Turkish Journal of Internal Medicine (TJIM) is an international, peer-reviewed scholarly journal devoted to internal medicine and related medical disciplines. The journal publishes in English, follows a double-blind peer-review model, and uses a continuous publication system, so that accepted articles are published online once the editorial and production processes are complete. The journal adheres to the highest ethical and scientific standards, following the guidelines of COPE, ICMJE, Declaration of Helsinki, and WAME to ensure integrity, transparency, and accountability in scholarly publishing.

Author Responsibilities

• Authors must submit only original and unpublished manuscripts that are not under consideration by another journal at the same time.
• When an editor submits an article to a journal, their access is restricted until the peer-review process is complete. The editor cannot see any screens related to the article's progress.
• For studies involving human participants, animals, biological materials, or sensitive data, the required ethics committee approval and informed consent documents must be submitted in full.
• Authors must avoid all forms of research and publication misconduct, including plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, data falsification, excessive overlap, and all other violations of publication ethics.
• A study may not be included in more than one publication, whether in the same journal or in a different journal.
• All authors must meet the ICMJE authorship criteria; honorary, guest, or ghost authorship is strictly prohibited.
• Valid ORCID IDs for all authors must be provided.
• All actual or potential conflicts of interest must be disclosed clearly and transparently.
• Funding bodies, institutional contributions, and any other support related to the research must be properly acknowledged.
• Authors are responsible for the accuracy, reliability, and reproducibility of the data they submit.
• All submitted manuscripts are subject to a rigorous peer-review process conducted by at least two international reviewers who are experts in the relevant field. Reviewers are selected by the Associate Editors and the Editor-in-Chief. In some journals or for certain article types, authors may also be allowed to suggest reviewers.
• During the review process, the manuscript is evaluated for relevance to the journal’s scope, originality, readability, scientific and statistical validity, and language quality.
• At the end of the review process, the manuscript may be accepted, returned for minor revision, returned for major revision, or rejected.
• A request for revision does not guarantee acceptance of the manuscript.
• Authors must complete the requested revisions in a timely, careful, and comprehensive manner, in line with the editors' and reviewers' comments.
• Rejected manuscripts are not reconsidered for review.
• Acceptance of a manuscript is subject to compliance with applicable legal requirements, including those related to libel, copyright infringement, plagiarism, and other relevant regulations.

Editor Responsibilities

• Editors must evaluate submitted manuscripts fairly and impartially, in accordance with academic criteria, while maintaining confidentiality throughout the process.
• Editorial decisions must be based on the manuscript’s originality, scholarly contribution, methodological soundness, clarity, ethical compliance, and relevance to the journal’s scope.
• Editors must not allow any conflicts of interest among authors, reviewers, editorial board members, and editorial staff, and they must refrain from handling submissions in cases of actual or potential conflicts of interest.
• Editors are responsible for selecting qualified, appropriate, and impartial reviewers for each submission.
• Editors must protect the integrity of the double-blind peer review process and maintain the confidentiality of authors, reviewers, and manuscript content throughout the evaluation process.
• Editors should ensure that all submissions are evaluated within a reasonable timeframe and that the editorial process proceeds in an orderly, careful, and transparent manner.
• Editors (Editor-in-Chief or Associate Editors) have full authority and responsibility for the acceptance or rejection of a manuscript.
• Editors should not alter a decision once it has been made unless there is a serious and well-justified reason; likewise, they should not overturn decisions made by previous editors without compelling grounds.
• Editors must ensure that all published research complies with internationally accepted ethical principles and, when necessary, should have a clear understanding of the sources of research funding.
• Editors are responsible for safeguarding the scientific quality of the manuscripts, the overall quality of the publication, and the integrity of the academic record.
• Editors must take allegations of ethical misconduct, research malpractice, or publication-related complaints seriously, regardless of whether the manuscript is published or unpublished, and should make every reasonable effort to resolve such issues.
• When necessary, editors should issue corrections, clarifications, retractions, editorial notices, or errata in order to preserve the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record.
• Editors should consider the needs of both authors and readers while striving to enhance the journal’s academic quality and editorial process.

Reviewer Responsibilities

• Reviewers must treat all manuscripts assigned to them as confidential documents and must not share, reproduce, or discuss their contents with third parties.
• Reviewer reports should be prepared in an objective, evidence-based, constructive, and respectful manner, avoiding personal criticism.
• Reviewers should accept only those manuscripts within their area of expertise and decline review invitations when they lack sufficient knowledge to provide a qualified assessment.
• Reviewers must disclose any conflict of interest that may affect their impartiality, including competitive, collaborative, institutional, or financial relationships, and should withdraw from the review process when necessary.
• Reviewer reports should focus on the scientific quality, originality, clarity, ethical compliance, and overall contribution of the manuscript to the field.
• Reviewers should inform the editor of any important relevant literature that has not been cited, as well as any similarity or overlap with other works known to them.
• If reviewers identify suspected plagiarism, duplicate submission, data manipulation, or any other ethical concern, they should promptly report the matter to the Editor or Editor-in-Chief.
• Reviewers are expected to complete their evaluations within the agreed-upon timeframe and to provide clear, reasoned, and understandable feedback that will contribute to the editorial decision.
• Reviewers must not upload manuscript files or any part of the manuscript content to artificial intelligence tools, AI-assisted platforms, or any external system that could compromise confidentiality.

