Instructions to Authors

Namık Kemal Medical Journal is the official, open access, and peer-reviewed journal of Tekirdağ Namık Kemal University Faculty of Medicine. Original articles, case reports, and short communications related to either basic or extended clinical experience in medical sciences (i.e., general medicine, basic medical sciences, surgical sciences) will be considered for publication. Review articles will be accepted upon request of the editorial board. The journal does not accept unsolicited review articles for consideration.

The editorial and publication processes of the journal are shaped in accordance with the guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)World Association of Medical Editors (WAME)Council of Science Editors (CSE)Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), European Association of Science Editors (EASE), and National Information Standards Organization (NISO). The journal conforms with the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (doaj.org/bestpractice).

NKMJ accepts articles written either in Turkish or English. The journal is currently published quarterly (four issues in March, June, September, December), comprising one volume per year.

Clinical Trial Policy

All clinical trials, which are any research projects that prospectively assign individuals or a group of people to an intervention, with or without concurrent comparison or control groups, in order to study the relationship between a health-related intervention and a health outcome, must be registered in a public trials registry acceptable to the International Committee of Medical Journals Editors (ICMJE). Authors of randomized controlled trials must adhere to the CONSORT guidelines , and provide both a CONSORT checklist (for protocols, see the SPIRIT guidance) and flow diagram. We require that you choose the MS Word template at www.consort-statement.org for the flow chart and cite/upload it in the manuscript as a figure. In addition, submitted manuscripts must include the unique registration number in the Abstract as evidence of registration.  The Clinical Trial Registration Policy has been implemented in our journal as of September 2023. For more detailed instructions regarding clinical trials, please visit the guideline below:

Clinical Trials Guidelines

You can register for clinical trials by visiting the following link:
https://clinicaltrials.gov/

To register the relevant record in the system and learn more about the protocol to be followed, please review the link below:
https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/manage-recs/how-register

The other registries are accepted by ICJME:
www.anzctr.org.au
www.ISRCTN.org
www.umin.ac.jp/ctr/index/htm
www.onderzoekmetmensen.nl/en
https://eudract.ema.europa.eu/

Namık Kemal Medical Journal does not charge the authors any article processing or submission fees.

Publication Language

Articles are published in Turkish or English. In Turkish articles, the integrity of the Turkish language should be preserved, and the Spelling Guide and Turkish Dictionary of the Turkish Language Association should be taken as the basis.

In the use of medical terms, care should be taken to use "Turkish Science Terms" as much as possible. For this, the "Medical Terms Guide" of the Turkish Language Institution is the main sourcebook, but when this book cannot be obtained, the "Country Medical Terms Dictionary" can be used. The authors are deemed to have accepted the changes to be made by the editor in Turkish articles, provided that no changes are made in the content.

English texts should be clear and accurate. In case the publication is accepted, the language editor of the journal reviews the article.

Article Submission

All manuscripts should be submitted via https://jag.journalagent.com/nkmj/ online submission system.

Manuscript Evaluation

As a first step, manuscripts received are evaluated with regard to the instructions to authors. The approved articles are delivered to Editorial Board. The Editorial Board evaluates the context of articles and sends them to two referees in related fields. The editor will then make a final review and a subsequent decision relative to publication. The articles accepted by the Editorial Board come in the list of publications, and the authors of these articles are informed.

This journal uses double-blind peer review, which means that both the reviewer and author identities are concealed from the reviewers, and vice versa, throughout the review process. To facilitate this, authors need to ensure that their manuscripts are prepared in a way that does not give away their identity.

Manuscript Layout

Manuscripts sent to the editor to be published in the journal must be written on one side of the A4 page, in Arial, 10 pt, double spacing, and 2.5 cm margins each. The abbreviations used should be written clearly in parentheses at the first mention in the text, and no special abbreviations should be made. Numerical data between 1-10 in the text should be indicated in writing (in both treatment groups, second day .....), with 10 and above numbers. However, numbers between 1-10, which have a descriptive tag, should be written in writing (.... 1 year) and the numbers at the beginning of the sentence (a fifteen-year-old female patient ......).

The title page, abstract, text, figures, tables and references of the article should be given in the same WORD file.

All visual elements except the table should be named as "Figure". Table and Figure numbering (1,2,3...) should be made. The description text for the table should be placed above the table, below the figure for the figure. The abbreviations used in the table should be written clearly under the table.

