ARTICLE APPLICATIONS IN WHICH THE FOLLOWING ISSUES ARE VIOLATED WILL BE REJECTED WITHOUT PROCEEDING TO THE REFEREE PROCESS
 

 Pamukkale Medical Journal (Pam Med J) is an open-access free medical journal

      Pamukkale Medical Journal publishes clinical and experimental studies in the field of medicine, interesting case reports, invited reviews, and letters to the Editor. The journal is published   quarterly (January, April, July, October) with four issues per year. Publication language is English.

     The responsibility for the approval of the ethics committee of the studies submitted to the journal belongs to the authors. However, the Editor reserves the right to request an ethics committee   document from the authors when necessary. If all or part of the uploaded text has been previously published elsewhere, this should be reported to the editor.
Corresponding author is responsible for all correspondence, changes on the article (including the number and order of the author) and correction of accepted articles.

It is expected that researches, articles and journals within the scope of TR Index Criteria and required permissions with the approval of the Ethics Committee will comply with the relevant legislation. In this context, "TR Index Ethical Principles Flow Chart" is published on the TR Index page under the Guideline title to assist researchers.

 

PAMUKKALE MEDICAL JOURNAL

 Instructions for Authors

Manuscripts submitted to the Pamukkale Medical Journal must be prepared in accordance with the following writing and formatting guidelines. Submission of a manuscript to the journal implies that the authors agree to comply with the journal’s publication and ethical principles.

1. GENERAL WRITING AND FORMATTING GUIDELINES

• The text should be fully justified.
• Arial, 12-point font should be used throughout the manuscript.
• Line spacing should be set to 1.5, with paragraph spacing set to 0 pt before and 0 pt after.
• The first paragraph following a heading should not be indented. All subsequent paragraphs should begin with a 1.25 cm first-line indent.
• Abbreviations should be defined in full at their first occurrence in the text.
• All references cited in the text must be included in the reference list, and all references listed in the reference list must be cited in the text.
• All tables and figures included in the manuscript must be cited in the main text.
• Genus and species names of microorganisms and gene names should be written in italics (e.g., Schistosoma haematobium).
• The letter p used for statistical analyses should be lowercase and italicized. No space should be inserted between p and the symbols “=”, “>”, or “<” (e.g., p=0.032, p<0.05).
• The use of the symbols “>”, “<”, “=”, and “±” should be consistent throughout the manuscript.
• The International System of Units (SI) should be used for all measurements. For volume measurements, “mL” should be used instead of “cc”, and liter should be abbreviated as “L”.
• A period should be used as the decimal separator (e.g., 12.17).
• For drugs, devices, equipment, or software, manufacturer information should be provided at first mention in parentheses in the following order: manufacturer/company name, city, country.
• For all manuscript types, tables and figures should not be uploaded as separate files. They should be included in the main manuscript file after the References section, in the following order: Tables and Figures.

Note: The General Writing and Formatting Guidelines apply to all manuscript types.

 2. IN-TEXT CITATIONS

The following rules should be followed for in-text citations in the Pamukkale Medical Journal:

• References in the References section should be formatted in accordance with APA 7 (American Psychological Association, 7th Edition) guidelines. However, the journal’s numbered citation system should be used for in-text citations. References should be numbered in the order in which they first appear in the text, and the same order should be maintained in the References section.
• Reference numbers should be given in square brackets [ ]. When a citation appears at the end of a sentence, the reference number should be placed before the period (e.g., “...has been reported [7].”). When an author’s name is mentioned in the sentence, the reference number should immediately follow the author’s name (e.g., “Yüksel [7] stated that…”).
• When citing multiple references, reference numbers should be separated by commas, with a space after each comma (e.g., [1, 4, 7-9]).
• Three or more consecutive references should be indicated using a hyphen (-) between the first and last reference numbers (e.g., [7-9]).
• For single-author references, the author’s surname should be used without et al. (e.g., “Yüksel [7] stated that…”).
• For two-author references, the surnames of both authors should be provided, and et al. should not be used (e.g., “Herek and Ergin [7] stated that…”).
• For references with three or more authors, only the surname of the first author should be given, followed by et al. (e.g., “Aybek et al. [7] stated that…”).
• When a sentence referring to a table or figure ends with a citation, the reference number should be placed after the table or figure citation (e.g., “... (Table 1) [7].”).

