declared activities with the provisions of this Directive, and approves and forwards to the University Academic Incentive Commission those applications that are compliant or whose non-compliance has been remedied. The Commission is authorized to resolve uncertainties regarding the documentation of activities and activity types.

(4) Where a sufficient number of faculty members are available, members of the unit academic incentive commission are not also assigned as members of the University Academic Incentive Commission.

Academic Incentive Application and Evaluation Process

Article 6- (1) Faculty members submit their academic incentive applications to the unit academic incentive commission of the faculty in which they hold a position, through UBYS, together with the relevant supporting evidence and documents, in accordance with the announced procedure and application calendar. At any stage of the evaluation, the unit academic incentive commission may request additional explanations, information, and documents regarding the applicant's academic activities where deemed necessary. Applicants are obliged to fulfill such requests. Applications submitted by faculty members are reviewed by the unit academic incentive commission.

(2) All works (other than citations) belonging to the relevant application year must bear the university's affiliation.

(3) Applicants submit their applications to the unit academic incentive commission through the UBYS system, together with the activities they have carried out in their fields. The unit academic incentive commission reviews the applicant's activities and, if any deficiencies are found, requests the applicant to remedy them.

(4) The Unit Incentive Commission reviews applications, approves eligible ones through the UBYS system, and rejects those that are not eligible. An explanation must be provided for any academic activities rejected or whose point value is changed by the unit academic incentive commission.

(5) The University Incentive Commission reviews the applications and evaluation decisions sent by the unit academic commission. Where deemed necessary, it may request additional documents and information from applicants and/or make changes to decisions received from units. The Commission signs the decision minutes it prepares, the evaluation report on the applications, and the attached point table, and announces its final decisions to the relevant researchers in writing or electronically. The evaluation report prepared by the Commission must include an explanation for any academic activities that are rejected or whose point value is changed.

(6) Decisions of the University Incentive Commission may be appealed in writing within 15 days from the date of announcement. The Commission resolves appeals within ten days from the expiry of the appeal period. Decisions rendered by the Commission are final.

(7) Activities (other than citations) that do not bear the university's affiliation are not taken into account when calculating academic incentive points.

(8) Academic staff who leave the university during the year subject to the incentive may apply during the relevant year's application period for works bearing the university's affiliation and, if entitled, may benefit from the academic incentive allowance.

Evaluation of Academic Incentive Activity Areas

Article 7- (1) Only activities carried out by applicants within their own field are evaluated within the scope of the academic incentive.

(2) In evaluating project activities, only projects contributing to science, technology, and the arts that have been successfully completed, whether domestically or abroad, and whose final report has been approved are taken into consideration. For externally funded projects (domestic or international) carried out through the university budget to be evaluated within this scope, the project must have an R&D nature. Only academic support programs of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) are taken into account within this scope; however, industry, public sector, entrepreneurship, scientific activity, and science-and-society support programs are not taken into account. Projects aimed at building research infrastructure, entrepreneurship, and supporting the research culture of researchers and students; scientific research projects supported by higher education institutions; support provided by the Turkish Employment Agency, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization, development agencies, and similar institutions that fund local development, community service, vocational training, social responsibility, and similar purposes; expert witness services and consultancies carried out through revolving funds; and European Union Pre-Accession Financial Assistance projects are not taken into account. No duplicate scoring is given for works that are essentially part of or an extension of the same completed project, even where complementary or supplementary budget support has been provided by different institutions or organizations.

(3) In evaluating research activities, only research contributing to science, technology, and the arts that has been successfully carried out, whether domestically or abroad, through external assignment with the permission of the higher education institution's board of directors, and whose final report has been deemed successful and finalized by the competent authorities of the relevant institutions, is taken into consideration. The permission of the higher education institution's board of directors must be attached to the application. Research is evaluated on a monthly basis. Action plans, feasibility reports, inventory studies, and research lasting less than two months are not taken into account.

(4) Books must have an ISBN and journals an ISSN. Book authorship, chapter authorship within a book, and book editorship must be documented with evidence such as the contract made with the publisher or an invitation letter from the publisher or editor. Booklets of congresses, symposiums, conferences, or similar scientific events and papers published therein are not taken into account in the publication category. Curatorial books prepared for exhibitions, books consisting of papers presented at a congress, and question books prepared for examinations are excluded from evaluation. In evaluating books, the year of publication is decisive. Accordingly, a new edition of a previously evaluated book or book chapter is not taken into account. In evaluating articles published in journals, the journal must have been printed or published electronically (with volume, page, and year information and full bibliographic details clearly presented). For other international peer-reviewed journals to be included within the scope of evaluation, they must have been published for at least five years with at least one issue per year, the journal's editor or editorial board must be international, the scientific evaluation process and how it operates must be described on the journal's website, and the bibliographic details of articles published in the journal must be accessible via its website. In evaluating editorship of journals, only one editorship is taken into account, even if held at different journals. For journals with multiple editors, only the editor-in-chief is evaluated within the scope of the incentive. For national and international performance-based audio and/or video recordings, the condition of having been published is required.

(5) In evaluating design activities, only designs contributing to science, technology, and the arts, related to the applicant's own field, and implemented or commercialized under a contract made with public institutions or private legal entities are taken into consideration.

(6) In evaluating exhibition activities, only those contributing to the arts are taken into consideration. For an exhibition to be evaluated as international, its international nature must be approved by the department, subject area, or main art branch boards. For recurring activities, a maximum of two events are taken into consideration, and the second, repeated event is given half the points of the previous one. In evaluating exhibition-related activities, exhibitions held within the scope of educational activities or student club activities are not taken into consideration.

