Volume: 25 Issue: 4

Kocatepe Medical Journal is the official scientific publication of Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University Faculty of Medicine. The journal is a medical journal published since 1999. The primary purpose of the journal is to publish clinical and experimental research articles in the field of medicine, which are scientifically qualified and will make a new contribution to the literature. In addition, it is to improve the application, contribute to the information sharing, and ensure the continuity of education and research.

Scientific articles on all subjects related to general medical fields are within the scope of the journal. Kocatepe Medical Journal is an open-access periodical publication that publishes independently, without prejudice and within the framework of double-blind reviewing principles. Clinical and experimental research articles, short reports, case reports, review articles and letters to the editor in English or Turkish are accepted for publication. The journal is published 4 times a year, in January, April, July and October.

Writing Rules

Articles to be included in the Kocatepe Medical Journal must have the following rules;

1. Manuscripts submitted for publication to the journal should be based on a well-defined problematic and the titles should be compatible with this problematic. The resources used should be rich and sufficient to reflect the scope of the study.

2. The journal accepts Turkish and English articles.

3. Spelling and punctuation are based on the latest edition of the TDK Spelling Guide. Submitted manuscripts should be clear and understandable in terms of language and expression in accordance with scientific criteria.

4. If deemed necessary in terms of spelling rules, corrections can be made by the editorial board.

5. The authors are responsible for the compliance of the articles with the ethical rules. Similarity rate to other scientific publications should not exceed 25%. However, the editor reserves the right to request an ethics committee document from the authors when necessary.

6. No fee or compensation is paid for published articles.

7. The authors are responsible for the compliance of the articles with scientific rules. The following explanations should be taken into consideration in this regard:

a) All authors should have scientific contributions in the submitted articles.
b) Name determined as author; plan or do the study, write or revise the manuscript, and all authors must accept the final version of the article.

8. The authors are responsible for the compliance of the articles with the ethical rules. The following explanations should be taken into consideration in this regard:

a) The journal searches for compliance with the Helsinki Declaration principles (http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/ index.html) in all studies that include "Human" element. In such studies, authors should open a subtitle named "Ethics Committee Approval" in the "Materials and Methods" section of the manuscript, and write the institution, date and number from which the ethics committee approval was obtained. Authors must state that they have obtained "informed consent" from the volunteers who participated in the study.
b) If the "Animal" is used in the study, the authors should open a subtitle titled "Ethics Committee Approval" in the "Materials and Methods" section of the article, and submit to the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (www.nap.edu/catalog/5140.html. ) and in line with their principles, they must declare that they protect animal rights in their work and write the institution, date and number from which the approval of the ethics committee was obtained.
c) In case reports, "informed consent" should be obtained from the volunteers and the identity of the volunteer should be kept anonymous. In the Materials and Methods section, it must be declared that "informed consent" has been obtained from the volunteer.
d) If there is an institution that provides financial support for the direct / direct commercial connection or study in the article, the authors must report this (if not) on the presentation page.

9. Compliance of the articles with the biostatistical rules is the responsibility of the authors. The "p" values should be given explicitly in the articles (such as p = 0.025; p = 0.524)

10. According to the 1976 Copyright Act, all publishing rights of the articles accepted for publication belong to the institution that publishes the journal. The opinions and suggestions in the articles are the responsibility of the authors.

11. Author Approval Form should be sent with the article. The "Author Approval Form" on the journal website must be submitted with the manuscript after it is filled and signed by all authors.

12. Guidelines Checklist must be filled and submitted with article to the system.

13. After the article is accepted, the Copyright Transfer Form should be sent. After the "Copyright Transfer Form" on the journal website is filled and signed by all authors, it should be sent with the accepted article or the corrected article in line with the suggestions of the reviewers.

14. Articles are accepted electronically to speed up the process. The articles should be prepared so that they can be seen in the word program.

