Duzce Medical Journal

Duzce Medical Journal (Duzce Med J) is a peer-reviewed open-access journal based on independent and unbiased double-blinded peer-reviewed principles, published three times a year, in April, August and December by the Duzce University Faculty of Medicine.
Clinical and experimental studies in all fields of medicine, editorial comment/discussion, invited review, original research, and case reports in the basic and clinical sciences are evaluated for publishing.
The manuscripts submitted are required to be unpublished and are not under review for publication elsewhere. The authors are responsible for their article.
No submission, processing or publication charges are required from the authors.

Duzce Medical Journal (Duzce Med J) is a peer-reviewed open-access journal based on independent and unbiased double-blinded peer-reviewed principles, published three times a year, in April, August and December by the Duzce University Faculty of Medicine.
Clinical and experimental studies in all fields of medicine, editorial comment/discussion, invited review, original research, and case reports in the basic and clinical sciences are evaluated for publishing.
The manuscripts submitted are required to be unpublished and are not under review for publication elsewhere. The authors are responsible for their article.
No submission, processing or publication charges are required from the authors.

Please first refer to the Ethical Principles and Publication Policy in detail before manuscript preparation and submission. During the submission, you will be asked to confirm that you have read in detail and agreed to all the notices on Ethical Principles and Publication Policy. Compliance of the manuscripts with the scientific and ethical rules is the responsibility of the authors.

SUBMISSION FILES

       TEMPLATES: 📝 DMJ-template-cover_letter.docx , 📝 DMJ-template-title_page.docx , 📝 DMJ-template-main_text.docx 
 

Manuscripts must be uploaded to the system as separate files as described below.

Copyright Transfer Form: The 📄 DMJ-copyright_transfer_form.pdf  must be signed by all authors in accordance with the authorship order. Submissions without a Copyright Transfer Form signed by all authors are not included in the review process.

Similarity Report: Authors are required to upload the similarity report obtained from a plagiarism software, such as iThenticate, etc., to the system at submission. In cases where plagiarism is detected, depending on the similarity rate, the editors' right to reject the manuscript and/or request corrections from the authors is reserved.

Ethics Committee Approval Document: The Ethics Committee Approval Document should be uploaded as a separate file for all research articles. In case reports, Informed Consent should be uploaded to the area reserved for the ethics committee approval.

Cover Letter: Type of the article, the statement that has not been published previously anywhere before, and/or not in the evaluation process for publication, if any, the people and institutions supporting the study financially, and the relationship of these institutions with authors (if not, there is no relationship) must be stated. The names, academic titles, institutions, contact information, and e-mail addresses of at least two reviewers suggested in relation to the subject of the manuscript and not related to the authors and their institutions should be provided. Editors' right to choose the reviewers is reserved.

Title Page: It must include the title of the article, names, academic titles, ORCID® numbers, institutions, e-mail addresses of all authors, and also name, correspondence address, phone number, and e-mail address of the corresponding author. If the manuscript has been presented previously in a scientific meeting, the name, date, and place of the meeting (if not, "not presented") should be stated. All required declarations must be filled out in detail.

Main Text: The title of the article, Abstract, Keywords (at least three), Main Text (sectioned according to the type of article submitted), References, Tables, and Figures should be included. To assist the double-blind peer review principle, the main text should be uploaded in two identical copies, one blinded and one unblinded, with the only difference being the anonymization of institution, study center, researcher, etc., using XXXXX in the "Material and Methods" section, and in other sections if needed. It is preferred and recommended to first prepare the unblinded version of the main text file in accordance with the Author's Guidelines, and then make a blind copy from this file. The blinded version should be uploaded to the "Full Text" field, and the unblinded version as a separate "Supporting File". This is necessary because reviewers can only access specific parts of the system due to the double-blind peer review principle.

Note: The documents listed above are mandatory files required to complete the submission. If any additional documents, such as figures, photographs, certificates, or supplementary materials, should be uploaded as separate files to the appropriate section during the submission.

Required information and titles to be included in the cover letter, title page and main text can be viewed in the templates. The templates can be downloaded and used directly. Submission files prepared by authors who do not want to use templates must include this information and titles.

