Instructions to Authors

Manuscript Evaluation Process

The decision to publish all articles submitted to the journal belongs to the editor in chief. However, editors shape these decisions in line with the reviewers' recommendations.

The double-blind review process is the process of evaluating the work completely anonymously. In this system, only the editor knows each stage. In this system authors do not know who the reviewer is, and the reviewers do not know whose work they are evaluating. Thus, biased evaluation of the work by the reviewers is prevented. In addition, since the author does not know the reviewers, he/she can not possibly get contact with the reviewer and influence him/her through ‘special routes’. From this perspective, the double- blind review process is thought to provide objective evaluation and increase equal opportunity.

For these reasons, all studies submitted to BMJ are subject to double-blind review. At least two reviewers expert in their fields, will evaluate each submitted work. Every effort is spent by the editors for a quick evaluation of the articles. The editor is the final decision-making authority in the evaluation processes of all articles.

First Evaluation

The relevant editor or journal secretary examines the work regarding the purpose and scope of the journal, its conformity to the rules of writing, and its English and Turkish language proficiency. As a result of this assessment, the manuscripts that do not comply with the publication rules and the journal's publication policy are returned to the responsible author.

Preliminary Evaluation Process

In the pre-evaluation process, the study that left a positive impression on the editor is directed to the field editors. Field editors examine summary, introduction, material / method, discussion and conclusion sections of the manuscript as well as its scientific and formal conformity to the writing rules of the journal. As a result of this review, manuscripts that are found suitable are taken into the process of reviewers’ evaluation.

Reviewers’ Evaluation Process

According to the manuscript’s content, at least two expert reviewers who had current studies in the relevant field are determined. Suggestions of the field editor regarding the selection of reviewers are appraised by the chief editor, and reviewers are assigned to assess the manuscripts. The reviewers evaluate the study and prepare a report.

Reports of the Reviewers

The reviewers evaluate the objective, material/method, results and discussion sections of the study and its conformity to scientific principles. The work may be accepted directly; its revision may be requested or rejected. If a correction in the manuscript is required, the suggestions coming from the reviewers are communicated to the authors, and the authors are asked to revise their work. The results of correction coming from the authors are reexamined by the reviewers, and their decisions are reported to the editor. In case of disagreement between the assigned reviewers, the manuscript is sent to a designated third reviewer.

Statistical Analysis

Manuscripts deemed appropriate for publication by the reviewers are sent to the statistical editor. Articles that the statistical editor approves are accepted for publication.

Publication Printing Process

Clinical studies or experimental research articles accepted for publication are usually included in the first issue to be published. Case presentations can wait 6-9 months according to the intensity.

Checklist for Authors

  1. Make sure that the name of the author (s), information about the institution, thank you letter about ethics committee etc., are not included in the study. This issue is important according to the ‘double-blind review principle’ concerning the evaluation process of your work so that it can be dealt with impartially.
  2. You should not forget that your study will be subject to plagiarism audit if it is deemed to be adequate and appropriate in terms of the subject, and you should avoid making quotations that will be covered by plagiarism when preparing the work
  3. If your article is derived from a study, a thesis, abstract of a case report, poster, etc., be sure to cite it in a footnote and specify its date.
  4. Please fill out the form and upload it to the system, as you cannot proceed to the next step without uploading the copyright agreement form to your system. It is sufficient to communicate it in the online system; you do not need to communicate this information in printed form.
  5. If your work has been returned to you for revision, and you have made a change in the title and summary of your work, please update it during the preparation of the article
  6. When the publisher sends you an information note for the publication of your manuscript, you need to be sure that you carefully checked your work. Once the study is published, you will not be able to make any changes on it.

Manuscript Format and Style

Writing rules

The submission should be split into separate files in the following order:

  1. Title
  2. Main Document (English abstract and keywords-Turkish abstract and keywords, main text, references, tables and figure explanations should be included).
  3. Figures, pictures and graphics files in .jpeg or .gif formats should be uploaded separately.
  4. Copyright Agreement Form and Authorship Contribution Form
  5. Ethics committee approval form should be available for research articles.

Title

The title page should include the authors’ names, their academic titles and the corresponding author's full address, telephone and fax numbers and e-mail address. All authors must have ORCID ID numbers.

Summary and Keywords
The title and abstract should be in both Turkish and English. Abstracts and titles in Turkish and English should be in harmony. In case reports, the title and abstract should be written in both Turkish and English.

Abstract:

All submissions for the original articles and reviews should be accompanied by an abstract limited to 250 words. The word count should be limited to 150 words for the case report submissions. A structured abstract is only required with original articles and it should include the following subheadings: Objective, Methods, Results, Conclusion.

