Author Guidelines

The Kastamonu Medical Journal accepts submissions in just English. The publication language of the journal is only English.

The Kastamonu Medical Journal charges no submission or manuscript processing fee.

1.1 General Format

Manuscripts should be prepared using Microsoft Word, size A4 with 2.5 cm margins on all sides, 12 pt Times New Roman font, and double line spacing. “System International” (SI) units should be used. Abbreviations should be defined at first mention and used consistently thereafter. Manuscripts written in English should be following the Writing Guide and Grammar.The system enables online submission and evaluation of the manuscript.

Text(s) and table(s) should be prepared in MS Word format, and graphic(s), and picture(s) should preferably be in JPEG format (minimum 300 DPI). Figures, tables, pictures, and graphics should be referenced in the text. Abbreviations should be given in parentheses where the word first appears. Articles should be 50% contiguous, a comma should be used in a period (55.78) should be used in English manuscripts.

1.2 Article Type

Identification of article type is the first step of manuscript submission because article type dictates the guidelines that should be used (see below, Using Guidelines), including formatting and word limits of the manuscript. The main categories of article type are outlined below:

Original Article: Original contributions are manuscripts containing substantial novel research. These articles can include randomized controlled trials, observational (cohort, case-control, or cross-sectional) studies, descriptive studies, diagnostic accuracy studies, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses, nonrandomized behavioral and public health intervention trials, experimental animal trials, or any other clinical or experimental studies. Abstracts should not exceed 400 words and should be structured with the following subheadings: Aims, Methods, Results, and Conclusion. The main text should be structured with the following subheadings: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments, References, Tables, and Figure Legends. The main text should not exceed 4000 words, excluding the abstract, references, tables, and figure legends. It is recommended not to exceed 30 references. All papers but cell studies require ethical approval.

Brief/Case Reports: Brief reports are short and peer-reviewed articles including small case series, case reports, negative trials, preliminary results, and others that are not to be published as a full-text papers. The main text should be less than 2000 words with a maximum of 10 references and have no more than 3 display items (Tables or figures). It is recommended not to exceed 200 words in the abstract.Abstracts should not be configured, and sub-headings should not contain (Aims, Methods, Results, and Conclusion). In case reports, it should be stated that an "informed consent form" is taken.

Review Article:The review articles are comprehensive analyses of specific topics in medicine, which can also be written by invitation, due to the extensive experience and publications of authors on the review subjects. All review articles will also undergo peer review before acceptance. Review articles must not exceed 4000 words for the main text (excluding references, tables, and figure legends) and 400 words for the abstract. A review article can be signed by no more than 4 authors and can have no more than 80 references. It is recommended not to exceed 200 words in the abstract.Abstracts should not be configured, and sub-headings should not contain (Aims, Methods, Results, and Conclusion).Review articles do not require ethical approval.

Letter to the Editor: Letters about a journal article must not exceed 1000 words (excluding references). An abstract is not required for this type of manuscript. A letter can be signed by no more than 3 authors and can have no more than 5 references and 1 figure or table. Authors might be asked for a reply to the letter. Replies must be submitted through the submission system as well.

Clinical Image:For educational purposes, the journal publishes original, interesting, and high-quality clinical images having a brief explanation (maximum 500 words excluding references but including figure legends) and of educational significance. The figure legend should contain no more than 100 words. It can be signed by no more than 5 authors and can have no more than 5 references and 1 figure or table. Any information that might identify the patient or hospital, including the date, should be removed from the image. An abstract is not required for this type of manuscript. The main text of clinical images should be structured with the following subheadings: Case, and References. All papers require the patient's consent.

Editorial Comment:Editorial comments are brief remarks on an article published in the journal by the reviewer of the article or by a relevant authority. Most comments are invited by the Editor-in-Chief but spontaneous comments are welcome. It must not exceed 1000 words (excluding references). An abstract is not required for this type of manuscript. It can have no more than 15 references and 1 figure or table.

Other: Editorials, editorial comments, book reviews, and reports on publication and research ethics are requested by the Editorial Board.