15. Articles Submitted:

a) All manuscripts should be written in A4 size, and the margins of the page should be 2.5 cm from the top, bottom and sides. References should be listed according to the order of citation made within the article. In principle, our journal recommends referencing Turkish publications in the articles. The entire text, including references, tables and figure descriptions, should be typed with 1.5 line spacing, justified, without hyphenation and using 12 point font. Whenever possible, the "Cambria" typeface should be used for texts, symbols and other special characters. The formatting features of your word processing program must be used to show Bold, Italic, Greek Alphabet, Math, Subscript and Superscript characters. Explanations of the abbreviations should be given where they are first used, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. In order for the articles to be processed immediately, they must fully comply with the specified spelling rules. Editorial and Editorial Advisory Board have the right for articles that do not comply with the terms of publication to send back to its author for correction, to edit it formally or to reject.
b) Footnote explanations should be arranged in Cambria, 9 font size, with single line spacing. The names of the figures should be below the figure and the names of the tables above the table; If quoted, the source should be shown below the figure and table. Rows and column lines should not be used in tables.
c) Tables, figures and pictures should be submitted in separate files. Figures and pictures should be at least 300 dpi in JPEG format. Figures and pictures pasted into Word are not accepted.
d) All figures and tables in the text should be referred. Tables and Figures (Drawing and Photographs) should be indicated with a number (1, 2, 3) in parentheses at the end of the sentence. The legends of the figures and tables should be written on a separate page after the references at the end of the text.

e) Research articles and Short Communications should be prepared in the following order:
• Title page
• Turkish and English Abstract (Objective, Materials and Methods, Results, Conclusion should be divided into parts.)
• Introduction
• Materials and Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• Acknowledgements
• References

f) Research articles:
- Abstract should be 150-300 words.
- The entire text (including Turkish and English abstracts, excluding references) should not exceed 5000 words.
- In the Materials and Methods section, there should be a subtitle in the form of Ethics Committee Approval and the name, number and date of the board from which the approval was obtained should be specified.
- Acknowledgments, if any, to the organization or person who contributed to the research should be included in the discussion and resources.
- References should not exceed 50.

g) Short Communications:
- Abstract should be 100-250 words.
- The entire text (including Turkish and English abstracts, excluding references) should not exceed 2000 words.
- In the Materials and Methods section, there should be a subtitle as Ethics Committee Approval, and the name, number and date of the board from which the approval was obtained should be specified.
- Acknowledgments, if any, to the organization or person who contributed to the research should be included in the discussion and resources.
- References should be no more than 25.

h) Case reports should be prepared in the following order:
• Title page
• Turkish and English Abstract
• Introduction
• Case Report
• Discussion
• Acknowledgements
• References

- The maximum number of authors should be 5.
- Abstract and Abstract should be 100-250 words. The entire text (including Turkish and English abstracts, excluding references) should not exceed 2500 words.
- In case presentations, "Informed constent" should be obtained from the patients and the identity of the patient should be kept secret. In the Materials and Methods section, it must be declared that "informed consent" has been obtained from the volunteer.
- Acknowledgments, if any, to the organization or person who contributed to the research should be included in the discussion and resources.
- References should be a maximum of 15.

i) Review articles:
- Title page must be found.
- The maximum number of authors should be 4 people.
- Abstract should be 250-400 words.
- The entire text (including Turkish and English abstracts, excluding references) should not exceed 5000 words.
- References should be at most 80.

j) Letter to the editor:
- Title page must be found.
- The entire text (excluding references) should not exceed 750 words.
- References should be a maximum of 10.

k) Title page should contain the following content: (Title page should include Research articles, Short Communications, Case reports, Review articles and letter to the Editor.)
- Turkish title
- English title
- Author names (Corresponding author must be specified)
- Academic titles of the authors
- ORCID numbers of the authors
- Authors' institution addresses
- Authors' e-mail addresses
- Authors' phone numbers

l) Abstract
All manuscripts should include a Turkish and an English Abstract. Turkish and English abstracts should be 150-300 words for research articles, 100-250 words for short papers, 100-250 words for case reports, 250-400 words for review articles. There should be "Keywords" consisting of at least three to five words in Turkish and English just below the abstract. "Keywords" should be selected from Turkey Science Terms (http://www.bilimterimleri.com). Turkey Science Terms; It is a keyword index containing the Turkish equivalents of MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) terms.

m) References:
Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the references. The number of books, book chapters or web addressed references should not exceed five (all) in total. The references used should be indicated with numbers in parentheses at the end of the sentences. The "References Section" of the article should be at the end of the article and the references should be listed in order of transition in the article. References should include the surnames and initials of the authors, the title of the article, the name of the journal, the year of publication, start and end pages. For articles with more than six authors, after the first three authors, 'et al.' or 'et al.' statement should be used. Abbreviations must comply with Index Medicus.

