INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

I. General Information

The Archives of Neuropsychiatry is the official publication of the Turkish Association  of Neuropsychiatry. It is published quarterly and four editions annually constitute a volume. Archives of Neuropsychiatry is a peer- reviewed scientific journal in which clinical and basic science articles in the fields of psychiatry, neurology, neurosurgery, and clinical psychology and behavioral sciences are published. 

The language of the journal is both Turkish and English. Papers submitted to the journal should not have been previously published, accepted for publication or be in the process of evaluation for publication in any other journal published in Turkish and English. This requirement does not apply to articles presented as bulletins in scientific meetings and whose summaries are published. In such cases however, the name, date and place of the meeting in which the paper was presented should be stated.  

The format of the articles should be in accordance with the rules of  ‘Uniform requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication (http://www.icmje.org/). 

On receipt of the paper by the Editorial Board, the paper is  evaluated for compliance with the format rules In the event that the paper is not found to comply with the general publication principles of the journal  from the standpoint of either technical characteristics or general scope, the paper is rejected. Alternatively, the author(s) may be asked to re-submit the paper in accordance with the writing requirements. Papers resubmitted are  passed through a similar technical examination and, if found to comply with the rules, are passed on for  peer review. The paper is sent, without the title, to two reviewers selected by the board, who then assess the paper for scientific content and  format compliance.  The Editorial Advisory Board then carries out the final editing, taking the reports of the reviewers into consideration, and, when necessary, communicating with the author(s). The Editorial Board is authorized to publish the paper, return it for correction, or reject it. The assessment process  involves research articles,case reports and original articles submitted to the journal. Other types of articles are evaluated directly by the Board. Papers submitted to the journal will not be returned whether they are published or not. 

All the authors should submit a collectively signed statement that there is no conflict of interest regarding scientific contribution or responsibility. The association, establishment ,and medication-material supply firms which have  given financial, even partial, or material support  to the research should be mentioned in a footnote. 

No fee or compensation will be paid for articles published in the journal. The Editorial Board assumes that the author(s) are obliged not to submit the paper submitted to the journal to another journal before completion of the assessment process. 

In the ‘method’ section of articles concerned with experimental research on humans or animals, a sentence showing that the informed consent of patients and volunteers has been obtained following a detailed explanation of the interventions carried out on them. In such studies, authors should clearly state the compliance with internationally accepted guidelines (1975 Helsinki declaration revised in 2002 http://www.wma.net/e/policy/b3.htm, Guide for the care and use of laborarory animals’-www.nap.edu/catalog/5140.html) issued by the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Health  and published in the Official Journal  dated 29 January 1993 number 21480‘ Regulations Concerning Drug Research’, and other more recently published rules laid out in governing statutes. They should forward a copy of the Ethic Committee Approval recieved from the relevant institution.

Standard abbreviations used in the text are written in full when first mentioned. For example, when first cited in the paper, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (Hamilton Depresyon Derecelendirme Ölçeði: HDDÖ) should be written, thereafter given as  HDRS. In the use of drugs, the generic names should be written in their Turkish pronunciation spelling form. Measurement units are given according to the metric system; e.g. written as ‘mg’, no punctuation is used, in the case of extensions(‘) is used as a separator. Laboratory measurements are reported in International System Units (US; Systeme Internationale; SI). 

II. Types and Characteristics of Papers to be Submitted to the Journal

The Archives of Neuropsychiatry publishes articles prepared in accordance with the rules put forward by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)  and revised in the 5th edition in 1997 (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals. New England Journal of Medicine, 1997; 336:309-315).and Turkish translations according to the rules abbreviated as the ‘Vancouver style’ issued in the same year  (Uluslararasý Týp Dergileri Editörleri Kurulu. Vancouver biyomedikal süreli yayýnlara yollanan yazýlar için yeni tek tip kurallarý. Toðrol E,çev. Klinik Psikofarmakoloji Bülteni, 1997; 7(1-4):46-55).

A. Research Articles:

These articles are prepared in full accordance with the writing style definitions given below, in which previously unpublished original research data are evaluated. The main text section of the research articles (excluding title page, bibliography, tables/figures/pictures) should not exceed 20 pages. If  some part of the research data given in these articles have previously been discussed in another paper, this must be notified without fail when sending the paper and, in addition, reference should be made to the relevant paper within the bibliography. 

B.   Case Reports:

These  are articles which present and discuss  the characteristics of one or more cases which have special features and scientific importance from the  clinical evaluation, treatment, follow-up or other  standpoint. Case presentations include the title page, summary, main text, bibliography, table/figure/picture sections;  sub titles in the main text are organised according to the text content. Summaries of the case presentations should have  150 words,the main text ( excluding title page, bibliography, table/figure/picture) should not exceed 10 pages.  

C. Brief Reports:

These are articles in which original ideas dealing with important theoretical or practical problems related to a specific subject are presented and discussed. Original articles include a title page, summary, main text, bibliography, table/figure/picture sections; subtitles in the main text are organised according to the text content. The main text of original articles ( excluding title page, bibliography, table/figure/picture) should not exceed 10 pages

 D. Special Sections:

1. Letters to the Editor: These articles include evaluation and criticisms of articles published in the journal. These are published together with the responses of the author(s) of the paper concerned where possible. Letters to the Editor may not exceed 5 pages.

2. Problems/Solutions: These articles express a theoretical or practical problem encountered in subjects within the scope of the journal. Creation of a discussion environment is aimed at by publishing the problem together with the replies of other relevant specialists. The paper may not exceed 1 page.