(7) National patents granted without examination are excluded from the scope of evaluation.

(8) In evaluating citations, only citations made in publications or works evaluated within the scope of this Directive and citations made to publications or works evaluated within the scope of this Directive are taken into consideration; all others are excluded. Citations made by applicants to their own publications or works are excluded. In evaluating citations, the number of authors is not taken into account; separate scoring is applied for each applicant. Citations made to the same publication or work in different sections or parts of a book or article are evaluated as a single citation. However, in books with different chapter authors, each citation made in a different chapter is evaluated separately.

(9) For an event held domestically or abroad at which papers are presented to be classified as international, speakers presenting oral papers must participate from at least five different countries outside Turkey, and more than half of the papers must be presented by participants from outside Turkey. In addition, a decision of the university board of directors is required regarding whether the event qualifies as international, to serve as the basis for payment. In evaluating papers, it is essential that the paper was presented at the relevant event and that this is documented (the event program and a document showing that at least one researcher named on the paper participated in the event). In addition, for evaluation purposes, the paper must appear, in electronic or printed form, in the event's proceedings booklet, and its published full text must be submitted.

(10) In evaluating awards, it is essential that the award was given for works carried out by the applicant within their own field. Awards given for papers, awards given by publishers or journals for journal refereeing, and awards received by the applicant from their own university are not taken into consideration.

(11) In evaluating awards, the date the award was received is decisive; in evaluating projects and research, the date the project or research was completed; in evaluating designs, the date the design was completed; in evaluating patents, the date the patent was registered; and in evaluating exhibitions, the date the exhibition opened.

Calculation of the Academic Incentive Allowance

Article 8- (1) The academic incentive payment is calculated by applying, to two and a half times the lowest net monthly amount for a professor, the following percentages — 100% for those holding a professor position, 90% for associate professors, 80% for assistant professors, and 70% for research and teaching assistants — multiplied by the ratio obtained by dividing the academic incentive point by one hundred.

[Academic incentive payment amount = 2.5 x Professor salary x Rate determined according to academic staff title x (Academic Incentive Point/100)].

(2) The academic incentive point is calculated as follows, based on the Activity Calculation Table appended to this Directive. The amount calculated under this Directive is paid net to entitled recipients. (Table 4).

a) First, the point for each academic activity type is calculated. This calculation is obtained by multiplying the sum of the ratios the faculty member has earned from activities defined under each activity type by the point determined for that academic activity type [Academic activity type point = sum of activity ratios x point determined for the academic activity type].

b) The academic incentive point on which the academic incentive payment is based is calculated by summing the points obtained from each academic activity type.

(3) The activity point a faculty member accumulates from each activity type may not exceed the point determined for that academic activity type, and the academic incentive point (total activity point) may not exceed one hundred points.

(4) In determining the ratios for multi-authored publications (articles, reviews, books, or book chapters), papers, and patents, the (k) coefficient in the table below, which takes different values according to the number of persons involved in the activity, is used as the basis (Table 1).

(5) For projects that may be evaluated within the scope of the academic incentive, the applicant's role in the project is determined based on the (r) coefficient in the table below (Table 2).

(6) For research articles and review articles (letters to the editor, commentaries, case reports, technical notes, research notes, and book reviews, provided they are published as standalone items) published in journals indexed in SCI, SCI-Expanded, SSCI, and AHCI, the academic incentive point is calculated using the (p) coefficient in the table below, based on the most recently published Quartile classification by ISI Web of Science for the journal in the year the article was published. However, for journals included in the index after the most recent quartile list, the relevant Q value is accepted; for journals whose Q value has not been determined, the lowest coefficient value is applied. For journals indexed in AHCI, a coefficient value of 0.5 is applied. (Table 3).

(7) For activities without a specific sharing ratio or without a name order or ranking, the ratio of "ratio/number of persons" is taken into consideration. However, group/mixed events under the exhibition activity type and internationally published, performance-based mixed audio and/or video recordings are evaluated with full points regardless of the number of persons involved.

(8) In calculating points and payments, the faculty member's staff title at the time of the incentive application is taken as the basis.

Other provisions

Article 9- (1) For the academic incentive allowance regulated under this Directive, the activities specified in Table 4 are taken as the basis.

(2) The academic incentive allowance for academic activities carried out within a calendar year is paid in March/April of the following year.

(3) To be entitled to the academic incentive allowance, the academic incentive point must be at least 30, and at least one work must have been carried out in at least one of the categories specified in Table 4 other than citations.

(4) An incentive payment is made under this Directive to faculty members whose point from the activities in Table 4 falls below 30 but who have activities in the publication, patent, or paper categories of the same table.

(5) An incentive payment is also made under this Directive for activities in the publication, patent, and paper categories in Table 4 whose point exceeds 30 and which, exceeding the prescribed upper limit, are not used in calculating the academic incentive.

(6) Academic Incentive Award Classes:

(7) Payments made to individuals found, after payment has been made, to have applied for activities that are untrue or found not to fall within the scope of this Directive are recovered, together with a penalty to be determined by the university board of directors. An investigation is initiated, upon the Commission's determination and notification, against those who make untrue, false, or misleading statements. Where the outcome of the investigation requires the application of criminal sanctions, the general provisions apply.

Provisional Article

Article 10- (1) The provisions of this Directive also apply to academic work carried out as of 01.01.2023.

(2) The deadline specified in paragraph (3) of Article 4 of this Directive is applied as "the end of March" for the application period for the year 2023.

Entry into force

Article 11- (1) This Directive enters into force upon a Senate resolution and Board of Trustees approval.

Execution

Article 12- (1) The provisions of this Directive are executed by the Rector.