Hitit Sağlık Dergisi

Hitit Health Journal contains original scientific publications. All published articles, except editorials, are subject to a double blind peer review process.

The aim of the journal is to contribute to science by publishing high quality publications of scientific importance. For this purpose, original research articles, reviews, case reports and letters to the editor are published in all fields related to basic or extended clinical experience in health sciences.

Hitit Health Journal is an independent, double-blind peer-reviewed, open access and online journal that aims to publish articles in all related fields of health sciences. Articles should describe original data that have not been previously published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Manuscripts that are deemed suitable for the submission rules of Hitit Health Journal and the scope of the journal are sent to at least two referees who are experts in their fields for scientific evaluation. The members of the Editorial Board of Hitit Health Journal, who discuss the suitability of the manuscript, then take into account the comments of the referees on each submission. The final decision for all submitted manuscripts belongs to the Editor-in-Chief. The Editorial Board of Hitit Health Journal is committed to comply with the criteria of the International Council of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) and Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Subject Category:
Health Sciences: Health, Public health, Nursing, Midwifery, Social work, Child development, Nutrition and dietetics, Physical therapy and rehabilitation, Gerontology, Disaster medicine, Audiology, Health care economics and organisation, Health services management
Humanities
Fields of Science: Nursing, Midwifery, Social work, Child development, Nutrition and dietetics, Physical therapy and rehabilitation, Gerontology, Disaster medicine, Audiology, Health care economics and organisation, Health services management
Keywords: Health, Public health, Nursing, Midwifery, Social work, Child development, Nutrition and dietetics, Physical therapy and rehabilitation, Gerontology, Disaster medicine, Audiology, Health care economics and organisation, Health services management

Publication Language
Full Text Publication Language:
• Primary Language: Turkish
• Secondary Language: English
Content Written in English and Latin Alphabet:
• Article Title: Turkish & English
• Author Name: Turkish (in Latin Alphabet)
• Author Address: Turkish (in Latin Alphabet)
• Keywords: Turkish & English
• Bibliography: Turkish (in Latin alphabet)
Full Text Turkish (in Latin Alphabet)

Article Submissions
Submitted manuscripts must be appropriate to the purpose and scope of the journal. Original, unpublished manuscripts that are not in the evaluation process in another journal and whose content and submission have been approved by each author are accepted for evaluation.

Readership
The target readership is members of professions, specialists, researchers, speciality and doctoral students as well as students related to this field in all areas of health. It aims to contribute to the spread of continuous professional development and research culture.

Originality of Articles
Hitit Health Journal does not accept manuscripts previously published elsewhere. However, published articles in a foreign language may sometimes be accepted

Article Preparation

Language: Turkish, English
The language of the journal is Turkish and English.

Article Types: Original article, review, case report, letter to the editor
However, we advise the authors to make the work as concise as possible for dissemination.

Article Format: Microsoft Word Docx
Image Format: JPG
Citation Style: APA 6

Author Change: Only processed before the manuscript is accepted. Authors should carefully review the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the final author list at the time of original submission.

