Value in Health Sciences

The Journal of Values in Health Sciences aims to contribute to the academic body of knowledge by publishing original, up-to-date, and high-quality scientific studies conducted in the field of health sciences. Our journal seeks to promote scientific collaboration and interaction among all disciplines related to health, with a particular emphasis on basic and clinical health sciences. It supports the publication of qualified research conducted in accordance with scientific ethical principles and fosters effective knowledge exchange between researchers and healthcare professionals.

Our journal encompasses both clinical and experimental (in vitro and in vivo) studies from all health-related disciplines, primarily including core fields such as medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, nutrition and dietetics, physiotherapy and rehabilitation, health management, and biomedical sciences.
The journal publishes various types of scientific manuscripts, primarily including:
    Research articles,
    Review articles,
    Case reports,
    Letters to the editor.
In addition, the journal also considers other types of submissions such as editorial comments, scientific letters, descriptions of surgical techniques, differential diagnosis articles, original images, case contributions in the “What is your diagnosis?” format, medical book reviews, and question-and-answer content.
Academic publications focusing on health policies, ethical approaches, multidisciplinary studies, and public health are also within the scope of the journal.
Our journal accepts manuscripts written in both Turkish and English and is published exclusively online three times a year, in January, May, and September.

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

• It is important for the journals to determine the principles to be followed during the preparation of an article by considering the international standards and to check the compliance with these rules in the articles to be evaluated and to increase our scientific publishing standards. For this reason, the manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with the International Journal of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), the World Medical Editorial Association (WAME) and the Code of Publication (COPE

• At the beginning of the evaluation system, the journal Copyright Transfer Form, signed by the authors, is requested to be uploaded to the system.

• The standards accepted and applied by international medical journals, which should be followed during the preparation of an article to be submitted to scientific journals, should be as follows:

  • The manuscript submitted for publication must have not been published elsewhere or sent for publication.

  • In the manuscript submission, the Contributor Open Researcher and Contributor Identifier-ORCID ID field is required for authors of manuscript.

  • If you have used previously published tables, pictures etc. on the manuscript, you must have written permission from the owner of the right of publication and the authors, and must be state this in written manuscript. The legal responsibility in this regard is the responsibility of the authors.

  • The manuscripts submitted at scientific meetings/congress are evaluated, provided that they are stated in footnotes.

  • In the Turkish manuscripts, the Turkish dictionary of the Turkish Language Association or the address of http://www.tdk.org.tr and the glossary of terms belonging to the branches of the Turkish Medical Associations should be taken.

  • How to determine sample size, how sampling is done and which statistical methods and principles are used in data analysis should be given under “Statistical Analysis” sub-section at the end of “MATERIAL AND METHODS” section.

  • Manuscripts that do not comply with the Journal Writing Rules are not included in the "Peer Review Process".

  • All manuscripts are carefully checked for similarity or plagiarism.

Plagiarism Principle of Journal

Plagiarism is the use of others' published and unpublished ideas or words (or other intellectual property rights) without reference or permission and presented as new and original rather than from an existing source. Self-criticism means that an author uses parts of his previous writings on the same topic elsewhere in his publications, especially without quoting them (https://wame.org/recommendations-on-publication-ethics-policies-for-medical-journals).

Manuscript with plagiarism and / or self-criticism detected in the evaluation of the editor in Value in Health Sciences will not be taken. During the file upload process, authors are required to upload the similarity report obtained by using an appropriate plagiarism program (iThenticate, Turnitin, etc.) to the system together with other files.

Manuscript with a similarity rate of more than 20%  will be accepted as plagiarism and rejected.

• There is no article submission or processing charges in this journal.
  

2. SCIENTIFIC RESPONSIBILITY

In the submitted scientific manuscript, all authors should have a direct academic-scientific contribution. 

The correspondence author with the journal carries the responsibility of the final manuscript in the name of all authors.

3. ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITY

•  In all the studies in which the "human" element is found, the principle of conformity to Helsinki Declaration Principles is sought. In these studies, the authors are required to indicate that they have been working in accordance with these principles in the MATERIALS AND METHODS section of the manuscript. In addition the authors should receive "Informed consent form" from the ethics committees of the institutions, and the people involved in the study.
• If "Animal" was used in the study, the authors should state in the MATERIAL and METHODS section that their studies have been approved by animal ethics committees and that they protect animal rights in line with the "Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals"
• Informed consent" should be obtained from patients regardless of the identity of the patient in the case report.
• If there are institutions that provide direct or indirect financial support to the work, the authors should state on the presentation page how the relationship is. If there is no relation, it should indicate it.
• If it is necessary to obtain "Ethics Committee Approval", the authors should declare that they have received the written ethics approval in "Materials and Methods" section (with date and number). "Oral ethical approval was obtained expression" must not be used.
• The manuscript should include a statement about the compliance of Research and Publication Ethics.

4. PUBLICATION / COPYRIGHT

• All publications / copyrights of the manuscripts accepted for publication belong to our journal. The thoughts and suggestions in the manuscripts are entirely the responsibility of the authors.
• For each manuscript, authors should complete the “Copyright Transfer Form” and submit it to the journal with the manuscript.

5. THE TYPES OF THE ARTICLES

• The language of the journal is Turkish and English.
• The manuscripts to be submitted to the journals should be in the following categories and should be prepared in the specified structures.
• Manuscripts that do not comply with the Journal Writing Rules are not included in the "Peer Review Process".

    a) Original Research Article: Original prospective or retrospective studies of basic or clinical investigations in areas relevant to medicine.

        Content:

• Turkish and English main titles, and running titles (the first letters of words should be large)
• Abstract (the structured abstract contain the following sections: Aim, Material and Methods, Results, Conclusion; average 200-250 words; Turkish and English).
• Introduction
• Material and Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgement
• References

    b) Review: The authors may be invited to write or may submit a review article. Reviews including the latest medical literature may be prepared on all medical topics. Authors who have published materials on the topic are preferred.

    Content

• Abstract (average 150-200 words, Turkish and English)
• Titles on related topics
• References (max 40)

    c) Case Report: Brief descriptions of a previously undocumented disease process, a unique unreported manifestation or treatment of a known disease process, or unique unreported complications of treatment regimens. They should include an adequate number of     photos and figures.

    Content:

• Abstract (average 100-150 words, Turkish and English)
• Introduction
• Case Report
• Discussion
• References

    d) Editorial Commentary/Discussion: Evaluation of the original research article is done by the specialists of the field (except the authors of the research article) and it is published at the end of the related article.

    e) Letters to the Editor: These are the letters that include different views, experiments and questions of the readers about the manuscripts that were published in this journal in the recent year and should be no more than 500 words.

    Content

• There’s no title and abstract.
• The number of references should not exceed 5.
• Submitted letters should include a note indicating the attribution to an article (with the number and date) and the name, affiliation and address of the author(s) at the end.
• The answer to the letter is given by the editor or the author(s) of the manuscript and is published in the journal.

    f) Scientific Letter: It is the articles that discuss the general medical issues and discuss the subject by referring to the published scientific articles.

    Content

• Abstract (average 100-150 words, Turkish and English)
• Titles on related topics
• References

    g) Surgical Technique: These are articles in which surgical techniques are explained.

    Content

• Abstract (average 100-150 words, Turkish and English)
• Surgical Technique
• References

    h) Differential Diagnosis: These are case reports which have topical importance. They include commentaries related with similar diseases.

    Content

• Abstract (average 100-150 words, Turkish and English)
• Titles related with subject
• References (between 3 and 5)

    i) Original Images: Self-explanatory figures or pictures on rare issues in literature.