1.3. Clinical Trials and Reporting Guidelines
The Kastamonu Medical Journalencourages the registration of all clinical trials via ClinicalTrials.gov (www.clinicaltrials.gov) or one of the registries of the WHO’s International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP: http://www.who.int/ictrp/network/primary/en/index.html). Especially the phase 3 clinical trials must be registered at or before the time of first patient enrollment. The name of the registry and the registration number together with the information onthe funding source should be provided at the end of the abstract.
Authors should also refer to the guidelines below when preparing their manuscript
For further information on the reporting guidelines for health research, authors are suggested to refer to the EQUATOR network website (http://www.equator-network.org/)

2. Preparation and Submission of Manuscript

The entire submission process for a manuscript is completed online through the self-explanatory online submission system through the website.

Please be informed that we will ask you to suggest two potential reviewers during the manuscript submission process. 

The submission should be divided into SEPARATE files in the following order:

2.1.Cover Letter

2.2. Title Page

2.3. Main Document (Abstract, Main text, references, tables, and figure legends. Abstract of the manuscript should be also submitted through the submission system)

2.4. Tables

2.5. Figures

2.6. Ethics Committee Approval form

2.7. Copyright Agreement and Acknowledgement of Authorship Form

2.8. The ICMJE Conflict of Interest formandData-sharing Statement form

2.9. Creative Commons License Agreement Form

2.1. Cover Letter (As a separate file)
The cover letter should include the article title, the full name of the corresponding author, and type of article (original article, case report, review article, letter to editor etc.). The cover letter should also include a statement declaring the absence or presence of a conflict of interest (please refer to the

ICMJE Conflict of Interest form page for details). Furthermore, there should be a statement that the manuscript has not already been published, accepted, or under simultaneous review for publication elsewhere. Kastamonu Medical Journal does not accept multiple submissions and duplicate submissions even though the previous one was published in a different language. Please refer to the editorial (ICMJE recommendations (http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/overlapping-publications.html) on this subject for more details. For manuscripts that have been presented orally or as a poster, this must be stated on the title page with the date and the place of the presentation. An example of a cover letter can be found on the journal’s webpage.

2.2. Title Page (As a separate file)

This should include:

The complete manuscript title (no more than 150 characters)

The running head (no more than 50 characters)

All authors' full names with ORCIDs, affiliations, and e-mail addresses (all authors should meet the ICMJE’s requirements for authorship – see details at “Copyright Transfer and Acknowledgement of Authorship Form”

The name, address, telephone, and fax numbers, and email address of the corresponding author

Information about where and when the study has previously been presented.

Acknowledgments: All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship (ICMJE: authorship and contributorship) and the statement of conflict of interest and funding should be declared under this subheading.

An example of a title page can be found on the journal’s webpage.

2.3. Main Document (As a separate file)

The main document should include the abstract, main text, reference list, tables, and figure legends, respectively.

2.3.a. Abstracts

Original articles, invited review articles, and brief/case reports should include an abstract. Abstracts for original articles should be structured with the following subheadings: Aims, Methods, Results, and Conclusion. Abstracts for review articles and brief/case reports should not be structured. Clinical images, Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and Commentaries should not contain an abstract. Please find the guidelines for abstracts of specific types of manuscripts under the Main Text section below.

Aims: The aim of the study should be clearly stated.

Methods: The study should be described, including selection criteria, design (randomized, retrospective/prospective, etc.), and statistical methods applied, if applicable.

Results: The main results of the study should be stated and the statistical significance level should be indicated.

Conclusion: The results of the study should be summarized and the clinical applicability of the results should be defined.

Keywords: The abstract should be followed by 3 to 6 keywords provided in Index Medicus under “Medical Subject Heading (MeSH)”.

2.3.b. Main Text

a)Original Articles

The main text of the article should include the following headings:

Introduction: This should consist of a brief background to the subject and the study objective(s), supported by information from the literature.

Methods: The study plan should be clearly described, including whether the study was randomized and retrospective or prospective, the inclusion and exclusion criteria applied, the patient/sample number and characteristics, and the statistical methods used.

Results: The results of the study should be stated, with tables/figures given in numerical order; the results should be evaluated according to the statistical analysis methods applied. See the Tables, Graphics, Figures, And Images section of the General Guidelines for details about the preparation of visual material.

Discussion: The study results should be discussed in terms of their favorable and unfavorable aspects and they should be compared with the literature. The conclusion of the study should be highlighted.

Study Limitations: This section should state which data and analyses could not be included in the study, discuss the limitations of the study, and give recommendations for future studies.

