Acta Orthopaedica et Traumatologica Turcica

Copyright Transfer and Authorship Agreement Form

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Acta Orthopaedica et Traumatologica Turcica (AOTT) is a scientific, open access periodical published by independent, unbiased, and double-blinded peer-review principles. The journal is the official publication of the Turkish Association of Orthopaedics and Traumatology and the Turkish Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology. It is published bimonthly in January, March, May, July, September, and November. The publication language of the journal is English.

The aim of the journal is to publish original studies of the highest scientific and clinical value in orthopedics, traumatology, and related disciplines. The scope of the journal includes but not limited to diagnostic, treatment, and prevention methods related to orthopedics and traumatology. Acta Orthopaedica et Traumatologica Turcica publishes clinical and basic research articles, case reports, personal clinical and technical notes, systematic reviews and meta-analyses and letters to the Editor. Proceedings of scientific meetings are also considered for publication.

The target audience of the journal includes healthcare professionals, physicians, and researchers who are interested or working in orthopedics and traumatology field, and related disciplines.

EDITORIAL AND PUBLICATION PROCESS
The editorial and publication processes of the journal are shaped in accordance with the guidelines of the International Council of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), the Council of Science Editors (CSE), the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the European Association of Science Editors (EASE), and National Information Standards Organization (NISO). The journal conforms to the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (doaj.org/bestpractice).

Originality, high scientific quality, and citation potential are the most important criteria for a manuscript to be accepted for publication. Manuscripts submitted for evaluation should not have been previously presented or already published in an electronic or printed medium. The journal should be informed of manuscripts that have been submitted to another journal for evaluation and rejected for publication. The submission of previous reviewer reports will expedite the evaluation process. Manuscripts that have been presented in a meeting should be submitted with detailed information on the organization, including the name, date, and location of the organization.

PEER REVIEW PROCESS
Manuscripts submitted to Acta Orthopaedica et Traumatologica Turcica will go through a double-blind peer-review process. Each submission will be reviewed by at least two external, independent peer reviewers who are experts in their fields in order to ensure an unbiased evaluation process. The editorial board will invite an external and independent editor to manage the evaluation processes 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.

PRODUCTION PROCESS
All accepted manuscripts will be transferred to our production platform in which the copyediting and proofing processes are carried out. When the PDF of the article is generated, the corresponding author will receive an email with a link to our online proofing system. With that email, the author can make corrections in the article.

Web-based proofing provides a faster and less error-prone process by allowing you to directly type your corrections, eliminating the potential introduction of errors. Please use this proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness, and correctness of the text, tables, and figures. As the article is in the pre-publication process, significant changes will only be implemented with the editorial decision.

To ensure a fast publication process, we kindly ask authors to provide us their proof corrections within two days.

You can look at the quick instruction guide, which will be displayed while opening the link in our online proofing system. 

If you need any assistance, please contact the editorial office.

ETHICAL PROCEDURES
An approval of research protocols by the Ethics Committee in accordance with international agreements (World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki “Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects,” amended in October 2013, www.wma.net) is required for experimental, clinical, and drug studies and for some case reports. If required, ethics committee reports or an equivalent official document will be requested from the authors. For manuscripts concerning experimental research on humans, a statement should be included that shows that written informed consent of patients and volunteers was obtained following a detailed explanation of the procedures that they may undergo.

For studies carried out on animals, the measures taken to prevent pain and suffering of the animals should be stated clearly. Animal ethics committee approval is also required for the experimental studies on animals.
Information on patient consent, the name of the ethics committee, and the ethics committee approval number should also be stated in the Materials and Methods section of the manuscript. It is the authors’ responsibility to protect the patients’ anonymity carefully.
For photographs that may reveal the identity of the patients, signed releases of the patient or their legal representative should be enclosed, and the publication approval must be provided in the Materials and Methods section.

PLAGIARISM
Acta Orthopaedica et Traumatologica Turcica is extremely sensitive about plagiarism. All submissions are screened by a similarity detection software (iThenticate by CrossCheck) at any point during the peer-review and/or production process. Even if you are the author of the phrases or sentences, the text should not have unacceptable similarity with the previously published data.

When you are discussing others' (or your own) previous work, please make sure that you cite the material correctly in every instance. 
In the event of alleged or suspected research misconduct, e.g., plagiarism, citation manipulation, and data falsification/fabrication, the Editorial Board will follow and act following COPE guidelines.

AUTHORSHIP
Each person 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 is based on the following four criteria:
1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
3. Final approval of the version to be published; AND
4. 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 the parts of the work he/she has done, an author should be able to identify which co-authors are responsible for specific other parts of the work. Also, authors should have confidence in the integrity of the contributions of their co-authors.

All 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 in the title page of the manuscript.
*Co-first authorship is not accepted by the journal.

