INFORMATION FOR THE AUTHORS

Updated January 10.2021

The Zeynep Kamil Medical Journal (Formerly Zeynep Kamil Týp Bülteni) is an international, scientific, open access periodical published in accordance with independent, unbiased, and double-blinded peer-review principles. The journal is the official publication of the Zeynep Kamil Women and Children Diseases Training and Research Hospital, and it is published in March, June, September and December, four times a year. The publication language of the journal is English.

The Zeynep Kamil Medical Journal aims to contribute to international literature by publishing high-quality manuscripts in the field of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics and Pediatric Surgery. The journal’s target audience includes academics and expert physicians working in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics and Pediatric Surgery specialists.

REVIEW PROCESS
Manuscripts submitted to the Zeynep Kamil Medical Journal will undergo a double-blind peer-review process. Each submission will be reviewed by at least two external, independent peer reviewers who are experts in their field in order to ensure an unbiased evaluation process. The editorial board will invite an external and independent editor to manage the evaluation process of manuscripts submitted by editors or by the editorial board members of the journal. The editor-in-chief is the final authority in the decision-making process for all submissions.

Reviews are typically completed within one month of submission to the journal. Authors will be sent constructive reviewer comments intended to be useful. In general, the instructions, objections, and requests made by the reviewers should be followed. The revised manuscript should clearly and precisely indicate every step taken in accordance with the reviewers' notes. A list of responses and the corrections made to each comment should be provided.

AUTHORSHIP 
Each individual listed as an author should fulfill the authorship criteria recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE - www.icmje.org). 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.

In addition to being accountable for their own work, authors should have confidence in the integrity of the contributions of their co-authors and each author should be able to identify which co-authors are responsible for other parts of the work. 
All of those designated as authors should meet all four criteria for authorship, and all who meet the four criteria should be identified as authors. Those who do not meet all four criteria should be acknowledged on the title page of the manuscript.

The Zeynep Kamil Medical Journal requires that corresponding authors submit a signed and scanned version of the authorship contribution form (available for download through https://www.zeynepkamilmedj.com/) during the initial submission process in order to appropriately indicate and observe authorship rights and to prevent ghost or honorary authorship. If the editorial board suspects a case of “gift authorship,” the submission will be rejected without further review. As part of the submission of the manuscript, the corresponding author should also send a short statement declaring that they accept all responsibility for authorship during the submission and review stages of the manuscript.

ORCID ID
The Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) number of each author must be submitted when creating an account for correspondence. To obtain an ORCID number, please visit  https://orcid.org/

PLAGIARISM DETECTION 
All submissions are screened using similarity detection software at least two times: on submission and after completing revisions. In the event of alleged or suspected research misconduct, e.g., plagiarism, citation manipulation, or data falsification/fabrication, the editorial board will follow and act in accordance with COPE guidelines. Plagiarism, including self-plagiarism, that is detected at any stage will result in rejection of the manuscript.

Publication Charges 
This journal assesses no submission fees, publication fees, or page charges.

ARTICLE WITHDRAWAL PROCESS 
In accordance with the publication policies of the Zeynep Kamil Medical Journal, the duties and responsibilities of the author(s) and the editorial board during the withdrawal of an article are given below.

Responsibilities of the Authors
The author(s) has an obligation to cooperate with the journal editor in the withdrawal process if he/she notices an error or mistake in the pre-checking stage of the manuscript or in a published work. Withdrawal requests will not be considered for a manuscript in the review process or in the publication phase. Author(s) who wish to withdraw their study outside of the review process or the publication phase are obliged to fill out and send the Withdrawal Form via e-mail at [email protected]. The Editorial Board will review the withdrawal notification and respond within 15 days at the latest. Authors cannot submit their manuscripts to another journal for evaluation unless the editorial board approves the withdrawal request for manuscripts whose copyrights have been transferred to the Zeynep Kamil Medical Journal at the submission stage.

