The Journal of Medical Topics & Updates (Journal of MTU) is an international, multidisciplinary, and peer-reviewed journal for researchers and healthcare providers. It is published three times a year by the Rectorate of Malatya Turgut Özal University and accepts submissions in Turkish and/or English.

As the official publication of Malatya Turgut Özal University Rectorate, the journal follows the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work. Authors are responsible for ensuring the scientific and ethical compliance of their articles (http://www.icmje.org/about-icmje/faqs/conflict-of-interest-disclosure-forms/).

All papers must be submitted online through the system and undergo an initial review by the editor. If a manuscript deviates from the provided guidelines or falls outside the scope of the journal, it may be rejected without undergoing peer review. Accepted manuscripts will undergo evaluation by at least two referees. Once a manuscript is accepted for publication, no further changes will be allowed after the completion of revisions suggested by the referees.

Originality, high scientific quality, and citation potential are crucial criteria for acceptance. Submitted articles for review should not have been previously presented or published in any electronic or print medium. The journal does not hold legal responsibility if authors fail to comply with this condition.

Authors should inform the journal if an article, previously submitted to another journal, has been rejected for publication. The submission of previous reviewer reports will expedite the evaluation process. Articles presented at a conference should include detailed information about the organization, including its name, date, and location.

The Copyright and Author Contribution Form must be completed and uploaded along with the manuscript. Journal of MTU is an open-access journal, and no fees are charged to authors during the submission, evaluation, and printing stages.

The journal publishes articles in the following categories:

Original Article
Case Presentation
Review
Letter to the Editor (and responses)
Authors are required to adhere to the provided guidelines. The editorial office may return the manuscript for standard requirements before proceeding to the review.

Original articles should be categorized as basic or clinical research and include the following sections: Title, Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments (if necessary), Conflict of Interest Disclosure (indicating whether it exists or not), References, Tables, Figure Captions, and Figures. Research articles should be limited to 5000 words and 40 references.

Case presentations should include Title, Abstract, Introduction, Case Presentation, Discussion, Acknowledgments (optional), Conflict of Interest Disclosure (indicating whether it exists or not), References, Tables, Figure Captions, and Figures. The Introduction and Discussion sections of case presentations should be concise and not exceed 1500 words.

Review articles, submitted by authors according to their expertise, should include Title, Abstract, Introduction, Results, Conclusion, Acknowledgments (if necessary), Conflict of Interest Disclosure (indicating whether it exists or not), References, Tables, Figure Captions, and Figures. The number of references should ideally be limited to 50.

Letters to the Editor should be related to articles published in the last four issues. These letters should be brief, not exceeding 500 words and 5 references.

Manuscripts should be prepared in Microsoft Word, with figures and graphs submitted electronically. The manuscript should be in A4 size, 'Times New Roman' font, 12-point size, double-spaced, justified on both sides, and saved as a Microsoft Word file. The first line indentation in paragraphs should be 0.5 cm, and margins should be 2.5 cm on all sides.

All measurements should be in the metric system (International System of Units, SI). Abbreviations in the text should be explained in parentheses at their first usage.

The journal follows the Index Medicus abbreviations for journal names. The citation style for references should be as follows:

For journal articles:
Fonken LK, Weil ZM & Nelson RJ. Dark nights reverse metabolic disruption caused by dim light at night. Obesity. 2013;21(6):1159-64.

For national journals in Turkey (excluding indexed ones):
Öztürk İA, Ertürk C, Bilge A, Altay MA, Altay N, Işıkan UE. Tibia Kırıklarında Cerrahi Tedavi Yöntemlerinin Kompartman Basıncına Etkisi. Harran Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Dergisi. 2017;14(3):160-70.

For books:
Baş O, Yoldaş A, Köse E, Pekmez H ve Ark. “İNSAN” ANATOMİ. Editör: Prof. Dr. Davut Özbağ. 486 pp., İstanbul Medikal Sağlık ve Yayıncılık Hiz. Tic. Ltd. Şti. 2019.