Acta Orthopaedica et Traumatologica Turcica requires corresponding authors to submit a signed and scanned version of the Copyright Transfer and Acknowledgement of Authorship form (available for download https://www.aott.org.tr/Content/files/AOTT%20CTF(1).pdf) during the initial submission process to act appropriately on 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 he/she accepts to undertake all the responsibility for authorship during the submission and review stages of the manuscript.

DECLARATION OF INTEREST
Acta Orthopaedica et Traumatologica Turcica requires and encourages the authors and the individuals involved in the evaluation process of submitted manuscripts to disclose any existing or potential conflicts of interests, including financial, consultant, and institutional, that might lead to potential bias or a conflict of interest. Any financial grants or other support received for a submitted study from individuals or institutions should be disclosed to the Editorial Board. To disclose a potential conflict of interest, the ICMJE Potential Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form should be filled in and submitted by all contributing authors. The journal’s Editorial Board resolves cases of a potential conflict of interest of the editors, authors, or reviewers within the scope of COPE and ICMJE guidelines.

The Editorial Board of the journal handles all appeal and complaint cases within the scope of COPE guidelines. In such cases, authors should get in direct contact with the editorial office regarding their appeals and complaints. When needed, an ombudsperson may be assigned to resolve claims that cannot be resolved internally. The Editor in Chief is the final authority in the decision-making process for all appeals and complaints.

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
Acta Orthopaedica et Traumatologica Turcica requires each submission to be accompanied by a Copyright Agreement and Acknowledgement of Authorship form (available for download https://www.aott.org.tr/Content/files/AOTT%20CTF(1).pdf). By signing this form, authors transfer the copyright of their work to the Turkish Association of Orthopaedics and Traumatology and agree that the article, if accepted for publication by the Acta Orthopaedica et Traumatologica Turcica will be licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). This license allows users to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and adapt the content provided that giving appropriate credit to the original work. Using the material for commercial purposes is not permitted.

When using previously published content, including figures, tables, or any other material in both print and electronic formats, authors must obtain permission from the copyright holder. Legal, financial and criminal liabilities in this regard belong to the author(s).

ARTICLE PROCESSING CHARGES
As of November 1, 2022, Acta Orthopaedica et Traumatologica Turcica receives a 990 USD (+VAT) = 1190 USD article processing charge (APC) for each article accepted for publication following the peer-review process. No fees are requested from the authors during the submission and evaluation process for the manuscripts submitted as of November 1, 2022. 
 
Members of the Turkish Association of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (TOTDER) and the Turkish Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (TOTBID) will be receive a 50% APC discount and charged 495 USD (+VAT) = 595 USD. Authors must ensure membership eligibility for the societies mentioned above. 

There are no surcharges based on the length of an article, figures, or supplementary data. 
 
Any financial contribution or support received from third parties for a manuscript should be disclosed at the time of initial submission. Should APC be paid by a third party other than the author or the author's institution, authors must provide this information on the title page and ICMJE Disclosure Form.

APCs cover the expenses for publishing services the journal provides, including costs of peer review administration and management, professional production of articles in PDF and other formats, and dissemination of published papers in various venues and other publishing functions. 
 
Due to the moderation in publication fee policy of the journal, the submission date will be considered to determine the author fees. 
 
The manuscript submitted BEFORE November 1, 2022 - Editorial Processing Charge: Manuscripts successfully fulfilling the editorial process and accepted are subjected to additional remaining editorial processing charges shown below.

•    Research Article - €490 (VAT included)
•    Systematic reviews and meta-analyses - €490 (VAT included)
•    Case Report/Technical Note - €356 (VAT included)

Author fees or waiver status do not influence editorial decision making. All submissions are evaluated by the Editorial Board and the external reviewers in terms of scientific quality and ethical standards. APC payments do not have any effect on the outcome of the article's evaluation and/or publication priority.

DISCLAIMER
Statements or opinions expressed in the manuscripts published Acta Orthopaedica et Traumatologica Turcica reflect the views of the author(s) and not the opinions of the editors, the editorial board, or the publisher; the editors, the editorial board, and the publisher disclaim any responsibility or liability for such materials. The final responsibility regarding the published content rests with the authors.

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION
The manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with ICMJE-Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (updated in May 2022 - https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/). Authors are required to prepare manuscripts in accordance with the CONSORT guidelines for randomized research studies, STROBE guidelines for observational original research studies, STARD guidelines for studies on diagnostic accuracy, PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews and meta-analysis, ARRIVE guidelines for experimental animal studies, and TREND guidelines for non-randomized public behavior.

The follow-up time of each patient should be at least 2 years for orthopedic patient series (1 year is adequate for cases with infection and tumor), and 1 year for trauma patient series. Manuscripts reporting on outcome with a follow-up period under these limits will not be evaluated.