Writing Guidelines:
• The manuscript should not exceed 3500 words (excluding abstract, abstract, footnotes, tables, figures, legends, and references).
• The arrangement of the manuscript elements should be as follows:
1. Turkish Title
2. Abstract (should not exceed 250 words)
3. Keywords (minimum 3, maximum 5)
4. English Title
5. Abstract (should not exceed 300 words)
6. Keywords (minimum 3, maximum 5)
7. Body Text
8. Conclusion
9. Sources
• The text should be written in Microsoft Office Word programme. Page size should be A4 size.
• Margins should be left 3 cm from each edge.
• All headings in the article should be capitalised and 11-point font size.
• Author information should never be written in the text.
• There must be "Introduction and Conclusion" sections in the body text.
• The article should be justified, in "Gentium Plus" font, 10.5 point size, 1.15 line spacing.
• Abstract and references should be written in 9 font size and 1.0 line spacing.
• It is recommended that the prepared manuscripts should not exceed 3500 words for research articles, 5000 words for review articles, 1000 words for letters to the editor and 2500 words for case reports.
• For articles written in a foreign language, Turkish title, abstract (max 250 words), keywords should be written in addition to the English title, abstract (max 250 words), keywords.
• Footnotes should be written in "Gentium Plus" font in 8-point font size; aligned on both sides; single-spaced. Spacing should be set as 0 pt from top and bottom. Footnote style should be in accordance with APA 6 Citation System.
• For Turkish articles, the Turkish dictionary of the Turkish Language Association or http://tdkterim.gov.tr/bts/ address should be taken as basis.
• Technical terms, symbols and abbreviations should be defined the first time they are used in the article.
• Latin expressions such as the names of bacterial, viral, parasitic and fungal species and anatomical terms should be italicised.
• For abbreviations used internationally, the "Rules of Scientific Writing" (Scientific Style and Format: The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, 6th ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994) can be consulted.
• All figures, graphs, photographs and tables should be transferred to the relevant electronic media and included in the main text. Figures, graphs and photographs should be in JPG or TIFF format.
• Acknowledgements for individual or institutional financial support provided for the research should be included in a separate section at the end of the article.
• Studies to be uploaded to the system should consist of sections with the following headings:

1. Cover page

2. Article (Full text) file

3. Letter to the editor (Cover Letter)

4. Copyright Notice Text (Download)

5. Plagiarism Report

A- Cover Page
It contains the following information:
1. Type of article submitted: Research article, review, case report, case report, letter to the editor.
2. Title of the article: It should be short, comprehensive and clear. The English title should be placed below the Turkish title. The title should be written in lower case and each word should start with a capital letter. The title should not exceed 12 words.
3. The cover page should be justified, 12 font size, 1.5 line spacing, Times New Roman.
4. Information about the authors: The institutions and cities where they work should be indicated and the full contact address of the corresponding author (correspondence address, telephone, fax, e-mail address) should be included.
5. ORCID: ORCID information of the authors should be indicated.
6. Financial support: Any financial support used in the study should be indicated.
7. Conflict of interest and other declarations: Authors' "Declaration of Contribution" "Statement of Support and Acknowledgement", if any and "Conflict Statement" should be included.
8. The publication status of the study in a scientific event (abstract, oral/poster) such as congress, symposium, etc., whether it is produced from the thesis, and project support, if any, should be specified.
9. Published full text papers are not accepted.

B- Article (Full Text) File
Original article
• This section includes multidisciplinary studies of basic or clinical research in the health sciences. These studies may include randomised controlled trials, observational studies, descriptive studies, diagnostic accuracy studies, systematic reviews, meta-analyses and experimental animal trials.
• Word Count: 3500 words (excluding abstract, references, tables and figure legends)
• Abstract: It should be 250 words structured in structured headings (aim, material-methods, findings, conclusion, keywords).
• Number of References: Maximum 35 references.
• Tables, Figures and Graphics: Total number should not exceed 4.

The text of the article should include the following format:
• Abstract (in Turkish and English, the number of keywords should be at least 3 and at most 5): The keywords selected in this section should be in accordance with Index Medicus "Medical Subject Headings". Turkish keywords in scientific articles should be selected from "Turkish Science Terms" and authors should make use of http://www.bilimterimleri.com and http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/ MBrowser.html.
• Introduction
• Method
• Findings
• Discussion
• Conclusion and Recommendations
• Sources
• Tables, Figures and Graphics

Compilation:
• Word Count: 5000 words (excluding abstract, references, tables and figure legends) and should not exceed 10 pages.
• Abstract: It should be 250 words structured in structured headings (aim, material-methods, findings, conclusion, keywords).
• Number of References: It should be maximum 40.