Objective: The primary and main purpose of the article;
Method (s): Sources of data , outline of the study, patients or study participants, interviews/evaluations and basic measurements;
Results: Main findings;
Conclusion (s): Direct clinical applications and conclusions should be stated.

The summary should provide information about the basis of the study and include the purpose of the study, the basic procedures (selection of cases or laboratory animals, observational and analytical methods), the main findings (giving specific effect sizes and their statistical significance if possible) and key conclusions. New and important aspects of the study or observations should be specified.

Since the summaries are the most obvious part of an article logged in many electronic databases, the authors should make sure that the summary accurately reflects the content of the article.

Keywords: In all kinds of manuscripts, a total of 3-10 words should be given on the page under Turkish and English abstracts. The terms in the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) of Index Medicus should be used as keywords.

Introduction
In the introduction section, the importance of the subject, the relevant history and the studies performed to date, the hypothesis and the purpose of the study should be mentioned. In the introduction section the basis or context of the study (for example, the nature and importance of the problem), its specific objectives or the hypotheses tested in the study should be specified. Both primary and secondary objectives should be clearly stated and all predetermined subgroup analyzes should be explained. Only truly relevant sources should be cited and data or results of the study should not be mentioned.

Method
The methodology section should include sources of data, study hypothesis, patients or participants, scales, interviews / evaluations and basic measurements, procedures and statistical methods. The ‘Method’ section should contain only known information when writing the plan or protocol of the study; All information obtained during the study should be given in the ‘Results’ section.

Selection and Identification of Cases
The selection of the participants in the observational or experimental study (patients, animals, controls), source population, study inclusion and exclusion criteria should be explicitly defined. Since the relationship of variables such as age and gender to the purpose of the study is not always clear, the authors should explain their use in the study report. For example, the authors should explain why only a certain age group is included in the study or why women are excluded from the study. It should be clearly stated why and how the study was performed.

Authors should explain how they measure and validate the variables of ethnicity or race in case they used in their manuscript.

Technical Information
In order for other workers to repeat the results, The method and the tools used (by specifying the manufacturing firm and its address within a paragraph) should be specified in sufficient detail to allow repeatability of the results by other researchers. For previously known and used methods (including statistical methods), the source should be cited.

The source of the not well-known method cited from a publication should be given and the method should be explained. New or significantly modified methods should be defined, the reasons for their use should be specified and their limitations should be evaluated. All the drugs and chemicals used should be accurately described and their generic names, doses, and modes of use should be indicated.

Authors submitting review papers should indicate the methods of finding, selecting, separating and synthesizing the data. These methods should also be included in the abstract section.

Statistical Analyses
The statistical method should be specified in detail where a knowledgeable reader who can access the original data can confirm the reported results. If possible, the findings should be quantified and error measurements (such as confidence intervals) should be presented. The purely statistical hypothesis testing, such as the use of p values, which do not yield effect size, should not be used. The references related to the study design and statistical methods should be cited from standard sources whenever possible by specifying relevant pages. Statistical terms, abbreviations, and most of the symbols should be defined. The statistical software used should be specified.

Results
The main results should be given in full, supported by statistical data, and these results should also be illustrated with appropriate tables, graphics and figures. Results should be given in the logical order in the text, tables and figures, and the most important results should be prioritized. All data in the tables and figures should not be included in the main text of the manuscript, and only important points should be emphasized. While summarizing the data in the ‘Results’ section, the numerical data should not be only be expressed in the form of derivatives (e.g. percentages) but also in absolute terms and the method of analysis used should be specified. Only figures and tables supporting the main idea of the article should be included in this section. Use of graphics instead of very large tables should be tried, and the same data should not be repeated in charts and tables.

Discussion
In the discussion section, the data obtained from that study, findings and results that support and do not support the hypothesis should be examined in line with the established hypothesis, and these findings and results should be compared with those of similar studies in the literature and if differences exist then they should be explained. New and important aspects of the study and their results should be emphasized. The information and data given in the ‘Introduction’ or ‘Results’ section should not be repeated. For experimental studies, it is useful to start the discussion by briefly summarizing the results, then scrutinize possible mechanisms or explanations, compare the findings with those of previous studies, summarize the limitations of the study, and indicate their applications for future studies and clinical practice.

Conclusions
Acquired should be compared with the purpose of the study, but inferences that are not sufficiently supported by the findings obtained should be avoided. Authors should refrain from commenting on economic interests or benefits in particular if their data do not also include economic data and analysis. When necessary, new hypotheses should be put forward, but it should be stated that these are new hypotheses.

