The publication processes conducted at the Anatolian Clinic the Journal of Medical Sciences aim to produce and share scientific knowledge in an impartial, prestigious, and high-quality manner. The rigorous evaluation stages implemented in our journal directly reflect the academic quality of the published studies. Peer-reviewed publications are the cornerstones that embody and support scientific methodology. In this context, it is mandatory for all stakeholders—including authors, readers, researchers, the publisher, reviewers, and editors—to adopt the highest ethical standards at all stages of the publication process.

Anadolu Clinic Journal of Medical Sciences ensures full compliance with the principles of the following international organizations in determining ethical duties and responsibilities and in its publication processes:

• COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics)
• WAME (World Association of Medical Editors)
• ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors)
• BOAI (Budapest Open Access Initiative)

1. RESEARCH ETHICS

Research ethics covers the standards regarding the conduct of the study, data collection, and the protection of participants' rights.

Scientific Research and Ethics Committee Approval

Human and Animal Research

For all experimental, clinical, and drug research, compliance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki (2013) and ethics committee approval is mandatory. In animal experiments, compliance with the "Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals" must be declared, and local ethics committee approval must be obtained. Ethical approval information must be clearly stated in the methodology section (Materials and Methods) and at the end of the main text. 

Informed Consent Forms: For all case reports, an "Informed Consent Form" must be obtained from the patients.

Financial Disclosure: Authors' declarations regarding financial support and conflicts of interest must be included both on the title page and at the end of the main text.

Scientific Misconduct in Research

Our journal is determined to implement all preventive measures against ethical violations and plagiarism attempts. Authors must strictly avoid the following:

• Fabrication: Inventing and publishing data that does not exist.
• Data Manipulation: Falsifying research data to change results in a desired direction.
• Salami-Slicing (Least Publishable Unit): Dividing the results of a single study into parts to publish them separately for unfair academic credit.

2. PUBLICATION ETHICS

Publication ethics covers the responsibilities of all parties involved from the submission of the manuscript to its final publication.

Plagiarism Policy and Similarity Screening

To preserve academic integrity, the Anatolian Clinic Journal of Medical Sciences screens all submissions using intihal.net, iThenticate, or Turnitin software. The acceptable similarity index is limited to a maximum of 20% (excluding references). Authors must strictly avoid the following violations:

• Plagiarism: Using someone else's content without proper citation.
• Fabrication: Producing and publishing non-existent data.
• Redundant Publication (Duplication): Re-publishing the same data in different languages or venues.
• Salami Slicing: Dividing the results of a single study into multiple parts to gain unfair academic credit.
• Data Manipulation: Falsifying research data to change results toward a desired outcome.

Anatolian Clinic the Journal of Medical Sciences does not condone unethical practices such as plagiarism, fabrication, duplication, salami slicing, or data manipulation. Furthermore, it strictly rejects attempts to influence the review process through gift authorship, inappropriate acknowledgments, or references that do not comply with COPE flowcharts.

Evaluation Process

Double-Blind Peer Review System

The Anatolian Clinic Journal of Medical Sciences utilizes a Double-Blind Peer Review system. Throughout the process, the identities of both authors and reviewers are kept strictly confidential from one another. A fundamental condition for submission is that the work must not have been previously published in any other venue and must not be under consideration by another journal simultaneously. Authors are required to declare that they approve the content of the study, disclose all potential conflicts of interest, and confirm that the research was conducted in accordance with international ethical standards. In the event of any suspected ethical misconduct, the Editorial Board manages the process guided by COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics).

The publication policy of the Anatolian Clinic Journal of Medical Sciences has been shaped by the recommendations of the Editor and Editorial Boards and is in full compliance with the "Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals" (formerly known as the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals). All stakeholders involved in the process are expected to adhere to the "best practice" examples defined in these guidelines.

1. Manuscript Submission: The author submits the manuscript via the Dergipark online system.

2. Editorial Preliminary Check: The manuscript is reviewed for compliance with formatting rules; no scientific content analysis is performed at this stage.

3. Editor-in-Chief Review: The Editor-in-Chief assigns a Field Editor to manage the process. The Field Editor assesses the study's originality; non-original studies are rejected immediately.

4. Reviewer Invitation: The Section Editor invites at least two subject-matter experts. In case of conflicting opinions, a third reviewer may be consulted.

5. Reviewer Response: Reviewers evaluate the invitation based on their expertise, availability, and potential conflicts of interest under strict confidentiality.

6. Review: Reviewers submit their reports and recommendations within 15 days. If revisions (major or minor) are requested, the corrected text may be re-evaluated by the reviewers.

7. Decision Mechanism: The Field Editor synthesizes the reports to reach a preliminary conclusion. The Editor-in-Chief may request additional opinions if the reports are contradictory.

8. Notification: The final decision and anonymized reviewer reports are sent to the author through the digital system.

9. Publication Preparation: Accepted papers proceed through language editing, final proofreading, layout, and early access publication before being assigned to a specific issue.

• Final copy submission
• Page design (Mizanpaj)
• Proofreading / Corrections 
• Uploading upcoming posts as "Early Access" or "Ahead of Print" 
• Issue compilation 
• Table of Contents arrangement 
• Online publication and printing 

Our scientific board consists of esteemed national and international experts. In addition to content review, all research articles are rigorously examined by a statistical editor.