        TEMPLATES: 📝 DMJ-template-cover_letter.docx , 📝 DMJ-template-title_page.docx , 📝 DMJ-template-main_text.docx 

SECTIONS THAT SHOULD BE USED ACCORDING TO THE TYPE OF ARTICLE

Research Article

Title, ABSTRACT, Keywords (at least three, in accordance with Medical Subject Headings), INTRODUCTION, MATERIAL AND METHODS (subtitles can be used if needed), Statistical Analysis, RESULTS, DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION, REFERENCES, TABLES (if any), FIGURES (if any)

Abstract should be structured as "Aim, Material and Methods, Results, Conclusion", and should be between 200 and 250 words.

Review (Invited Only)

Title, Abstract, Keywords (at least three, in accordance with Medical Subject Headings), INTRODUCTION, Subtitles Related to the Subject, CONCLUSION, REFERENCES, TABLES (if any), FIGURES (if any)

Abstract should be unstructured, and should be between 150 and 200 words.

Case Report

Title, Abstract, Keywords (at least three, in accordance with Medical Subject Headings), INTRODUCTION, CASE REPORT, DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION, REFERENCES, TABLES (if any), FIGURES (if any)

Abstract should be unstructured, and should be between 100 and 150 words.

Other

The general writing rules are applied for the preparation of the writings (letter to the editor, editorial comment/discussion, etc.) except for these three basic types of articles. There is no title or abstract section in these writings. The number of references is limited to 5. The dedicated article should be specified by giving the number and date. The name, institution, and address of the author should be included at the end of the writing. The answer to the letter is given by the editor or authors of the dedicated article, by publishing again in the journal.

WRITING RULES
 

• Manuscripts should be prepared as Microsoft Word® documents.
• The required margins are 2.5 cm on all sides.
• Page numbers should be placed in the bottom right corner of pages.
• All texts must be typed with double-space as left-aligned using 12-point Times New Roman font.

KEYWORDS
 

• Number of keywords must be at least 3, words should be separated from each other by a semicolon (;).
• Keywords must be given in accordance with Medical Subject Headings (MESH, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html).

STATISTICAL METHODS
 

• All research articles should be assessed in terms of biostatistics and indicated with the appropriate plan, analysis, and report. In these manuscripts, the last subtitle of the MATERIAL AND METHODS section should be “Statistical Analysis”.
• In this section, the statistical methods used in the study should be written by indicating the purpose of use, and the package programs and versions used for statistical analysis should be specified.
• All p values should be reported in three decimal digits (e.g., p=0.180, p=0.018, p=0.108, p=0.810, etc.).
• Further information to control the convenience of articles in terms of biostatistics can be obtained from www.icmje.org.

ABBREVIATIONS
 

• The term should be written in full words with the abbreviation in parentheses where first mentioned, and the same abbreviation should be used throughout the entire text.
• Abbreviations used internationally should be used in accordance with the Scientific Writing Rules.

TABLES AND FIGURES
 

• Should be indicated at the end of the relevant sentence in the text as (Table 1) and/or (Figure 1).
• Tables (with headings) and figures (with captions) must be added after references at the end of the text, as each is to be on a separate page.
• The table headings should be written at the top of the table (Table 1. Table heading), and the figure captions should be written below the figure (Figure 1. Figure caption) with their first letters being upper case.
• If any abbreviation or symbol is used in tables and figures, it should be explained as a footnote below.
• The figures and photographs should be uploaded as separate files in .png, .jpg, etc. format, and at least 300 dpi resolution.
• If a figure, picture, table, graphic, etc., which has been published before, is used, written permission must be taken, and it should be stated in the explanation of the figure, picture, table, or graphic. The legal responsibility in this regard belongs to the authors.

REFERENCES
 

The Vancouver style must be used for both in-text citations and the reference list. References should be numbered consecutively according to the order of their first appearance in the text and indicated in parentheses at the end of the sentence.

General Citation Rules

• Vancouver style uses citation numbers within the text which refer to the corresponding numbered entries in the reference list.
• References are cited in the text using number in parentheses, e.g., (1), (2).
• References are numbered consecutively according to the order of their first appearance in the text.
• The same reference number is reused if the source is cited again.
• Multiple references cited at the same point:
  • Consecutive numbers are given as a range, e.g., (3-6).
  • Non-consecutive numbers are separated by commas, e.g., (2,5,8).
• Citation numbers are placed outside periods and commas, and inside colons and semicolons, unless journal-specific rules state otherwise.
• Page numbers are generally not required; however, for direct quotations they may be included, e.g., (5 p196).