    Content

• Text with 300 words, original images
• References

    j) What is Your Diagnosis?: These articles are related with diseases that are seen rarely and show differences in diagnosis and treatment, and they are prepared as questions-answers.

    Content

• Titles related with subject
• References (between 3 and 5)

    k) Medical Book Reviews: Reviews and comments on current national and international medical books.

    l) Questions and Answers: Scientific educational questions and answers on medical topics.

6. WRITING RULES / AUTHORS GUIDELINES

The manuscripts submitted for publication must be reviewed in accordance with the following formal principles.

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION:

Manuscripts that do not comply with the Journal Writing Rules are not included in the "Peer Review Process".

1. The manuscripts should be prepared as Microsoft Word ® document.

2. The manuscripts should be written in 1.5 spaced, 12 point, justified aligned and "Times New Roman" character. There should be a 2.5 cm space on the edges of the page and the page numbers should be placed on the bottom right corner of the page. Paragraph indentation should not be used in the text.

3. The authors should indicate the type of the manuscript they have submitted, that no other journal has been sent before, the persons and organizations, that fund the work, and their relationship to the authors on the cover letter.

4. On the title page, a long title and running title with maximum 40 characters of manuscript should be written in Turkish and English, should be given the contribution rates of authors to manuscript, the information about authors’ names, academic titles, ORCID® numbers, and affiliated institutions, also corresponding author should be stated with an address, relevant phone and fax numbers.

5. Manuscripts should be submitted in a single file including “titles, abstract, main text, references, tables and / or figures”.

6. The title and short title of the manuscript (Turkish and English) should be written with the first letters of the words in bold and left aligned. Turkish title and short title should be before OZ and English title and short title should be before ABSTRACT.

7. According to the type of manuscript/article, other titles (i.e.: ABSTRACT, INTRODUCTION, MATERIAL AND METHODS, DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION, REFERENCES) should be written in capital letters, bold and left aligned.

8. If the manuscript has been presented in a scientific meeting/conference/congress, the meeting name, date and place must be written.

9. The abstract should be written in Turkish and English according to the type of articles.

10. In Turkish manuscripts (except for English ABSTRACT section) comma should be used as decimal point separator. For English manuscripts (except for the Turkish ABSTRACT/OZ section), a period should be used as a decimal point.
    

KEYWORDS:

• They should be minimally two, and should written Turkish and English.

• The words should be separated by semicolon (;), from each other.

• English keywords should be appropriate to “Medical Subject Headings (MESH)” (www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html).

• Turkish keywords should be appropriate to “TR Index Keywords List” and “Turkish Science Terminology” (http://www.bilimterimleri.com).

ABBREVATIONS:

Abbreviations that are used should be defined in parenthesis where the full word is first mentioned. For commonly accepted abbreviations and usage, please refer to Scientific Style and Format: The CBE Manuel for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, 6th ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994.

FIGURES, PICTURES, TABLES AND GRAPHICS:

1. Figures, pictures, tables and graphics should be given after the references section.
   

2. All figures, pictures, tables and graphics should be cited at the end of the relevant sentence. Explanations about figures, pictures, tables and graphics must be placed at the end of the manuscript.

3. Pictures/photographs must be in color, clear and with appropriate contrast to separate details. Figures, pictures/photographs must be added to the system as separate  .tif, .png, .jpg or .gif files (approximately 500x400 pixels, 8 cm in width and scanned at 300 resolution).

4. All abbreviations used, must be listed in explanation which will be placed at the bottom of each figure, picture, table and graphic.

5. For figures, pictures, tables and graphics to be reproduced relevant permissions need to be provided. This permission must be mentioned in the explanation.

6. The table headings should be written on the table, and the figure/graph headings should be written under the figure/graph (Table 1. and Figure 1.), with all words except the first letter being lower case.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

Any conflict of interest, financial support, donation and other editorial support (English/Turkish evaluation) or technical support must be stated in this section immediately at the end of main text (before the References).

