Submitting Manuscripts

Anatolian Journal of Emergency Medicine accepts manuscript via Dergipark online submission system. Users should visit journal's web site on Dergipark and create an account before submitting their manuscripts.

Manuscript format must be in accordance with the ICMJE-Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals. 

Papers that do not comply with the format of the Journal will be returned to the author for correction without further review. Therefore, to avoid loss of time and work, authors must carefully review the submission rules.

Resources for Authors page includes manuscript writing guidelines, ICMJE documents and ethical standards that you should follow. You may want to check the sections on Reporting Statistics and Preparing Figures in the Resources for Authors page before sending your manuscript for peer-review.

Forms Templates and Examples page under the Resources menu includes blank forms and filled examples that you need for submitting your manuscript. Also you can find examples for different file type and designs.

We recommend you to use google chrome as your web browser while submitting articles.

Language

Manuscripts can be written in Turkish or English. Manuscripts that is written in Turkish or English language should include both Turkish and English abstract. Turkish abstracts can be added by editorial board if needed. Repetitive use of long sentences and passive voice should be avoided. It is strongly recommended that the text be run through computer spelling and grammar programs. Turkish, British or American spelling is acceptable but must be consistent throughout.

General manuscript style

All files should be typed:

·       in a Microsoft Word™ file,

·       in Times New Roman, with the font size of 12 pt,

·       single-column format,

·       double-spaced (Home > Line and paragraph spacing > 2.0)

·       with 2.5 cm margins on each side (Layout > Margins > Normal),

·       text should be justified on both the right and left margins of the page

·       should include page numbers at the right bottom and consecutive line numbers.

 Required Files

You should prepare the following files and texts before submitting your manuscript:

• ·   Title Page (MANDATORY) (see below)
• Cover Letter (MANDATORY) (see below)
• Blinded Manuscript File (Abstract, Main Text, References, Tables, Figure Legends, without Author details) (MANDATORY) (see below)
• Copyright transfer form (MANDATORY)                                                           
• Ethics Committe Approval Form (MANDATORY)  
• Patient release form (MANDATORY for case reports)
• Financial support (MANDATORY)
• Authors' contributions (MANDATORY)
• Conflict of interest disclosure (MANDATORY)
  
• Ethic Statement (MANDATORY)
• Revision Note (MANDATORY for returned manuscripts) (see below)
• Figures (optional) (see below)
• Supplemental Files (optional)

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Information that you will be asked to fill during submission

·       Abstract (except correspondence): You will copy and paste your abstract to a specific box online. You do not need to include it in the manuscript files.

·       Cover Letter and References: You will copy and paste your cover letter to a specific box online. References should be added in the manuscript file.

·       Conflict of Interest Statement: Please disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) your work. If no such conflict of interest exist; please state 'The authors declare no conflict of interest. You are NOT allowed to include it in the manuscript files.                    

         Ethic Statement: Ethics Committee Approval Date and No, and  statement of compliance with research and publication ethics.

·       Author Contributions Statement (except invited reviews and correspondence): You will copy and paste your author contributions statement to a specific box for Original Research Articles online. It should be clearly described. Some fundamental contribution types were specified, including, but not limited to, designing the study, interpretation of data, writing the manuscript, performing critical revision etc. You are NOT allowed to include it in the manuscript files.

Financial Support Statement: Names of funding organizations should be written in full. If your manuscript is accepted for publication, this information will be moved to the main document after the peer review process is completed.

Acknowledgement(s): You will copy and paste your acknowledgements to a specific box for all article types online. You are NOT allowed to include it in the manuscript files.

 How to prepare the Title Page?

A Title Page should be included for all article types as a separate electronic file with the following order and content:

·       Title of the manuscript: Generally, nondeclarative, not a question, begins with main concept if possible, and without causal language, eg, "effect of," unless the study is an RCT. The title page should contain the full title in sentence case.