Author Listing Rule (applies to all reference types)

• Up to six authors: list all authors.
• Seven or more authors: list the first six authors followed by et al.

Reference List: General Rules

• The reference list appears at the end of the manuscript and includes only sources cited in the text.
• References are listed numerically in the same order as they appear in the text.
• Author names are written as surname followed by initials, without periods or spaces between initials (e.g., Smith CK).
• Use commas to separate author names; do not use “and” or “&”.
• Titles are written in sentence case (capitalize only the first word and proper nouns).
• Titles should not be italicized or underlined.
• If available, DOI must be provided and is preferred over URLs.
• Personal communications and unpublished data should not be included in the reference list.
• Reference management software (e.g., EndNote®) may be used, but references must be submitted as plain text.

Sample Text and Reference List

Given that approximately 20% of the population smokes in most developed countries according to recent estimates (1,2), significantly higher smoking rates have been reported among disadvantaged groups. For example, smoking rates are 26-30% among low-income individuals (2,3), 32-50% among indigenous groups (3,4), 69-70% among homeless individuals (5,6), 35-90% among individuals with mental illness (7-9), and 72-79% among prisoners (10-12).

REFERENCES

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cigarette smoking among adults—United States 2007. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2008;57(45):1221-6.
2. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). 2007 National Drug Strategy Household Survey: Detailed Findings. Drug statistics series no. 22. Cat no. PHE 107. Canberra: AIHW; 2008.
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cigarette smoking among adults—United States. JAMA. 2009; 301(4):373-5. doi:10.1001/jama.301.4.373.
4. Australian Bureau of Statistics. National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey, 2004-2005 [Internet]. Canberra: ABS:2006 [cited 2010 November 11]. Available at: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4715.0Main+Features12004-05?
5. Connor SE, Cook RL, Herbert MI, Neal SM, Williams JT. Smoking cessation in a homeless population: there is a will, but is there a way? J Gen Intern Med. 2002;17(5):369-72. doi:10.1046/j.1525-1497.2002.10630.x.
6. Kermode M, Crofts N, Miller P, Speed B, Streeton J. Health indicators and risks among people experiencing homelessness in Melbourne, 1995-1996. Aust NZ J Public Health. 1998; 22(4):464-70. doi:10.1111/j.1467-842x.1998.tb01415.x.
7. Lasser K, Boyd JW, Woolhandler S, Himmelstein DU, McCormick D, Bor D. Smoking and mental illness: a population-based prevalence study. JAMA. 2000;284(20):2606-10. doi:10.1001/jama.284.20.2606.
8. Moeller-Saxone K. Cigarette smoking and interest in quitting among consumers at a Psychiatric Disability Rehabilitation and Support Service in Victoria. Aust NZ J Public Health. 2008;32(5):479-81. doi:10.1111/j.1753-6405.2008.00283.x.
9. Reichler H, Baker A, Lewin T, Carr V. Smoking among in-patients with drug-related problems in an Australian psychiatric hospital. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2001;20(2):231-7. doi:10.1080/09595230120058623.
10. Awofeso N, Testaz R, Wyper S, Morris S. Smoking prevalence in New South Wales correctional facilities, 2000. Tob Control. 2001;10(1):84-5. doi:10.1136/tc.10.1.84a.
11. Belcher JM, Butler T, Richmond RL, Wodak AD, Wilhelm K. Smoking and its correlates in an Australian prisoner population. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2006;25(4):343-8. doi:10.1080/09595230600741198.
12. Cropsey K, Eldridge GD, Ladner T. Smoking among female prisoners: an ignored public health epidemic. Addict Behav. 2004; 29(2):425-31. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2003.08.014.

In-Text Citations in Narrative Texts

• Two authors are joined with “and”.
• If there are more than two authors, use “et al.” in in-text citations.

In their research, Jones and Smith (2) assert...

Pawson et al. (16) concluded that...

The results, as evidenced by a recent Australian study (17) show that...

Journal Articles

Format: Citation No. Author’s Last Name Initials. Article title: subtitle. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year; volume(issue): page range. doi:xxxxx.