Duties of Stakeholders

   Duties of Editors

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the entirety of the journal's editorial processes and remains committed to addressing the needs of both readers and authors. Legal requirements (including copyright, plagiarism, and defamation) and scientific merit are the primary determinants in the selection of manuscripts for publication. By managing a fair and objective peer-review process, the Editors guarantees the overall quality and integrity of the publication.

• Publication Decision: They decide which manuscripts submitted to the journal will be published based on the study's scientific validity, significance, and alignment with the journal’s scope.
• Impartiality and Fair Play: They evaluate all submissions solely on their academic merit, regardless of the authors' race, gender, religious beliefs, or political views.
• Confidentiality: They ensure that information regarding a manuscript under review is not shared with anyone other than the authors and the assigned reviewers.
• Conflict of Interest: Editors who have a conflict of interest with the authors or the study must recuse themselves from the decision-making process for that specific manuscript.
• Ethical Oversight: They rigorously investigate any suspicions of ethical misconduct, such as plagiarism, data fabrication, or redundant publication, and take necessary corrective actions.

   Duties of Reviewers 

Reviewers are volunteer experts who evaluate the scientific quality of manuscripts through a "Double-Blind Peer Review" process.

• Academic Contribution: They assist the editor in the decision-making process and provide constructive feedback to help authors improve their manuscripts.
• Punctuality: Reviewers who feel unqualified to review a manuscript or cannot perform the evaluation within the specified timeframe must notify the editor and withdraw from the process.
• Confidentiality: All manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents and should not be shared with third parties.
• Objectivity: Critiques must be expressed objectively, supported by scientific evidence, and written in a professional, polite tone.
• Disclosure of References: They should identify relevant published study that has not been cited by the authors and report any inconsistencies between the text and the references.

   Duties of Authors

Authors bear the primary responsibility for the accuracy and ethical compliance of the study they present.

• Reporting Standards: They must present an honest account of the results of original research and discuss its significance objectively.
• Originality and Plagiarism: They guarantee that the study is entirely original, has not been published elsewhere in any language, and that the ideas of others are appropriately cited.
• Data Access: Authors must be prepared to provide the raw data of the study for editorial review if requested.
• Authorship Rights: They ensure that authorship is limited only to individuals who have made a significant and substantial contribution to the design, execution, or interpretation of the study.
• Notification of Fundamental Errors: If an author discovers a significant error in their published study, they are obligated to promptly notify the editor and cooperate in the issuance of an erratum or the retraction of the paper.

Open Access

Anatolian Clinic the Journal of Medical Sciences adopts open access principles to enhance the global sharing of scientific knowledge. Our journal's open access policy is in full compliance with the guidelines established by the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI).

Immediate Open Access

All content published in the Anadolu Clinic the Journal of Medical Sciences is made available for access immediately upon publication without any embargo, restriction, or fee. This practice aims to ensure the rapid dissemination of information while maximizing the visibility and academic impact of the authors' study.

Rights and Permissions

In accordance with BOAI principles, "Open Access" refers to the availability of scientific literature via the internet without financial, legal, or technical barriers. Within this scope, users are granted the following rights:

• To read, download, and print the full texts of the articles.
• To freely distribute and share the content.
• To copy, search, link to, and index the articles for academic, educational, or research purposes.
• To use the content as data for software and computational analysis, provided that the original author(s) and reference are properly cited.

Licensing Terms

All articles published in Anatolian Clinic the Journal of Medical Sciences are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). Under this license:

• Attribution (BY): Proper credit must always be given to the author(s) and the journal.
• NonCommercial (NC): The content may not be used for commercial purposes.

Handling Unethical Publishing Behavior

In cases of proven scientific misconduct or plagiarism, Anatolian Clinic the Journal of Medical Sciences takes all necessary measures, including the retraction or correction of the study. Our journal does not encourage any behavior that violates research ethics and maintains all necessary audit mechanisms to prevent such occurrences.

Scientific Misconduct

Anatolian Clinic the Journal of Medical Sciences is committed to implementing all preventive measures against ethical violations and plagiarism attempts to ensure the integrity of the scientific record.

Price Policy

Anatolian Clinic the Journal of Medical Sciences does not charge any fees for manuscript submission, peer review, and final publication; no Article Processing Charges (APC), or Publication Fees (PF) are applied. Furthermore, there are no fees required to access published content. All editorial and publication processes are entirely free of charge for both authors and readers.

Editorial Autonomy

Anatolian Clinic the Journal of Medical Sciences guarantees that all editorial decisions are made with complete independence, free from commercial interests or external pressures. The selection and evaluation of manuscripts are based solely on scientific merit, originality, and the clinical relevance of the study, ensuring that the journal’s integrity remains uncompromised by any outside influence.

Intellectual Property and Copyright

The copyright of all studies published in Anatolian Clinic the Journal of Medical Sciences is protected, ensuring the integrity of the record and transparent accessibility for every manuscript. While authors retain certain rights to their study, the journal ensures that manuscripts are archived and shared under established legal frameworks to safeguard intellectual property. This approach facilitates the wide dissemination of medical knowledge while maintaining strict standards for attribution and proper usage.