Conclusion: Highlights the results obtained and conclusions that can be drawn from the study.

Acknowledgments: Any technical or financial support or editorial contributions (statistical analysis, English evaluation) towards the study should appear at the end of the article.

References: Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the references. See the General Guidelines for details about the usage and formatting required.

b)Brief/Case Reports

Brief/Case reports should present cases that are rarely seen, feature novelty in diagnosis and treatment, and contribute to our current knowledge. The main text should include the introduction, case presentation, discussion, and references.

c)Review Articles

Review articles can address any aspect of clinical or basic topic and should be written in a format that describes, discusses, and analyzes the current state of knowledge or clinical use based on the latest evidence and offers directions for future research. Most review articles are invited, but uninvited review submissions are also welcome. Contacting the section editor is recommended before submitting a review. Reviews articles analyze topics in depth, independently, and without bias. All cited literature should be referenced.

d)Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor should be short commentaries related to current developments in the topic and their scientific and social aspects or may ask questions or offer further contributions in response to articles published in the Journal. Any information that may indicate an individual or institution should be excluded from the main document to ensure a blinded review process.

2.3.c. References

Reference listings must be following ICMJE standards and be numbered consecutively at the end of the manuscript in the order in which they are mentioned in the text. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of references. Journal titles should be abbreviated following the journal abbreviations in Index Medicus/ Medline/PubMed (for journal abbreviations consult the List of Journals indexed for MEDLINE, published annually by NLM).

Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the references. References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. The Kastamonu Medical Journal uses American Medical Association (AMA) Citation Style for references. Each reference should be cited in the text using superscript Arabic numerals (e.g.,1, 2, 3…). Multiple references may be cited in the same instance. If you are citing sequential references, these should be indicated with a hyphen. Nonsequential references should be separated with commas. There should not be a space between numbers. References are found at the end of a manuscript and are titled “References” and each item should be listed in numerical order as opposed to alphabetically. The format for author names is "Surname1 AB, Surname2 CD, ...". Note that there is a comma between each full name, but there is no punctuation within each name. If a reference has up to six authors, include them all.  If there are more than six authors, list the first three, followed by "et al." Then add the name of the article (only the first letter of the sentence and the first letter of the special names will be capitalized), short journal name, year, volume, number, page number (15-8, not 15-18) and a space between the punctuation marks. The name of the journal should be written in italic, and a point should be placed at the end. The format used for the manuscript submission should be as specified in Index Medicus (www.icmje.org).

Examples of references are as follows:

1) Journal article

Author(s), Article title, Journal name (abbreviated and italicized), Year of publication (followed by a semi-colon), Volume number, Issue number, Part or supplement number (when applicable), Inclusive page number(s).

Examples:

-Freund KB, Staurenghi G, Jung JJ, et al. Macular neovascularization lesion type and vision outcomes in neovascular age-related macular degeneration: post hoc analysis of HARBOR. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2022;260(8):2437-2447.

-Freund KB, Fine HF. Pachychoroid Disease. Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2020;51(4):206-209.

2) Whole Book

Author(s). Book Title. Edition number (if it is the second edition or above). Publisher's name; copyright year.

Example: Riegelman RK, Kirkwood B. Public Health 101: Healthy People--Healthy Populations. 2nd ed. Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2015.

3) Chapter in a Book

Author(s). Chapter title. In: Editor, eds. Book Title. Number of editions (second edition or above). Publisher's name: Copyright Year: pages.

Example: Bliss CM, Wolfe M. Chapter 34: Common clinical manifestations of gastrointestinal disease. In: Andreoli TE, Cecil RL, eds. Andreoli and Carpenter's Cecil Essentials of Medicine. 8th ed. Saunders/Elsevier; 2010:382-400.

4) Article in electronic format

Morse SS. Factors in the emergence of infectious diseases. Emerg Infect Dis (serial online) 1995 Jan-Mar (cited 1996 June 5): 1(1): (24 screens). Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2626828/pdf/8903148.pdf.

For other reference styles, please refer to “ICMJE Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Sample References”

2.3.d- Figure Legends: Legends for illustrations should be written starting on a separate page after references in the main text and Arabic numerals should be used for corresponding illustrations.

