Writing Rules
MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION
Manuscripts must be prepared in accordance with standards of ICJME (Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing ve Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals) (Updated in December 2015- http://www.icmje.org/icmje-recommendations.pdf). The authors must base their studies on CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) for randomized trial studies, on STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology), STARD (the Standards for Reporting Diagnostic Accuracy), PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) for observational original research studies and on TREND (Transparent Reporting of Evaluations with Non-randomised Designs) for non-randomized behavioral and public health evaluations.
The manuscripts may only be submitted through https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/estudamhsd which is an online article submission and evaluation system. Manuscripts sent from any other means will not be taken into consideration.
Manuscripts will first go through a technical evaluation process where the editorial staff will make sure that the article is prepared and submitted in accordance with the journal's guidelines. Manuscripts that do not comply with the journal's guidelines will be returned to the corresponding author with technical correction requests.
The quality and comprehensibility of the language used are of the utmost importance. The sent text must be ready for publication. If the language of the manuscript does not match the journal standards, editing of the article may be requested. ESTUDAM Public Health Journal uses Turkish and US English.
Manuscript Types
Original Article
It is a type of manuscript that provides new information based on original research. The main text of the article should be structured with the subtitles Introduction, Materials, and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion. The main text (excluding abstract, material-method section, references, tables, and figure descriptions) is limited to 3,500 words. It should contain an unstructured abstract of no more than 250 words. The reference limit is 40, the table limit is 6, and the figure limit is 6.
Short report
It is a type of writing that conveys a focused message. Case series are also considered as short reports. It should contain an unstructured abstract of no more than 150 words and the main text should be structured with introduction, methods, results, and discussion subheadings. The main text is limited to 1,500 words. Reference limit is 15, table limit is 1, and the figure limit is 3.
Review articles
Two types of reviews are accepted to be published in the ESTÜDAM Journal of Public Health: traditional reviews and systematic reviews. Traditional reviews by authors who have extensive knowledge of a particular field and whose scientific background are widely recognized are welcome.
Traditional reviews: These reviews are prepared by authors who have extensive knowledge of a particular field and whose scientific background is widely recognized. So much so that these authors can be invited by the journal. The review should describe, discuss and evaluate the current level of knowledge of a topic in public health practice and guide future studies. The main text should contain Introduction, Research Results, and Conclusion sections. It should contain an unstructured abstract of no more than 250 words. The main text is limited to 4,000 words. The reference limit is 40, the table limit is 6, and the figure limit is 6.
Systematic reviews: It is the systematic and unbiased screening of original studies published in that field in accordance with the specified criteria, evaluating the validity of the studies found and combining them by synthesizing in order to find an answer to a research question prepared on a particular subject. Meta-analysis is optional. Systematic reviews will be assessed as original articles. Details of expectations regarding systematic reviews may be found at Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Review of Interventions available from http://training.cochrane.org/handbook address. It should contain an unstructured abstract of no more than 250 words. The main text should include Introduction, Methods (data sources, study eligibility criteria, participants, interventions, and statistical analysis), Results, Discussion, and Conclusion sections. The main text is limited to 4,000 words. The number of references will depend on the scope of the subject being studied, but should not exceed 60. Table limit is 6, and figure limit is 6.
Letter to the editor
Articles discussing important observations, overlooked aspects, or missing details from a previously published article. Articles within the scope of the journal, especially on educational cases, can also be submitted in the form of a "Letter to the Editor". It should not contain abstract, tables, figures, or other media. The article subject to letter should be cited appropriately. The text should be unstructured and limited to 1,000 words. More than 10 references will not be accepted.
Table 1: Limitations for each manuscript type.
| Manuscript type | Word limit | Abstract word limit (unstructured) | Reference limit | Table limit | Figure Limit |
| Original article | 3,500 | 250 | 40 | 6 | 6 |
| Short report | 1,500 | 150 | 15 | 1 | 3 |
| Traditional review | 4,000 | 250 | 50 | 6 | 6 |
| Systematic review | 4,000 | 250 | Depends on the scope of the subject (maximum 60) | 6 | 6 |
| Letter to editor | 1,000 | There should be no abstract | 10 | There should be no table | There should be no figure |
Title page
Submissions must include a separate title page that includes:
• The full title of the article and a short title no longer than 50 characters
• Name(s), institution, ORCID ID number of author(s), and highest academic rank of author(s)
• Supporting funds or other materials
• Corresponding author's name, address, telephone, fax number, and email address information
• Identifying the people who contributed to the preparation of the manuscript but do not meet the authorship criteria
• The name, date, and place of the event in the articles presented as oral or poster
• Word count for text and abstract parts
Abstract
Except for the letter to editor manuscripts, Turkish and English abstracts are required for all submissions. Manuscripts should contain an unstructured abstract of no more than 250 words. Short reports should contain an unstructured summary of no more than 150 words.
Keywords: At the end of the abstract, a minimum of three and a maximum of six keywords should be added to each post for indexing purposes. Keywords should be listed in full, without abbreviation. It is recommended that keywords be selected from the National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings database (https://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html).
