Aksaray Üniversitesi Tıp Bilimleri Dergisi

Aksaray University Journal of Medical Sciences is an international, open access, peer reviewed journal committed to promoting the highest standards of scientific exchange and education. The aim of the journal is to publish scientifically high quality research articles that can contribute to the literature data in the field of medicine. The journal is the official publication of Aksaray University School of Medicine and is published three issues per year.
The official language of the journal is English. Manuscripts must be written in English and must meet the requirements of the journal. All manuscripts which will be published in the journal must be in accordance with research and publication ethics. The aim of the Aksaray University Journal of Medical Sciences is to publish original research papers of the highest scientific and clinical value in all medical fields.

The target audience of the journal includes researchers, physicians, and healthcare professionals who are interested in or working in all medical disciplines. The journal publishes original research, clinical, laboratory and experimental studies in the fields of basic and clinical medical sciences that have not been published elsewhere. In addition, review articles, case reports, editorials, letters to the editors and manuscripts on publication ethics and medical history, which can contribute to the education and practices of physicians and health sector professionals within the scope of the journal’s target audience and which can increase the level of scientific communication between the authors and readers, are included in the scope of the journal.

Articles are evaluated by the Editorial Board and Scientific Advisory Board members and those deemed suitable for publication are published. The journal's publishing principles are based on independent, unbiased and double-blind refereeing principles. The journal's publication languages ​​are Turkish and English.

The scientific, legal and linguistic responsibilities of published articles belong to their authors and do not bind Aksaray University Journal of Medical Sciences. Articles that are not published in the journal are not returned. The author(s) whose article is published are deemed to have accepted that the copyright belongs to Aksaray University Journal of Medical Sciences indefinitely.

No royalty fee is paid for published article

Manuscript submission: All manuscripts should be submitted through the online system of the journal at https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/asujms. Articles submitted in other formats will not be considered.
Aksaray University Journal of Medical Sciences publishes Original Articles on clinical and experimental research related to any area of medicine. Editorials, Letter to the Editor, Invited Review Articles, Case Reports and Technical note on clinical observations may also be considered. By submitting a manuscript to this journal, authors accept that their manuscript may be screened for plagiarism against previously published works.
The corresponding author will receive an e-mail that informs the status of manuscript at any step of reviewing and publishing process. Aksaray University Journal of Medical Sciences now offers Accepted Articles for all articles within a short time of acceptance. All process will be completed within one or three months from the receiving of submitted manuscript.

Editorial and Publication Process
The editorial and publication processes of the journal are shaped in accordance with the guidelines of the International Council of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), the Council of Science Editors (CSE), the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the European Association of Science Editors (EASE), and National Information Standards Organization (NISO). Originality, high scientific quality, and citation potential are the most important criteria for a manuscript to be accepted for publication. Manuscripts submitted for evaluation should not have been previously presented or already published in an electronic or printed medium. The journal should be informed of manuscripts that have been submitted to another journal for evaluation and rejected for publication. The submission of previous reviewer reports will expedite the evaluation process. Manuscripts that have been presented in a meeting should be submitted with detailed information on the organization, including the name, date, and location of the organization.

Manuscript Preparation
Manuscripts submitted to the journal will first go through a technical evaluation process where the editorial office staff will ensure that the manuscript has been prepared and submitted in accordance with the journal’s guidelines. Submissions that do not conform to the journal’s guidelines will be returned to the submitting author with technical correction requests. It is assumed that manuscripts report on the work based on honest observations. However, occasionally information becomes available which may contradict this. In such cases, the Journal of Aksaray University Medical Sciences applies Committee on Publication Ethics guidelines on corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern.

Preparation of the Manuscript
Title page: A separate title page should be submitted with all submissions and this page should include: The full title of the manuscript as well as a short title (running head) of no more than 50 characters. Name(s), affiliations, highest academic degree(s), and ORCID IDs of the author(s), Grant information and detailed information on the other sources of support. Name, address, telephone (including the mobile phone number), and email address of the corresponding author. Acknowledgment of the individuals who contributed to the preparation of the manuscript but who do not fulfill the authorship criteria.

Abstract: An abstract should be submitted with all submissions except for Letters to the Editor. The abstract of Original Articles should be structured with subheadings (Objective, Materials and Methods, Results, and Conclusion).
Keywords: Each submission must be accompanied by a minimum of three to a maximum of six keywords for subject indexing at the end of the abstract. The words should be separated by a semicolon (;). The keywords should be listed in full without abbreviations. The keywords should be selected from the National Library of Medicine, Medical Subject Headings database (https://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html).

Manuscript Types

Original Articles: This is the most important type of article since it provides new information based on original research. The main text of original articles should be structured with Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, and Discussion subheadings.mStatistical analysis to support conclusions is usually necessary. Information on statistical analyses should be provided with a separate subheading under the Materials and Methods section and the statistical software that was used during the process must be specified.

Review Articles: Reviews prepared by authors who have extensive knowledge on a particular field and whose scientific background has been translated into a high volume of publications with a high citation potential are welcomed. These authors may even be invited by the journal. Reviews should describe, discuss, and evaluate the current level of knowledge of a topic in clinical practice and should guide future studies. The main text should contain Introduction, Clinical and Research Consequences, and Conclusion sections.

Case Reports: Brief descriptions of a previously undocumented disease process, a unique unreported manifestation or treatment of a known disease process, or unique unreported complications of treatment regimens. Case reports should include an adequate number of images and figures. Case reports should be accompanied by “Informed Consent” whether the identity of the patients is disclosed or not. 