Responsibilities of the Editorial Board
The editorial board of the Zeynep Kamil Medical Journal has the obligation to initiate an investigation into any suspected copyright infringement, ethical statement violation, or plagiarism regarding studies that are published ahead of print, or under review. If the editorial board determines that there is a violation of copyright, ethical statement, or plagiarism in the work under evaluation, it withdraws the work from the evaluation and returns it to the authors by citing the detected situations in detail. In the event that copyright infringement or plagiarism is determined to have occurred in a published work or a work in early view, the Editorial Board may recommend to the publishers or editorial boards, of which study was previously published, to ensure the validity and reliability of the published studies or to withdraw them.

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION 
Manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with the ICMJE-Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (updated in December 2015 - http://www.icmje.org/icmje-recommendations.pdf). Authors are required to prepare manuscripts in accordance with the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) guidelines for randomized research studies, the STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guidelines for observational original research studies, the Standards for Reporting Diagnostic Accuracy (STARD) guidelines, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, the Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments (ARRIVE) guidelines for experimental animal studies, and the Transparent Reporting of Evaluations with Non-randomised Designs (TREND) guidelines for non-randomized behavioral and public health evaluations.

Manuscripts may only be submitted through the journal’s online manuscript submission and evaluation system, http://jag.journalagent.com/zkmj/  Manuscripts submitted via any other medium will not be evaluated.

Manuscripts will first be submitted to a technical evaluation process in which the editorial staff will ensure that the manuscript has been prepared and submitted in accordance with the journal’s guidelines. Submissions that do not conform to the journal’s guidelines will be returned to the author with requests for technical correction.

The quality and clarity of the language used in a manuscript is very important. The editors may request that authors have the manuscript professionally edited if the language of the submission does not conform to the journal standards. The Zeynep Kamil Medical Journal uses American English. Please submit text of a quality ready for publication. Information about language editing and copyediting services pre- and post-submission may contact Kare Media at [email protected]. Please refer to specific formatting requirements noted in the submission checklist and elsewhere in this document. 

MANUSCRIPT TYPES 
Original Article: This is the most valued type of article, since it provides new information based on original research. The main text of an original article should be structured with Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion subheadings. Original articles are limited to 3500 words and 30 references.

Editorial comment: Editorial comments provide a brief critical commentary offered by reviewers with experience and standing in the topic of a research article previously published in the journal. The authors are selected and invited by the journal to provide the benefit of their expertise. The submission should not include an abstract, keywords, tables, figures, and images. The word count is limited to 1200 and 15 references may be included. 

Review article: Two kinds of review are accepted for publication in the Zeynep Kamil Medical Journal: narrative review and systematic review. Reviews of relevant topics not recently discussed in this format that will be helpful to readers are welcomed.

Case report: There is limited space for case reports and therefore the journal selects reports of rare cases or conditions that reflect challenges in diagnosis and treatment, those offering new therapies or revealing knowledge not in the literature, or present something otherwise particularly interesting and educative. The abstract with structured of background, case and conclusion, is limited to 150 words and the report must include the subheadings of introduction, case report, and discussion, which includes a conclusion. A case report is limited to 1300 words and 15 references.

Image: Original, high-quality clinical or laboratory images will be considered for publication. If a photo of an identifiable patient is used, a consent form for its use must be completed and signed by the patient and enclosed with the submission. All printed information that might identify the patient or the authors’ institution (including, but not limited to the hospital or patient name, date, or place) should be removed from images. The submission should have no more than 3 authors, the case description is limited to a maximum of 200 words, the discussion section may contain no more than 200 words, and only 3 references and 3 figures are permitted. 

Letter to the editor: This type of manuscript discusses important observations, overlooked aspects, or details lacking in a previously published article. Noteworthy articles on subjects within the scope of the journal, particularly educative cases, may also be submitted in the form of a “Letter to the editor.” No abstract, keywords, tables, figures, images, or other media should be included. The article that is the subject of commentary must be properly cited within the manuscript. The text should be unstructured and is limited to 500 words. No more than 5 references will be accepted.

Table 1. Limitations for each manuscript type.

