It is recommended to thoroughly review the journal's policies prior to submitting any manuscripts to ensure they align with the journal's guidelines.

Commons User Licenses This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License(CC BY-NC 4.0).

All submissions, including the text, tables, graphics and photographs should be made on-line.

• Submit manuscripts, preferably prepared in Microsoft Word. Manuscripts written in 12 point Times New Roman fonts are preferred. Type manuscript double-spaced (including title page, abstract, text, references, tables, and legends).
• Arrange manuscript as follows: (1) abstract, (2) text, (3) acknowledgments (if available), (4) disclosures (if required), (5) references, (6) tables and (7) legends. Number all the pages consecutively, beginning with the title page and including the legends page. 
• Set the length of an original article or review paper at a maximum of 20 double-spaced pages including one title page, one abstract page, about 10 pages of text (2250 words), maximum three pages of references and one legends page (if available) . Tables should be placed on separate pages. 
• Always use leading zeros in decimal fractions. Report values and percentages to one decimal place unless it is absolutely necessary to use more than one decimal place (i.e., xy.z, not xy.zq).
• The text for case reports and "How to Do It" articles should be no more than eight double-spaced typewritten pages (1,000 words), excluding the title page, summary and references. If tables or illustrations are included, the text must be reduced by 1/2 page or 125 words per table or illustration. A ?How to Do It? article should be a description of a useful surgical technique and contain detailed illustrative material. 
• Correspondence (Letters to the Editor) and "Interesting Image" papers should not exceed two double-spaced pages (500 words) and should not include more than four references. Tables and illustrations accompanying the "Letters to the Editor" papers will be considered for publication only in exceptional circumstances. "Interesting Image" papers should include one or two original and high quality digital images accompanied by a brief presentation of the relevant case without an abstract. 
• Reviews should not exceed 4000 words and editorials should be limited to 2500 words.
• "Technical videos"section is intended to capture informative surgical techniques, innovations and personal experience aiming to increase visual understandability leading to high educational impact. The submitted videos of each article should not exceed 20 minutes. Digital files for videos in MP4, Flash video (.flv), MPEG (MPEG video file), mov, avi, and wmv formats will be accepted. The main language should be English, but we welcome subtitles in Turkish. If the video shows patients' surgical details, authors should obtain consent. 

• Give the paper as short a title as possible (fewer than 95 letters for original articles, 80 letters for case reports, correspondence and Howto Do-It articles, including spaces). Avoid abbreviations in the title. Submit a short title of 40 characters to be used as the running head. 
• Include only full names of the authors directly affiliated with the work. The maximum number of authors is eight for original articles, five for case reports and ?How to Do It? articles and three for correspondence. Exceeding numbers will have to be justified to the editor. Include the name and location of no more than two institutional affiliations where the work was actually done. If more than one department or institution are given, indicate affiliation of each author. 
• If the paper was or is to be presented at a congress or a scientific meeting, provide a footnote giving the name, date and location of the meeting. 
• At the bottom of the page, type the name, postal address (with zip code), telephone number, fax number and e-mail address of the corresponding author, to whom communications, proofs, and requests for reprints should be sent. 

• Provide a structured abstract of no longer than 250 words for an original article. The abstract should be divided into four sections in the following order: Background, Methods, Results, Conclusion. Abstracts for case reports, How to Do It articles and reviews should be unstructured and shorter (100 words). Three to five key words from MeSH index can be added below the abstract. No abstract is required for correspondence, commentaries Interesting Images and editorials. Abbreviations should be avoided in the abstracts.
• Avoid abbreviations when possible. Define abbreviations at first appearance, if it is necessary to use them. 