The use of resources in the text should be indicated at the end of the quote and as a superscript.

Title Page: On the title page, The title of the article in Turkish and English, the names and duties (academic titles) of the authors, the institution from which it was sent, if any, the institution supporting the study should be written. If the article has been communicated before in any congress, its place and date should be specified. In addition, the name, surname, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, the e-mail address of the author to have corresponded and Ethics Committee Approval must be clearly written on this page.

The author's name (Only the first letter is capital), surname (all text is capital) should be written clearly,

Abstract: It should be prepared on a separate page in Turkish and English. The abstract should reflect the article, significant results should be given, and their interpretation should be made. Abbreviations not explained in the abstract should not be used, and the source should not be shown. Abstracts should not exceed 250 words.

In research articles; Turkish and English abstracts should be divided and structured as follows:

Aim/Amaç, Materials and Methods/Gereç ve Yöntem, Results/Bulgular, Conclusion/Sonuç.

Structured abstracts should not be used in reviews and case reports.

Keywords: Turkish and English keywords should be found in accordance with the standards of "Index Medicus: Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)". (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/authors.html). Keywords should be given at least 3 and at most 5 on the page under the Turkish and English abstracts in all kinds of articles.

Sections: Original research articles should include Introduction, Materials and Methods, selection and description of the cases, technical information, Statistical Analysis, Results, Discussion, Study Limitations, and Conclusion sections. Case reports should include Introduction, Case Report and Discussion sections.

After these chapters, "acknowledgements" can be written to those who contributed to the research or to the preparation of the article, if any. Acknowledgments are given at the end of the article before references. There are expressions of thanks for personal, technical, and material assistance in this section.

References: References should be numbered and listed according to the order in the text under the heading (References) at the end of the article. There should be no discrepancy between the list of references and the order they appear in the text.

References that have information obtained through another reference without the original appearance are not numbered; they are given in parentheses when necessary. The author(s) are responsible for the accuracy of the references. All references should be stated in the text.

The names of the journals are given in the abbreviated form in accordance with Index Medicus. Journal names that are not included in the index are not abbreviated.

Examples for Writing Resources

For journals:

For the journal article in MEDLINE and abbreviated according to MEDLINE:

The first letters of the authors' surnames and names should be entered with a comma at the end without a full stop, and a period should be placed after the first name of the last author without passing to the title. If the authors are 6 or less, all of them should be written. If the authors are more than 6 authors, the first 6 should be written, and then et al. should be used. Then the article's title should be entered, and a period should be placed at the end. The short name of the journal in MEDLINE is put at the end, and a space is left after it is written; publication date semicolon; number in parenthesis, the starting number of the published pages is put in a colon, and the last page is written after the hyphen is inserted, but the numbers on the first page are not repeated on the last page.

Ozkan G, Ulusoy S, Guvercin B, Menteşe A, Karahan SC, Yavuz A. A new player in chronic kidney disease mineral and bone disorder: tenascin-C. Int J Artif Organs. 2015;38:481-7.

For books:

West JB: Respiratory Physiology (2nd ed). Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins, 1974; 72-5.

For chapters taken from the book:

Sagawa K: Analysis of the CNS ischemic feedback regulation of the circulation. In: Reeve EB, Guyton AC (eds), Physical Basis of Circulation Transport. Philadelphia: WB Saunders, 1967; 129-139.

For online articles:

Abood S: Quality improvement initiative in nursing homes: the ANA acts in an advisory role. Am J Nurs [Webcast]. 2002 Jun [citation 12.08.2002]; 102 (6). Access: http://www.nursingworld.org/AJN/2002/june/Wawatch.htm PMID: 12394070.

For the citations from the thesis:

Kulu A. Evaluation of Quality of Life After Surgical Interventions Applied to Patients with Bladder Tumors, Trakya University, Institute of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing. Master Thesis. 2010; Edirne.

For congress papers:

Felek S, Kılıç SS, Akbulut A, Yıldız M. A case of phylgellosis with visual hallucinations. XXVI. Turkish Microbiology Congress Abstract Book, 22-27 September 2000, Antalya, Mars Printing House, 1994, p.53-6.

The above examples are followed in Turkish sources that are not included in Index Medicus, but journal names are written without abbreviations.