Introduction
Create a context or background that emphasizes the nature and importance of the problem. State the specific purpose of the study or observation, the research purpose, or the hypothesis being tested. Cite only references that are directly related. Cite only references that are directly related. Do not include data or results from reported studies.
Material-Method
For survey studies, the rules that apply to all scientific research apply and the following must be complied:
For survey studies:
• Place and design of the study (The time/time range of the study should be specified.)
• Study type
• Population (The population of the study and the sampling if there is one must be clearly stated. If a sample is selected, it should be stated how the sample size is calculated and which sample selection method/methods are used. The study should be based on data on the number of participants required for scientific validity.)
• Questionnaire (The sections of the questionnaire and how many questions it consists of should be explained.)
• Data collection (The data collection method of the research should be written and how the data were collected should be explained. While collecting data, permission should be obtained from participants to participate in the study.)
• Statistical analysis (Which statistical methods are used for which analysis should be clearly written.)
• Ethics committee permission (name of the ethics committee, approval date, regulation number). In addition, administrative permission is required from the relevant authorities for studies that require administrative permission.
For clinical and laboratory studies:
• Place and design of the study
• Ethics committee approval (Name of the ethics committee, approval date, regulation number)
• Patients and data collection
• Diagnostic criteria
• Definitions (For diseases, interventions, and data collection if necessary)
• Inclusion criteria
• Exclusion criteria
• Clinical, surgical, and laboratory examinations
• Statistical analysis
Statistical Analysis
A detailed explanation of the statistical analysis performed should be provided with a separate subtitle in the material-method section. The explanation of the statistical analysis made should be included in the Material-Method section. This section should detail the following:
• Data collection: Information on how data is collected. Details of sampling strategy, power and sample size calculation, inclusion/exclusion criteria should be specified.
• Data processing: Information on how raw data are processed prior to data analysis such as determination of outliers, normalization, data transformation etc.
• Summarizing the data: Information on data values as results of analysis (e.g. values must be expressed as Mean ± Std or Median [1st IQR, 3rd IQR]. It may also be useful to briefly refer to the selected summary statistics.
• Hypotheses: Information on how statistical hypotheses are tested (For example, histogram and Q-Q graphs were examined, Shapiro-Wilk test was used to evaluate data normality, Levene test was used to test variance homogeneity, etc.).
• Hypothesis testing and modeling: Information about the statistical methods used and the purpose (e.g., a two-sided independent sample t test was applied to compare the C-peptide levels of patients with and without diabetes, a linear regression model was applied to adjust for multiple variables, etc.).
• Software: Information on any statistical software used in data analysis (for example, analyzes were performed using SPSS version 15.0 (Chicago, IL) or IBM SPSS version 20.0, etc.).
Statistical modeling (eg regression analysis, classification, clustering, linear models, etc.) requires considerable effort and the steps used should be described in detail. What were the univariate analysis results? What criteria were used to select variables included in the multivariate analysis? How did the final model fit the data? What was the goodness of fit of the chosen model? Finally, the validity of the model should be explained to determine the validity of the built model.
Tables
Tables should be submitted embedded in the main text. They should be numbered according to the order in which they appear in the main text. An explanatory title should be placed above the tables. Abbreviations used in the tables, even if they are defined in the main text, should be defined with footnotes below the table. Tables should be created by using the "add table" command of the word processing software and should be designed to be easy to read. The data presented in the tables should not be a repetition of the data presented in the main text but should support the main text.
Figures
Figures, graphics, and photographs should be submitted embedded in the main text. Graphics and photographs must also be submitted as separate files in TIFF or JPEG format through the article submission system. When there are figure subunits, the subunits should not be combined to form a single image. Each sub-unit must be submitted separately through the submission system. Images should not be tagged to indicate figure subunits (a, b, c, etc.). Thick and thin arrows, arrowheads, stars, asterisks, and similar marks can be used in images to support the figure legend. Like the rest of the manuscript, the figures should be blinded to not contain any information that could identify a person or organization. Each submitted figure must have a minimum resolution of 300 DPI. To avoid delays in the evaluation process, all submitted figures must have a clear resolution and a large size (minimum size: 100x100 mm).
Other Issues That Must Be Considered
• All acronyms and abbreviations used in the article should be defined at first use both in the abstract and the main text. The abbreviation should be given in parentheses following the definition. Units should be prepared in accordance with the International System of Units (SI, International System of Units). Whenever a drug, device, hardware or software program or other product is mentioned in the main text, the name of the product, the manufacturer/copyright holder of the product (not just the seller), the city and the country company (including the region) should be given in brackets as follows: “Discovery St PET/CT scanner (General Electric Co., Boston, MA, USA)”
• All bibliographies, tables, and figures should be cited in the main text, and they should be numbered according to the order they appear in the main text.
• The limitations, drawbacks, and deficiencies of original articles should be stated in the Discussion section before the conclusion paragraph.
• Except for figures and tables, numbers from one to ten should be written in words unless they are used as a unit of measure.
• Contrary to English grammar rules, Turkish uses a comma (,) as a decimal, and a point sign (.) in every third digit to the left of the decimal separator.