All in-text citations must correspond exactly to the references listed in the References section, and all references listed in the References section must be cited in the text.

 General Rules Applicable to All Manuscript Types

• All financial support provided for the research or the preparation of the manuscript should be disclosed under the Funding heading. If no financial support was received, this should be explicitly stated.
• Authors’ contributions to the work should be specified under the Author Contributions heading using the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy).
• Authors should disclose any financial or non-financial conflicts of interest under the Conflict of Interest heading. If no conflict of interest exists, this should also be explicitly stated.
• The use or non-use of generative artificial intelligence or AI-assisted technologies in the preparation of the manuscript should be disclosed under the Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in the Writing Process heading. If such technologies were used, the tool(s) used and the purpose of their use should be specified; if they were not used, this should be explicitly stated.

  3. MANUSCRIPT TYPES AND SECTION STRUCTURE

3.1. Research Article

 Research articles should be prepared according to the section order given below.

Section headings should not be numbered:

Title

Short title – Maximum 75 characters

Abstract – Structured under the headings Purpose, Materials and Methods, Results, and Conclusion; maximum 250 words

Keywords – Maximum five; MeSH-compliant

Introduction

Materials and Methods

Results

Discussion

Acknowledgment (if applicable)

Ethics Approval

Informed Consent

Funding

Author Contributions

Data Availability Statement

Conflict of Interest

Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in the Writing Process

References

Tables

Figures

 Specific Requirements for Research Articles

• Ethics committee approval is mandatory for all research articles involving studies conducted in 2020 or later. For studies requiring ethics committee approval, the full name of the ethics committee, the date of the decision/approval, and the decision, protocol, or approval number should be provided under the Ethics Approval heading.
• For studies involving human participants for which informed consent is required, an Informed Consent statement should be provided. If informed consent was obtained, this should be stated; if the requirement for informed consent was waived by the ethics committee, this should be explicitly declared.
• All research articles should include a Data Availability Statement. This statement should specify where and under what conditions the research data are available or indicate that the data cannot be made publicly available due to ethical, legal, or privacy-related restrictions.
• A Materials and Methods section should be included.
• The Results and Discussion sections should be presented separately.
• Conclusion should not be presented as a separate main heading; the main conclusions and implications of the study should be provided at the end of the Discussion section.

3.2. Review Article

Title

Short title – Maximum 75 characters

Abstract – Maximum 250 words

Keywords – Maximum five; MeSH-compliant

Introduction

Main Headings

Discussion / Conclusion

Acknowledgment (if applicable)

Funding

Author Contributions

Conflict of Interest

Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in the Writing Process

References

Tables

Figures

Specific Requirements for Review Articles

• A Materials and Methods section is not mandatory for review articles.
• A review article should not merely summarize current and scientifically reliable literature directly relevant to the topic; it should provide a critical and comprehensive synthesis of the available evidence.
• The topic and purpose of the review should be clearly stated in the Introduction section.
• The main text should be structured using Main Headings that appropriately reflect the scope and content of the review, with subheadings used where necessary.
• The main conclusions of the review should be evaluated in the Discussion / Conclusion section in light of the available literature.

