Guidelines for Authors

 

Asthma Allergy Immunology is the periodical journal of the Turkish National Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, and is published three times a year in April, August and December.

The aim of the journal is to present advances in the field of allergic diseases and clinical immunology to the readers. In accordance with this goal, manuscripts in the format of research articles, review articles, case reports, letters to the editor, and editorials about allergic diseases and clinical immunology are published in the journal. The official language of the journal is English.

All manuscripts submitted for publication should comply with the “Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals” as produced and updated by the International Committee of Medical Journals Editors (www.icmje.org).

1. SUBMISSION

Please note that submission denotes that the content has not been previously published or submitted for publication, other than as a brief abstract in the proceedings of a scientific meeting or symposium.

The manuscripts should be submitted via the online manuscript evaluation system (www.aai.org.tr).

 

2. MANUSCRIPT CATEGORIES AND REQUIREMENTS

1. Editorials: All editorials topics must express objective opinions, experiences, or perspectives in an important area relevant to Asthma Allergy Immunology. Editorials are commissioned by the Editorial board. Editorials are limited to 1000 words and contain no more than 15 references; they may include a maximum of one table and one figure.
2. Research Articles: Research Articles should include the title, a structured abstract (limited to 300 words and structured as Objective, Materials and Methods, Results, and Conclusion), and key words. Other sections of the manuscript should include the Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgements (if required), and References. Research articles should not exceed 5000 words and 40 references.
3. Review Articles: Manuscripts in the form of “Reviews” have been accepted when “invited”, since 2009. In the case of wishing to write a review about a current topic without being “invited”, the editor should be contacted before the manuscript is submitted. Review Articles should include the title, abstract, and key words. The abstract should be prepared as a single paragraph and limited to 300 words. A structured abstract is not required. The number of references should be limited to 40 if possible. Manuscripts must be no longer than 5000 words.
4. Case Reports: Case reports should include the title, abstract, key words, introduction, case presentation, discussion, and references. The introduction and discussion sections of case reports should be short and concise. A structured abstract is not required. Case reports should not exceed 1500 words and the number of references should not exceed 20.
5. Letters to the Editor: Asthma Allergy Immunology considers two types of Letters to the Editor as detailed below. An abstract is not required.
   1. Correspondence Letters: Correspondences are letters regarding articles published in Asthma Allergy Immunology. Letters should be received less than six months after publication of the original work in question. If the correspondence is considered acceptable, a response will be requested from the authors of the referenced Asthma Allergy Immunology article. Upon review and approval by the Editor and after being peer-reviewed, the Correspondence and relevant Reply will both be published together. The Correspondence manuscripts must have a short, relevant title, distinct from the title of the referenced article. All Replies should have the title "Reply to first author's name. Letters may also debate recently published articles and offer encouragement or helpful criticism based on the author's personal experiences. Correspondence Letters should be no longer than 500 words and cite no more than 6 references. Illustrations and tables are discouraged.
   2. Short Reports: Short reports should include research results in the related field in a short and concise form or a discussion of patient cases. Short reports should be no longer than 1500 words, with no more than 20 references.  The number of tables should be limited to 2 and that of figures/graphics/pictures should be limited to 1.

3. PREPARING THE SUBMISSION

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

• Cover letter
• Author Contribution Form
• Copyright Transfer Form
• Title Page
  1. Title
  2. Running title
  3. Author names and affiliations
  4. Corresponding author’s contact information
  5. Funding Statement
  6. Disclosure Statement
• Abstract (All manuscripts except “Letters to the Editor and Editorials” should include an abstract.)
• Key Words (two to five key words)
• Main Text (Committee of Ethics Approval should be included in the method section for all research articles.)
• Acknowledgments (If applicable, the acknowledgments should be placed after the Discussion.)
• References
• Tables (at the end of the manuscript and in the same file as the text.)
• Figures (Each figure should be loaded as a separate file.)
• Figure Legends (Legends for figures, graphics, and pictures should be typed in the manuscript file, on a separate page after the tables.)

Please, do not use proprietary names in the main text or in the Abstract. The Ethics Statement should be anonymized.

Cover Letter: The cover letter should explain why your work is perfect for the journal and why it will be of interest to the journal’s readers.

Your submission cover letter should address the editor and include the following information:

• Manuscript title
• Article type
• Name of the journal
• Statement that your paper has not been previously published and is not currently under consideration by another journal
• Brief description of the research you are reporting in your paper, why it is important, and why you think the readers of the journal would be interested in it
• Corresponding author’s contact information
• Confirmation that you have no competing interests to disclose

Abbreviations: Abbreviations should be internationally accepted and should be defined accordingly in the text in parentheses when first mentioned and used in the text. The abbreviated form should be used throughout the article. “How To Write and Publish Scientific Articles” (http://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/kitap/maknasyaz/) can be referred to for international abbreviations.