• Generally, the text should be organized as follows: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion. The Introduction should include the topic and objectives of the study. The Materials and Methods section should include the place, time period and the design of the study. If subtitles are necessary in the Materials and Methods section, these can be arranged as: patient characteristics, surgical technique or experimental design, data collection, follow-up and the details of statistical analysis. The statistical comparison should be provided next to the findings in the Results section. In the Discussion, authors should evaluate their results in the view of current literature.
• References, illustrations and tables should be numbered in the order in which they appear in the text. 
• Avoid abbreviations when possible. Define abbreviations at first appearance, and avoid their use in the title and abstract. 
• Give all measurements and weights in standard metric units. 
• For statistical nomenclature and data analysis, follow the ?Guidelines for Data Reporting and Nomenclature? published in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery (1988;46:260-1). 
• Type footnotes at the bottom of the page on which they are cited. Credit suppliers of drugs, equipment and other brand-name material mentioned in the article in parentheses in text, giving company name and location. 
• Type acknowledgments, including grant and subsidy information or technical assistance at the end of the text before the references. 

• Referencing should be selective and pertain directly to the work being reported. Except in collective and current reviews, comprehensive listings serve no useful purpose but use valuable space. As a general guide, limit the number of references to 25 for original articles, to six for case reports and ?How to Do It? articles, 85 for reviews and to four for letter to the Editor. 
• Do not cite personal communications, manuscripts in preparation, and other unpublished data. 
• Type references double-spaced on a separate sheet. Number consecutively in the order in which they are cited in the text. 
• Journal references should provide inclusive page numbers; book references should cite specific page numbers. 
• References should be given throughout the text as follows:
  
  
  • If the surname of the first author of the referenced article is given, et al. should be added after it, followed by its reference number within square brackets [ ] (superscript preferred), and then the sentence should be completed.
  • Give references in the text using Arabic numerals in brackets [ ] (superscript preferred).
  • If different references are given for different statements, each reference should be given within square brackets [ ] after the punctuation mark at the end of the relevant statement.
  • If there are more than two consecutive references, the first and the last ones should be given with ?-? mark between them: e.g. [1-3]; [14-18]; [8-14]. 
  
  
  
• Double-check all references. All authors if six or fewer should be listed; otherwise the first six should be written accompanied by et al.
• Abbreviations of journals should conform to those used in Index Medicus. Authors are solely responsible for the accuracy and completeness of references.
• The style and punctuation of the references should follow the formats outlined below: 
• Journal article (International)
  Martin TD, Craver JM, Gott JP, Weintraub WS, Ramsay J, Mora CT, et al. Prospective, randomized trial of retrograde warm blood cardioplegia: myocardial benefit and neurologic threat. Ann Thorac Surg 1994;57:298-304. 
• Journal article (National)
  Teskin Ö, Yapıcı F, Enç Y, Özay B, Ketenci B, Demirtaş M ve ark. Bentall prosedürü ve modifikasyonlarının erken ve geç dönem sonuçları. Turk Gogus Kalp Dama 2000;8:579-83. 
• Presentations
  Galloway AC, Ribakove GH, Miller JS, Anderson RV, Buttenheim PM, Baumann FG, et al. Minimally invasive port-access valvular surgery: Initial clinical experience. Presented at the 70th Scientific Session of the American Heart Association; 1997 Nov 10-13; Orlando, FL. Circulation 1997;96:2845.
• Book
  Beard JD, Gaines PA, editors. Vascular and endovascular surgery. London: W. B. Saunders; 1998.
• Chapter in a book
  Vouhé PR. Transplantation of thoracic organs in children. In: Fallis JC, Filler RM, Lemoine G, editors. Pediatric thoracic surgery. New York: Elsevier; 1991. p. 319-29.
• Internet Address
  1996 NRC Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Available at: http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/labrats/ contents.html. Accessed October 20, 2003.

• Tables should be typewritten double-spaced on separate Word sheets, each with a table number (Arabic) and title above the table and explanatory notes and legends below. Provide a key symbol and place all abbreviations in alphabetic order below the table, together with their explanations. 
• Include written permission from both the author and the publisher to reproduce any previously published table(s) in both print and electronic media.
• Tables should be self-explanatory and the data should not be duplicated in the text or illustrations. If a table provides redundant information, it will be omitted. 