3.3. Case Report

 Title

Short title – Maximum 75 characters

Abstract – Maximum 250 words

Keywords – Maximum five; MeSH-compliant

Introduction

Case Presentation

Discussion

Patient Consent

Acknowledgment (if applicable)

Funding

Author Contributions

Conflict of Interest

Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in the Writing Process

References

Tables

Figures

 Specific Requirements for Case Reports

• Case reports should present cases that are clinically unique, educational, or have the potential to contribute to the existing literature.
• The clinical characteristics of the case, diagnostic process, treatment, and follow-up information should be presented clearly and chronologically under the Case Presentation heading.
• Any personal information that could directly or indirectly identify the patient should be removed from the text, tables, figures, and images.
• Written informed consent for publication should be obtained from the patient or, where necessary, from the patient’s legal representative. This should be explicitly stated under the Patient Consent heading.
• Appropriate consent for publication should be obtained for patient photographs, imaging findings, or any other materials that could potentially reveal the patient’s identity.
• If the patient is unable to provide consent, consent should be obtained from an authorized legal representative in accordance with applicable ethical and legal requirements.
• The Editorial Office may request documentation of patient consent from the authors when deemed necessary. To protect patient confidentiality, consent forms should not be published as supplementary material to the manuscript.
• Ethics Approval is not routinely required as a separate heading for case reports. However, if ethics committee approval has been obtained due to the nature of the case report or the requirements of the relevant institution, this information should be stated in the manuscript.

 3.4. Letter to the Editor

 Letters to the Editor should be prepared according to the following section order:

Title

Main Text

Conflict of Interest

Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in the Writing Process

References

Tables

Figures

Specific Requirements for Letters to the Editor

• Letters to the Editor are articles of maximum 1000 words, containing readers' different opinions, experiences and questions about the articles published in the journal within the last year.
• An Abstract should not be included.
• Keywords should not be included.
• Sections or subheadings should not be used within the Main Text.
• A Letter to the Editor may be submitted to provide a scientific opinion, critique, or contribution regarding an article published in the journal, or to present a brief discussion of a current and scientifically relevant topic in the field of medicine and health sciences.
• Letters concerning an article published in the journal should appropriately cite the relevant article.
• The text should be written in a scientific, clear, concise, and constructive manner. Personal or accusatory statements, or statements outside the scope of scientific discussion, should not be included.
• Ethics Approval should be stated only if the letter contains original research data requiring ethics committee approval.
• If human participants or individual patient information are included, all applicable ethical and consent requirements should be fulfilled.

4. DECLARATION OF GENERATIVE AI AND AI-ASSISTED TECHNOLOGIES

 The use or non-use of generative artificial intelligence or AI-assisted technologies in the preparation of the manuscript should be disclosed under the Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in the Writing Process heading.

If generative AI or AI-assisted technologies were used, the name of the tool and the purpose for which it was used should be clearly stated.

AI tools cannot be listed as authors and cannot assume authorship responsibilities. The authors are responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and appropriate referencing of the scientific content of the manuscript.

If generative AI or AI-assisted technologies were not used, the following statement should be included:

“The authors declare that no generative AI or AI-assisted technologies were used in the preparation of this manuscript.”

5. REFERENCE FORMATTING – APA 7

References should be formatted in accordance with APA 7 (American Psychological Association, 7th Edition) guidelines.

• References should be numbered in the order in which they first appear in the text, and the same order should be maintained in the References section.
• For references with up to 20 authors, all authors should be listed.
• For references with 21 or more authors, the first 19 authors should be listed, followed by an ellipsis (...), and then the final author.
• Journal titles should be written using their full official names.
• The journal title and volume number should be italicized.
• The issue number should be provided in parentheses and should not be italicized.
• Article titles should be written in sentence case.
• For references with a DOI, the DOI should be presented in the https://doi.org/ format.
• A period should not be placed at the end of a DOI link.
• The maximum number of references is 50.

The “Cite → Format: APA” option in PubMed may be used to assist authors in formatting references in APA style. Authors are responsible for verifying that automatically generated references comply with APA 7 guidelines.

6. APA 7 REFERENCE EXAMPLES

Journal Article – Without a DOI

Format: Author Surname, A. A., Author Surname, B. B., & Author Surname, C. C. (Year). Title of the article. Full Journal Title, Volume(Issue), Page–Page.

Example: Berkman, N. D., Sheridan, S. L., Donahue, K. E., Halpern, D. J., & Crotty, K. (2011). Low health literacy and health outcomes: An updated systematic review. Annals of Internal Medicine, 155(2), 97–107.