Title Page: The title page of the manuscript should include the title of the article and a running title not exceeding 40 characters including spaces, as well as the full names, surnames, and academic degrees of the authors. The department, division, and institution of the authors should be indicated. The journal requires all authors to acknowledge, on the title page of the manuscript, all funding sources that supported their work and any commercial associations that might pose a conflict of interest. The Corresponding Author is responsible for obtaining each author’s statement and all authors should see and approve the complete disclosure before submission to the journal. A manuscript that has been presented previously as an abstract at any congress or symposium may be mentioned on condition that the date and place of the meeting are stated in the title page. If the articles have been previously published on preprint servers, the doi number and link of the preprint version of the article must be stated in the title page. The title page should also include the address, e-mail, phone, and fax number of the corresponding author. The title page should be submitted as a separate file.

Abstract and keywords: All manuscripts except “Letters to the Editor and Editorials” should include an abstract. Abbreviations should be avoided in the abstract. References, figures, tables, and citations should not be used. There should be two to five key words complying with the Index Medicus medical Subject Headings (MeSH). Refer to www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html regarding the key words.

Main text: The manuscript text should be written in Times New Roman font 10 point type, double-spaced, and with 2 cm margins on the left and right sides. The article should be prepared in the .doc or .docx format with up-to-date computer software. All sections of the manuscripts should start on a new page. Pages should be numbered consecutively, beginning with the abstract. Page numbers should appear at the bottom right corner of every page. The main text file should not contain any information regarding author names and affiliations.

Acknowledgments: All acknowledgments should be grouped into one paragraph and placed after the Discussion. All the entities that have contributed to the technical content, data collection and analysis, writing, revision etc. of the manuscript and yet do not meet the criteria to be an author should be mentioned in the Acknowledgements section. If the contribution of the sponsor is only in the form of financial support, this should be stated in the “Acknowledgements” section. If the sponsor has participated in the methods, statistical analysis, or manuscript preparation, this contribution should also be stated in the “Materials and Methods” section. If there is no conflict of interest, this should also be stated.

References: Data and manuscript not published yet should not be included among the references. These should be stated in the main text as “author(s), unpublished data, year”.

Reference numbers should be referred to in parentheses at the end of sentences within the text, and references should be numbered consecutively in the order they are mentioned in the text. Journal names should be abbreviated as listed in “Index Medicus” or the “ULAKBIM/Turkish Medical Index”. References should be typed in consistence with the following examples. National references should be used as much as possible.

If the reference is a journal;

Author(s)’ surname and initial(s) of the first name (all authors if the number of authors is 6 or less, first 6 authors followed by “et al.” if the number of authors of an article is more than 6). Title of the article, title of the manuscript abbreviated according to Index Medicus (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez/query. fcgi?db=nlmcatalog). Year;Volume:First and last page number.

Example: Benson M, Reinholdt J, Cardell LO. Allergen-reactive antibodies are found in nasal fluids from patients with birch induced intermittent allergic rhinitis, but not in healthy controls. Allergy 2003;58:386-93.

If the reference is a journal supplement;

Author(s)’ surname and initial(s) of the first name. Title of the article. Title of the manuscript abbreviated according to Index Medicus (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez/ query. fcgi?db=nlmcatalog). Year;Volume (Suppl. Supplement number):First and last page number.

Example: Queen F. Risk assessment of nickel carcinogenicity and occupational lung cancer. Envirol Health Perspect 1994;102 (Suppl. 1): 2755-2782.

If the reference is a book;

Author(s)’ surname and initial(s) of the first name. Title of the book. Edition number. City of publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.

Example: Ringsven MK, Bond N. Gerontology and leadership skills for nurses. 2nd ed. Albany, NY: Delmar, 1996.

If the reference is a book chapter;

Surname and initial(s) of the first name of the author(s) of the chapter. Title of the chapter. In: Surname and initial(s) of the first name(s) of the editor(s) (ed) or (eds). Title of the book. Edition number. City of publication: Publisher, Year of publication: First and last page numbers of the chapter.

Example: Phillips SJ, Whistant JP. Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brenner BM (eds). Hypertension: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis and Management. 2nd ed. New York: Raven P, 1995:466-78.