·       Author(s) and Affiliation(s): Full names (last names fully capitalized), Academic degrees (up to 2 per author: MD, DO, PhD, etc), Affiliation (in Turkish or English, in the order of Department or Division, Faculty, Institution or University, City, State, Country) in order in separate lines. State the corresponding author by writing (Corresponding Author) in the same line and add his/her e-mail address. Do NOT include honorary affiliations such as fellow status in an organization (FEMAT, FACEP etc), titles or positions (Professorship or Consulting positions, etc).

·       Corresponding Author: Full Name, contact information including address, phone, e-mail address.

·       Acknowledgments: If your manuscript is accepted for publication, this information will be moved to the main document after the peer review process is completed.

·       Funding: Names of funding organizations should be written in full. If your manuscript is accepted for publication, this information will be moved to the main document after the peer review process is completed.

How to prepare the Cover Letter?

Article Types, their required files and allowances

We accept and publish 4 article types and their maximum allowable limits for each component of manuscripts are as follows:

¹ Including abstract, references, tables and figure legends

Original Research Paper

Studies of basic or clinical investigations in emergency medicine. These articles can include randomized controlled trials, observational (cohort, case-control or cross-sectional) studies, descriptive studies, diagnostic accuracy studies, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, non-randomized behavioral and public health intervention trials, experimental animal trials, or any other clinical or experimental studies.

Allowances and requirements

·       Authors: maximum 8

·       Word count: 4000 (including abstract, references, tables and figure legends)

·       Abstract word limit: 450 words.

·       References: maximum 30

·       Tables and Figures: A total of 8

Files to upload

·       Title Page (MANDATORY)

·      Cover Letter (MANDATORY)

·       Blinded Manuscript File (Title, Abstract, Text, References, Tables, Figure Captions or Legends, NO Author details) (MANDATORY)

·      Copyright transfer form (MANDATORY)

        Ethics Committee Approval From (MANDATORY)

Information to paste into boxes

·       A Full title

·       A Short title

·       A Structured abstract

·       3 keywords (max 5)

·       References

·       Author contribution statement

·       Conflict of interest statement

F    Financial support statement

F

How to prepare the manuscript of an original research paper?

Manuscript File should be blinded (without Author, institution or country details)

The order of headings in the manuscript file of an original research article is as follows:

·       Full Title

·       Abstract

o   Aim(s):

o   Material and Methods:

o   Results:

o   Conclusion:

·       Introduction

·       Material and Methods

·       Results

·       Discussion

·       Limitations

·       Conclusion

·       References

·       Tables

·       Figure Captions or Legends

Introduction: A three-paragraph structure should be used. Background information on study subject (1st paragraph), context and the implications of the study (2nd paragraph) and the hypotheses and the goals of the study (3rd paragraph). Background: Describe the circumstances or historical context that set the stage and led you to investigate the issue. Context: Describe why your investigation is consequential. What are its potential implications? How does it relate to issues raised in the first paragraph? Why is this specific investigation the next logical step? Hypothesis and Goals of the study: Clearly state the specific research objective or hypothesis and your primary outcome measure.

Method(s): The methods section, is one of the most important sections in original research articles, and should contain sufficient detail:

·       The investigation method, or the design of the study,

·       Study population, sample, selection of the sample, and sample size estimation,

·       Details of measurements and evaluations (e.g.: make and model of biochemical test devices and kits) should all be clearly stated.

·       Statistical analyses performed,

·       Commercial statistical programs used,

·       The approval of local ethics committee or other approving bodies should be clearly specified in Methods section for both prospective and retrospective studies. You are asked to verify approval or exemption by an institutional review or ethics board.