Original Article

Original articles should provide new information based on original research. The main text should be structured with Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion subheadings. The number of cited references should not exceed 30 and the main text should be limited to 3500 words. Number of tables included in an original article should be limited to 6 and the number of figures should be limited to 5 (or a total of 12 figure parts).

Reviews

Review articles are scientific analyses of recent developments on a specific topic as reported in the literature. No new information is described, and no opinions or personal experiences are expressed. Reviews include only the highlights on a subject. Main text should be limited to 3000 words and the number of cited references should not exceed 75. Number of tables included in a review article should be limited to 4 and the number of figures should be limited to 15 (or a total of 30 figure parts).

Case Reports

New, interesting and rare cases can be reported. They should be unique, describing a great diagnostic or therapeutic challenge and providing a learning point for the readers. Cases with clinical significance or implications will be given priority. Main text should be limited to 1500 words and the number of cited references should not exceed 15. They should have the following headings: Abstract (unstructured), Keywords, Introduction, Case report, Discussion, Reference, Tables and Legends in that order.

Number of tables included in a review article should be limited to 2 and the number of figures should be limited to 6 (or a total of 10 figure parts).

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor  should offer objective and constructive criticism of published articles within last 6 months. Letters may also discuss matters of general interest to radiologists and may include images. Material being submitted or published elsewhere should not be duplicated in letters.

Main text should be limited to 1000 words and the number of cited references should not exceed 6. Neither tables nor figures should be included.

References
References should be written in compliance with Vancouver style (see. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7256/). Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the references. While writing references, the below-indicated rules should be attentively observed.
References should be written without using reference editing systems such as EndNote and by taking into account the journal writing rules.

References cited in the text
References cited in the text should be numbered in order of their use in the text, and the list of references should be presented accordingly. The reference number should be stated in brackets (1,2) with numbers. If more than one reference is used, then a comma (,) should be placed between references. If there are consecutive three or more references, the first and last reference should be written and put a hyphen (-) between them.

Sample cited statements in the text
Skalidis et al. (14,16) investigated recurrent lone AF patients. In this study, coronary flow velocities of patients were measured after coronary angiography and compared with those of the healthy population.
Similarly, the role of inflammation in the development of AF is well known and has been shown in many studies (16,18).
In coronary microvascular dysfunction, which is mostly caused by CSX, there is increased sensitivity and/or inadequate relaxation after vasoconstriction in prearterioles and intramural arterioles (1-3,9).
At the end of the text, references should be written double-spaced on a separate paper. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of references. The DOI number of the article should be given if any. Titles of the journals should be abbreviated in accordance with the citation index which includes the journal that published the article (i.e.; Index Medicus, Medline, PubMed, Web of Science, TR Index, etc.) (For abbreviations of the titles of the journals, please see the list of the journals published by NLM in website (http://bit.ly/2lJkey3)). If title of the journal is not contained in these lists, it should be written in full. When there are 6 or less authors, all authors should be listed. If there are 7 or more authors, the first 6 authors should be listed followed by “et al”. There should be no spaces after writing Year and Volume.

Journal Article:
Bain JL, Lester SR, Henry WD, Akdogan M, Wright H, Nour, B, et al. Comparative gender differences in local and systemic concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines in rats with experimental periodontitis. J Periodontal Res 2009;44:133-40.

Bashir M, Salroo IN. Cardiovascular reflex tests in adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Medeniyet Med J 2019;34:61-6.

Supplement:
Ahrens T. Severe sepsis management: Are we doing enough? Crit Care Nurse 2003;23(Suppl 5):2-15.

Book with the single author: 
Jarvis C. Physical Examination and Health Assessment. 3rd ed. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Company; 2000.

Book with the editor:
Breedlove GK, Schorfheide AM. Adolescent pregnancy. Wieczorek RR, editor. 2nd ed. White Plains (NY): March of Dimes Education Services; 2001. p: 32-47.

A chapter in the book: 
Finke LM. Teaching in nursing: the faculty role. In: Billing DM, Halstead JA, editors. Teaching in Nursing: A Guide for Faculty. 3rd ed. USA: Saunders & Elsevier; 2009. p. 3-17.

Translated book:
Ferry DR. ECG in Ten Days [On Günde Temel Elektrokardiyografi]. Kahraman M, translator. Istanbul: Ekbil A.S.; 2001.

A chapter in a translated book:
Tolay E. Planlamanin temelleri. In: Robbins SP, Decenzo DA, Coulter M. editors. Yönetimin Esaslari: Temel Kavramlar ve Uygulamalar. Ögüt A, translator. Ankara: Nobel Akademik Yayincilik; 2013. p. 104-29.