If the reference is an article presented at a meeting;

Author(s)’ surname and initial(s) of the first name (all authors if the number of authors is 6 or less, first 6 authors followed by “et al.” if the number of authors of an article is more than 6). Title of the article, if applicable. In: Surname and initial(s) of the first name(s) of the editor(s) (ed) or (eds). Title of the book. Title of the meeting; Date; City of the meeting; Country. Publisher; Year. Page numbers.

Example: Bengtsson S, Solheim BG. Enforcement of data protection, privacy and security in medical informatics. In: Lun KC, Degoulet P, Piemme TE, Reinhoff O (eds). MEDINFO 92. Proceedings of the 7th World Congress on Medical Informatics; 1992 Sep 6-10; Geneva, Switzerland. North-Holland; 1992. p. 1561-5.

If the reference is an online journal;

Author(s)’ surname and initial(s) of the first name (all authors if the number of authors is 6 or less, first 6 authors followed by “et al.” if the number of authors of an article is more than 6). Title of the article, title of the manuscript abbreviated according to Index Medicus Year; Volume (Number). Available from: URL address. Accessed date:day.month.year.

Example: Morse SS. Factors in the emergence of infectious disease. Emerg Infect Dis 1995;1(1). Available from: URL:http://www/cdc/gov/ncidoc/EID/eid.htm. Accessed date:25.12.1999.

If the reference is a website;

Name of the web site. Access date. Available from: address of the web site.

World Health Organization (WHO). Access date: 9 July 2008. Available from: http://www.who.int

If the reference is a thesis;

Author’s surname and initial of the first name. Title of the thesis (thesis). City; Name of the university (if it is a university); Year.

Example: Erkan M. Investigation of clinical and laboratory features of asthma patients with aspirin sensitivity (Thesis). Ankara: Hacettepe University; 1989.

Tables and Figures: Tables, figures, graphics and pictures should be numbered with Arabic numbers in order of reference in the text. Each table should be prepared with double spacing on a separate page, one table per page, at the end of the manuscript in the same file as the text. A brief title should be provided directly above each table. The authors should place explanatory matter at the bottom of the table, not in the heading. Explanations should be made for all nonstandard abbreviations at the bottom of the table. The following symbols should be used for abbreviations in sequence: *,†,‡,§,||,¶,**,††,‡‡. Each table should be cited in the text.  

Figures should be either professionally drawn or photographed, and these items should be submitted as photographic-quality digital images. Figures should be submitted in a format that will produce a high-quality image (for example, JPEG or GIF). The authors should control the images of such files on a computer screen before submitting them to be sure they meet their own quality standards. Please, do not put a caption above a figure. The title for a figure should be described only in the figure legend, and not appear on the figure. Labels should be placed within the body of the figure. Explanations of figure symbols, arrows, numbers or letters should appear only in the figure legend, and not in the actual figure. Each figure should be loaded as a separate file.

X-ray films, scans and other diagnostic images, as well as pictures of pathology specimens should be submitted as sharp, glossy, black-and-white or color photographic images. Letters, numbers, and symbols on figures should be clear and consistent throughout, and large enough to remain legible when the figure is reduced for publication. Figures should be made as self-explanatory as possible. For recognizable photographs of patients, signed releases of the patient or of his/her legal representative should be submitted; otherwise, patient names or eyes must be blocked out to prevent identification.

Figure Legends: Legends for figures, graphics and pictures should be typed in the manuscript file, on a separate page after the tables. They should not appear in the figure files. When symbols, arrows, numbers or letters are used to identify parts of illustrations, they should be defined clearly in the legend.

If quoted parts, tables, figures, graphics, pictures etc. exist in the manuscript, the authors should obtain written permission from the author and copyright holder and indicate this.

 

4. REVISED MANUSCRIPTS

If the authors accept to revise their manuscript, they should resubmit the revised version marked R1. Revised manuscripts must be submitted within 45 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 cancelled. If the submitting author(s) believe that additional time is required, they should request this extension before the initial 45-day period is over.

Revised manuscripts must:

1) Include a Responses to Comments document that includes point-by-point responses to the comments made by the Reviewers. In each response, indicate where changes were made in the manuscript.

2) Provide both clean and marked versions of the files that have been revised. 

• A Marked Manuscript: The preferred method of indicating changes is Microsoft Word's Track Changes feature.
• A Clean Manuscript: The Unmarked Manuscript should be your revised manuscript just as you intend it for publication (if it is accepted).

 

5. PUBLICATION PROCESS AFTER ACCEPTANCE

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 early view 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 after their receipt of the proof.