Type of  manuscript	Wordlimit	Abstract  word limit	Referencelimit	Table limit	Figurelimit
Original Article	3500	350 (Structured)	40	6	6
Review Article	5000	350	50	6	10
Case Report	1500	200	15	No tables	5
Letter to the Editor	1000	No abstract	10	No tables	No media
Image	200	No abstract	3	No tables	3

Title page: A separate title page should be submitted with all submissions and this page should include:

The full title of the manuscript as well as a short title (running head) of no more than 50 characters
Name, affiliation, ORCID ID number, and highest academic degree of the author(s)
Funding and other material support
Name, address, phone number(s), fax number, and email address of the corresponding author
Acknowledgment of the individuals who contributed to the preparation of the manuscript but who do not fulfill the authorship criteria
Manuscripts that have been presented orally or as a poster should include the name, date and place of the event

Abstract: An English-language abstract is required with all submissions except editorial comments, images, and letters to the editor. Systematic reviews and original articles should contain a structured abstract of maximum 250 words with the subheadings of objective, methods, results, and conclusion.

Keywords: Each submission must be accompanied by a minimum of three and a maximum of six keywords for subject indexing included at the end of the abstract. The keywords should be listed in full without abbreviations. The keywords should be selected from the National Library of Medicine, Medical Subject Headings database (https://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html).

Tables: Tables should be uploaded as separate files and not embedded in the main text. They should be numbered consecutively in the order they are referred to within the main text. A descriptive title must be placed above the tables. Abbreviations used in the tables should be defined below the table with footnotes, 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 designed for easy reading. Data presented in tables should not be a repetition of the data presented within the main text but should support the main text.

Figures and figure legends: Figures, graphics, and photographs should be submitted as separate files in TIFF or JPEG format through the article submission system. The files should not be embedded in a Word document or the main 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. Images should not be labeled (a, b, c, etc.) to indicate figure subunits. Thick and thin arrows, arrowheads, stars, asterisks, and similar marks can be used on the images to support figure legend. Like the rest of the submission, the figures should be blind. Any information within the images that may identify an individual or institution should be blinded. The minimum resolution of each submitted figure should be 300 DPI. To prevent delays in the evaluation process, all submitted figures should be clear in resolution and large in size (minimum dimensions: 100x100 mm). Figure legends should be listed at the end of the main document.
All acronyms and abbreviations used in the manuscript should be defined at first use, both in the abstract and in the main text. The abbreviation should be provided in parentheses following the definition. Units should be prepared in accordance with the International System of Units (SI). When a drug, device, hardware, or software program, or other product is mentioned within the main text, the name of the product, the manufacturer/copyright holder of the product (not simply the vendor), and city and the country of the company (including the state, if in USA), should be provided in parentheses in the following format: “Discovery St PET/CT scanner (General Electric Co., Boston, MA, USA)”
All references, tables, and figures 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.
Limitations, drawbacks, and shortcomings of original articles should be mentioned in the Discussion section before the conclusion paragraph.

References: The editorial team may request that the authors cite related recently published articles (preferably within the last 10 years) in their manuscripts, with the exception of historical papers.
If an ahead-of-print publication is cited, the digital object identifier (DOI) number should be provided. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of references. Journal titles should be abbreviated in accordance with the journal abbreviations in the Index Medicus /MEDLINE/ PubMed. When there are six or fewer authors, all authors should be listed. If there are seven or more authors, the first six should be listed followed by “et al.” In the main text of the manuscript, references should be cited using Arabic numerals in parentheses. The reference styles for different types of publications are presented in the following examples.

Journal article: van Erk MD, Dam-Vervloet AJ, de Boer FA, Boomsma MF, van Straaten H, Bosschaart N. How skin anatomy influences transcutaneous bilirubin determinations: an in vitro evaluation. Pediatr Res 2019;86:471-7.

Epub ahead-of-print article: Cai L, Yeh BM, Westphalen AC, Roberts JP, Wang ZJ. Adult living donor liver imaging. Diagn Interv Radiol 2016 Feb 24. doi: 10.5152/dir.2016.15323. [Epub ahead-of-print]. 

Manuscript published 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: URL: http:/ www.cdc.gov/ncidodlElD/cid.htm.

Book section: Suh KN, Keystone JS. Malaria and babesiosis. Gorbach SL, Barlett JG, Blacklow NR, editors. Infectious Diseases. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams; 2004.p.2290-308.

Books with a single author: Sweetman SC. Martindale the Complete Drug Reference. 34th ed. London: Pharmaceutical Press; 2005.