Manuscripts can only be submitted through the journal’s online manuscript submission and evaluation system, available at https://www.editorialmanager.com/AOTT/default.aspx. Manuscripts submitted via any other medium and submissions by anyone other than one of the authors will not be evaluated.

Manuscripts submitted to the journal will first go through a technical evaluation process where the editorial office 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 submitting author with technical correction requests.

Authors are required to submit the following:
· Copyright Transfer and Acknowledgement of Authorship Form, and
· ICMJE Potential Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form (should be filled in by all contributing authors) during the initial submission. These forms are available for download at www.aott.org.tr/.

Preparation of the Manuscript
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(s), affiliations, highest academic degree(s), and ORCID IDs of the author(s),
· Grant information and detailed information on the other sources of support,
· Name, address, telephone (including the mobile phone 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.
Abstract: An abstract should be submitted with all submissions except for Letters to the Editor. The abstract of Original Articles should be structured with subheadings (Objective, Methods, Results and Conclusion). Please check Table 1 below for word count specifications.

Keywords: Each submission must be accompanied by a minimum of three to a maximum of five keywords for subject indexing 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).

Level of Evidence: For more information please click here and 2.

Highlights: All submissions except letters to the editor should be accompanied by a “Highlights” section, which should emphasize the most noteworthy results of the study and underline the principle message that is addressed to the reader. This short collection of bullet points should capture the novel results of the research as well as new methods that were used during the study (if any). “Highlights” section should contain maximum 100 word long, 3 to 5 bullet points and should be listed at the end of the main text during initial submission.

Manuscript Types
Original Articles:
This is the most important type of article since it provides new information based on original research. Acceptance of original papers will be based upon the originality and importance of the investigation. The main text of original articles should be structured with Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, and Discussion subheadings. An original article can be signed by maximum 6 authors unless it is a multi-center study or that it required extensive labour. In multi-center or multi-discipline studies, the corresponding author should send a cover letter to the editor explaining each author's contribution in detail. Please check Table 1 for the limitations for Original Articles.

Statistical analysis to support conclusions is usually necessary. Statistical analyses must be conducted in accordance with international statistical reporting standards (Altman DG, Gore SM, Gardner MJ, Pocock SJ. Statistical guidelines for contributors to medical journals. Br Med J 1983: 7; 1489-93). Information on statistical analyses should be provided with a separate subheading under the Materials and Methods section and the statistical software that was used during the process must be specified.
Units should be prepared in accordance with the International System of Units (SI).

Editorial Comments: Invited brief editorial comments on selected articles are published in Acta Orthopaedica et Traumatologica Turcica. Editorials should not be longer than 1000 words excluding references. Editorial comments aim to provide a brief critical commentary by reviewers with expertise or with high reputation in the topic of the research article published in the journal. Authors are selected and invited by the journal to provide such comments. Abstract, Keywords, and Tables, Figures, Images, and other media are not included.

Systematic reviews: Systematic reviews prepared by authors who have extensive knowledge on a particular field and whose scientific background has been translated into a high volume of publications with a high citation potential are welcomed. These authors may even be invited by the journal. Reviews should describe, discuss, and evaluate the current level of knowledge of a topic in clinical practice and should guide future studies. The subheadings of the review articles should be planned by the authors. However, each review article should include an “Introduction” and a “Conclusion” section. Please check Table 1 for the limitations for systematic review articles.

Technical Note: A technical note is a brief description of a technique, procedure, modification of a method, or new equipment of interest to orthopedics, traumatology, and related disciplines. It should include a brief introduction followed by the Technique section for case reports or Methods section for case series, and Discussion is limited to the specific message, including the uses of the technique, equipment, or software. Literature reviews and lengthy descriptions of cases are not appropriate. The main text should be limited to 1500 words, and the number of cited references should not exceed 15. The number of figures should be limited to a total of 8 images. A maximum of 4 authors can sign a technical note.

Case Reports: There is limited space for case reports in the journal and reports on rare cases or conditions that constitute challenges in diagnosis and treatment, those offering new therapies or revealing knowledge not included in the literature, and interesting and educative case reports are accepted for publication. The text should include Introduction, Case Presentation, Discussion and Conclusion with an unstructured abstract. A case report can be signed by maximum 4 authors. Please check Table 1 for the limitations for Case Reports.

Letters to the Editor: This type of manuscript discusses important parts, overlooked aspects, or lacking parts of a previously published article. Articles on subjects within the scope of the journal that might attract the readers’ attention, particularly educative cases, may also be submitted in the form of a “Letter to the Editor.” Readers can also present their comments on the published manuscripts in the form of a “Letter to the Editor.” Abstract, Keywords, and Tables, Figures, Images, and other media should not be included. The text should be unstructured. The manuscript that is being commented on must be properly cited within this manuscript.