 

6. EDITORIAL POLICIES AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Editorial Process

 

Before being published, every manuscript that is submitted goes through a thorough peer review procedure that involves the Author, Editorial Office, Editor in Chief, Associate Editor, Reviewer, and Publisher. The entire procedure follows the editorial workflow listed below:

• The corresponding or submitting author submits a manuscript to the journal and receives a tracking number.
• The Editorial Office performs an initial quality check on the manuscript to ensure that the manuscript is formatted correctly. It is therefore very important for authors to make sure that their manuscript adheres to the guidelines for authors. If the article does not meet the technical and formatting requirements of the journal, it is sent back to the author for correction.
• After the initial quality checks are passed, the manuscript is sent to the Editor in Chief. The Editor in Chief will decide either to start the review process or decline the manuscript directly due to the quality of the presented work and the scope of the journal. If the Editor in Chief finds the manuscript within the aims and scope of the journal, the manuscript is forwarded to a knowledgeable Associate Editor in the field.
• The Associate Editor (Section Editor) then assesses the manuscript for its quality and perceived level of advance, and either recommends a reject decision or assigns peer reviewers. The manuscript is forwarded to at least two expert reviewers by the Associate Editor. To establish a fair, extremely competent, and dynamic peer-review system, the Editor in Chief/Associate Editors cannot assume the tasks of the external reviewers. The Editors have full authority regarding reviewer selection. The reviewers may be selected from the advisory board, or independent national or international reviewers may be selected when required for the topic of the manuscript. Asthma Allergy Immunology uses a double-blind peer review system where reviewers do not know the names of the authors, and the authors do not know who reviewed their manuscript. Even though reviewing an article is sometimes tiresome and time-consuming, it is also a privilege. We are aware that the peer review process is fundamental before publication and will start to recognize the reviewers’ vital role by publishing annual reviewer acknowledgements in Asthma Allergy Immunology. Asthma Allergy Immunology has also been giving a certificate of appreciation to the reviewers since 2022.
• In order for the Editor in Chief/Associate Editor to provide a recommendation regarding the manuscript, at least two completed reviews are required. The Editor in Chief and Associate Editors may decide to send the manuscript to a third reviewer. Reviewers are asked to supply: 
  • Detailed comments to the authors
  • Confidential comments to the Editor in Chief/Associate Editor
  • Recommendations: accept, minor revision, major revision, or reject
  • Willingness to re-review the revised version of this manuscript in case of minor or major revision
• Reviewers are given 21 days from acceptance to submit their reports. Once the required reports are submitted, the Section Editor will make a decision recommendation (Accept, Minor revision, Major revision, Reject) to the Editor in Chief based on the comments received. The Editor in Chief makes the final decision based on the comments and recommendations of the reviewer and the Associate Editor. The authors are able to monitor the status of their manuscript throughout the peer review process.
• If the manuscript is accepted, the author is notified and the publisher processes the manuscript for formatting, copy-editing, proofreading, reference linking, and indexing.
• The manuscripts that have been rejected are closed.
• The manuscripts with minor or major revisions will require appropriate actions from the authors for re-consideration by the Editor in Chief/Associate Editor. The Editor in Chief/Associate Editor either makes final suggestions on the revised manuscript or considers another round of the review process, depending upon the initial comments brought up by the Reviewers.
  • If the Editor recommends “minor revision,” the authors are notified to prepare and submit a final copy of their manuscript with the required minor changes suggested by the reviewers. After the manuscript has been revised, it can be sent back to the reviewer who requested the minor revision if he/she has asked to review it again. The Editor reviews the revised manuscript after the minor changes have been made by the authors. Once the Editor in Chief/Associate Editor is satisfied with the final manuscript, the manuscript can be accepted.
  • If the Editor recommends “major revision,” the recommendation is sent to the authors. The authors are expected to revise their manuscripts in accordance with the changes recommended by the reviewers and to submit their revised manuscript in a timely manner (within 30 days). Once the revised manuscript is submitted, the Editor can then make an editorial recommendation as “accept unchanged,” “consider after minor changes,” or “reject.”
• The manuscript may be modified for grammar, punctuation, style, and accuracy after it has been accepted. The corresponding author receives an edited pre-print proof of the text along with all the figures, tables, and charts for approval. The proof is sent as a PDF document. Please be aware that it will not be possible to add or remove figures or make any significant modifications to the text at this time. The proof must be sent back to the editorial Office within two days.
• The final draft of the text is ready for publishing once the Editorial Office has received the corrected proof. After receiving the page proof, the average time to early view publication is approximately a week.

 Authorship

Each individual 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 be 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.

The Authorship Contribution Statement form should be signed by the corresponding author of the manuscript on behalf of all authors. The form should be e-mailed to insuyilmaz@gmail.com after being scanned, simultaneously with the online upload of the manuscript.