Example:

1. Schreijenberg M, Koes BW, Lin CC. Guideline recommendations on the pharmacological management of non-specific low back pain in primary care: is there a need to change? Expert Rev Clin Pharmacol. 2019;12(2):145-57. doi:10.1080/17512433.2019.1565992.
2. Stevens ML, Boyle E, Hartvigsen J, Mansell G, Sogaard K, Jorgensen MB, et al. Mechanisms for reducing low back pain: a mediation analysis of a multifaceted intervention in workers in elderly care. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2019;92(1):49-58. doi:10.1007/s00420-018-1350-3.

Journal Articles with No Author Listed

When a work is published without an author's name, do not list the author as "Anonymous." Instead, skip the author element and begin the entry with the work's title.

Format: Citation No. Article title: subtitle. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;volume(issue):page range. doi if available.

Example:

1. New accreditation product approved for systems under the ambulatory and home care programs. Jt Comm Perspect. 2005;25(5):8.
2. Giving birth: upright positions shorten first stage labour. MIDRS Mid Dig. 2009;16:233.

Online Journal Articles without a Doi

Format: Citation No. Author's Last Name Initials. Article title: subtitle. Abbreviated Journal Title[Internet]. Year [cited Year Month Day];volume(issue):page range. Available from: URL

Example:

1. Kemble R. The intolerable taboo of mental illness. Social Alt [Internet]. 2014 [cited 2016 Jun 27];33:20-3. Available from: https://socialalternatives.com/sites/default/files/pdf/issue/free/vol_33_3_small.pdf
2. Maddison S. Private men, public anger: the men's rights movement in Australia. Journal of Interdisciplinary Gender Studies[Internet]. 1999 [cited 2019 Jun 4];4(2):39-51. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1048435

Print Journal Articles

Format: Citation No. Author's Last Name, Initials. Article title: subtitle. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;volume(issue):page range.

Example:

1. Tong MJ, Strickland GT, Votteri BA, Gunning JJ. Supplemental folates in the therapy of Plasmodium falciparum malaria. JAMA.1970;214(13):2330-3.
2. Zadro JR, Shirley D, Ferreira M, Carvalho Silva AP, Lamb SE, Cooper C, et al. Is vitamin D supplementation effective for low back pain? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Pain Physician. 2018;21(2):121-45.

Magazine Articles

Magazine articles are cited in the same way as journal articles. However, for magazines not published with volume and issue numbers

• Include the year, month, and day of publication in that order, e.g. 2004 Jul 5
• Abbreviate the months using their first three letters.

Newspaper and Newsletter Articles

Format: Citation No. Author's Last Names, Initials. Article title: subtitle. Newspaper Title. Year Month Day;volume(issue):page range.

Example:

1. Tynan T. Medical improvements lower homicide rate: study sees drop in assault rate. Washington Post. 2002:Aug 12;Sect A:2(col 4).
2. Pelvic floor exercise can reduce stress incontinence. Health News. 2005 Apr;11(4):11.

Citation to Articles Published in Different Languages

In Vancouver style, transliterated or different-language article attribution is used to indicate sources written in languages that do not use the Latin alphabet (French, Russian, Greek, Arabic, Chinese, etc.). In this method, both the Latinized version of the original title and the English translation are presented together. In Japanese, Chinese, Russian, the author and journal name are written in Latin letters but not translated into English.

Format: Citation No. Author Surnames and Name abbreviation. Article title: subtitle [English Translation of Title]. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;Volume (number):article number. Language name. doi:10.xxxxxxxx.

Example:

1. Sokolov VA, Pavlov IV. Diagnostika perelomov kostey kisti [Diagnosis of hand bone fractures]. Khirurgiia (Mosk). 2018;(5):45-50. Russian.
2. Chaumoître K, Adalian P, Colavolpe N, Ramis O, Marciano S, Leonetti G, Boëtsch G, Panuel M. Quelle valeur accorder à l'os sésamoïde du pouce dans la détermination de l'âge osseux? [Value of the sesamoid bone of the thumb in the determination of bone age]. J Radiol. 2008;89(12):1921-4. French. doi:10.1016/s0221-0363(08)74787-5.

Books

Format: Citation No. Author’s Last Name Initials. Book title: subtitle. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; Year.