• Compliance with manuscript writing guidelines: You will be asked to verify compliance with guidelines for each corresponding study design. Please check Resources for Authors page for checklists and relevant documents. You should add a statement clarifying which guideline you used while drafting the document. For further information on the reporting guidelines for health research, authors are suggested to refer to the EQUATOR network website (http://www.equator-network.org/)

Guideline

Randomized controlled studies

CONSORT (http://www.consort-statement.org/home/)
CONSORT translations (www.consort-statement.org/consort-statement/translations/)
Standard protocol items for randomized trials,
SPRIT (http://www.spirit-statement.org/)

Observational research: cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies

STROBE (www.strobe-statement.org/)

Diagnostic accuracy studies

STARD (www.stard-statement.org/)

Genetic Association studies

STREGA (http://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/strobe-strega/)

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses

PRISMA (www.prisma-statement.org/)

Non-randomized behavioral and public health intervention studies

TREND (www.cdc.gov/trendstatement/)

Experimental animal studies

ARRIVE (www.nc3rs.org.uk/arrive/)

The Methods section should be organized with logical and sequential subheadings. The optimal subheading choices will vary with the analysis, but the following examples applicable to most clinical research:

·       Study design and setting: Describe the study design using standard terms, and describe the study setting in a fashion that conveys characteristics that could affect the external validity (generalizability) of the findings.

·       Selection of Participants: Describe how participants were identified, screened, and enrolled. Remember to consider all participants including patients, providers, and outcome assessors, as appropriate. There should be a list of the inclusion and exclusion criterion with descriptions. In survey studies, information concerning who implemented the survey and how it was performed should be specified.

·       Sample size estimation: Describe how you performed the sample size estimation, which tests, and assumptions were used, and which sample size estimation software was used (if relevant).

·       Interventions: Describe any interventions in sufficient detail to permit replication. Describe any blinding of subjects, providers, outcome assessors, or data analysts. Describe methods for determining whether the intervention was actually received.

·       Methods and Measurements: Discuss how and when measurements were made. Discuss the precision and reliability of the measurements. How were spurious or missing measurements handled? Discuss who collected the data and how they collected it. Discuss how data were entered, checked, and processed.

·       Outcomes: Describe the study's primary and secondary outcome measures, and if needed explain why they were chosen to address the study objective. When possible, use outcomes that have been previously validated, or provide evidence of your own efforts to validate the measure. Emphasize patient-centered outcomes (eg, pain, days off from work, death) over intermediate outcomes (eg, change in forced expiratory volume, change in asthma score).

·       Data Analysis: Detail the primary analysis and specify any software that was used, including the name of the software and the company that produces it. Provide references for any non-routine analytic methods. If appropriate, detail sensitivity analyses that explore how results change when assumptions about the investigation are modified.

Result(s)

·       The demographic properties of the study population should be given. A table summarizing demographics will be preferred.

·       The main and secondary results of the hypothesis testing must be provided.

·       Commenting on the results and discussing the literature findings should be avoided.

·       Present as much data as possible at the level of the unit of analysis, graphically if possible.

·       Emphasize the magnitude of findings over test statistics, ideally using size of effect and associated confidence intervals for each outcome. 

Policy for the Reporting of Methodology and Statistics

Reporting Size of Effect and Its Confidence Intervals

Anatolian Journal of Emergency Medicine strongly prefers that each comparative study outcome be reported with an estimated size of effect and its confidence intervals. Such reporting is advocated by the CONSORT statement, and lets readers to understand the approximate power and clinical importance of the observed magnitude of effect.

An example for the un-preferred type of reporting without size of effect:

• A successful outcome was noticed in 98% of patients given Drug X versus 88% of patient given Drug Y.

Examples for the preferred type of reporting with size of effect and confidence intervals:

• A successful outcome was noticed in 98% of patients given Drug X versus 88% of patients given Drug Y (difference 10%, 95%CI -2%, 17%).

Discussion: The main and secondary results of the study should briefly presented and compared with similar findings in the literature. Providing intensive background information should be avoided. Consider only those published articles directly relevant to interpreting your results and placing them in context. Do not stress statistical significance over clinical importance. Avoid extrapolation to populations or conditions that you have not explicitly studied in your investigation. Avoid claims about cost or economic benefit unless a formal cost-effectiveness analysis was presented in the Methods and Results sections. Do not suggest "more research is needed" without stating what the specific next step is. Optionally, you may include a paragraph "In retrospect, . . ." to candidly discuss what you would do differently if given the opportunity to repeat the study, so others can learn from your experience. 