Editor(s) as author: Huizing EH, de Groot JAM, editors. Functional reconstructive nasal surgery. Stuttgart-New York: Thieme; 2003.

Conference proceedings: Bengisson S. Sothemin BG. Enforcement of data protection, privacy and security in medical informatics. In: Lun KC, Degoulet P, Piemme TE, Rienhoff O, editors. MEDINFO 92. Proceedings of the 7th World Congress on Medical Informatics; 1992 Sept 6-10; Geneva, Switzerland. Amsterdam: North-Holland; 1992. pp.1561-5.

Scientific or technical report: Cusick M, Chew EY, Hoogwerf B, Agrón E, Wu L, Lindley A, et al. Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study Research Group. Risk factors for renal replacement therapy in the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS), Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study Kidney Int: 2004. Report No: 26.

REVISIONS 
When submitting a revised version of a paper (include a clean copy and a highlighted copy), the author must submit a detailed response to the reviewers that replies to each issue raised by the reviewers and indicates where changes can be found (each reviewer’s comment, followed by the author’s reply and line number where changes have been made) as well as an annotated copy of the main document. Revised manuscripts must be submitted within 30 days from the date of the decision letter. If the revised version of the manuscript is not submitted within the allocated time, the revision option may be withdrawn. If the submitting author(s) believe that additional time is required, they should request this extension within the initial 30-day period.
Accepted manuscripts are copy edited for grammar, punctuation, format, and clarity. Once the publication process of a manuscript is completed, it is published online on the journal’s webpage as an ahead-of-print publication before it is included in the scheduled issue. A PDF proof of the manuscript is sent to the corresponding author and their publication approval is requested within 2 days of receipt of the proof.

PUBLICATION PROCESS  
Accepted manuscripts will be made available and citable online as rapidly as possible. The stages of publication are as follows;
Uncorrected publication: A PDF of the final, accepted (but unedited and uncorrected) paper will be published online on the journal web page under the “Accepted Articles” section. A DOI will be assigned to the article at this stage. 

Ahead-of-print publication: After copy editing, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof, the final corrected version will be added online in the “Ahead-of-Print” section.

Final publication: The final corrected version will appear in an issue of the journal and added to the journal website. To ensure rapid publication, we ask authors to provide your publication approval during the proofreading process as quickly as possible, and return corrections within 48 hours of receiving the proof.

SUBMISSION CHECKLIST  
Please use this list and the following explanations to prepare your manuscript and perform a final check before submission to ensure a timely review. 

Formatting of text

• Text should be written in 12-point Times New Roman font
• Main headings and subheadings should be in 12-point and bold font
• Type a single space at the end of each sentence
• Do not use bold face for emphasis within the text
• Numbers one to ten are written out in words unless they are used as a unit of measurement, except in figures and tables
• Use a single hard return to separate paragraphs. Do not use tabs or indents to start a paragraph
• Do not use software options for hyphenation, headers, or footers
• Use page numbering
• Use line numbers
• Use US English

Ensure that the following items are present:

• Cover letter
• Title page including:
• Article type
• Article title
• Running title
• All author names and affiliations
• One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details
• Full postal address, phone number(s), and email address
• Acknowledge
• Manuscripts that have been presented orally or as a poster must include the name of the event, the date, and the location
• State financial or other support for the study
• Word count
• Abstract word count
• Text word count
• Main text of the manuscript must include:
• Article title
• Abstract
• Keywords
• Text with required subheadings 
• References (ensure written according to journal rules)
• Figures and tables
• Numbered according to text citation
• Descriptive legends/titles and abbreviations
• Ensure all figure and table citations in the text match the files provided
• Figures:  to be submitted separately.
• Tables:  to be submitted separately
• Ensure that the following forms have been properly completed and submitted:
• ICMJE Potential Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form (completed by all contributing authors), AND
• Copyright Form, AND
• Author Contributions Form

These forms are available for download at www.zeynepkamilmedj.com.

• Further review
• Check the statistical analysis
• Use the US English spell check and grammar check software functions
• Check that all references cited in the text are correctly listed in the reference list
• Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Internet)
• All abbreviations have been identified
• All figures and tables are correctly labeled

Journal policies detailed in this guide have been followed.