Example:

1. Janke T. True tracks: respecting Indigenous knowledge and culture. Sydney: NewSouth Publishing; 2021.
2. Johnson WH, Moller JH. Pediatric cardiology: the essential pocket guide. 3rd ed. Chichester (UK): John Wiley; 2014.
3. Smith DR, Jones AB, Wells ERE, Webster F, Booth SD, Junction KL, et al. Mental health and professional education. New York: McGee; 2009.

eBooks with DOI

Format: Citation No. Author’s Last Name Initials. Book title: subtitle [Internet]. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; Year [cited Year Month Day]. doi:xxxxx.

Example:

1. Risjord M. Nursing knowledge: science, practice, and philosophy [Internet]. Chichester (UK): Wiley; 2010 [cited 2019 Jul 4]. doi:10.1002/9781444315516.

eBooks without DOI

Format: Citation No. Author’s Last Name Initials. Book title: subtitle [Internet]. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; Year [cited Year Month Day]. Available from: URL.

Example:

1. Dudgeon P, Milroy H, Walker R, editors. Working together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and wellbeing principles and practice [Internet]. 2nd ed. Barton (ACT): Australian Government Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet; 2014 [cited 2023 Jul 21]. Available from https://www.thekids.org.au/globalassets/media/documents/aboriginal-health/working-together-second-edition/working-together-aboriginal-and-wellbeing-2014.pdf

Book Chapters

Format: Citation No. Chapter Author’s Last Name Initials. Chapter title: subtitle. In: Editor’s Last Name Initials, editor(s). Book title: subtitle. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; Year. p. xx-xx.

Example:

1. Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, editors. Hypertension: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management. 2nd ed. New York: Raven Press; 1995. p. 465-78.
2. Pryor JA, Prasad SA, Bethune D, Chatwin M, Enright S, Osman LP, et al. Physiotherapy techniques. In: Pryor JA, Prasad SA, editors. Physiotherapy for respiratory and cardiac problems: adults and paediatrics. 4th ed. Edinburgh (UK): Churchill Livingstone; 2008. p. 134-217.

Websites and Webpages

Standalone Websites

Format: Citation No. Author/Organization. Website title [Internet]. Place: Publisher; Year [cited Year Month Day]. Available from: URL.

Example:

1. University of Newcastle, Australia [Internet]. Callaghan (NSW): The University; 2020 [cited 2024 Mar 24]. Available from: https://www.newcastle.edu.au
2. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Our international role [Internet]. Canberra: AIHW; 2023 Nov 8 [cited 2024 May 3]. Available from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/our-services/international-collaboration

Webpages within a Website

Format: Citation No. Author/Organization. Website title [Internet]. Place: Publisher; Year. Page title; [cited Year Month Day]; [extent]. Available from: URL.

Example:

1. Profiles in Science [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US); 1998 - . Visual Culture and Health Posters; [cited 2024 May 4]; [about 2 screens]. Available from: https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/spotlight/vc

Research and Technical Reports

Format: Citation No. Author/Organization. Report title [Internet]. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; Year. Pages. Report No. Available from: URL.

Example:

1. United Nations. The Millennium Development Goals Report 2015 [Internet]. New York: UN; 2015. 75 p. Available from: https://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2015_MDG_Report/pdf/MDG%202015%20rev%20(July%201).pdf
2. National High Blood Pressure Education Program (US). The fourth report on the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of high blood pressure in children and adolescents. Rev. ed. Bethesda (MD): National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (US); 2005. 48 p. (NIH publication; no. 05-5267).
3. Barker B, Degenhardt L. Accidental drug-induced deaths in Australia 1997-2001. Sydney: University of New South Wales, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre; 2003. 46 p.

Government Documents and Reports

Format: Citation No. Name of the State Agency. Document title: subtitle. Document No [Internet]. Place of Publication: Publisher; Date of publication [cited yyyy Jan-Dec dd]. Available from: URL.