The review text should include the following format:
• Abstract (in Turkish and English, the number of keywords should be at least 3 and at most 5): The keywords selected in this section should be in accordance with Index Medicus "Medical Subject Headings". Turkish keywords in scientific articles should be selected from "Turkish Scientific Terms" and authors should make use of http://www.bilimterimleri.com  and http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/  MBrowser.html.
• Introduction
• Topic-specific sub-headings (left justified, bold, initial letters of words should be capitalised)
• Conclusion and Recommendations
• Sources

Case Presentation:
• This section should consist of brief descriptions of clinical cases or complications that are rarely encountered and have educational value.
• Abstract: 250 words.
• Abstract Subheadings: Introduction, Case Presentation(s), Conclusion
• Main Text Subheadings: Introduction, Case Report(s), Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgements
• Word Count: 2500 (excluding abstract, references, tables and figure legends)
• Number of Sources: Maximum 15.
• Tables and Graphs: Total number should not exceed three.

Letter to the Editor:
• This section contains the author's opinion, comments and suggestions on any field.
• No abstract is required.
• No subheading is required.
• Word count: 1000 (excluding references)
• Number of Sources: Maximum 10.
• Tables and Figures: Total number should not exceed two.

Tables and Graphics
• Tables and graphs should be placed on a separate page after the references.
• Data presented in tables/graphs should not be included in the whole text.
• Tables/graphics should be numbered consecutively. Table/graphic numbering should be in bold.
• Each table/graph should be cited in the text.
• The number and title of each table should be written above the table. The number and title of the graphs should be given below the graph.
• Table and Figure captions and references, if any, should be written in Gentium Plus font in 8-point size, aligned on both sides, and single-spaced. Spacing should be set as 6 pt from the bottom and 0 pt from the top for Table and Figure captions; 6 pt from the top and bottom for Table and

Figure references.
• Tables should not extend beyond the writing area (page margins should not be violated), and spacing should be set as 0 pt from the top and 6 pt from the bottom. Tables smaller than the page margins should be left aligned.
Figures:
• Figures should be placed on separate pages after the tables section.
• The information in the figure should not be repeated in its entirety, but the figures should be referred to in the text (Figure 1; Figure 2).
• An explanation or title should be added under the figures. Figure numbering should be in bold.
• Images should be saved in JPEG format.
• Photographs and figures should be sent at a resolution of at least 300 dots.
• Scanned or photocopied graphs and diagrams are not accepted.

References
• It should start on the page after the conclusion.
• For each source, the first line should be indented from the left, and the following lines should be indented 1.25 cm from the left. Spaces for each reference should be 0 pt from the top and 6 pt from the bottom.
• References should be written in "Gentium Plus" font, 9 point size, aligned on both sides and single-spaced.
• If more than one work of an author in the same year is cited in the bibliography, each work should be lettered with its year (e.g. WHO, 2021a, WHO, 2021b).
• References should be limited to publications within the last 5 years as much as possible.

Source Notation Style
Articles should be prepared according to APA 6 Citation System. https://apastyle.apa.org/ 

Final Checklist
It is hoped that this list will be useful during the final check of the manuscript before it is uploaded to the journal system.

Make sure that the following items are present:
1. Author information added.
• E-mail address
• Full postal address
• Telephone number
2. All necessary files have been uploaded.
• Article text
• Copyright Agreement
3. The article has been "spell-checked" and "grammar-checked".
4. All references mentioned in the bibliography are cited in the text and vice versa.

Submit Article
The account of the corresponding author of the study should be used in the submissions. All correspondence regarding the application is sent to the corresponding author by e-mail sent through the journal system.
When uploading the manuscript file, make sure that this file does not contain any elements that will decipher the identity of the author due to the double-blind review process.
Files You Need to Upload Separately:
1) Full Article Text
2) Cover Page
3) Tables and Figures
4) Copyright Notice Text

During submission, the following commitment is obtained from the author electronically:
1. I am authorised/authorised by the co-authors to submit this work to your journal.
2. The manuscript is original, has not been formally published in another peer-reviewed journal, is not under consideration by another journal, and does not violate any existing copyright or other third-party rights.
3. I/we agree that if the article is accepted for editorial publication, it will be licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) licence.
4. The copyright and intellectual property rights of the author(s) or, if applicable, the author(s)' employer are reserved. The author(s) undertake(s) that the publisher is not responsible for any claims or lawsuits to be filed by third parties due to copyright infringement, and that they bear full responsibility.
5. The author(s) undertake(s) that there are no criminal offences or illegal expressions in the article, and that no illegal materials and methods were used during the research.