REFERENCES:

Vancouver style should be used in text representation of references.

References should be numbered according to order of use and should be given in parentheses at the end of the sentence.

 Example:

 * ... (1,2,7-9).

 * Smith et al. (4)…

• References section should be formed according to the reference order cited in the text.

• EndNote ® or similar program can be used for easy management of references. However, before the manuscript is sent to the journal, the list of references should be in plain text.

• All authors should be listed if 6 or fewer, otherwise list the first 6 and add the et al.

• Personal experiences and unpublished papers cannot be given as reference.

• DOI is the only acceptable on-line reference.

Format for Journal Articles;

Initials of author’s names and surnames. Titles of article. Journal name. Year; Volume (issue): Page numbers.

a) Format for articles in e-journals found in print journals or on the internet;

Example:

Rose ME, Huerbin MB, Melick J, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Regulation of interstitial excitatory amino acid concentrations after cortical contusion injury. Brain Res. 2002; 935(1-2): 40-6.

Abood S. Quality improvement initiative in nursing homes: the ANA acts in an advisory role. Am J Nurs [Internet]. 2002 Jun [Cited: 2002 Aug 12]; 102(6): [about 1 p.]. Available from: http://www.nursingworld.org/AJN/2002/june/Wawatch.htm.

b) Format for articles whose authors do not exist;

Example:

21st century heart solution may have a sting in the tail. BMJ. 2002; 325(7357): 184.

Format for Books;

Initials of author’s names and surnames. Book title. Edition number. City: Publisher; Year.

Example:

Murray PR, Rosenthal KS, Kobayashi GS, Pfaller MA. Medical microbiology. 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby; 2002.

a) Format for books of which the editor and author is the same person;

Example:

Dionne RA, Phero JC, Becker DE, editors. Management of pain and anxiety in the dental office. Philadelphia: WB Saunders; 2002.

b) Format for a Chapter of Book;

Example:

Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A, Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human solid tumors. In: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, editors. The genetic basis of human cancer. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002. p. 93-113.

Format for Encyclopedia or Dictionary;

Encyclopedia or dictionary name. Edition number. City: Publisher; Year. Chapter; Page numbers.

Example:

Dorland’s illustrated medical dictionary. 29th ed. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders; 2000. Filamin; p. 675. 

Format for the Thesis;

Author's surname and initials. Thesis name [thesis type]. City: University or Institution name; Year.

Example:

Borkowski MM. Infant sleep and feeding: a telephone survey of Hispanic Americans [PhD dissertation]. Mount Pleasant (MI): Central Michigan University; 2002.

Format for Conference / Congress / Symposium Declaration;

The initial (s) of the surname (s) and name (s) of the author (s). Name of the paper. Editor (s) of the surname (s) and name (s) of the editor (s). Conference / Congress / Symposium name; Year; City. Publication place: Publisher; Year. Page numbers.

a) Format for the Conference / Congress / Symposium Declaration published in a book;

Example:

Khalifa ME, Elmessiry HM, ElBahnasy KM, Ramadan HMM. Medical image registration using mutual information similarity measure. In: Lim CT, Goh JCH, editors. Icbme2008: Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Biomedical Engineering; 2008 Dec 3-6; Singapore. Dordrecht: Springer; 2009. p. 151-5.

b) Format for a Conference / Congress / Symposium Declaration unpublished in a book;

Example:

Waterkeyn J, Matimati R, Muringanzia A. ZOD for all: Scaling up the community health club model to meet the MDGs for sanitation in rural and urban areas: case studies from Zimbabwe and Uganda. International Water Association Development Congress; 2009 Nov 15-9; Mexico.

Format for Web Site;

Author / organisation's name. Title of the page [Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher; Date or year of publication [Updated: YYYY Mon DD; Cited: YYYY Mon DD]. Available from: URL.