Example:

1. T.C. Sağlık Bakanlığı. Hasta ve çalışan güvenliğinin sağlanmasına dair yönetmelik. Sayı 27897 [Internet]. Ankara: T.C. Resmi Gazete [Official Gazette of the Republic of Türkiye]; 2011 Apr 06 [cited 2025 Nov 10]. Available from: https://dosyamerkez.saglik.gov.tr/Eklenti/3628/0/hastavecalisanguvenligininsaglanmasinadairyonetmelikpdf.pdf
2. T.C. Adalet Bakanlığı. Türk Ceza Kanunu, Yasa no. 5237. Sayı 25611 [Internet]. Ankara: T.C. Resmi Gazete [Official Gazette of the Republic of Türkiye]; 2004 Oct 12 [cited 2026 Jan 30]. Available from: https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2004/10/20041012.htm

SCIENTIFIC POLICY

In terms of scientific publishing standards, manuscripts to be submitted should be prepared in accordance with the criteria of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE, icmje.org/recommendations/), the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME, wame.org/policies), and the Committee of Publication Ethics (COPE, publicationethics.org/guidance/Guidelines).

• The manuscripts must have complied with the research and publication ethics. The authors are responsible for their article.
• The manuscripts are required to be unpublished and are not under review for publication elsewhere.
• The manuscripts must be submitted with the Copyright Transfer Form signed by all authors to begin the evaluation process. For authors' order, the signature order in the Copyright Transfer Form is based on.
• The corresponding author is responsible for the final version of the article on behalf of all authors.

ETHICAL POLICY

• Compliance with The Principles of Helsinki Declaration (wma.net/what-we-do/medical-ethics/declaration-of-helsinki/) is required in all studies including the “human” factor. In this kind of studies, authors must state that they perform the study in compliance with these principles, they have taken approval from the ethics committee of their institution, and the “informed consent” from people participating in the study, in the MATERIAL AND METHODS section.
• If the “animal” factor was used in the study, authors must state that they have protected the animal rights in line with the principles of Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/guide-for-the-care-and-use-of-laboratory-animals.pdf) and they have taken approval from the ethics committee of their institution, in the MATERIAL AND METHODS section.
• In case reports, informed consent must be taken from patients.
• The information on the ethics committee approval should be indicated together with the name of the committee, approval date, and number, in the MATERIAL AND METHODS section.
• For all research involving human subjects, it must be stated that informed consent was obtained from all participants in compliance with The Principles of Helsinki Declaration (wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/), for participation in the study or use of their tissue (or a parent/legal guardian in the case of children under 18 and patients otherwise considered minors under local legislation). Consent is also required for the procurement of biomaterials for stem cell research and translation, including gamete donors in IVF studies. Studies involving vulnerable groups (i.e. individuals who are at higher risk of mistreatment or harm), with potential for coercion or exploitation (for example, prisoners or unconscious patients) or where consent may not have been fully informed (for example, due to a language barrier), will be considered at the Editor’s discretion under exceptional circumstances. Scientific research involving vulnerable groups can only be carried out if its aims and scope benefit those groups and meet their specific needs, and authors must be able to demonstrate this for their manuscript to be considered for publication.
  
• If there is a direct-indirect commercial relation or an institution giving financial support in the study, authors must state that they have no commercial relationship with the commercial product, medicine, company, etc. used, or if any, what kind of a relationship they have (consultant, other agreements), in the cover letter to the editor.
• The authors are responsible for reporting all personal and financial relationships that may be related to the study. It is necessary to state clearly whether there is any conflict of interest related to the submission and/or evaluation of the manuscript.
• Compliance of the manuscripts with the scientific and ethical rules is the responsibility of the authors.

CLINICAL TRIALS

Duzce Medical Journal requires the prospective registration of clinical trials to a publicly accessible registry. The name of the registry, date, and registration number should be provided at the end of the abstract. Appropriate public registries are listed on the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) website (icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/clinical-trial-registration.html) and the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP, who.int/clinical-trials-registry-platform).

DATA SHARING POLICY

Authors are required to provide a data sharing statement for manuscripts that report the results of a clinical trial. The data sharing statement should indicate the items according to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) data sharing policy: "data sharing statements must indicate the following: whether individual deidentified participant data (including data dictionaries) will be shared (“undecided” is not an acceptable answer); what data in particular will be shared; whether additional, related documents will be available (e.g., study protocol, statistical analysis plan, etc.); when the data will become available and for how long; by what access criteria data will be shared (including with whom, for what types of analyses, and by what mechanism)". Authors are recommended to check the illustrative examples of data sharing at icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/clinical-trial-registration.html.