Journal Article – With a DOI

Format: Author Surname, A. A., Author Surname, B. B., & Author Surname, C. C. (Year). Title of the article. Full Journal Title, Volume(Issue), Page–Page. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Example: Berkman, N. D., Sheridan, S. L., Donahue, K. E., Halpern, D. J., & Crotty, K. (2011). Low health literacy and health outcomes: An updated systematic review. Annals of Internal Medicine, 155(2), 97–107. https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-155-2-201107190-00005

Book

Format: Author Surname, A. A. (Year). Title of the book. Publisher.

Book Chapter

Format: Chapter Author Surname, A. A. (Year). Title of the chapter. In A. A. Editor Surname & B. B. Editor Surname (Eds.), Title of the book (pp. xx–xx). Publisher.

Webpage

Format: Author/Organization. (Year, Month Day). Title of the webpage. Website Name. URL

Conference Presentation

Format: Author Surname, A. A., & Author Surname, B. B. (Year, Month Day–Day). Title of the presentation [Conference presentation]. Conference Name, City, Country.

Thesis/Dissertation

Format: Author Surname, A. A. (Year). Title of the thesis/dissertation [Unpublished doctoral dissertation/master’s thesis/medical specialization thesis]. University.

 
Plagiarism (Similarity Report) Report
All articles should be scanned with a software such as iThenticate© before they are sent to our Journal and these screening reports should be submitted with the article. The similarity rate for the entire article should be less than 20% and the similarity rate for a reference should be less than 3%. However, careful examination of the similarities above 1% will be in the interest of the author(s). The Editorial Board of our journal has the right to reject all articles with academic plagiarism at the editorial stage. Although our journal does not accept any responsibility for plagiarism problems that may occur regarding the scientific article during and after the evaluation and publication process, it is important to announce that the legal and ethical responsibility in this matter will belong only to the authors.

Statistical rules for tables
Statistical Analysis Section
• The statistical analyses used in the study should be detailed under the subheading "Statistical Analyses" within the Materials and Methods section.
• The software or programming language utilized in the study should be cited, including the version number.
• Instead of using notations such as p<0.05 or p>0.05, the actual p values for comparison results should be reported (e.g., p=0.002; p=0.695). Additionally, statistically significant results (p<0.05) should be marked with an asterisk (*) next to the p value.
• The tests used to evaluate assumptions in the study should be specified (e.g., Kolmogorov-Smirnov for normality, Levene's Test for homogeneity of variance).
• If multiple tests are employed for comparisons in tables, a footnote must indicate which p value corresponds to which test result (e.g., t: Independent samples t-test, z: Mann-Whitney U Test).
• Descriptive statistics and p values should not be presented in separate tables. In the tables displaying results, the corresponding p value and test value should be clearly stated alongside the descriptive statistics.

Spelling rules for pictures and figures
• All pictures must be cited in the text.
• Images of any institution or patient should not have information on it. Eyes should be closed to protect privacy in face photos.
• Images must be with a resolution of at least 300 dpi, 1280x960 pixels and saved in jpg or tiff formats.
• Each picture, figure or graphic should be prepared as a separate document and uploaded as appendices to the text. It should not be placed in the main text
• If signs as arrow etc. are used on the picture, this should be stated in the picture description.
• Picture description: The parts that want to attract attention in the pictures must be marked with thin, black or white color (Arrows should be thin, white or black depending on their location). Please write a detailed description in the description section of the pictures. If some pictures show improvement after treatment, please add information in the form of radiography, scintigraphy, etc. findings that have improved after treatment as a caption.
Picture and Figure titles should be bold.
Example:
Picture 1.
Figure 1.

PAMUKKALE MEDICAL JOURNAL PUBLISHING ETHICS AND PUBLISHING PRINCIPLES

The Pamukkale Medical Journal considers the upholding of ethical standards in scientific publishing to be one of its fundamental editorial principles. The journal’s publication processes are conducted in accordance with the best practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Manuscripts submitted to the journal must comply with internationally accepted scientific and ethical principles throughout the research, authorship, peer review, and publication processes.

