This year's announcement of the Journal Citation Report (JCR) heralds a dream come true in the 44-year history of the Balkan Medical Journal. Balkan Medical Journal became the 2nd quarter journal with an impact factor of 3.57. http://balkanmedicaljournal.org/pdf.php?&id=2414  

The European Association of Science Editors encourages all editors to ensure that reports of research on COVID-19 meet required standards and comply with agreed guidelines, and that any limitations are clearly stated. Members of EASE have noted poor standards of reporting in many studies related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Medical and public health measures to treat infected patients and to limit the spread of the coronavirus have to be based on high quality evidence if they are to succeed. EASE urges all involved in collecting and publishing data related to the pandemic to adhere to ethical guidelines, and to follow standard reporting guidelines (see www.equator-network.org), for example CONSORT for clinical trials and STROBE for epidemiological studies. Demographic data should include age and sex of all individuals and follow the SAGER guidelines to ensure that data on sex and gender are fully and correctly reported. We encourage full and open sharing of data where possible. We recognise that in times of crisis it may not always be possible to obtain all required data, and that reporting may – of necessity – be curtailed. To avoid misinterpretation, but also to facilitate the rapid sharing of information, we encourage editors to ensure that authors include a statement of limitations on their research. This will inform readers and strengthen the usefulness of any published research. In addition, whilst always advocating high language standards, we acknowledge that to facilitate rapid dissemination of important research it may be necessary to limit editorial involvement to ensuring that the published research is understandable, and not to enforce stringent language requirements on authors. Statement Created: 7 April 2020

The question “Can today’s medical education content really respond to the pandemic(s)?” is open for discussion. Community-based medical education is the delivery of medical education in a specific social context.

We are living in rare and unprecedented times. As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic interrupted many things in the world, it also disrupted medical education.

There is a lack of data regarding the effects of “Coronavirus disease-2019” on pediatric patients with rheumatic diseases. Additionally, there are three controversial circumstances that patients with rheumatic diseases are believed... "Childhood Rheumatic Diseases and COVID-19 Pandemic: An Intriguing Linkage and a New Horizon"

The COVID-19 outbreak has led to a speedy publication of many academic articles about the new coronavirus. Scientists and editors are under immense pressure to share their findings... "Editor Responsibility and Scientific Integrity During the COVID-19 Outbreak"  

The publisher of our journal has been changed. As of January 2022, Balkan Medical Journal started working with GALENOS. We will continue to use the same online manuscript tracking system (Manuscript Manager). However, there have been some changes to our website. We wanted to inform all our authors, readers, and reviewers.

The effort to maintain the editorial freedom has posed distinct challenges arising from regional dynamics in the Balkan region, as in any part of the world. For a journal to be successful in the international arena, reasonably organized managerial processes are required. Clear definitions of work packages, workflows, duties and responsibilities, and assignment and dismissal criteria are essential for the transparency of managerial processes. The journal’s owner, editor-in-chief, editorial board, publisher, and authors effectively communicating with each other within the framework of rules will prevent chaotic and destructive conflicts that may harm the reputation and its mission. The attempt to establish a legal regulation, an agreement between the owner and the editor, and an ombudsman began approximately five years ago for Balkan Medical Journal. Throughout this process, the journal’s management has endeavored to consult the opinions of the journal’s owner and the university legal regulation committee to establish a legal regulation for the journal that is ethical, practical, sustainable, and conforms to the national laws and international scientific values. We believe the journal legal regulation, finalized in January 2019 and presented below, serves as a role model for all scientific circles and the Balkans and will contribute to the advancement of institutional scientific publications of medicine in the region. The journal’s editorial board extends its gratitude to all current and past employees, the Dean’s of the Faculty of Medicine of Trakya University, and to the current rectorate of Trakya University for their valuable contributions and encouragement to building the development of the journal legal regulation to protect editorial freedom and provide successful journal management of all Trakya University scientific journals.