Limitation(s): The limitations of the study should be mentioned in a separate paragraph subtitled as the "Limitations" in the end of the discussion. Explicitly discuss the limitations of your study, including threats to the internal and external validity of your results. When possible, examine the magnitude and direction of each bias and how it might affect the interpretation of results.

Conclusion(s): A clear conclusion should be made in the light of the results of the study. The potential effects of the results of the study on the current clinical applications should be stated in a single sentence. Inferences that are not supported by the study results should be avoided. 

 Invited Review Article

Comprehensive articles reviewing national and international literature related to current emergency medicine practice. Anatolian Journal of Emergency Medicine publishes only invited review articles. Other authors should contact the editor prior to submission of review articles.

Allowances and requirements

·       Authors: maximum 6

·       Abstract word limit: 450 words.

·       Unstructured abstract: No subheadings are allowed

·       Word count: 4000 (including abstract, references, tables and figure legends)

·       References: maximum 30

·       Tables and Figures: A total of 6

·       Main Text subheadings: Introduction, Conclusion, and Acknowledgements are mandatory. Other subheadings may be used upon the authors discretion.

Files to upload

·       Title Page (MANDATORY)

·       Cover Letter (MANDATORY)

·       Blinded Manuscript File (Title, Abstract, Text, References, Tables, Figure Captions or Legends, NO Author details) (MANDATORY)

·       Copyright transfer form (MANDATORY)

Information to paste into boxes

·       A Full title

·       A Short title

·       An unstructured abstract

·       3 keywords

·       References

·       Conflict of interest statement

Authors' contributions

The manuscript file should be prepared similar to an original research article except above allowances.

Case Reports / Case Series

Brief descriptions of clinical cases or the complications that are seldom encountered in emergency medicine practice and have an educational value. Consideration will be given to articles presenting clinical conditions, clinical manifestations or complications previously undocumented in the existing literature and unreported side of adverse effects of the known treatment regimens or scientific findings that may trigger further research on the topic.

Case reports should be compatible with The CARE Guidelines: Consensus-based Clinical Case Reporting Guideline which can be found on the Resources for Authors Page.

Allowances and requirements

·       Authors: maximum 6

·       Abstract word limit: 300 words.

·       Structured abstract subheadings: Aim(s), Case Presentation(s), Conclusion

·       Main Text subheadings: Introduction, Case Presentation(s), Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgements

·       Word count: 2000 (including abstract, references, tables and figure legends)

·       References: maximum 15

·       Tables and Figures: A total of 4

Files to upload

·       Title Page (MANDATORY)

·       Cover Letter (MANDATORY)

·       Blinded Manuscript File (Title, Abstract, Main Text, References, Tables, Figure captions or Legends, NO Author details) (MANDATORY)

·       Copyright transfer form (MANDATORY)

·      Patient Release Form (MANDATORY)

Pasted in online boxes:

·       A Full title

·       A Short title

·       A Structured abstract

·       3 keywords

·       References

·       Conflict of interest statement

A     Authors' contribution statement

The manuscript file should be prepared similar to an original research article except above allowances.

 Correspondence

Opinions, comments and suggestions made concerning articles published in Anatolian Journal of Emergency Medicine or other journals.

Allowances and requirements

·       Authors: maximum 2

·       No abstract is needed.

·       No subheadings are needed.

·       Word count: 1000 (including references)

·       References: maximum 5

·       Tables and Figures: Not allowed

Files to upload

·       Title Page (MANDATORY)

·       Cover Letter (MANDATORY)

·       Blinded Manuscript File (Title, Main Text, References, NO Author details) (MANDATORY)

·       Copyright transfer form (MANDATORY)

Pasted in online boxes:

·       A short title

·       3 keywords

·       References

·       Conflict of interest statement

        Authors' contribution statement

The manuscript file should be prepared similar to an original research article except above allowances.

Revision Note

·       In the top of the Revision Note, indicate the manuscript number followed by the number of revision (R1, R2, etc.).

