TYPES OF PAPERS

Original Articles

Original articles should consist of sections titled as “Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusion”. For information about the abstract, refer to ‘Manuscript Formatting’ section.

The Introduction section of the manuscript should clearly state the purpose of the manuscript and include a brief summary of the most relevant national and international literature stating the main purposes and research question of the study. Contradictory aspects of the research, if present, should be mentioned. The expected contribution of this study to family medicine and practice should be highlighted.

The Materials and Methods section should describe the study population and the study design, with adequate information on the techniques, materials and methods used. The section should include information of the study type, population, sample, sample size and selection of the sample. Validity and reliability of scales and questionnaires used also should be referred to. A clear description of the statistical methods should also be given.

The Results section should include a detailed report on the findings of the study. All figures, tables and illustrations should be used in this section. Results should be presented either as text or figures and/or tables and not be replicated.

The Discussion section of the study should emphasize the importance of the results and compare them with the results of other authors with relevant citations from the most recent literature. Study limitations and strengths should be specified. Suggestions for further studies in this area should be added.

The Conclusion should include the main conclusions based on the results of the research, emphasize the contributions of the study to family practice and propose original suggestions. A brief revision of all the results and the discussion should be avoided.

Original articles excluding case reports and systematic reviews should not exceed 3000 words excluding the abstract, references and tables. Case reports should not exceed 1000 words excluding the abstract, references and tables. There are no restrictions for systematic reviews.

Short Reports

Short Reports are accepted when the research topic, aim and results of the study are in limited in scope and in cases that do not require writing a full original article. Short Reports can be described as a summarized version that have been prepared according to the structure of research articles. Publishing an article as a short report does not reflect a lower quality. The same rules as relevant to original articles apply to preparing a short report, but structured abstracts are not mandatory references and tables should not exceed 6 and 2 in number, respectively. Abstracts should not exceed 100 words and the text should be restricted to a maximum of 1000 words.

Reviews

Reviews are evidence-based articles about a specific topic using relevant citations from the most recent literature with the authors’ conclusions on this subject. The author is expected to have conducted research on the subject and to have experience in order to discuss and analyze the subject. There is no obligation to follow a particular format and may contain subtitles depending on the subject. The text should not exceed 4000 words excluding the title, abstracts, references and tables. The Turkish Journal of Family Practice only publishes review articles solicited by the editors.

Letters to Editor and Comments

Letters to the editor or comments can be sent to provide commentary and analysis concerning an article published in the journal, to give information about ongoing research, to provide information for primary care physicians about recent advances in medicine or the development of family medicine in Turkey or to draw attention to a particular subject. Letters to the editor or comments may include an optional title, tables and references. These articles should not exceed 1000 words.

What Would You Do?

These are brief articles discussing cases and situations encountered in family practice with a biopsychosocial approach. If necessary, photographs (with permission from the patient/owner) may be added. Sections should consist of a title, case report, discussion, questions and answers. Brief comments can be sent to provide commentary on previous articles and case reports written by other authors. Comments should include the number of the journal the article was published in. The text should not exceed 1000 words.

National and International Reprots

Translations of important documents, declarations and guidelines prepared by international organizations in the field of family medicine, may be published in the journal. Presubmission Inquiry to the Editorial Board of the Journal before submitting the article is recommended. It is the translator’s responsibility to obtain permission from the owner of the original manuscript for publication and translation.

Selections from Journals

Abstracts of articles published in national and international journals in the field of family medicine may be published in the Turkish Journal of Family Practice. These articles should not exceed 500 words.

News

These articles focus on advances and innovations in clinical topics relevant to practicing family physicians and family medicine, aiming to develop and disseminate family practice. There is no obligation to follow a particular format. The text should be limited to 1000 words.

White Papers

White papers are articles focusing on important national or international projects and board reports in family medicine. They may also introduce TAHUD workshop activities. These articles should usually not exceed 1000 words, with some exceptions.

Editorials

Editorials usually provide information about the editorial policy of the Turkish Journal of Family Practice, give commentary and feedback on articles published in the journal, draw attention to topics of current interest and give information related to and discuss the development of family medicine in Turkey. They are mainly written by the members of the Editorial Board. Editorials are limited to 2000 words with some exceptions and may include a title and references when necessary.