• Type legends double-spaced sequentially on a separate sheet. Numbers should be Arabic and correspond to the order in which the illustrations appear in the text. Explanations of all abbreviations should appear in alphabetic order at the end of each legend.
• Give the type of stain and magnification power for all photomicrographs.
• Include written permission from both the author and the publisher to reproduce any previously published table(s) in both print and electronic media. 
• Enclose signed releases for recognizable (unmasked) photographs of human beings.

• Images or figures are submitted online as one or more separate files that may contain one or more images. Within each file containing images, use the figure number (eg, Figure 1A) as the image filename. The system accepts image files formatted in TIFF and JPEG. Powerpoint (.ppt) files are accepted for line drawings only and you must use a separate Powerpoint image file for each Powerpoint figure. Please obtain technical help if you are unfamiliar with image files. 
• Written permission from both the author and the publisher (copyright holder) is required to reproduce any previously published, illustration(s) or photograph(s) in both print and electronic media, and must be surface mailed or faxed to the editorial office once the manuscript is submitted online. 
• Written permission from unmasked patients appearing in photographs must be obtained by the authors and must be surface mailed or faxed to the editorial office once the manuscript is submitted online. 
• Original illustrations.If your manuscript is accepted for publication and the electronic art you have submitted online is not acceptable for reproductive purposes, you may be required to send a set of original illustrations to the editorial office. You will be instructed accordingly by the staff. 

1. Conception or design of the experiment(s), or collection and analysis or interpretation of data; 
2. Drafting the manuscript or revising its intellectual content; and 
3. Approval of the final version of the manuscript to be published. 

In addition to many general duties, such as constantly improving the quality and integrity of the journal, striving to needs of authors and readers, encouraging academic debate, and others, the editors accept obligation to apply best will and practice to cope with the following responsibilities:

Editorial Board

Editorial board will be generated from recognized experts in the field. The editor will provide full names and affiliations of the members as well as updated contact information for the editorial office on the journal webpage.

Publication decisions

The editor should be responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. The validation of the work in question and its importance to researchers and readers must always drive such decisions. The editor may be guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and constrained by such legal requirements, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The editor may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.

Fair play

Editor should evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors. Editors´ decision to accept or reject a paper for publication should be based only on the paper´s  importance, originality and clarity, and the study´s relevance to the aim of journal.

Confidentiality
Editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher. Editors will ensure that material submitted remains confidential while under review.

Publication and Submission fee

No fees or charges are required from authors for manuscript processing. Full information about fees must be clearly stated on the journal´s website before authors begin preparing their manuscript for submission.

Reporting standards

Authors of papers should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable. Review and professional publication articles should also be accurate and objective, and editorial „opinion? works should be clearly identified as such.

Data access and retention

Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, and should be prepared to provide public access to such data (consistent with the ALPSP-STM Statement on Data and Databases), if practicable, and should in any event be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.

Acknowledgement of sources

Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. Information obtained privately, as in conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source. Information obtained in the course of confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, must not be used without the explicit written permission of the author of the work involved in these services.

Publication decisions

The editors ensure that all submitted manuscripts being considered for publication undergo peer-review by at least two reviewers who are expert in the field. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for deciding which of the manuscripts submitted to the journal will be published, based on the validation of the work in question, its importance to researchers and readers, the reviewers’ comments, and such legal requirements as are currently in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The Editor-in-Chief may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.

Fundamental errors in published works

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author´s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper. If the editor or the publisher learns from a third party that a published work contains a significant error, it is the obligation of the author to promptly retract or correct the paper or provide evidence to the editor of the correctness of the original paper.

Reporting standards

Authors of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed and the results, followed by an objective discussion of the significance of the work. The manuscript should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Review articles should be accurate, objective and comprehensive, while editorial 'opinion' or perspective pieces should be clearly identified as such. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable.