Research Ethics

Research involving human participants, biological materials derived from humans, or personal data must be conducted in accordance with relevant national and international ethical standards and the current principles of the World Medical Association’s Declaration of Helsinki.

For studies requiring ethics committee approval, approval must be obtained from an authorized and independent ethics committee before the research begins.

For studies with ethics committee approval, the following information must be clearly stated in the article:

•    The full name of the ethics committee,

•    The date of approval/decision,

•    The decision, protocol, or approval number.

The editorial board may request a copy of the ethics committee approval document from the authors if deemed necessary.

For studies that do not require ethics committee approval, this fact—and, if necessary, the rationale—must be stated in the article in a manner appropriate to the nature of the study.

Informed Consent

In research involving human participants that requires informed consent, appropriate informed consent must be obtained from the participants or, when necessary, from their legal representatives.

If informed consent has been obtained, this must be stated in the article. If the requirement for informed consent has been waived by the authorized ethics committee, the waiver must be clearly stated.

The fact that a study is retrospective does not, in and of itself, imply that the requirement for informed consent has been waived. Authors should not claim a waiver or exemption that has not been granted by an ethics committee.

In case reports and in the publication of text, photographs, images, or other materials from which the patient’s identity could be directly or indirectly identified, written consent for publication must be obtained from the patient or, when necessary, from their legal representative.

Patient Privacy and Confidentiality

Authors are obligated to protect the privacy of patients and research participants.

Unless scientifically necessary, information that could identify an individual—such as names, initials, hospital or protocol numbers, and similar details—should not be published.

In cases where anonymization is insufficient or where there is a possibility that the individual could be identified from the information provided, written consent for publication must be obtained.

Animal Experiments

Research involving animals must be conducted in accordance with relevant national and international ethical principles regarding animal welfare and the use of laboratory animals.

For animal studies requiring approval from an ethics committee or other authorized body, the committee’s full name, the date of approval, and the decision/protocol number must be specified in the article.

Violations of Scientific Research and Publication Ethics

The Pamukkale Medical Journal considers the following practices to be inconsistent with scientific research and publication ethics:

• Plagiarism,
• Data fabrication (fabrication),
• Misrepresentation of data, images, or research results (falsification),
• Simultaneous submission of the same manuscript to multiple journals,
• Duplicate or unnecessary repetitive publication,
• Inappropriate authorship practices,
• Gift or ghost authorship,
• Misleading or inappropriate use of sources,
• Undisclosed conflicts of interest,
• Incorrect or misleading reporting of ethics committee or informed consent information.

When a suspicion or allegation regarding publication ethics arises, the matter is evaluated in accordance with the nature of the incident, taking into account the processes and guidelines recommended by COPE.

The evaluation of ethical issues is not limited solely to the period prior to the article’s publication. Scientific or ethical concerns regarding a published article are also investigated as necessary.

 Author Responsibility

All authors of the article are responsible for the scientific integrity of the work.

Individuals listed as authors must have made a scientifically meaningful contribution to the work, meet the criteria for authorship, and approve the final version of the submitted manuscript.

Detailed provisions regarding authorship and contribution statements are governed by the journal’s Authorship and Author Contributions Policy.

 Conflicts of Interest

Authors, editors, and reviewers are required to disclose any financial or non-financial conflicts of interest that could influence the scientific evaluation or publication process.

Detailed provisions regarding conflicts of interest are governed by the journal’s Conflict of Interest and Financial Support Policy.

 Reports of Ethical Violations

Readers, authors, reviewers, or other individuals may report scientific or ethical concerns regarding a published work or a manuscript under review to the journal’s editorial office.

Reports are evaluated in accordance with the principles of confidentiality, impartiality, and scientific publication ethics. When necessary, authors may be asked to provide an explanation, raw data, an ethics committee document, an informed consent form, or other supporting materials, and the relevant institutions may be contacted.

If deemed necessary as a result of the review, appropriate post-publication actions such as a correction, an expression of concern, or a retraction may be taken.