Examples:
The reference writing style for the articles published in the journal:

- Ertekin T, Ekinci N, Karaca O, Nisari M, Canoz O, Ulger H. Effect of angiostatin on 1,2-dimethylhydrazine-induced colon cancer in mice. Toxicol Ind Health. 2013; 29 (6): 490-7.
* Names of journals published in Turkey (except those indexed in PubMed) must be written in full.

The reference writing style for the book:
- Dieffenbach CW, Dveksler GS (Edited by). PCR Primer. 2nd Edition, New York: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2003: 107-108.
- Dilek ON (Editör). Karaciğer. 1nci Baskı, Ankara: Uyum Ajans, 2003:689-719.

The reference writing style for the chapters in the books:
- Dieffenbach CW, Dveksler GS (Edited by). PCR Primer. In: Roux KH. Optimization and Troubleshooting in PCR. 2nd Edition, New York: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2003: 35-41.
- Dilek ON (Editör). Karaciğer. In: Gökçe Ö, Arıkan Y. Alveolar hidatik kist. 1nci Baskı, Ankara: Uyum Ajans, 2003:591-5.

The reference style for online writing:
Official websites of non-commercial national and international scientific boards and organizations can be cited as a reference by indicating the date of access.
- Kavuncu V, Evcik D. Physiotherapy in rheumatoid arthritis. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/474880?src=search, Access date: 20.05.2004

Writing format in the references section of theses:
- Şahin DA. Effects of cyclosporine a and FK-506 on ischemia-reperfusion injury seen after hemorrhagic shock. Master thesis. Istanbul: Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, Department of General Surgery, 1999.
- Arıkan Terzi ES. Investigation of the relationship of RORA, ROBO1, CFH and HTRA1 gene polymorphisms with Age-Related Macular Degeneration. Doctoral Thesis. Afyonkarahisar: Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University, Institute of Health Sciences, Department of Medical Genetics, 2014.

16. Article Evaluation Stages are as follows:
- All manuscripts are evaluated by the editor, assistant editors and at least three consultants / reviewers.
- Before the articles are sent to the reviewers, their compliance with the journal writing rules is examined by the scientific secretariat.
- The reviewers are asked to declare within seven days whether they agree to evaluate the article.
- The reviewer must complete the evaluation within thirty days.
- The withdrawal request of the articles that are in the process of execution and decision stage without a reasonable reason is included in the scope of "rejection".

Ethical Principles and Publication Policy

While creating the ethical duties and responsibilities below, it has been prepared by taking into account the guidelines and policies published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) as open access.

Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

Author (s) who submit a study to the Kocatepe Medical Journal are expected to comply with the following ethical responsibilities:

• The publishing processes applied in the Kocatepe Medical Journal constitute the basis for the development and distribution of information in an impartial and respectful manner. The processes implemented in this direction directly reflect the quality of the work of the authors and the institutions that support the authors. Peer-reviewed studies are studies that embody and support the scientific method. At this point, it is important that all stakeholders of the process (authors, readers and researchers, publishers, reviewers and editors) comply with the standards of ethical principles. Within the scope of publishing ethics of Kocatepe Medical Journal, all stakeholders are expected to bear the following ethical responsibilities.

• It is expected that the works submitted by the author (s) will be original. If the author (s) benefit from or use other studies, they must cite and / or quote completely and accurately.

• Persons who do not contribute to the content intellectually in the creation of the study should not be specified as authors.

• The situations and relationships of all the studies that may constitute a conflict of interest, if any, must be explained.