For internet articles or websites:
Dünya Sağlık Örgütü. Osteoporoz Tanısı için DSÖ Kriterleri. Son Erişim Tarihi: 15.06.2017. Şu adresten edinilebilir: (http://www.4bonehealth.org/education/world-health-organization-criteria-diagnosis-osteoporosis/)

For theses:
Tatar N. Profesyonel bayan sporcularda, alt ekstremite antropometrik ölçümleri. Yükseklisans Tezi. Fırat Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Enstitüsü, 2015. Elazığ.

Conflict of Interest Disclosures:
Authors must declare any potential conflicts of interest, financial or non-financial, in their articles. The ICMJE Potential Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form should be filled out by all contributing authors and submitted. The resolution of potential conflicts of interest cases involving editors, authors, or reviewers will be handled by the journal's Editorial Board following COPE and ICMJE guidelines.

Copyright and License:
Each submission must be accompanied by a Copyright Agreement and Author Contribution Form (available at ………..). Authors should obtain permission from copyright holders when using previously published content, including figures, tables, or other materials. Legal, financial, and criminal responsibilities related to this matter lie with the authors.

Tables:
Tables should be written on a separate page with double-spacing. Each table should be numbered and have a descriptive title at the top. If abbreviations are used, an alphabetical list of explanations should be provided below the table. Tables should not duplicate information already present in the text.

Figures:
Figures (photographs, drawings, diagrams, charts, graphs) should be submitted as separate files, and each figure should be numbered and cited in the text. Titles and explanations for figures should be presented on a separate page. High-resolution files in TIFF, JPEG, or EPS formats are preferred.

Ethical Considerations:
All submitted articles should comply with ethical standards, including the Declaration of Helsinki, the International Conference on Harmonization for Good Clinical Practice (ICH-GCP), and the International Conference on Harmonization for Good Laboratory Practice (ICH-GLP). Research involving human subjects should have received approval from the appropriate ethics committee, and informed consent should be obtained from all participants.

Plagiarism Detection:
All submitted manuscripts will undergo plagiarism detection using appropriate software. If plagiarism or unethical conduct is identified, the manuscript will be rejected, and the author(s) may be reported to their institution and other relevant bodies.

Submission Process:
Manuscripts can be submitted through the online submission system at …………….. The system will guide authors through the submission process, including uploading files and completing forms.

Review Process:
Manuscripts will be initially reviewed by the editor for adherence to guidelines and appropriateness for the journal. Submissions that pass this stage will undergo peer review by at least two independent experts in the field. The peer-review process aims to provide constructive feedback to authors and assist the editor in making editorial decisions.

Editorial Decisions:
The editorial board reserves the right to make the final decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of manuscripts. The editor may request revisions or edits before making a final decision. Authors will be informed of editorial decisions along with feedback from reviewers.

Publication Ethics:
Authors, reviewers, and editors are expected to adhere to high standards of publication ethics. Any deviation from ethical guidelines will be thoroughly investigated, and appropriate action will be taken, including rejection of the manuscript or retraction of published articles.

Open Access:
The Journal of MTU is an open-access journal, meaning that all content is freely available without charge to the user or their institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.

Archiving:
The journal is committed to digital preservation and is archived through …………….

Contact:
For inquiries, contact the editorial office at ……………."

(Note: The ellipses ("...") in the text are placeholders for specific information, such as the journal's website, submission system, and contact details, which should be filled in with the relevant information before publishing or sharing this text.)

Author Ethical Responsibilities:
Authors submitting manuscripts to the Journal of MTU are expected to adhere to the following ethical responsibilities:
• Authors must submit their own original work to the journal. If they are utilizing or presenting results from other works in the manuscript, they must accurately and completely cite in-text and end-of-text references.
• Individuals who did not contribute intellectually to the work should not be listed as authors.
• Conflicting interests or relationships must be disclosed if present in the submitted articles.
• Authors may be asked to provide raw data during the review process, and in such cases, authors should be prepared to submit their data and information to the relevant publication and scientific committees.
• Authors must document ethical committee approval and informed consent for all research studies involving patients, patient records, research participants, or databases.
• For images that may reveal the identity of the patient, authors must provide written consent from the patient(s) on whom the report is based.
• Authors are obligated to inform the editor if they notice an error or conflicting result in their work during the early stages of publication or in the publication process. They must collaborate with the editors during the correction or retraction process.
• Authors cannot submit the same study to more than one journal simultaneously. Each submission can only be made after the completion of the previous one. A study published in another journal cannot be submitted to the Journal of MTU.