Tables and Figures

Tables and figures should be numbered according to the order of appearance in the text and should be placed in the closest section with their explanations according to the place in the text. The information given in the table should not be repeated in the text. Permission should be obtained for tables taken from other sources. Figures should be drawn professionally, photographed, or presented as digital prints in photographic quality. The photos and pictures to be printed should be at least 9x13 cm in size and 300 DPI resolution.

Symbols, arrows, or letters should contrast with the background. The magnification rate and dyeing technique used should be specified in microscopic pictures.

If human photography is to be used, either they should not be identified from the photograph or written permission should be obtained (see Ethics section). Figures and pictures should be written at the bottom, together with (1, 2, 3,...) numbers.

Publication Review Process

All articles (Original Articles, Reviews, Case Reports, and Letter to the Editor) are subject to the following process:

After the formal check, articles that comply with the journal's spelling rules are directed to the editor. The responsible editor evaluates all applications in terms of the journal's scope, purpose, and compliance with the target audience. If the article sent to Namık Kemal Medical Journal is in conformity with the formal principles, the editor is directed to two independent reviewers by providing blindness between the reviewers and authors from Turkey and/or abroad.

If the reviewers deem it necessary, they approve the publication after the changes requested in the article are made by the authors.

Studies coming to the journal management system pass the pre-evaluation of the editor and the editorial board within 2 weeks at the latest;

Compliance with the scope and subject areas of the journal,

Compliance with the journal spelling rules (if any, article template, font, titles, submission and bibliography style, etc.)

Publication language (abstract, sufficiency of keywords, structured self-translation, etc.).

Studies that pass the pre-evaluation stage mentioned above by the editorial board are sent to at least 2 reviewers who are experts in their field, depending on the nature of the study.

Based on the nature of the work, the referees evaluate working on the standard evaluation form.

In addition, if the reviewers wish, they can submit notes on the full text, stating their suggestions and opinions, to the editorial board.

The deadline for reviewer evaluations is 6 weeks.

After the study is sent to the reviewer, it states to the editorial board whether it can be evaluated within 2 weeks at the latest. Reviewers who do not specify are removed from the study, and a new reviewer assignment is made.

The reviewer’s opinions for the studies guide the Editorial Board in making the final decision. The final decision always belongs to the editorial board.

The reviewers can give opinions on the study in 4 ways;

- Publication is acceptable

- It can be accepted for publication after corrections (It is decided by the editorial board whether the corrections have been made or not)

- After revisions, I would like to see it again (The work is taken into a second-round evaluation after it is submitted by its authors)

- Unpublished (Rejection)

A 3rd or 4th reviewer can be appointed to work in line with the reviewer's opinions, and this process works in the same way as the time specified above.

After the completion of the evaluation in line with the reviewer’s opinions, the opinions are reviewed by the editorial board (maximum 2 weeks). In this process, the aim is to adapt the authors' articles to publication standards.

The editorial board makes the final decision in line with the reviewer opinions and suggestions and conveys the result to the study authors.

Accepted articles are sent to the corresponding author for proof control before publication, and a reply must be given within 48 hours.

The responsibility for the ideas advocated in the articles belongs to the author.

The copyright of the published articles belongs to the journal and cannot be transferred, even partially, without the journal's permission.

Plagiarism

Submitted articles are evaluated after plagiarism check. This evaluation contributes to the decision-making of the editorial team.

Final Checklist

1) Presentation page to the editor

  1. Category of the article
  2. Information that has not been sent to another journal
  3. Relationship with a sponsor or a commercial company (if any)
  4. Statistical control was made (for research articles)
  5. Checked in terms of English

2) Copyright transfer form

3) Permit certificate if previously printed material (text, picture, table) is used

4) Compliance with the principles of the Helsinki Declaration in the "material and method" section in the studies with human elements, the approval of the ethics committee from their institutions and the "informed consent" from the patients.

5) If the animal element is used, indicating its compliance with the principles of "Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals" in the "material and method" section.

6) Cover page

The title of the article is in Turkish and English (preferably one line each)

Authors and their institutions

Correspondence address, business phone number, GSM number, e-mail addresses of all authors

7) Abstracts: (Turkish and English)

8) Keywords: Between 3-5 (Turkish and English)

9) Acknowledgement

10) References

Ethic

Scientific Responsibility

The authors are responsible for the compliance of the articles with scientific rules. All authors should have a direct academic and scientific contribution to the submitted article.