References: While citing publications, preference should be given to the latest, most up-to-date publications. References should be written in compliance with Vancouver style. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of references. Journal titles should be abbreviated in accordance with the journal abbreviations in Index Medicus/ MEDLINE/PubMed. When there are three or fewer authors, all authors should be listed. If there are four or more authors, the first three authors should be listed followed by “et al.” In the main text of the manuscript, references should be cited using Arabic numbers in parentheses. The reference styles for different types of publications are presented in the following examples. References should be limited to 10 for letters to the editor, 20 for case reports, 40 for clinical/experimental reports and 60 for review articles. Journal abbreviations should conform to the style used in the Cumulated Index Medicus. Journal articles, books, web pages, conference presentations, newspapers, audio-visual sources like CDs and DVDs, articles pending for publication, theses, and dissertations can be used as references. Reference Format for Journal Articles: Authors’ initials, surnames and names, article titles, journal titles, date, volume, number and pagination must be indicated. 

Policy of screening for plagiarism: Aksaray University Journal of Medical Sciences is extremely sensitive about plagiarism. All submissions are screened by a similarity detection software (iThenticate by CrossCheck) at any point during the peer-review and/or production process. Even if you are the author of the phrases or sentences, the text should not have an unacceptable similarity with the previously published data. Those with an overall similarity index of greater than 21%, or duplication rate at or higher than 5% with a single source are returned back to authors without further evaluation along with the similarity report.

Peer Review Process

The peer review process is double-blind, i.e., both authors and referees are kept anonymous. Pre-evaluation process of each submission is carried out by the Editorial Board. Manuscripts may be rejected without peer review by the editorin-chief if they do not comply with the instructions to authors or if they are beyond the scope of the journal. Any manuscript that does not conform to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, as reported at http://www.icmje.org/icmje-recommendations.pdf, will also be rejected. Manuscripts are scanned for plagiarism or duplication. In case of an ethical issue on plagiarism or duplication, the Editorial Board will act in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The manuscripts which pass this stage are assigned to at least two double-blind peer-reviewers . Reviewers are selected among independent experts who has published publications in the international literature on the submission subject and received considerable amount of citations. Research articles, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses are also reviewed by a biostatistician. By submitting a manuscript to the journal, authors accept that editor may implement changes on their manuscripts including misleading statements and mistypings, as long as the main idea of the manuscript is not interfered. Manuscripts submitted to The Journal of Aksaray University Medical Sciences will go through a double-blind peer-review process. Each submission will be reviewed by at least two external, independent peer reviewers who are experts in their fields to ensure an unbiased evaluation process. The editorial board will invite an external and independent editor to manage the evaluation processes of manuscripts submitted by editors or by the editorial board members of the journal. The Editor-inChief is the final authority in the decision-making process for all submissions.

Ethical Procedures

An approval of research protocols by the Ethics Committee in accordance with international agreements (World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki “Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects,” amended in October 2013, www.wma.net) is required for experimental, clinical, and drug studies and for some case reports. If required, ethics committee reports or an equivalent official document will be requested from the authors. For manuscripts concerning experimental research on humans, a statement should be included that shows that written informed consent of patients and volunteers was obtained following a detailed explanation of the procedures that they may undergo. For studies carried out on animals, the measures taken to prevent the pain and suffering of the animals should be stated clearly. Information about patient consent, the name of the ethics committee, and the ethics committee approval number should be stated both in the Materials and Methods section of the article and on one of the first or last pages. It is the authors’ responsibility to protect the patients’ anonymity carefully.

Authorship
Each person listed as an author should fulfill the authorship criteria recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE - www.icmje.org). The ICMJE recommends that authorship is based on the following four criteria:
1.Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
2.Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
3.Final approval of the version to be published; AND
4.Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
In addition to being accountable for the parts of the work he/she has done, an author should be able to identify which co-authors are responsible for specific other parts of the work. Also, authors should have confidence in the integrity of the contributions of their co-authors. All those designated as authors should meet all four criteria for authorship, and all who meet the four criteria should be identified as authors. Those who do not meet all four criteria should be acknowledged on the title page of the manuscript.

Declaration of Interest

Aksaray University Journal of Medical Sciences requires and encourages the authors and the individuals involved in the evaluation process of submitted manuscripts to disclose any existing or potential conflicts of interest, including financial, consultant, and institutional, that might lead to potential bias or a conflict of interest. Any financial grants or other support received for a submitted study from individuals or institutions should be disclosed to the Editorial Board. To disclose a potential conflict of interest, the ICMJE Potential Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form should be filled in and submitted by all contributing authors. The journal’s Editorial Board resolves cases of a potential conflict of interest of the editors, authors, or reviewers within the scope of COPE and ICMJE guidelines.

The Editorial Board of the journal handles all appeal and complaint cases within the scope of guidelines. In such cases, authors should get in direct contact with the editorial office regarding their appeals and complaints. When needed, an ombudsperson may be assigned to resolve claims that cannot be resolved internally. The Editor in Chief is the final authority in the decision-making process for all appeals and complaints.

Disclaimer

Statements or opinions expressed in the manuscripts published in Aksaray University Journal of Medical Sciences sreflect the views of the author(s) and not the opinions of the editors, the editorial board, or the publisher; the editors, the editorial board, and the publisher disclaim any responsibility or liability for such materials. The final responsibility regarding the published content rests with the authors.

Publication of the accepted manuscripts is free of charge.