3. Meeting news/notes: These articles introduce scientific meetings held or to be held on subjects within the scope of the journal. The paper may not exceed 3 pages.

4. Journal news: These articles introduce scientific journals being published within the scope of the journal. The paper may not exceed 2 pages.

5. Association news: These articles introduce associations dealing with areas related to the scope of the journal. The paper may not exceed 2 pages.

6. Introduction of websites: These articles introduce websites relevant to the scope of the journal. These articles may not exceed 2 pages.

7. Book/Thesis Section: These articles introduce books/theses published on subjects related to the scope of the journal and may not exceed 3 pages.

 III. Writing Style

Papers to be submitted to the journal include the sections of title page, summary, main text, bibliography and tables/figures/pictures according to their types.

 A. Title Page:

The title of the paper, names, titles and institutions of the authors, mailing address, telephone and, if any, fax and e-mail of the corresponding author are written. In addition, a paragraph written as follows: ‘This paper, whose compliance with the Archives of Neuropsychiatry  rules of writing has been checked, was read and approved  by all the authors and all publication rights were transferred to the Archives of Neuropsychiatry’,is included in the paper and must be signed by all the participating authors without fail.

 B. Abstract and Keywords:

This is written in two languages, Turkish and English, and also includes the title of the paper. The abstract is divided into the subtitles of objective, method, results and discussion and consists of 250 words. At the end of the abstract, at least 3, at most 5 keywords in both languages are included.

 C. Main Text:

The main text of the paper is organised under the subtitles of introduction, method, results and discussion: In the introduction, following a brief statement of basic information and justifications which constitute the basis of the paper, the objective is clearly given in the last paragraph. If necessary, the ‘method’ section may be organised according to sub-titles such as research/patient/ test group, instruments, application and statistiacal analysis. This section should be written with clarity so that a person not invovled in the study may easily understand. Results summarize the findings of the study and, when necessary, basic findings are supported with tables and figures. In the discussion section, the findings of the study are discussed in the light of relevant national and international studies; this section includes discussion of original findings, not a general review.

 D. Acknowledgements:

When considered necessary, author(s) may add brief acknowledgements in a few sentences to those whose contributions to the paper are not at author level but deserve    mention. Here, the contributions of those acknowledged (e.g. financial or equipment aid, technical support, general support of the head of department etc) are clearly stated (e.g. ‘scientific counselling’, ‘editing of the draft’, ‘ data collection’, ‘participation in clinical research’ etc). 

E. Bibliographic References:

References used are listed according to their reference order in the main text and shown in brackets in the text and tables or figure and table footnotes. The examples below are referred to in writing the sources; names are written in full in the case of three or fewer authors; when there are four on more authors, the names of the first three authors are written and ‘et al’ is added. ‘General Rules’ are referred to for sources of which no example has been given here. Names of journals are abbreviated  in accordance with the format in ‘Index Medicus’, and a journal not found here should be written in full. A list of journals may be obtained from the web address (http://www.nlm.nih.gov) of the USA National Library of Medicine (USA-NLM). 

Examples for bibliography formats:

Samples for writing the bibliography:

Journals:

Number of authors is three or less:

Klerman GL, Weissman MM. The course, morbidity, and costs of depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1992; 49:831-4.

Number of authors is more than three:

Katz MM, Koslow SH, Maas JW et al. The timing, specificity and clinical prediction of tricyclic drug effects in depression. Psychol Med 1987; 17:297-309.

Author is an institution:

The Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand. Clinical exercise stress testing: Safety and performance guidelines. Med J Aust 1996; 164:282-4.

Supplement:

Goodman WK, McDougle JC, Price LH. Pharmacotherapy of obsessive compulsive disorder. J Clin Psychiatry 1992; 53(Suppl 14):29-37.

Books

Author(s) is a person:

Jacobson E. The Self and the Object World. New York: International Universities Press; 1964.

Author(s) is an institution:

Institute of Medicine (US). Looking at the Future of the Medicaid Program. Washington: The Institute; 1992.

Book section

Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke. Laragh JH, Brenner BM, editors. Hypertension: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Management, included in. 2nd Edition. New York: Raven Press; 1995; s. 465-78.

Translated book:

Amerikan Psikiyatri Birliði (American Psychiatric Association). Mental Bozukluklarýn Tanýsal ve Sayýmsal El Kitabý. 4. Printing. Köroðlu E, trans. editor. Ankara: Hekimler Yayýn Birliði; 1995.

 Sources which have not been directly referred to must not be used; unpublished works and personal correspondence other than accepted theses may not be shown as a source. The author(s) is responsible for the authenticity of the sources.

 F. Tables:

Each table is printed on a separate page and numbered according to the sequence of referral within the text. Each table has a title and, when necessary, explanations are given under the table (e.g. abbreviations given in the table). Each table should be understandable without need for referral to the text. Each table should be referred to in the text.

 G. Figures and Pictures:

Each  figure should be drawn professionally on a separate page and should not be hand drawn. Letters, numbers and symbols within the figure should be clear and readable when downsized for printing. Figures and pictures should be numbered in accordance with the referral sequence in the text and  have the dimensions of 127x173mm and 203x254mm.

Pictures, figures and tables sent via the internet or in a cd should have a resolution of at least 300dpi.

When the author(s) has used a picture, figure or table from another source, permission of the author must be obtained, the necessary printing permission document must be provided and the source referred to in the text.

 IV. Submission of the Paper to the Journal

Before submitting to the journal, a final check of compliance with the writing rules must be made. Papers should be sent online via  the webpage: www.noropsikiyatriarsivi.com. Papers sent by

e-mail, mail or facsimile or any means other than the online system will not be accepted.