• Raw data related to their articles may be requested from the author (s) within the framework of the evaluation processes, in such a case, the author (s) should be ready to present the expected data and information to the editorial board and scientific board.

• The author (s) must have a document showing that they have the rights to use the data used, the necessary permissions for the research / analysis, or that the consent of the experimental subjects has been obtained.

• In the event that the author (s) notices a mistake or mistake about the published work, in the early view or evaluation stage, it has an obligation to cooperate with the editor in informing, correcting or withdrawing the journal editor or publisher.

• Authors cannot have their work in the application process of more than one journal at the same time. Each application can be started following completion of the previous application. A study published in another journal cannot be sent to the Kocatepe Medical Journal.

• Changing the author responsibilities of a study whose evaluation process has started (such as adding an author, changing the order of the author, removing the author) cannot be proposed.

Editors' Ethical Duties and Responsibilities

Kocatepe Medical Journal Editor-in-Chief and Field Editors, on the basis of "COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" and "COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" published as open access by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), should have responsibilities:

General duties and responsibilities

Editors are responsible for every publication published in Kocatepe Medical Journal. In the context of this responsibility, editors have the following roles and responsibilities:

• Making efforts to meet the information needs of readers and authors,

• Continuous improvement of the journal,

• Conducting processes to improve the quality of the studies published in the journal,

• Supporting freedom of thought,

• Ensuring academic integrity,

• Continuing business processes without compromising intellectual property rights and ethical standards,

• Show clarity and transparency in terms of publication in matters that require correction and explanation.

Relations with the reader

Editors should make decisions by taking into account the knowledge, skills and experience expectations of all readers, researchers and practitioners. It should pay attention to the original quality of the published studies. In addition, editors are obliged to take into account the feedback from readers, researchers and practitioners, and to provide explanatory and informative feedback.

Relations with authors

Editors' duties and responsibilities towards authors are as follows:

• Editors should make positive or negative decisions based on the importance of the work, its original value, validity, clarity of expression and the journal's goals and objectives.

• Unless the studies that are suitable for the scope of the publication do not have serious problems, they should be included in the pre-evaluation stage.

• Editors should not ignore positive reviewer suggestions unless there is a serious problem with the work.

• New editors should not change the decisions made by the previous editor (s) regarding the work, unless there is a serious problem.

• "Blind Review and Evaluation Process" must be published and editors must prevent any deviations that may occur in the defined processes.

• An explanatory and informative notification and feedback should be provided to the authors.

Relations with reviewers

Editors' duties and responsibilities towards reviewers are as follows:

• It should determine the reviewers in accordance with the subject of the study.

• It is obliged to provide the information and guides that reviewers will need during the evaluation phase.

• It has to observe whether there is a conflict of interest between the authors and reviewers.

• In the context of blind reviewing, the identity of the reviewers should be kept confidential.

• Encourage reviewers to consider working in an impartial, scientific and objective language.

• It should determine practices and policies that increase the performance of reviewers.

• Take the necessary steps to dynamically update the reviewer pool.

• Avoid impolite and unscientific evaluations.

• Take steps to ensure that the reviewer pool is made up of a broad spectrum.

Relations with the editorial board

Editors should ensure that all editorial board members advance processes in accordance with editorial policies and guidelines. The editorial board should inform its members about the editorial policies and keep them informed of the developments. In addition,
• Editors should ensure that editorial board members evaluate the work impartially and independently.
• Editors should identify new editorial board members as contributing and appropriately qualified.
• Editors should submit studies suitable for the field of expertise of the editorial board members for evaluation. Editors should regularly interact with the editorial board.
• Editors should hold meetings with the Editorial Board at regular intervals for the development of the publication policies and the journal.

Relations with the magazine owner and publisher

The relationship between editors and publisher is based on the principle of editorial independence. In accordance with the written agreement between the editors and the publisher, all decisions taken by the editors are independent of the publisher and the magazine owner.

Editorial and blind review processes

Editors; It is obliged to implement the "Blind review and Evaluation Process" policies in the journal publishing policies. In this context, editors ensure that each work is completed in a fair, impartial and timely evaluation process.