Author Guidelines

Duties and Responsibilities of Authors

Authorship and Contribution
Authorship should be limited to those who made significant contributions to the conception, design, conduct, or interpretation of the study. All significant contributors should be listed as co-authors. If there are minor contributors, e.g. language editing, they should be acknowledged in the acknowledgements section. The corresponding author should ensure that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript and agree to its submission for publication. Authors are expected to carefully review the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and to provide the final author list at the time of original submission. Only in exceptional circumstances will the editor consider the addition, deletion, or reorganisation of authors after the manuscript has been submitted. All authors must agree to any such addition, deletion or reorganisation. Authors take joint responsibility for the work.

Author Change Requests
Addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the author list can only be made before the manuscript is accepted and only if approved by the Editor of the journal.
If such a change is requested, the Editor will request from the responsible author (a) the reason for the change in the author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail) from all authors that they agree to the addition. Only in exceptional cases will the Editor consider the addition, deletion or reorganisation of authors after the article has been accepted.

Article Writing
Authors of original research papers should address the topic in an original way and with an objective discussion. The paper should include sufficient detail and references to allow others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly false statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable.

Originality
The author should provide assurance that the article is original, has not been previously published elsewhere, and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, in another language.

Using Original Sources and Citation
Authors must ensure that they have written entirely original work and that, if they have used the work or words of others, this is properly cited. Privately obtained information, such as in conversations, correspondence or discussions with third parties, should not be used without the express written permission of the source.

Data Access and Preservation
Authors may be asked to provide research data supporting their articles for editorial review and/or to comply with the journal's open data requirements. Authors should be prepared to provide public access to such data, if possible, and to retain such data for a reasonable period after publication. The journal recommends uploading research data to TUBITAK's Aperta Portal.

Multiple and Simultaneous Publication
An author should not publish an article containing the same research in more than one journal. It is unethical to submit the same article to more than one journal at the same time. An author should not submit a previously published article for consideration in another journal, except in the form of an abstract.

Publication of Studies Based on Questionnaires and Interviews
For research in all disciplines that require ethics committee approval (ethics committee approval must be obtained, this approval must be stated and documented in the article. In researches requiring ethics committee approval, information about the approval (name of the committee, date and number) should be included in the method section, as well as on one of the first/last pages of the article; in case reports, information on the signature of the informed consent form should be included in the article.

Conflict of Interest
Any financial or other interest that may cause the person to be conflicted in his/her work, significantly impair his/her objectivity, or provide an unfair advantage in favour of any person or organisation. All sources of financial support received during the conduct of the research and preparation of the manuscript and the role of sponsors in the study should be disclosed. If there is no source of funding, this should also be indicated. Examples of potential conflicts of interest that should be disclosed include consultancies, salaries, grants. Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed at the earliest possible stage.

Error Reporting
When an author notices a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her published work, he/she should notify the journal immediately. It is also the author's obligation to co-operate in withdrawing or correcting the manuscript if deemed necessary by the editor. If the editor or publisher learns from a third party that a published work contains errors, it is the author's obligation to co-operate with the editor, including informing the editor.

Image Integrity
It is unacceptable to enhance, darken, move, remove or add a specific feature in an image. Authors must adhere to the policy for graphic images implemented by the journal.

Article Template

Publication Ethics Principles
Publication Ethics can be defined as a self-regulatory mechanism that insists on integrity on behalf of authors, reviewers and publishers to establish higher standards of editorial processing. Ethical standards for publication exist to ensure high-quality scientific publications, public confidence in scientific findings, and respect for people's opinions.
• Honest researchers do not plagiarise.
• They do not misattribute sources.
• They do not hide objections they cannot refute.
• They do not distort opposing views.
• They do not destroy or conceal data.