Data access and retention

Authors may be asked to provide the raw data of their study together with the manuscript for editorial review and should be prepared to make the data publicly available if practicable. In any event, authors should ensure accessibility of such data to other competent professionals for at least 10 years after publication (preferably via an institutional or subject-based data repository or other data centre), provided that the confidentiality of the participants can be protected and legal rights concerning proprietary data do not preclude their release.

Originality and plagiarism

Authors should ensure that they have written and submit only entirely original works, and if they have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been appropriately cited. Publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the work reported in the manuscript should also be cited. Plagiarism takes many forms, from "passing off" another's paper as the author's own, to copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another's paper (without attribution), to claiming results from research conducted by others. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.

Multiple, duplicate, redundant or concurrent submission/publication

Papers describing essentially the same research should not be published in more than one journal or primary publication. Hence, authors should not submit for consideration a manuscript that has already been published in another journal. Submission of a manuscript concurrently to more than one journal is unethical publishing behaviour and unacceptable.

The publication of some kinds of articles (such as clinical guidelines, translations) in more than one journal is sometimes justifiable, provided that certain conditions are met. The authors and editors of the journals concerned must agree to the secondary publication, which must reflect the same data and interpretation of the primary document. The primary reference must be cited in the secondary publication.

Authorship of the manuscript

Only persons who meet these authorship criteria should be listed as authors in the manuscript as they must be able to take public responsibility for the content: (i) made significant contributions to the conception, design, execution, data acquisition, or analysis/interpretation of the study; and (ii) drafted the manuscript or revised it critically for important intellectual content; and (iii) have seen and approved the final version of the paper and agreed to its submission for publication. All persons who made substantial contributions to the work reported in the manuscript (such as technical help, writing and editing assistance, general support) but who do not meet the criteria for authorship must not be listed as an author, but should be acknowledged in the "Acknowledgements" section after their written permission to be named as been obtained. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate coauthors (according to the above definition) and no inappropriate coauthors are included in the author list and verify that all coauthors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to its submission for publication.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

Authors should—at the earliest stage possible (generally by submitting a disclosure form at the time of submission and including a statement in the manuscript)—disclose any conflicts of interest that might be construed to influence the results or their interpretation in the manuscript. Examples of potential conflicts of interest that should be disclosed include financial ones such as honoraria, educational grants or other funding, participation in speakers’ bureaus, membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest, and paid expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements, as well as non-financial ones such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs in the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. All sources of financial support for the work should be disclosed (including the grant number or other reference number if any).

Acknowledgement of sources

Authors should ensure that they have properly acknowledged the work of others, and should also cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. Information obtained privately (from conversation, correspondence or discussion with third parties) must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source. Authors should not use information obtained in the course of providing confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, unless they have obtained the explicit written permission of the author(s) of the work involved in these services.

Hazards and human or animal subjects

If the work involves chemicals, procedures or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use, the authors must clearly identify these in the manuscript. If the work involves the use of animals or human participants, the authors should ensure that all procedures were performed in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines and that the appropriate institutional committee(s) has approved them; the manuscript should contain a statement to this effect. Authors should also include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human participants. The privacy rights of human participants must always be observed.

Fundamental errors in published works

When authors discover significant errors or inaccuracies in their own published work, it is their obligation to promptly notify the journal’s editors or publisher and cooperate with them to either correct the paper in the form of an erratum or to retract the paper. If the editors or publisher learns from a third party that a published work contains a significant error or inaccuracy, then it is the authors’ obligation to promptly correct or retract the paper or provide evidence to the journal editors of the correctness of the paper.

Handling of unethical publishing behaviour

In cases of alleged or proven scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication or plagiarism, the publisher, in close collaboration with the editors, will take all appropriate measures to clarify the situation and to amend the article in question. This includes the prompt publication of an erratum, clarification or, in the most severe case, the retraction of the affected work.  The publisher, together with the editors, shall take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred, and under no circumstances encourage such misconduct or knowingly allow such misconduct to take place.

1. Designing the study
2. Collecting, analyzing, and interpreting the data
3. Writing the report