Table 1. Limitations for each manuscript type

Type of manuscript Word limit Abstract word limit Reference limit Author limit Table limit Figure limit
Original Article 2500 350 (Structured) 35 6 6 Total of 10 images
Systematic Review Article 5000 350 50 6 6 Total of 15 images
Case Report 1500 350 15 4 No tables Total of 8 images
Letter to the Editor 350 No Abstract 5 4 No tables Total of 2 images

Tables
Tables should be included in the main document, presented after the reference list, and 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 tables by 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 arranged clearly to provide easy reading. Data presented in the tables should not be a repetition of the data presented within the main text but should be supporting the main text.

Figures and Figure Legends
Figures, graphics, and photographs should be submitted as separate files (in TIFF or JPEG format) through the 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 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 300 DPI. To prevent delays in the evaluation process, all submitted figures should be clear in resolution and large in size (minimum dimensions: 100 × 100 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.

When a drug, product, hardware, or software program is mentioned within the main text, product information, including the name of the product, the producer of the product, 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, Milwaukee, WI, 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 the shortcomings of original articles should be mentioned in the Discussion section before the conclusion paragraph.

Supplementary Materials
Supplementary materials, including audio files, videos, datasets, and additional documents (e.g., appendices, additional figures, tables), are intended to complement the main text of the manuscript. These supplementary materials should be submitted as a separate section after the references list. Concise descriptions of each supplementary material should be included to explain their relevance to the manuscript. Page numbers are not required for supplementary materials.
 
References
Both in-text citations and the references must be prepared according to the AMA Manual of style.

While citing publications, preference should be given to the latest, most up-to-date publications. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of references If an ahead-of-print publication is cited, the DOI number should be provided. Journal titles should be abbreviated in accordance with the journal abbreviations in 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 three authors should be listed followed by “et al.” In the main text of the manuscript, references should be cited in superscript after punctuation. The reference styles for different types of publications are presented in the following examples.

Journal Article: Akman S, Ertürer RE, Tezer M, Tekeşin M, Kuzgun U. Long-term results of olecranon fractures treated with tension-band wiring technique. Acta Orthop Traumatol Turc. 2002;36:401-417.
Book Section: Fikremariam D, Serafini M. Multidisciplinary approach to pain management. In: Vadivelu N, Urman RD, Hines RL, eds. Essentials of Pain Management. New York, NY: Springer New York; 2011:17-28.
Books with a Single Author: Patterson JW. Weedon’s Skin Pahology. 4th ed. Churchill Livingstone; 2016.
Editor(s) as Author: Etzel RA, Balk SJ, eds. Pediatric Environmental Health. American Academy of Pediatrics; 2011.
Conference Proceedings: Morales M, Zhou X. Health practices of immigrant women: indigenous knowledge in an urban environment. Paper presented at: 78th Association for Information Science and Technology Annual Meeting; November  6-10; 2015; St Louis, MO. Accessed March 15, 2016. https://www.asist.org/files/meetings/am15/proceedings/openpage15.html
Thesis: Maiti N. Association Between Behaviours, Health Charactetistics and Injuries Among Adolescents in the United States. Dissertation. Palo Alto University; 2010.
Online Journal Articles: Tamburini S, Shen N, Chih Wu H, Clemente KC. The microbiome in early life: implications for health outcometes. Nat Med. Published online July 7, 2016. doi:10.1038/nm4142
Epub Ahead of Print Articles: Websites:  International Society for Infectious Diseases. ProMed-mail. Accessed February 10, 2016. http://www.promedmail.org

REVISIONS 
When submitting a revised version of a paper, the author must submit a detailed “Response to the reviewers” that states point by point how each issue raised by the reviewers has been covered and where it can be found (each reviewer’s comment, followed by the author’s reply and line numbers where the 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 canceled. If the submitting author(s) believe that additional time is required, they should request this extension before the initial 30-day period is over.

Accepted manuscripts are copy-edited for grammar, punctuation, and format by professional language editors. 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 its scheduled issue. A PDF proof of the accepted manuscript is sent to the corresponding author and their publication approval is requested within 2 days of their receipt of the proof.

Editor in Chief: Prof. Dr. R. Haluk Berk
Address: TOTDER Genel Merkezi, Şehremini, Koyuncu Sk. No: 4/5 , 34104 Fatih, İstanbul, Turkey
Phone: +90 212 530 15 08
Fax: +90 212 530 15 21
E-mail: [email protected]

Publisher: AVES
Address: Büyükdere Cad. 199/6, 34394, Şişli, İstanbul, Turkey
Phone: +90 212 217 17 00
E-mail: [email protected]
Web page: http://avespublishing.com

ISSN 1017-995X EISSN 2589-1294