References
References should be prepeared according to the "Vancouver" citation style. See the details of Vancouver citation style examples for different source types at http://guides.lib.monash.edu/ld.php?content_id=14570618
At the same time, examples are given below.
The editorial team may ask authors to cite relevant articles recently published (preferably within the last 10 years) in their articles.
If referring to a preprint publication, a digital object identifier (DOI) number must be provided.
Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the references.
Journal article from full-text database:
If DOI is available:
Author A, Author B. Title of article. Abbreviated Title of Journal. year;vol(no):page numbers. doi:10.XXX/XXXXX.XX.
Abalos E, Carroli G, Mackey ME. The tools and techniques of evidence-based medicine. Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol. 2005;19(1):15-26. doi:10.1016/j.bpogyn.2004.10.008.
If DOI is not available:
Author A, Author B. Title of article. Abbreviated Title of Journal [format]. year [cited year abbreviated month day];vol(no):page numbers. Available from: Internet address.
Allen C, Crake D, Wilson H, Buchholz A. Polycystic ovary syndrome and a low glycemic index diet. Can J Diet Pract Res [Internet]. 2005 [cited 2005 Jun 30];Summer:3. Available from: http://il.proquest.com.
Journal article from the Internet:
If DOI is available:
Author A, Author B. Title of article. Abbreviated Title of Journal. year;vol(no):page numbers. doi:10.XXX/XXXXX.XX.
Scholz T. Evidence based medicine: from science to patient. J Tissue Sci Eng. 2012;3:e113. doi:10.4172/2157-7552.1000e113.
If DOI is not available:
Author A, Author B. Title of article. Abbreviated Title of Journal [format]. year [cited year abbreviated month day];vol(no):page numbers. Available from: Internet address.
Sillick TJ, Schutte NS. Emotional intelligence and self-esteem mediate between perceived early parental love and adult happiness. E-Jnl Appl Psych [Internet]. 2006 [cited 2010 Aug 6];2(2):38–48. Available from: http://ojs.lib.swin.edu.au/index.php/ejap/article/view/71/100.
Journal article from preprint database:
Kording KP, Mensch B. Ten simple rules for structuring papers. BioRxiv [preprint]. 2016 bioRxiv 088278 [posted 2016 Nov 28; revised 2016 Dec 15; revised 2016 Dec 15; cited 2017 Feb 9]: [12 p.]. Available from: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/088278v5.
Book chapter:
BG Katzung. Special Aspects of Geriatric Pharmacology. In:Bertram G. Katzung.Susan B. Masters. Anthony J. Trevor (Eds). Basic and Clinical Pharmacology. 10th edition. Lange. Mc Graw Hill. USA 2007. pp 983-90.
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 papers:
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 the article, the author must also upload an annotated copy of the main document that answers any questions raised by the reviewers and indicates where changes can be found (each reviewer's comment followed by the author's answer and the line number with the changes). Revised manuscripts must be submitted within the specified day from the date of the decision letter. If the revised version of the article is not delivered within the given deadline, the revision option may be withdrawn. If the sending author (s) believe that additional time is required, they can request this extension. Accepted manuscripts are edited for grammar, punctuation, format, and clarity.
Publication Process
The publishing stages are as follows;
Uncorrected paper: Final, accepted but unedited, and uncorrected manuscript PDF.
Ahead-of-print paper: The final revised version of the manuscript, after reviewing the editing and typesetting.
Final publication: The last revised version will take place in an issue of the journal and will be added to the journal's website. A DOI will be assigned to the article at the time of being added to the journal's website. In order to speed up the publishing process, we ask the authors to complete the corrections as quickly as possible during the final reading process.
Submission Checklist
Please use this list and the explanations below to prepare your article, do a final check before submitting to complete a timely review.
Formatting the text
The text should be written in 12 point Arial font. Main headings should be written in 14 point and bold font. Subtitles should be written in 12 point and bold font. A single space should be inserted at the end of each sentence. Bold font should not be used to emphasize the text. Use a single hard return to separate paragraphs. Tabs or indents should not be used to begin a paragraph. Hyphenation, header, or footer should not be used. Page numbering should be used. US English must be used.
Make sure the following items are available:
Title page:
• Font
• Title
• Short title
• All author names and institutions
• Contact information of the author defined as the corresponding author (full postal address, phone number, and e-mail address)
• Articles presented as oral or poster should include the name, date, and place of the event.
• Financial or other aid for the study
• Number of words (Abstract word count, Text word count)
Main text:
• Title
• Abstract
• Keywords
• Text with required subheadings
• References (make sure it is written in accordance with the journal rules.)
• Figures and tables:
o It should be numbered according to the text.
o Labels, titles, and abbreviations should be descriptive.
o Make sure that all figure and table citations in the text match.
Make sure the following forms are properly completed and submitted:
• Conflict of Interest Form (must be filled by all contributing authors), AND
• Copyright Agreement and Acknowledgement of Authorship Form
International Peer Reviewed Journal
The journal adopts Open Access Policy and does not request article proccessing charge (APC), article publishing charge or any other charges.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License