2.4. Tables (As a separate file)

Tables should be presented within the main document after the reference list. All tables should be referred to within the main text and they should be numbered consecutively in the order they are referred to within the main text. A descriptive title should be provided for all tables and the titles should be placed above the tables. Abbreviations used in the tables should be defined below the tables (even if they are defined within the main text). Tables should be created using the “insert table” command of the word processing software and they should be arranged clearly to provide an easy reading. Tables, in particular, should be explanatory and facilitate readers’ understanding of the manuscript, and should not repeat data presented in the main text.

2.5. Figures (As a separate file)

Figures, graphics, and photographs should be submitted as separate files (in JPEG format) through the submission system. They should not be embedded in a Word document. When there are figure subunits, the subunits should not be merged to form a single image. Each subunit should be submitted separately through the submission system. Thick and thin arrows, arrowheads, stars, asterisks, and similar marks can be used on the images to support figure legends. Like the rest of the submission, the figures too should be blind. Any information within the images that may indicate an individual or institution should be blinded. The minimum resolution of each submitted figure should be 300DPI. To prevent delays in the evaluation process all submitted figures should be clear in resolution and large in size (minimum dimensions 100x100 mm)

2.6. Ethics Committee Approval form (As a separate file)

ULAKBIM TR Index made some new regulations to the criteria of 2020 regarding ethical rules. These regulations are summarized below. Please submit your manuscript according to these rules. Authors should obtain the relevant documents and upload them to the system together with their ethical committee approval.

1. "Ethics Committee Approval" is required for all kinds of research conducted with qualitative or quantitative approaches that require data collection from participants using survey, interview, focus group work, observation, experiment, and interview techniques.

2. The articles should state whether an ethical committee permit and/or legal/special permission is required. If these approvals are required, they should be presented from which institution, on what date, and with which decision or number.

3. "Ethics Committee Approval" is required for research using humans and animals (including materials/data) for experimental or other scientific purposes.

4. If the study involves the use of human or animal subjects, the international declaration of the study, guidance, etc. must be declared that it is performed properly.

5. "Ethics Committee Approval" is required for clinical studies on humans and animals.

6. By the law on the protection of personal data, "Ethics Committee Approval" is needed for retrospective studies.

* Retrospective ethics committee approval is not required for articles that were produced from postgraduate/doctoral studies using research data before 2020 (must be specified in the article) and were accepted for publication in the previous year, but have not yet been published.

** In studies that require ethics committee approval, ethics committee approval will be shared with the journal editor. In addition, the name of the committee, the date, and the issue number will be stated in the method section of the article and the ethics committee approval section on the last page of the article.

*** Researchers who are not members of the university can also apply to the Ethics Committees in their region.

2.7. Copyright Agreement and Acknowledgement of Authorship Form

This is a statement of the scientific contributions and responsibilities of all authors. The form is available for download on the journal’s webpage.

The ICMJE recommends that authorship be based on the following 4 criteria:

♦Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND

♦Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND

♦Final approval of the version to be published; AND

♦Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.”

A contributor should meet all four criteria to be identified as an author. If a contributor does not meet all four criteria, he/she should be acknowledged in the acknowledgments section of the manuscript.

For more details please refer to the ICMJE’s definition of the role of authors and contributors at http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html

2.8. The ICMJE Conflict of Interest formand Data-sharing Statement form

During submission, the ICMJE Conflict of Interest form should be filled out, saved to your computer, and submitted to the Journal together with your manuscript. Please refer to “conflict of interest policy” for more information. Kastamonu Medical Journal requires authors to submit a Data-sharing Statement form for clinical trialsand register a data-sharing plan when registering a clinical trial on or after Jan 1, 2019. Please refer to the “data-sharing policy” for more information.

2.9. Creative Commons License Agreement Form

After the acceptance of the articles, the corresponding author may be asked to sign the Creative Commons License Agreement form and send it to the publisher. Please refer to the “open access policy” for more information.

Note: ORCID information is being used in national and international journals. ORCID is an organization that provides the Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID), allowing researchers to register for a unique identifier. ORCID is providing an identifier for individuals to use with their names as they engage in research, scholarship, and innovation activities. These identifiers are primarily used to disambiguate authors in the publishing world. The Kastamonu Medical Journal also includes this information for the indexing requirement.You can get your ORCID ID from the link below.

https://orcid.org/register