·       Respond all the topics addressed by a reviewer. Written responses to the reviewers' comments need to be specific and address each point separately and one by one.

·       If suggested changes were not implemented, give reasons for each of them and identify additional changes made.

·       Indicate precisely the changes made and provide Section, Paragraph and Line Number of each change.

·       A global response, such as "We have addressed all of the concerns of the reviewers", will not be sufficient and will be sent back to the authors.

Tables

Tables may be included in the manuscript file as separate pages after the References section, or may be uploaded separately as you prefer.

If you prefer a separate file, Tables should be uploaded in MS Word (.doc) format. Tables should not be uploaded as pdf, jpeg or else.

Data presented in the tables should not be included in its entirety in the text. 

Tables must be numbered consecutively.

Each table should be placed in a new page.

Each table must be referred to in the text. 

Number and Title of each Table should be written at the top of each page before the Table. 

Arrange tables so that the primary comparisons of interest are horizontal, left-to-right (the standard reading order).

Provide the N for each column or row and marginal totals where appropriate.

 Figures

Technical Specifications and File Types

·       All illustrations (photographs, drawings, graphs, charts etc.), not including tables, must be labelled “Figure”. The information contained in the figure/image should not be repeated in its entirety, however reference to the figure/image must be referred in the text.

·       No legends or titles should be included in the Figures.

·       During submission, all figures must be placed at the end of the text file on a separate page and should be named accordingly (Figure1; Figure2, etc) or may be uploaded separately as you prefer.

·       Pictures should be saved in JPEG, EPS or TIFF format. Figures are easiest for us to process if submitted in TIFF or EPS format.

·       Please submit photographs and figures with a resolution of at least 300 dots per inch.

·       Scanned or photocopied graphs and diagrams are not accepted.

·      Figures that are charts, diagrams, or drawings must be submitted in a modifiable format, i.e. our graphics personnel should be able to modify them. Therefore, if the program with which the figure is drawn has a “save as” option, it must be saved as *.ai or *.pdf. If the “save as” option does not include these extensions, the figure must be copied and pasted into a blank Microsoft Word document as an editable object. It must not be pasted as an image file (tiff, jpeg, or eps)

Content requirements

·       We prefer graphics that show the distribution of data (eg, scatterplots, 1-way plots, box plots) to those showing summaries of data (eg, pie charts, bar graphs of means). Pie charts generally should not be used for research results.

·       If the data collected are paired (eg, pre and post, or 2 different measures on the same subject), then choose a graphical format that conveys the inherent pairing of the data. If data are paired, they should be displayed as such

·       Avoid background gridlines and other formatting that do not convey information (eg, superfluous use of 3-D formatting, background shadings). Graphs should not be 3-D unless the data are.

·       Graphs and diagrams must be drawn with a line weight between 0.5 and 1 point.

·       Omit internal horizontal and vertical rules.

·       If measurements are discrete, display as discrete points rather than a continuous line.

·       95% CIs should be provided whenever appropriate (rather than SE)

·       For graphs, axes should begin at zero; if they do not, a break should be shown in the axis

·       Odds ratios should be displayed on a logarithmic scale

·       Survival curves should include number at risk below x axis

 Figure Captions and Legends

Figure Legends should appear on a separate page after the References and Tables. 

·       All tables and figures must have a caption and/or legend and be numbered (e.g., Table 1, Figure 2), unless there is only one table or figure, in which case it should be labelled “Table” or “Figure” with no numbering.

·       No legends or titles should be included in the Figures. Figure captions and legends should appear on a separate page after the References section. Figure Captions must be written in sentence case at this part of the manuscript (e.g., Macroscopic appearance of the samples.)

 References 

·       Each reference should be cited in the document with an Arabic number in brackets (12).

·       References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text.

·       References should be formatted in AMA style (3 authors then "et al").

·       Avoid referencing abstracts, or citing a "personal communication" unless it provides essential information not available from a public source.

·       Use sentence case for all titles (capitalize only the first word of the title). Abbreviate and italicize names of journals according to the listing in the National Library of Medicine database.