Conflict of Interest

Asthma Allergy Immunology 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, consultancy-related, or institutional backing 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.

Publication Fees

There are no submission fees, publication fees, or page charges for this journal. There is no royalty payment to the authors.

Data Sharing

Asthma Allergy Immunology supports data sharing. Data archiving in an appropriate public repository is encouraged for authors. To be published in their article, the authors may provide a data availability statement with their submission that includes a link to the repository they utilized. The manuscript's title page needs to make this declaration. Anyone using these shared data should cite the original publication and provide a statement in the manuscript that includes those data that describes how the data were accessed and provides a persistent identifier (e.g., a DOI for the data or an accession number) from the repository.

Correction to Authorship

Before submitting their work, authors are asked to carefully evaluate the order of the authors and to offer the final list of authors at that time. The rationale for any addition or deletion of author names in the authorship list after submission will need to be provided to the Journal editor by the Corresponding Author. All authors – including those to be added or removed – must agree to any proposed change.

Ethical Procedures

Compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki Principles (http://www.wma.net/ en/30publications/10policies/b3/index.html) is accepted as the policy of Asthma Allergy Immunology. Therefore, all manuscripts concerning human subjects must contain a statement in the “Materials and Methods” section indicating that the study was approved by the Institutional Review Board. All manuscripts dealing with animal subjects must contain a statement in the “Materials and Methods” section indicating that the study was performed according to “The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals” (www.nap.edu/catalog/5140.html) with the approval of the Institutional Review Board. The Editor may ask for a copy of the approval document.

The Committee of Ethics is an institutional committee that reviews the methods and their ethical appropriateness for research. This committee provides an approval and documents this approval as an official record by reviewing the methods of studies. This journal accepts the International Standards for COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics).

In studies requiring Ethics Committee permission, information about the approval (name of the board, date and number) should be included in the methods section. In case reports, a note about the informed consent form signed by the patient should be included in the article.

Researchers who are not affiliated with any institution should apply to the Ethics Committee of the universities in their province for the Ethics Committee approval of their articles. In articles derived from theses and dissertations, it is sufficient to submit the Ethics Committee approval document received for the thesis or dissertation. A separate Ethics Committee approval document is not expected for the candidate article. Institutional and individual research permissions obtained in the scope of the research are not accepted as Ethics Committee approval.

The editor has the right to format or reject the manuscripts that do not follow the rules or send them back to the author for correction. Authors who wish to withdraw their manuscripts need to state this to the editor in written form.

Plagiarism

All submissions are screened by similarity detection software (iThenticate by CrossCheck) at some point during the production process. Even if you are the actual author of the phrases or sentences, the text should not have unacceptable similarity with previously published text.

Copyright and License

Scientific and legal responsibility for the published articles belongs to the authors. The authors are responsible for the ideas and comments in the manuscript as well as the accuracy of the references. The Turkish National Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the Editor, the Associate Editors, or the publisher do not accept any responsibility for the published articles. The copyright of the articles accepted for publication belongs to the Turkish National Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. This Copyright Transfer Form is signed by corresponding author of the manuscript on behalf of all authors. The form should be e-mailed to aai@aid.org.tr after being scanned, simultaneously with the online upload of the manuscript 

Citation

Asthma Allergy Immunology

Publication Rights

Publication rights of the Instructions to Authors of Asthma Allergy Immunology belong to the Turkish National Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and BuluÅŸ Design and Printing Services Company with all rights reserved.

Manuscripts, figures and tables published in Asthma Allergy Immunology may not be reproduced in part or completely, archived in a retrieval system, or used for advertising purposes without a written permission from the Turkish National Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Quotations may be used in scientific articles as long as the relevant references are provided. The related company is responsible for the content of the advertisements published in the journal.

Appeals and Complaints

All authors have the opportunity to challenge the rejection of their submission. Any appeals against the editorial decision must be submitted by email to aai@aid.org.tr. You will need to provide a clear explanation of why you disagree with the judgment and include supporting facts. The Editor in Chief’s decision regarding the appeal will be final.

All complaints can be made directly to the editorial office. The office will be able to outline the complaint procedure in full. Complaints will be dealt with by the journal office wherever possible. The Corresponding Editor has the right to consult the other Editors or any other party about the problem and make a final decision. The final decision shall be binding, and the issue shall be deemed closed.

CONTACT
İnsu Yılmaz, Professor, MD, PhD (Editor)
Address: Erciyes University School of Medicine,
Department of Chest Diseases,
Division of Immunology and Allergic Diseases,
Kayseri, Türkiye
E-mail: insuyilmaz@gmail.com