Quality assurance

Editors; It is responsible for publishing every article published in the journal in accordance with the journal publishing policies and international standards.

Protection of personal data

Editors; It is obliged to ensure the protection of personal data regarding the subjects or images in the evaluated studies. Unless the express consent of the individuals participating in the studies is documented, it is responsible for refusing to work. In addition, the editors; is responsible for protecting the individual data of the author, reviewers and readers.

Ethics committee, human and animal rights

Editors; is obliged to ensure the protection of human and animal rights in the evaluated studies. It is responsible for refusing to manuscript in cases where the ethics committee approval for the subjects used in the studies and the permissions for experimental research are not available.

Prevention against possible misconduct

Editors; is obliged to take precautions against possible misconduct. In addition to conducting a meticulous and objective investigation in determining and evaluating complaints regarding this situation, it is among the editor's responsibilities to share the findings on the subject.

To ensure academic publication integrity

Editors should ensure that any errors, inconsistencies, or misleading judgments in the work are quickly corrected.

Protection of intellectual property rights

Editors; It is obliged to protect the intellectual property rights of all published articles and to defend the rights of the journal and the author (s) in possible violations. In addition, editors are obliged to take the necessary measures to ensure that the content in all published articles does not violate the intellectual property rights of other publications.

Constructiveness and openness to discussion

Editors;

• Should take into account the persuasive criticism of the works published in the journal and display a constructive attitude towards these criticisms.

• The author (s) of the criticized studies should give the right to reply.

• Should not ignore or exclude studies with negative results.

Complaints

Editors; is responsible for responding in an enlightening and descriptive manner by carefully examining the complaints from authors, reviewers or readers.

Political and Commercial concerns

Journal owner, publisher, and any other political or commercial aspect does not affect the independent decision-making of the editors.

Conflicts of interest

Editors; It guarantees the completion of the publication process of the manuscripts in an independent and impartial manner, taking into account the conflicts of interest between the author (s), reviewers and other editors.

Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers

The evaluation of all studies by "Blinding Reviewing " directly affects the quality of the publication. This process provides confidence through objective and independent evaluation of the publication. The evaluation process of Kocatepe Medical Journal is carried out on the basis of double-blind peer review. Reviewers cannot contact the authors directly, evaluations and comments are submitted through the journal management system. In this process, reviewer comments on evaluation forms and full texts are sent to the author (s) through the editor. In this context, it is expected that reviewers evaluating a study for Kocatepe Medical Journal have the following ethical responsibilities:

• It should only accept study evaluation related to the field of specialization.

• It should evaluate in impartiality and confidentiality.

• If reviewer thinks that he / she faces a conflict of interest during the evaluation process, he / she should refuse to review the study and inform the editor of the journal.

• Due to the confidentiality principle, they should destroy the studies they examine after the evaluation process. They can only use the final versions of the studies they have reviewed, only after they have been published.

• Make the assessment objectively only in relation to the content of the study. It should not allow nationality, gender, religious beliefs, political beliefs, and business concerns to influence the assessment.

• The assessment should be made in a constructive and courteous language. He should not make derogatory personal comments that contain hostility, slander and insult.

• They must perform the study they have accepted to evaluate, in a timely manner and with the above ethical responsibilities.

Publisher's Ethical Responsibilities

The Editors and Editorial Board of Kocatepe Medical Journal act with the awareness of the following ethical responsibilities:

• Editors are responsible for all processes of the studies submitted to the Kocatepe Medical Journal. In this context, the decision makers are editors, regardless of economic or political gains.

• The independent editor commits to making the decision.

• Protects the property and copyright of every article published in Kocatepe Medical Journal and undertakes the obligation to keep the records of every published copy.

• Has the responsibility to take precautions regarding all kinds of scientific misconduct, citation fraud and plagiarism regarding editors.

If You Encounter an Unethical Situation

If you encounter any unethical behavior or content other than the above mentioned ethical responsibilities in Kocatepe Medical Journal, please report to ktd@afsu.edu.tr.com via e-mail.