REPORTING GUIDELINES

Incomplete reporting of experimental details, study rationale, methodological design, and research outcomes can greatly compromise the validity, accuracy, and reproducibility of scientific results. Thus, authors need to ensure that their manuscript adheres to certain standards of reporting. Duzce Medical Journal encourages authors to refer to the guidelines when preparing their manuscripts. For further information on the reporting guidelines, and reporting guidelines for main study types, authors are suggested to refer to the Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research (EQUATOR) Network website (equator-network.org/). Where the authors use a checklist, this should be duly acknowledged in the Material and Methods section of the manuscript.

OPEN ACCESS POLICY

Duzce Medical Journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public and supporting a greater global exchange of knowledge. Duzce Medical Journal applies the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) license to articles published. When the authors submit their manuscript for publication, they agree to have the CC-BY-NC-ND license applied to their study. Under this Open Access license, the authors agree that anyone can read, download, copy, distribute, print, browse, and link to the content of their article for non-commercial purposes for free as long as the author and original source are properly cited.

LICENSING POLICY

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

Authors who submit manuscripts to Duzce Medical Journal are required to read and approve the following copyright form while uploading their study to the online system.
- The submitted manuscript is an original study in line with scientific and ethical rules.
- The submitted manuscript has not been published elsewhere and/or submitted to another journal to be published at the same time.
- Duzce Medical Journal has no responsibility for the content, results, and interpretation of the study.
- All authors actively participated in the preparation of the study, reviewed the final version, and took all kinds of responsibilities related to this study.
- All publishing rights have been transferred to the Duzce Medical Journal from the date of submission, and Duzce Medical Journal is authorized for publishing.

The authors are deemed to have accepted the following terms by submitting their manuscript to the journal under the CC-BY-NC-ND license.
- The copyright of the published article belongs to the author.
- The authors authorize Duzce Medical Journal to publish the article and identify it as the original publisher.
- The authors grant the right to freely use the article to any third party as long as the original authors and citation details are identified.
- Nothing in this license impairs or restricts an author's right to preserve the integrity and ownership of their study.
- All commercial rights related to the article belong to the authors.

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS

For editors and reviewers; to accurately assess the manuscript you need to ensure the English language is clear and of sufficient quality to be understood. Authors whose first language is not English are encouraged to have their manuscript checked by getting help from a native English speaker, and/or using professional language editing (proofreading) services. There are some specialist language editing and proofreading companies that offer language editing services. Duzce Medical Journal neither endorses nor takes responsibility for these services. This is not mandatory but may help to ensure that the content of your manuscript is fully understood by editors and reviewers. Please note that the use of a language editing service is not a requirement for submission and does not imply or guarantee that the manuscript will be selected for peer review or accepted for publication. The editors reserve the right to reject without review those that cannot adequately be assessed because of a poor standard of English.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The Duzce Medical Journal requires that each author, reviewer, and editor in any of the processes (submission, peer review, editorial decision, and communication between authors, reviewers, and editors) must disclose to the editor-in-chief any conflict of interest related to family, personal, financial, political or religious issues as well as any competing interest that could unduly influence his or her responsibilities (academic honesty, unbiased conduct and reporting of research, and integrity of decisions or judgments) in the publication process. Whether or not a conflict of interest and financial support exist, they must be declared on the cover letter and title page as well as at the end of the manuscripts. If a reviewer or a section editor has a conflict of interest and/or believes that it is not appropriate to be a reviewer or an editor for a given manuscript, the reviewer or the editor should resign from the assignment. The Editorial Board members of the Duzce Medical Journal, who handle submissions and recommend decisions to the Editor-in-Chief (EIC, Deputy Editor, and Section Editors) may also submit their own manuscripts to the journal as all of them are active researchers and scientists. However, they cannot take place at any stage in the editorial decision of their manuscripts in order to minimize any possible bias. They will be treated like any other author, and if any, final acceptance of such manuscripts can only be made by the positive recommendation of at least two external reviewers, who are not members of the decision-making Editorial Board. Authors should not contact any of the section editors during the review process. All necessary information regarding the process of a manuscript can be obtained from the editorial office. However, the names of the section editor and the reviewers are not given to the author(s). Due to the double-blinded review principles of the Duzce Medical Journal, the names of authors and reviewers are not known to each other.

PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is a serious problem and the most common ethical issue afflicting medical writing. The Duzce Medical Journal does not allow any form of plagiarism. Authors are required to upload the similarity report obtained from plagiarism software such as iThenticate etc. to the system at the submission stage. Depending on the similarity rate, editors' right to reject the manuscript and/or request a correction from authors is reserved. In accordance with journal policy, submitted manuscripts are also screened with plagiarism software (iThenticate, etc.) by the editorial office to detect instances of overlapping and similar text. High similarity scores may lead to the rejection of a manuscript before and even after acceptance. Depending on the type of manuscript and the percentage of similarity score taken from each article, the overall similarity score is generally expected to be less than 20-25%.

PREPRINT

The studies presented in a non-commercial preprint server are allowed to submit. In such a case, authors must provide the preprint server deposition of their manuscript with its DOI during the submission. If the manuscript is accepted and published in the Duzce Medical Journal, it is the responsibility of the authors to update the archived preprint and link it to the published version of the article. The preprint must be removed in the case of acceptance to leave only the final version online.

CHANGE OF AUTHORSHIP

Any request to change the author list after submission, such as a change in the order of the authors or the deletion or addition of authors, is subject to the Editorial Board’s approval. To obtain this approval, the detailed reason for the change of authorship with a new copyright transfer form signed by all authors (including the new and/or removed author) should be presented to the Editorial Board. Please note that this does not guarantee that the change will be approved. The Editorial Board's right to approve or decline the request is reserved.

CORRECTIONS

All the correction requests made to a published article will be with the authorization of the Editorial Board of the Duzce Medical Journal. Editorial Board will decide the magnitude of the corrections. Depending on the magnitude and the content of the correction, the following cases are applicable.
Erratum: An error that affects the integrity of the version of the record, the reputation of the authors, or the reputation of the journal, is termed Erratum. An Erratum is a statement by the authors of the original article that briefly describes any correction(s) resulting from errors or omissions. Any effects on the conclusions of the manuscript should be noted. The corrected article is not removed from the journal, but notice of erratum is given. The Erratum is made available to all readers and is linked to the corrected article.
Addendum: An addendum is a notification of an addition of information to an article. An addendum is published only rarely and when the editorial board decides that the addendum is crucial to the reader’s understanding of a significant part of the published article. The addendum does not contradict the original article, but if the author inadvertently omitted significant information available at the time, this material can be published as an addendum. An addendum may be peer-reviewed, according to journal policy, and are normally subject to oversight by the Editorial Board of the Duzce Medical Journal. The addendum is made available to all readers and is linked to the original article to which they relate.

RETRACTIONS

Retraction of a manuscript will be permitted only for the most compelling and unavoidable reasons. For retraction of a manuscript, authors need to submit a detailed explanation, signed by all authors mentioning the reason for retraction to the Editorial Office. After receiving the retraction request, the Editorial Board of the Duzce Medical Journal will investigate the reason for the retraction. The Editorial Board's right to approve or decline the request is reserved. Authors must not assume that their manuscript has been retracted until they have received appropriate notification to this effect from the editorial office. If the reason finds to be acceptable, the author is allowed to retract the manuscript without paying any retraction penalty. To protect the integrity of the record, the retracted article is not removed from the journal, but notice of retraction is given, also it is made available to all readers, and is linked to the retracted article. In rare and extreme cases involving legal infringement, the Editorial Board of the Duzce Medical Journal may redact or remove an article. Bibliographic information about the article will be retained to ensure the integrity of the scientific record.

APPEALS and COMPLAINTS

Appeal and complaint cases are handled by the Editorial Board of the journal. Appeals should be based on the scientific content of the manuscript. The final decision on the appeal and complaint is made by Editor-in-Chief. An Ombudsperson or the Ethical Editor may be assigned to resolve cases that cannot be resolved internally. Authors should get in contact with the Editor-in-Chief regarding their appeals and complaints via e-mail at duzcetipdergisi@duzce.edu.tr.

No submission, processing or publication charges are required from the authors.

Citation Indexes

	TR Dizin
	Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI)
	DOAJ
	Scopus

Other Indexes

	CINAHL Ultimate
	Crossref
	DOAJ
	EBSCO
	Embase
	TürkMedline
	Türkiye Atıf Dizini
	MIAR