For original research, a copy of the ethics committee approval form, and for case reports, a copy of the informed consent form, must be uploaded to the system.

Editor's Ethical Responsibilities:
Editors must have the following ethical responsibilities based on the "COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors," published by COPE, and open access.
1.1. General Duties and Responsibilities

Should strive to meet the needs of readers and authors.
Must make efforts to continually improve their journals.
Must conduct the process to ensure the quality of the published journal.
Must support freedom of expression.
Must uphold the integrity of academic records (index).
Must maintain and not compromise intellectual and ethical standards.
Should always be prepared to publish corrections, clarifications, article withdrawal letters, and apologies.
1.2. Relationships with Readers
Readers should be informed about who financed the research or other academic work, the role of the funders in the research and publication, and, if so, what it was.
1.3. Relationships with Authors
Editor's decisions on accepting or rejecting an article must be based on the importance, originality, and clarity of the article, its relevance to the validity of the study, and the scope of the journal.
The editor should not reverse decisions to accept submissions unless serious problems are detected with the submission.
New editors should not overturn publication decisions made by the previous editor unless serious problems are detected.
An explanation of the peer review process should be published, and editors should provide information on changes in the disclosed process.
Journals should have a defined process for authors to appeal editorial decisions.
Editors should publish a guide for authors. This guide should be regularly updated.
1.4. Relationships with Reviewers
Editors should handle all expectations of reviewers confidentially and privately and create a guide on how submitted articles should be reviewed.
Before accepting to review an article, the editor should consider whether there are potential conflicts of interest for the reviewers.
Editors should have a system that guarantees the confidentiality of the identities of the reviewer panel unless they declare that they use an open review system.
The editor can write a thank-you note in the journal for reviewers invited and reviewed for a specific article.
1.5. Relationships with Editorial Board Members
The editor should provide new editorial board members with guidance on everything expected of them and continually inform existing members of new policies and developments.
1.6. Relationships with Journal Owners and Publishers
The editor should be based on the principle of editorial independence.
The editor must decide which article to publish based on the quality of the article and its suitability for the journal without interference from the owner or publisher.
The editor must have a written agreement regarding the relationships with the journal's owner and/or publisher.
1.7. Editorial and Peer Review Process
Editors should make efforts to ensure that the peer review process in their journal is fair, impartial, and timely.
Editors should have systems in place to ensure that the materials sent to their journals remain confidential during the review process.
Editors should strive to ensure the quality of the materials published by recognizing that different sections of their journals have different purposes and standards.
Reviewer Ethical Responsibilities:
The review process is conducted based on the double-blind review principle. Reviewers do not communicate directly with authors; their reviews and comments are processed through the journal management system. During this process, review forms and the opinions of reviewers on full texts are assigned to authors by the editor.
Reviewers:
• Should only agree to review within their areas of expertise.
• Must evaluate in an unbiased and confidential manner.
• Should inform the journal editor if they perceive conflicts of interest and refuse to review the article in the review process.
• Must destroy reviewed articles after the review process in accordance with the principle of confidentiality.
• Reviewers can only use the final versions of the articles they have reviewed after they have been published.
• Should objectively review the article based on its content, and national, gender, religious, and political beliefs, as well as economic concerns, should not affect the evaluation.
• Should review the article in a constructive and gentle tone, avoiding hostility, slander, and personal comments. They must accept the reviewed article within the specified ethical rules and review it in a timely manner.
• Reviewers are required to complete the Peer Review Form for the articles they review. They must state whether the articles they reviewed are publishable or not, and they must explain their decisions and reasons in this form.
• Reviewers will be given a review period of 20 days. Reviewers will be notified as the deadline approaches. Reviewers who cannot complete the review by the deadline may contact the editor to request additional time. Reviewers must pay maximum attention to the review period.