The name order of the authors should be a joint decision. All authors must indicate the author list on the copyright transfer form signed. The names of all authors should be included in the section under the article's title.

All individuals who do not meet the sufficient criteria for authorship but contributed to the study can be listed in the "Acknowledgements/Information" section. Written permission must be obtained from these individuals to be specified in the acknowledgment section.

Ethical Responsibility

The authors are responsible for the compliance of the articles with the ethical rules.

Namık Kemal Medical Journal is a journal that has adopted the principle of complying with the ethical standards of the Human Experiments Committee (https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/), which was revised in 2013 in the 1975 Helsinki Declaration. Therefore, in the articles sent for publication, it must be stated that the ethical standards of the specified committee are complied with. In addition, approval letters from local or national ethics committees should be sent with the letter.

In the material and method section of the article, the authors must state that they carried out the study in accordance with these principles and that they received "informed consent" from the ethics committees of their institutions and the people who participated in the study.

If "animal" was used in the study, the authors stated that they protect animal rights in their studies in line with the principles of the "Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals" (www.nap.edu/catalog/5140.html) in the material and method section of the article and they have obtained approval from the ethics committees of their institutions. They must notify in writing whether they comply with institutional and national guidelines on the care and use of laboratory animals.

The editor and the publisher do not give any guarantees and accept no responsibility for the features and explanations of the commercial products published in the journal for advertising purposes. If the article has a direct or indirect commercial connection or financial support for the study, the authors; On the resource page, the used commercial product, drug, pharmaceutical company, etc. It has to report that it has no commercial relationship with or what kind of relationship (consultant, other agreements) it has.

In the studies requiring the permission of the Ethics Committee, the information about the permission (Name of the Committee, Date and Approval Number) should be included in the Method section and also on the first/last page of the article. This information should be included on the Title Page when submitting your article. At the same time, you must send the Ethics Committee Form of the article.

Confidentiality and Confidentiality of Patients and Study Participants

Privacy cannot be impaired without permission from patients. Descriptive information such as patients' names, initials or hospital numbers, photographs and family tree information, etc. They are not published unless definitely necessary for scientific purposes, and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent.

The informed consent should also be stated in the article.

Copyright Notice

Studies submitted to Namık Kemal Medical Journal for publication should be original studies that have not been published in any way before or sent to be published elsewhere.

The authors transfer their rights to reproduce according to Article 22 of the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works numbered 5846, to disseminate in accordance with Article 23 and transmit to the public on all kinds of carrier materials or electronically under Article 25 to Namık Kemal Medical Journal. Authors agree to waive the copyright of their work and transfer the copyright of their accepted work to Namık Kemal Medical Journal. Namık Kemal Medical Journal Editorial Board is authorized to publish the study.

However, the authors reserve the following rights:

- All registered rights other than copyright,

- The right to reproduce the work for its own purposes, provided that it is not sold,

The author's right to use all or part of the work in his future works, such as books and lectures, provided that the journal is indicated in the bibliography.

-The right to use the work ID on personal websites, provided that you specify the full-text access address

Authors who will submit a study to Namık Kemal Medical Journal must complete the following steps by filling out the "Copyright Transfer Form" document.

The copyright transfer form is printed, signed, filled and scanned,

The scanned form is loaded on the system during the online article submission steps; in the additional file upload step,

The works of the authors who do not submit the Copyright Transfer Form will definitely not be published.

International Study Design Guidelines

Preparation of scientific articles such as research articles, systematic reviews and meta-analyses must comply with the following guidelines:

Human research: Helsinki Declaration as revised in 2013

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses: PRISMA guidelines

Case reports: the CARE case report guidelines

Clinical trials: CONSORT

Animal studies: ARRIVE and Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals

Contact

Editor in Chief

Burçin NALBANTOĞLU, Prof., M.D.
Tekirdağ Namık Kemal University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Child Health and Diseases, Tekirdağ, Turkey
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +90 (282) 250 56 32

Editor

Erdoğan Selçuk ŞEBER, MD

Tekirdağ Namık Kemal University Faculty of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, Tekirdağ, Turkey
Phone: +90 282 250 50 00
E-mail: [email protected]

Publisher

Galenos Publishing House
Address: Molla Gürani Mah. Kaçamak Sk. No: 21, 34093 Fındıkzade-İstanbul-Turkey
Phone: +90 212 621 99 25
Fax: +90 212 621 99 27
E-mail: [email protected]