Examples of Referencing are as follows:

o   Article: Raftery KA, Smith-Coggins R, Chen AHM. Gender-associated differences in emergency department pain management. Ann Emerg Med. 1995;26:414-21.

o   Book: Callaham ML. Current Practice of Emergency Medicine. 2nd ed. St. Luis, MO:Mosby;1991.

o   Book Chapter: Mengert TJ, Eisenberg MS. Prehospital and emergency medicine thrombolytic therapy. In: Tintinalli JE, Ruiz E, Krome RL, eds. Emergency Medicine: A Comprehensive Study Guide. 4th ed. New York, NY:McGraw-Hill;1996:337-343.

o   Courses and Lectures (unpublished): Sokolove PE, Needlesticks and high-risk exposure. Course lecture presented at: American College of Emergency Physicians, Scientific Assembly, October 12, 1998, San Diego, CA.

o   Internet: Fingland MJ. ACEP opposes the House GOP managed care bill. American College of Emergency Physicians. Web site. Available at: http://www.acep.org/press/pi980724.htm. Accessed August 26,1999.

 Symbols, Units of Measure, Abbreviations

 Symbols: If symbols such as ×, μ, η, or ν are used, they should be added using the Symbols menu of Word. Degree symbols (°) must be used from the Symbol menu, not superscripted letter o or number 0. Multiplication symbols must be used (×), not the letter x. Spaces must be inserted between numbers and units (e.g., 3 kg) and between numbers and mathematical symbols (+, –, ×, =, <, >), but not between numbers and percent symbols (e.g., 45%).

Units: Measurements should be reported using the metric system according to the International System of Units (SI). Laboratory values should be presented with normal limits.

Abbreviations: We discourage the use of any but the most necessary of abbreviations. They may be a convenience for an author but are generally an impediment to easy comprehension for the reader. All abbreviations in the text must be defined the first time they are used (both in the abstract and the main text), and the abbreviations should be displayed in parentheses after the definition. Authors should avoid abbreviations in the title and abstract and limit their use in the main text. 

Drugs, Products, Hardware and Software

Generic names for drugs should be used. Doses and routes for the drugs should be stated. When a drug, product, hardware, or software mentioned within the main text product information, including the name of the product, producer of the product, city of the company and the country of the company should be provided in parenthesis in the following format: "Discovery St PET/CT scanner (General Electric, Milwaukee, WI, USA)"

Guidelines for Specific Research Study Designs

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs)

RCTs must be reported in accordance with the CONSORT statement, summarized as follows:

1.     Title includes the phrase "randomized controlled trial"

2.     Clear depiction of the three elements of randomization: sequence generation, allocation, and concealment

3.     Clear description of which outcome assessments were and were not blinded

4.     A figure summarizing participant flow through the trial

5.     Protocol deviations described, and whether analysis is intention to treat

6.     Outcomes each reported with size of effect and associated confidence intervals.

Chart reviews

Least methodological elements that Anatolian Journal of Emergency Medicine seek in retrospective research are as follows:

1.     Trained and monitored abstractors use explicit protocols, precisely defined variables, and standardized abstraction instruments.

2.     Authors clearly describe how missing, conflicting, and/or ambiguous chart elements were coded.

3.     Interrater agreement assessed by having a sample of charts reviewed independently by two or more abstractors.

4.     When possible, abstractors are blinded to the study hypothesis and/or study group assignment, particularly for chart elements that are not wholly objective.

Observational studies

We prefer observational studies to be compliant with the latest STROBE guidelines.

Diagnostic accuracy studies

We prefer studies on diagnostic tests to be compliant with the latest STARD guidelines.

Studies on Clinical Decision Rules

We prefer clinical decision rules performed and reported in compliance with Green: Methodologic standards for interpreting clinical decision rules in emergency medicine: 2014 update.

Meta-analyses

Meta-analyses of therapeutic trials should be compliant with the PRISM-P 2015 guidelines, while meta-analyses of observational studies should be compliant with the MOOSE guidelines.