Peer-reviewed studies are studies that support and realise the scientific method. At this point, it is of great importance that all parties involved in the publication process (authors, readers and researchers, publisher, referees and editors) comply with ethical principles. Hitit Health Journal adheres to national and international standards on research and publication ethics. It complies with the Press Law, the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works and the Directive on Scientific Research and Publication Ethics of Higher Education Institutions. Hitit Health Journal has adopted the International Ethical Publishing Principles published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA) and World Association of Medical Editors (WAME). It also undertakes to comply with the decisions of the Turkish Editors' Workshop.
• Press Law (National Legislation)
• Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works (National Legislation)
• Higher Education Institutions Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive (National Legislation)
• Transparency and Best Practice Principles in Academic Publishing (International Criteria)
• Turkey Editors' Workshop Decisions (National Criteria)

Replay
Republishing is the publication of the same article or substantially similar articles in more than one journal. The editor sends such an article back without reviewing it. Thereafter, the editor may impose an embargo for a certain period of time on the author who has attempted to republish, publicise this situation in the journal in which the author has previously published (perhaps by simultaneous announcement with the editor of the journal that published the previous article), or apply all of these measures together.

Simultaneous submission of the same work to more than one journal
Authors may not submit the same article to more than one journal at the same time. If the editor learns of possible simultaneous submission, he/she reserves the right to consult with the other editor(s) receiving the manuscript. In addition, the editor may return the manuscript without review or reject the manuscript without considering the reviews, or take this decision in discussion with the other editor(s) involved, and may decide not to accept submissions from authors for a certain period of time. It may also write to the authors' employers or take all of these measures together.

Control to Prevent Plagiarism
Plagiarism is presenting the ideas, methods, data, applications, writings, figures or works of others as one's own work in whole or in part without citing their owners in accordance with scientific rules.
Hitit Health Journal scans all submitted articles to prevent plagiarism. Studies submitted for review are checked for plagiarism using Turnitin & Ithenticate software. The similarity rate is expected to be less than 20%. The main measure of similarity is the author's compliance with the rules of citation and citation. If the similarity rate is 1%, but citation and quotation are not done properly, plagiarism may still be in question. In this respect, citation and quotation rules should be known and carefully applied by the author.
Plagiarism, duplication, false authorship/confessed authorship, research/data fabrication, article slicing, slicing and dicing, copyright infringement and concealment of conflict of interest are considered unethical behaviours. All articles that do not comply with accepted ethical standards are removed from publication. This includes articles containing possible irregularities and non-conformities detected after publication.

Forgery
To produce data that is not based on research, to edit or change the work presented or published on the basis of unreal data, to report or publish them, to show a research that has not been done as if it has been done.
Falsifying research records and data obtained, showing methods, devices and materials that were not used in the research as if they were used, not evaluating data that do not comply with the research hypothesis, manipulating data and/or results to fit the relevant theory or assumptions, falsifying or shaping the results of the research in line with the interests of the persons and organisations supported.

Protection of Personal Data of Participants
Hitit Health Journal requires that all research involving personal or sensitive data or materials relating to human participants that are not legally available to the public be subject to formal ethical review.
Handling Allegations of Research Misconduct
Hitit Health Journal adheres to COPE's Ethical Toolkit for a Successful Editorial. Hitit Health Journal editors will take measures to prevent the publication of manuscripts in which plagiarism, citation manipulation, data falsification, data fabrication, and other research misconduct occur. In no case will the editors of Hitit Health Journal knowingly allow such misconduct to occur. If the editors of Hitit Health Journal are aware of any allegations of research misconduct related to an article published in their journal, they will follow COPE's guidelines regarding allegations.

Ethical Violation Notifications
Readers can send an e-mail to hititsaglikdergisi@gmail.com if they notice a significant error or inaccuracy in an article published in Hitit Health Journal or if they have any complaints about the editorial content (plagiarism, duplicate articles, etc.). We welcome applications as it will provide an opportunity for us to improve, and we will respond quickly and constructively.