Electronic book: 
Akdag R. The Progress So Far Health Transformation Program in Türkiye. Ankara, Türkiye: Ministry of Health; 2009. Available from: http://ekutuphane.tusak.gov.tr/kitap.php?id=174&k=progress_report_health_transformation_program_in_turkey_january_2009

Electronic report/document: 
World Health Organization. World Alliance for Patient Safety Forward Programme 2008-2009. 1st ed. France; 2008. Available from: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/70460/1/WHO_IER_PSP_2008.04_eng.pdf

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

Tables, Graphıcs and Fıgures

Graphics, figures and tables in the text should be numbered with Arabic numerals. The places of the figures in the text should be specified.

Tables
The tables effectively display the information and also ensure that the information is provided in all desired levels of detail. Providing information in tables rather than text generally shortens the length of the text.

All tables should be placed under the text in order. The tables should be numbered according to their order in the text, and each one should contain a short title. In MS Word 2000 and above versions, tables should be prepared according to the "table classic 1" or "table simple 1" options in the automatic table option. Do not use any other vertical and horizontal lines inside the table, except for the header, the top and bottom lines. A title should be given to each column. Authors should make explanations in footnotes, not in titles. All non-standard abbreviations should be explained in footnotes. The following symbols should be used for footnotes, respectively

(*,†,‡,§,||,¶,**,††,‡‡).

Statistical measurements of the variation, such as standard deviation or standard error, should be indicated. It should be ensured that reference is made to each table in the text. If data from another published or unpublished source are used, the cited source should be fully informed before its permission is obtained.

Tables with a lot of data (backup) take up a lot of space and can only be suitable for electronic publications or they can be provided directly to the readers by the authors. In such a case, an appropriate expssion should be added to the text. Such tables should be submitted with the article for the evaluation by reviewer.

Figures
Figures should be drawn professionally and sent digitally in photographic quality. In electronic versions such as JPEG or GIF of the figures, electronic files should be sent in formats that wi ll create high-resolution images and the authors should check the image quality of these files on the computer screen before submitting them.

Figures should be as understandable as possible by themselves. Photomicrographic pathology preparations should contain internal scales.

Symbols, arrows or letters should contrast with the background. If human photos are to be used, they should either not be recognized by their photos or their written permission (see ethics section) should be obtained.

Figures should be numbered in the text according to their order of appearance. If a previously published

 figure is to be used, permission must be obtained from its copyright holder. This permission is required regardless of authorship and publisher, except for public documents. Additional drawings showing the region to be printed make the editor's job easier. Color figures are printed when the editor deems necessary or only if the author covers the additional cost. All attachments such as figures, pictures, graphics must have their explanations at the end of the text, respectively.

Other Topıcs

Units of Measurement
Units of length, weight and volume should be reported in metric (meter, kilogram, liter) system and in decimal multiples. Temperatures should be expressed in degrees Celsius, and blood pressures in millimeters of mercury. Both local and International Unit Systems (International System of Units, SI) should be used as measurement units. Drug concentrations are given alternatively in either SI or mass units written in parentheses.

Abbreviations and Symbols
Use only standard abbreviations, non-standard abbreviations can be very confusing for the reader. The use of abbreviation(s) should be avoided in the title. Unless there is a standard unit of measurement, the long version of the abbreviations should be given in parentheses when they are used for the first time in the text.

Case reports and word count limits
There is no specific word limit in original and review articles. Case reports should be limited to 1500 words and contain the least number of figures, tables and references. Letters to the editor should contain 1000 words, without tables and figures and the letter must be signed by all authors. Information of informed consent must be within the manuscript. Letters of criticism or evaluation regarding an article published in The Medical Journal of Bakırköy must have been received within 12 weeks of the publication of the article.

Acknowledgement(s)
At the end of the manuscript, section of ‘Acknowledgement (s)’ is placed before the ‘References’ . This section includes expssions of gratitude for personal, technical and material help.

(MI): Central Michigan University; 2002

Submission and Retraction of the Manuscripts

Submission of a manuscript: Authors who want to submit their articles for evaluation in our journal can upload their works by following the steps in the system after logging it into our journal management system at www.bakirkoymedj.manuscriptmanager.net. Paying attention to the items in the checklist for authors before uploading will speed up the publication process of your work.

Article Withdrawal: As per our publication policies, the author of the article has to cooperate with the editor of the journal in withdrawal procedures.

The author, who wants to withdraw his / her work during the evaluation process, should submit the petition containing his / her rationale to the editorial board electronically or in a printed wet signed form indicating that all authors have approved the withdrawal.

The Editorial Board scrutin izes the incoming request and returns it to the author within ten days. If the commercial rights of the article was transferred to the Dr. Sadi Konuk Education and Research Hospital during submission process, the author could not send the work to another journal for evaluation unless the request for withdrawal of this work is approved.