Example:

Cancer-Pain.org [Internet]. New York: Association of Cancer Online Resources, Inc.; c2000-01 [Updated: 2002 May 16; Cited: 2002 Jul 9]. Available from: http://www.cancer-pain.org/.

7. IMPORTANT POINTS TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

• The correspondence author should fill in the "Copyright Transfer Form" and send it to the journal together with the manuscript.

• The authors should state the name of the 3 referees and the current contact information (mail, e-mail, telephone, fax) on a separate title page for evaluate of the manuscript. Editors maintain the right to choose referees.

• The manuscripts should be uploaded to the journal system from dergipark.org.tr.

Part ® is a registered trademark of Microsoft Word and EndNote.

Ethical Principles and Publication Policy

• Journal of Value in Health Sciences adheres to internationally recognized standards and principles of publication ethics that must be followed in academic research. All manuscripts that do not comply with these ethical standards will be retracted, including those that are accepted for publication or already published if an ethical violation is later identified. All stakeholders involved in the publication process are expected to fulfill their ethical responsibilities.
• Journal of Value in Health Sciences complies with the ethical guidelines and best practices of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Manuscripts submitted to the journal must not have been previously published or under consideration for publication elsewhere at the time of submission to the system.

Plagiarism Policy

Plagiarism is the use of others’ published or unpublished ideas, words, or other intellectual property without proper attribution or permission, and presenting them as if they are original and newly created rather than derived from an existing source. Self-plagiarism refers to the reuse of portions of an author’s previous work on the same subject in a new publication, especially without appropriate citation, even if the earlier work was written by the same author (https://wame.org/recommendations-on-publication-ethics-policies-for-medical-journals

• In the Journal of Value in Health Sciences, manuscripts found to contain plagiarism or self-plagiarism during editorial evaluation will not be considered for review. Authors are required to submit a similarity report obtained using a reliable plagiarism detection tool (e.g., iThenticate, Turnitin) together with their manuscript files during the submission process.
• Manuscripts with a similarity index exceeding 20% (excluding references) are considered plagiarized and are automatically rejected.
  Scientific Responsibility
• All authors listed in the submitted manuscript must have made a direct academic and scientific contribution to the study.
• The corresponding author is responsible for the final version of the manuscript on behalf of all authors and serves as the main point of contact with the journal.
  

Publisher's Ethical Responsibilities
Düzce University, the publisher of the Journal of Value in Health Sciences, is a non-profit public educational institution committed to serving the public interest. The Editors and Editorial Board of the journal act in accordance with the following ethical responsibilities: The editors of the Journal of Value in Health Sciences are responsible for all editorial processes related to the manuscripts submitted to the journal. Their decisions are made independently, without regard to economic or political interests. They are committed to maintaining an independent editorial decision-making process.

• The journal ensures open, electronic, and free access to its content via its official website. It is the responsibility of the journal to publish articles that comply with research and publication ethics, to protect the ownership and copyright of each published article, and to maintain an archival record of every published version. The publisher and editorial team are also responsible for taking necessary measures against scientific misconduct, including plagiarism, citation manipulation, and unethical practices by editors.

Responsibilities of the Editors

The editors of the Journal of Value in Health Sciences are responsible for overseeing all processes related to each manuscript submitted to the journal, including those that occur after publication. The primary duties of the editors are to maintain and enhance the academic quality of the journal, and to make impartial and ethically sound decisions throughout the publication process.
The responsibilities of the editors are as follows:

• Prioritize public interest in all publishing policies and editorial decisions, and act independently.
• Maintain the principle of “editorial independence” in the relationship between the editor(s) and the publisher, and make all decisions free from influence by the publisher or any external individuals/institutions.
• Make continuous efforts to improve the development of the journal and enhance its publication quality.
• Establish and ensure the effective implementation of policies related to the editorial process, peer review, and publication ethics.
• Ensure that every manuscript selected for publication is objectively evaluated by qualified reviewers who are experts in the field.
• Protect the copyrights of authors for articles published in the journal.
• Take necessary precautions throughout the editorial process concerning intellectual property rights, unethical practices, plagiarism, and citation manipulation.
• Keep author and reviewer guidelines up to date to support their understanding of the editorial and peer review process.
• Systematically archive all records of manuscript submission, review, and correspondence, either in electronic or print form.

Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers

The Journal of Value in Health Sciences employs a double-blind peer review process. In this system, there is no direct communication between reviewers and authors. Reviewers’ opinions regarding the manuscript are conveyed to the authors by the editor via the journal’s editorial management system, using review forms and annotations made on the manuscript.
In this context, the referees who evaluate the articles submitted to the Journal Value in Health Sciences are expected to have the following ethical responsibilities:

• Accept to review only those manuscripts that fall within their area of expertise.
• Conduct the review process in accordance with the principles of impartiality and confidentiality.
•  Understand that any manuscript under review is confidential, and that its contents may only be used after publication; all copies must be destroyed after the review process is completed.
• Decline to review a manuscript if there is any conflict of interest or shared interest, and notify the editorial office accordingly.
• Base their evaluation solely on the scientific merit and content of the manuscript.
• Not allow factors such as nationality, gender, religion, political beliefs, or commercial interests to influence the review process.
• Provide feedback in a constructive, respectful, and professional tone, and avoid making insulting, hostile, or defamatory personal remarks.
• Complete the review within the specified time frame and submit it through the “Reviewer Evaluation Form”.

Authors’ Ethical Responsibilities

The publication processes of the Journal of Value in Health Sciences aim to ensure that knowledge is produced and disseminated in an objective, reliable, and reputable manner. Since this process directly reflects the contributions of authors and their affiliated institutions to scientific research, it is of utmost importance that all stakeholders involved—including authors, readers, researchers, publishers, reviewers, and editors—adhere strictly to ethical principles at every stage.
Authors who submit manuscripts to the Journal of Value in Health Sciences are expected to comply with the following ethical responsibilities:

• Submitted work must be original. If other sources have been used, they must be cited accurately and completely.
• Individuals who have not made a significant intellectual contribution to the content should not be listed as authors.
• Any relationship or condition that may lead to a conflict of interest must be clearly declared in the manuscript.
• Authors must be prepared to provide additional data or raw materials related to the manuscript upon request by editors or reviewers during the evaluation process.
• In studies involving human subjects, the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki must be followed; ethical approval and informed consent from participants must be clearly stated in the Materials and Methods section
• In studies involving animals, experiments must be conducted in accordance with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Compliance with animal welfare standards and approval from the institutional ethics committee must be specified in the Materials and Methods section.
• For case reports, even if patient identity is not disclosed, informed consent must be obtained, and patient privacy must be protected.
• If the study received direct or indirect commercial support, or if authors have any financial or professional relationships with manufacturers of drugs, products, or companies mentioned (e.g., consultancy), this must be clearly disclosed in the cover letter.
• In studies requiring ethics committee approval, such approval must have been obtained and clearly indicated in the Materials and Methods section with the approval date and reference number.
• A clear statement indicating compliance with research and publication ethics must be included in the manuscript.
• Manuscripts must not be submitted to more than one journal simultaneously.
• Manuscripts that have been previously published in another journal must not be submitted to the Journal of Value in Health Sciences.
  
  

Value in Health Sciences;
* does not request any fees for article submission, reviewing and editing processes, page layout, or publication (page or color fees).
* does not pay any fees to authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial board members.
* does not accept announcements, advertisements, sponsorships, etc. due to its publication policy.
* is an open-access journal that does not request any subscription fees.
* All papers on Value in Health Sciences are free to read and download.
* All papers on Value in Health Sciences are archived with the LOCKSS (Lots Of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) system through TÜBİTAK ULAKBİM DergiPark.