Correction, Retraction, Expression of Concern
Editors may consider publishing a correction if minor errors are detected in the published article that do not affect the findings, interpretations and conclusions. Editors should consider retracting the manuscript if there are major errors/violations that invalidate the findings and conclusions. Editors should consider issuing a statement of concern if there is a possibility of research or publication misconduct by the authors; if there is evidence that the findings are unreliable and the authors' institutions have not investigated the incident; or if the possible investigation seems unfair or inconclusive. COPE and ICJME guidelines regarding correction, retraction or expression of concern are taken into account.

Publication of Studies Based on Surveys and Interviews
Hitit Health Journal adopts the "Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" and "Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers" principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in order to provide ethical assurance in scientific periodical publishing. In this context, the following points should be complied with in the studies submitted to the journal:
1) For research in all disciplines that require ethics committee approval (ethics committee approval must be obtained, this approval must be stated and documented in the article.
2) In studies requiring ethics committee authorisation, information about the authorisation (name of the committee, date and number) should be included in the method section and on one of the first/last pages of the article; in case reports, information on the signature of the informed consent/assent form should be included in the article.

Special Issue Publication Policy
A special issue can be published once a year upon the request of the Editorial Board. Articles submitted for inclusion in the special issue are first subjected to a preliminary editorial review. Then, they are examined for compliance with the journal's spelling rules and similarity screening is performed to prevent plagiarism. After these stages, they are included in the peer review process using the double-blinding model.

Editorial Confidentiality Obligation
The editors of Hitit Health Journal treat all submitted manuscripts as confidential documents, which means that they will not disclose information about a manuscript to anyone without the authors' permission. During the manuscript review process, the following people have access to the manuscripts: Editors, Reviewers, Editorial Board Members. The only situation where details about a manuscript may be passed to a third party without the authors' permission is if the editor suspects serious research misconduct.

Allegations-Suspicions of Scientific Misconduct
There are different definitions of scientific misconduct. As Hitit Health Journal, we address these issues on a case-by-case basis while following the guidance established by major publication ethics bodies. If the editor suspects or alleges an ethical violation, they are obliged to take action. This duty covers both published and unpublished articles. The editor should not simply reject articles raising concerns about possible misconduct. He/she is ethically obliged to follow up on alleged cases. The editor should follow COPE flowcharts when appropriate. Editors should first seek a response from those suspected of misconduct. If they are not satisfied with the response, they should ask the relevant employer or organisation to investigate. The editor should make all reasonable endeavours to ensure that an appropriate investigation into the alleged misconduct is carried out; if this fails, the editor should make all reasonable attempts to insist on a resolution to the problem. This is an onerous but important task.
Hitit Health Journal follows COPE's Ethical Toolkit for a Successful Editorial Office. Hitit Health Journal editors will take measures to prevent the publication of manuscripts in which plagiarism, citation manipulation, data falsification, data fabrication, and other research misconduct have occurred. Under no circumstances will Hitit Health Journal or its editors knowingly allow such misconduct to occur. If the editors of Hitit Health Journal are aware of any allegation of research misconduct related to an article published in their journal, they will follow COPE's guidelines regarding allegations.
Reviewers should inform the Editor if they suspect research or publication misconduct. The Editor is responsible for taking necessary action in accordance with COPE recommendations.
Hitit Health Journal is committed to following the COPE flowcharts when faced with allegations of misconduct on the following or similar issues.
• What to do when re-publication is suspected
• What to do when plagiarism is suspected
• What to do if fabricated data is suspected
• Requests for change of authorship
• What to do if an undisclosed conflict of interest is suspected
• What to do if unfair or gift authorship is suspected
• What to do when an ethical problem is suspected in an article
• What to do when the suspicion of ethical violation is directly notified by e-mail, etc.
• What to do when a suspected ethical violation is announced via social media

Complaint Procedure
This procedure applies to complaints about content, procedures or policies that are the responsibility of Hitit Sağlık Dergisi or our editorial staff. Complaints can provide an opportunity and incentive for improvement and we aim to respond quickly, courteously and constructively.
The complaint must relate to content, procedures or policies that are the responsibility of Hitit Sağlık Dergisi or our editorial team. Complaints should be emailed directly to hititsaglikdergisi@gmail.com and will be treated confidentially. The editor responds to complaints immediately. The editor follows the procedure outlined in the COPE flowchart regarding complaints.
Complaints are reviewed by the relevant member of the editorial team and if they cannot be resolved, the following processes are followed:
• If this initial response is considered inadequate, the complainant may request that the complaint be forwarded to a more senior member of the journal.
• If the complainant is not satisfied, the complaint may be forwarded to the editor-in-chief.
• If possible, a full response will be given within two weeks.
COPE publishes a code of practice for editors of scientific journals. This should facilitate the resolution of disputes with editors, journals and publishers, but only after the journal's own complaints procedures have been exhausted.

