Editorial Policies

The Editorial policy is in accordance with the recommendations of International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (https://www.icmje.org/) and Committee on Publication Ethics (https://publicationethics.org/).

Editorial Board of the Journal of Critical and Intensive Care Medicine carry an important responsibility to maintain the Journal standards. The editorial board is responsible for ensuring that the journal publishes high-quality research. To maintain these standards, the editors are expected to assess each manuscript to determine whether it is within the scope of the Journal and whether it complies with the ethical and publication policies of the Journal.

After an initial screening by the technical secretary, an editor is assigned for the manuscript. An external and independent editor is invited by the Editor-in-Chief for the evaluation processes of manuscripts submitted by the editorial board members of the journal.

The Editor receives an email inviting him/her to assess the new manuscript. On receiving a manuscript, editors should ascertain if it is potentially suitable for publication. iThenticate Similarity Check report is evaluated. Any manuscript found to be unsuitable may be rejected immediately.

Peer review policy

Manuscripts which are found suitable for double blind peer-review are assigned to at least two independent reviewers who are experts in the field. For this purpose, proposed reviewers by the authors may or may not be assigned. Care is undertaken not to assign undesired reviewers if stated in the cover letter. Upon receipt of all peer review reports a decision is made for the article. The editors take into account both the reviewer reports and their own view of the manuscript.

Manuscripts that are found to be unsuitable for publication will be rejected. Manuscripts that need improvement may be recommended a minor or a major revision. A major revision generally denotes that substantial improvement is necessary, while a minor revision usually involves minor corrections. After a minor revision editorial board may choose to proceed without a second peer review. As well, a well presented manuscript complying with Journal guidelines may directly be accepted without any further recommendations. The Editorial Board is the final authority for the decision-making process of all submissions.

Manuscripts of studies with a fundamental methodological flaw, studies which are replicative or highly derivative should be rejected. Major inconsistency with Journal guidelines, inadequate replies to reviewer reports may be causes for rejection.

Solely, subjectively perceived importance and potential low impact of a manuscript should not be the primary reason of rejection, although manuscripts presenting original research are strongly encouraged.

Research ethics policies

The rights, interests, dignity and identity of participants and related persons participating in the research must be respected. Research on humans and animals must be conducted in accordance with Turkish Laws and Legislations in addition to DECLARATION OF HELSINKI Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects. Institutional and/or national ethical or review board approval should be obtained and presented if required for all types of human and animal researches and case reports even if the research is retrospectively designed depending on the national regulations. 

If there are concerns on ethical issues the editors have right to reject or even retract the manuscript if it has been published.

Informed consent policy

A full informed consent must be obtained from the participants of prospectively designed studies and case reports even if the research is non-interventional. In retrospectively designed studies informed consent could be waived but ethical or institutional review board approval is mandatory,   

The entire editorial process of article review is carried out using the journal's online article tracking system. "Journal of Critical and Intensive Care Article Evaluation Flow" is as follows.

Journal of Critical and Intensive Care Article Evaluation Flow:

I- After an article is submitted, it undergoes an initial screening by the technical secretary for:

a. Any missing file:

i. First submission: cover letter, copyright transfer agreement form, disclosure of interest form, author contribution form, document for English editing

ii. Submission of revised manuscript: Letter of revision (point-by-point answers to reviewer comments), revised manuscript with highlighted final revised manuscript

b.  iThenticate Similarity Check:

i. The manuscript is checked by iThenticate for plagiarism and similarities and the manuscript could be sent to the authors if revision and correction is required.

c. Format compliance with Journal standards

i.  Presentation of abstract, main text, tables, figures and references are checked.

d. Blinding of authors, study site or any information that may indicate information about authors or study site.  

II- After the initial screening, the manuscript and the iThenticate report is evaluated by the editorial board. Manuscripts considered in the scope of the journal and complying with research and publication ethics are sent for further evaluation for publication to external reviewers for blind peer-review. Manuscripts not considered in the scope of the Journal, and manuscripts not complying with the ethical standards will be declined with a notification letter to the corresponding author, without peer review. Invited reviews may be accepted after editorial board review, without peer review.

III- At least 2 reviewers are assigned for a manuscript.

IV- Reviewers are expected to accept or decline the invitation within a week. If the reviewer declines or a reply is not received within a week, a reminder email is sent. If there is not a response, the editor is notified, assignment is canceled and a new reviewer is assigned. Reviewers are expected to complete their evaluation in 2 weeks. A reminder email is sent after the 2 weeks, and if there is still no evaluation, the assignment is canceled.

V- After revisions of reviewers are completed, editorial board makes a final decision and a notification email is sent to the corresponding author. The Editorial Board is the final authority for the decision-making process of all submissions.

a. Manuscripts accepted for publication directly proceed to preparation for publication.

b. Manuscripts with revision recommendations: Corresponding authors are expected to complete their revisions and submit their articles within a month. If revision is not completed within the time period, a notification is sent and after the second month the article is declined if a revised manuscript has not been submitted or an explanation by the author has not been received.  

c. Manuscripts declined: Notification to corresponding author is sent, and reviewer notes are available in the submission system.

VI- Once a manuscript is accepted for publication in the Journal, it is prepared for publication. Proof files are sent to the associate editor and then to the corresponding author. Corresponding author should respond within 3 days. After final editing, the article is published as early online manuscript on the Journal’s website and the DOI number is given. 

VII- The Journal is an open access journal, and the manuscripts are published in the Journal issues taking in regard the acceptance order.