Plagiarism and Similarity Check Policy

• All manuscripts submitted to TJIM are screened for originality as part of the editorial evaluation process.
• The journal adopts a strict policy against plagiarism, unethical text reuse, duplicate publication, and other forms of academic misconduct.
• Manuscripts are assessed through similarity-checking tools during the preliminary editorial review.
• For TJIM, the overall similarity index must not exceed 20%, excluding the reference list.
• Similarity originating from a single source must not exceed 3%.
• In some cases, similarities detected in the methodology section may be evaluated separately at the editors' discretion.
• Manuscripts that exceed the journal’s similarity thresholds may be returned to the authors for revision, correction, or further explanation.
• Authors are fully responsible for ensuring the originality of their submissions and for providing proper citation and acknowledgment of all sources used.
• Authors are expected to review and comply with the journal's full plagiarism and similarity policy before submission.

Research Ethics

• All studies involving human participants must have received approval from the relevant ethics committee.
• Research involving humans must be conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.
• Where applicable, it must be clearly stated in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained from the participants.
• For clinical studies, registration information and relevant ethical approvals must be provided.
• Studies involving animals must be conducted in accordance with internationally recognized standards of animal welfare and research ethics.
• Authors must clearly declare that the research was conducted and reported in compliance with ethical principles.

Data Transparency

• Authors must be prepared to provide raw data, supporting documents, or additional explanations to the editors when requested for verification purposes.
• Research data must be reported accurately, completely, and transparently.
• Data fabrication, data falsification, selective reporting, and similar practices are considered serious violations of scientific ethics.

Conflict of Interest

• Authors, reviewers, and editors must clearly disclose any financial, personal, institutional, or professional conflicts of interest that may affect the research, evaluation, or decision-making process.
• Any potential conflicts of interest must be handled in a way that does not compromise transparency in the review and editorial decision-making processes.
• Individuals with a conflict of interest must not participate in the relevant review or editorial decision-making processes to preserve impartiality.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use Policy

• Authors must clearly disclose any artificial intelligence tools used during the manuscript preparation process. This disclosure should be included in the Methods, Acknowledgments, or another appropriate section, stating the name of the tool, its version if applicable, and the purpose of its use.
• AI tools may be used for limited and technical purposes such as language editing, spelling and grammar correction, technical formatting, reference editing, coding support, data visualization, and statistical or computational assistance.
• The use of artificial intelligence must not adversely affect the originality, scientific integrity, accuracy, or reliability of the research.
• AI tools must not be used to generate scientific content, results, hypotheses, interpretations, discussions, or original academic evaluations.
• AI must not be used to fabricate, falsify, distort, or manipulate data, images, findings, references, or citations.
• AI tools cannot replace the researcher’s scientific judgment, interpretive ability, or academic responsibility.
• AI tools cannot be listed as authors, as they do not meet authorship criteria and cannot assume scientific or ethical responsibility.
• The authors bear ultimate responsibility for the accuracy, originality, and ethical compliance of all content included in the manuscript.
• Editors and reviewers may use AI tools only for limited technical purposes that protect confidentiality and comply with the journal’s policy. AI must not be used for editorial decision-making, drafting reviewer reports, or replacing human expert evaluation.
• Editors and reviewers must not upload manuscript files, supplementary files, images, data, or peer-review correspondence to external AI systems.

Retraction

An article may be retracted under the following circumstances:

• Confirmed plagiarism, data fabrication, or data falsification,
• Detection of duplicate publication,
• Major errors that fundamentally affect the conclusions of the study,
• Ethical violations that compromise the scientific reliability of the work.

Retracted articles remain publicly accessible in order to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record. Such articles are clearly marked with a “RETRACTED” watermark and accompanied by an explanatory retraction notice.

Withdrawal

• Requests for withdrawal must be submitted with a formal written justification.
• Withdrawal requests made after the peer-review process has begun, without a valid justification, may be regarded as unethical publishing behavior.

Corrections

• Corrections, including corrigenda, errata, or addenda, are issued when minor errors or omissions do not invalidate the study's overall findings but require clarification.

Handling of Ethical Misconduct

• Allegations of ethical misconduct or concerns regarding scientific reliability submitted to the journal are evaluated carefully and confidentially by the editorial office.
• When necessary, the editor initiates an investigation in accordance with COPE and ICMJE principles and may request explanations, additional documents, or supporting information from the authors.
• If the suspicion of ethical misconduct is serious, the editor may consider informing the authors’ institution and, where appropriate, the relevant funding bodies.
• While the investigation is ongoing, the editor may publish an expression of concern if there is a serious doubt regarding the integrity of the manuscript.
• If misconduct is confirmed, the manuscript may be rejected; for published articles, a correction, expression of concern, or retraction may be issued.
• Retractions and expressions of concern are published in a clear, visible, and reasoned manner and are linked to the original article.
• Throughout the process, editorial impartiality, confidentiality, and the integrity of the scholarly record are maintained.

Official Editorial Communication Address

• All formal correspondence related to the editorial and peer-review process shall be conducted through the journal’s official communication address: nkoca@yahoo.com
• Such correspondence may include, but is not limited to, initial editorial screening, requests for clarification, authorship verification, ethical inquiries, notifications of suspected misconduct, and decisions concerning revision, acceptance, rejection, or withdrawal.
• Authors are responsible for regularly monitoring this address and for providing timely responses in order to avoid delays in the editorial process.
• All communications sent to or received from this address form part of the journal’s official editorial record.
• Failure to respond within a reasonable period may affect the editorial workflow and may lead to administrative action