Appeal Process
We welcome serious objections to the evaluations made by editors and reviewers. If you feel that we have rejected your paper because we misunderstood its scientific content, please send an appeal message to our editorial team at hititsaglikdergisi@gmail.com. Do not attempt to submit a revised version of your manuscript at this stage. If, after reading your appeal letter, we realise that your appeal is justified, we may invite you to submit a revised version of your manuscript. Your manuscript will then be resubmitted to the external reviewer process. Please include as much detail as possible in the appeal letter. Finally, we can only consider one appeal per manuscript, so please take the time and effort to write the letter in detail to make your appeal clear - you have one chance, so use it well. We have found that prolonged deliberation over rejected papers is often unsatisfactory for both authors and editors, so we do not process multiple appeals for the same paper.

Conflicts of Interest
A conflict of interest arises when professional judgement about a primary interest may be influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain or personal competition). We believe that we need to know the authors' competing interests in order to make the best judgement about how to handle an article, and that readers should know them if we publish the article.
Any interest, financial or otherwise, that may cause the person to be conflicted in his or her work, significantly impair his or her objectivity, or give an unfair advantage in favour of any person or organisation. All sources of financial support received during the conduct of the research and preparation of the manuscript and the role of sponsors in the study should be disclosed. If there is no source of funding, this should also be indicated. Examples of potential conflicts of interest that should be disclosed include consultancies, salaries, grants. Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed at the earliest possible stage.
Hitit Health Journal has a set process for handling submissions from editors, staff or editorial board members to ensure impartial review. Such submissions are first referred to other journals. If this is not possible, the owner of the submission is suspended from the journal. These submissions are reviewed in a double blind process.
The editor should not be involved in decisions about manuscripts written by him/herself or family members. Furthermore, such a paper should be subject to all the usual procedures of the journal. The editor should follow the ICMJE guidelines on disclosure of potential conflicts of interest by authors and reviewers.

Principles of Research Ethics
Hitit Health Journal observes the highest standards in research ethics and adopts the international research ethics principles defined below. It is the responsibility of the authors to ensure that the articles comply with ethical rules.
• The principles of integrity, quality and transparency should be ensured in the design, review of the design and conduct of the research.
• The research team and participants should be fully informed about the purpose of the research, its methods and possible uses; the requirements and risks, if any, of participation in the research.
• Confidentiality of information provided by research participants and confidentiality of respondents must be ensured. The research should be designed to protect the autonomy and dignity of the participants.
• Research participants should take part in the research voluntarily and should not be under any coercion.
• Harm to the participants should be avoided. The research should be planned in a way that does not put the participants at risk.
• Research independence must be clear and explicit; if there is a conflict of interest, it must be stated.
• In experimental studies with human subjects, the written informed consent of the participants who decide to participate in the research must be obtained. The consent of the legal guardian of children and those under guardianship or those with a recognised mental illness must be obtained.
• If the study will be carried out in any institution or organisation, approval must be obtained from this institution or organisation that the study will be conducted.
• In studies with a human element, it should be stated in the "method" section that "informed consent" has been obtained from the participants and ethics committee approval has been obtained from the institution where the study is conducted.

The publication of articles in the journal and the execution of article processes are not subject to any fee. No processing or submission fee is charged under any name for articles submitted to the journal or accepted for publication. Hitit Health journal does not accept sponsorship and advertisement in accordance with its publication policies. All expenses of Hitit Health journal are covered by Hitit University Faculty of Health Sciences Dean's Office.