Information for authors | International Journal of Oncology
Online Submission
Spandidos Publications journals utilize an online submission and tracking system designed to provide a faster, more efficient service to authors.
Submission guidelines
The principal aim of Spandidos Publications is to publish promptly original works of high quality in English.
Manuscripts will be considered on the understanding that they report original work, or are review articles summarizing and interpreting progress in a thematic area and are not under consideration for publication by another journal.
Manuscripts should be written in clear, concise English and should contain all essential data in order to make the presentation clear and the results of the study replicable.
Authors who are not native speakers of English but would like to improve the English to ensure the meaning is clear can make use of the English Language Editing service offered by Spandidos Publications by accessing the following link.
All material submitted will be subject to review by appropriate referees selected by the Editorial Office and will be examined to detect inappropriate use of previously published material without attribution.
Spandidos Publications utilizes iThenticate to screen submitted manuscripts against published studies and other relevant sources. iThenticate may also be utilized by authors to screen a manuscript prior to submission.
Figures submitted will be subject to checks using the MOTUIN image authenticity detector.
The Editors reserve the right to improve the grammar and style of manuscripts.
The corresponding author is responsible for the submission on behalf of all authors.
Prior to submitting your manuscript, please ensure that it has been prepared according to the guidelines below.
1. Submission method
Manuscripts may be submitted only by using the online submission system accessible via our website. Create a user account, log in and follow the onscreen directions.
2. Cover letter
Summarize briefly the important points of the submitted work including a brief description of the study to be submitted, that it is an original study presenting novel work, that it has not been previously submitted to or accepted by any other journal, that is has been approved by all authors, that ethics approval and written informed consent have been obtained, and explain whether any author has a conflict of interest.
3. Format of articles and reviews
3.1 General style
Times New Roman. Font size 12. Spacing 1.5. Alignment Justified.
Use a single tab on the first line of each new paragraph.
Do not use page breaks or multiple returns between sections (one section should directly follow the previous one on the page).
Do not insert page numbers or line numbers.
Sub-titles and general headings should be presented in lower case letters (not capitals).
Use British English or American English spellings throughout your manuscript, but not both.
3.2 Manuscripts
The first page should include:
The title of the manuscript in sentence case. No abbreviations other than gene names or in common use.
Full names and full postal addresses, but not including street names, of all authors and ORCID if desired.
Affiliations of the authors indicated by numbers (not symbols).
Equal contribution, if applicable, indicated by asterisk.
Name, full postal address, including street number and name, and e-mail address of the corresponding author(s).
Abbreviations, if relevant.
Key words (5 – 10).
Running title preceded by the first author’s name (maximum 100 characters with spaces, including the author’s name). For example: PEARSON et al: REGULATION OF HER2 EXPRESSION BY NASCENT GROWTH FACTORS..
Manuscripts reporting experimental results must be divided into the following sections:
Abstract. This section should have 150‐300 words, be continuous (not structured) and without reference numbers. Abbreviations that appear once only, should be defined in full, with the exception of gene names. If abbreviations appear more than once, the definition should be provided once, and then subsequently used throughout the Abstract.
Introduction. The information in this section should always be referenced.
Materials and methods
This section should include sufficient technical information to allow the experiments to be repeated. This implies that a full description of all the experiments described in Results and presented in the Figures/Tables is expected in this section. For each experiment, all steps (e.g., DNA and protein extraction, quantification, cloning, PCR and microscopy) need to be mentioned, along with instruments the analyses were performed on, reagents and methods (e.g., BCA method for protein quantification, ΔΔCq method for qPCR), and relevant citations.
For steps performed with commercialized kits, provide the full name of the kit, along with the full name of the supplier, and state whether the protocol of the manufacturer was followed or explain any modifications made to the standard protocol. For PCRs, provide name of the kit used, the 5’-3’ sequence of the primers, final concentration of all reagents in the reaction and cycling conditions. Carefully review your text to ensure that the type of PCR, quantitative or semi-quantitative, is clearly explained. If the PCR is performed using cDNA synthesized from RNA samples by reverse transcription (RT), make sure that all steps are described, and refer to the method as RT-PCR or, if quantitative, as RT-qPCR. In relative quantification, ΔΔCt is referred to as ΔΔCq. When using the ΔΔCq method, this must be referenced. One suitable reference is: Livak and Schmittgen: Analysis of relative gene expression data using real-time quantitative PCR and the 2-ΔΔCq method. Methods 25: 402-408, 2001.
Manufacturers/suppliers/software details need to be provided for all reagents used (including chemicals), instruments (e.g. thermal cyclers, microscopes) and software, ideally accompanied by the c orresponding kit number/model/version. For antibodies, include the type (monoclonal/polyclonal), species in which they were raised and targeted species (e.g., mouse anti-human), explain any antigen retrieval steps, mention the dilution used, and state the catalogue number and supplier. Please also state the temperature and duration of incubation. For centrifugation steps, provide centrifugal force units in x g rather than revolutions per minute (rpm).
For bioinformatic analyses: state the software used along with the relevant citation, unless the software is not published, in which case a website link can be provided. For microarray/RNA sequences, data downloaded from GEO or other databases, this needs to be clarified in the text, along with the corresponding accession number of the dataset. The use of software should be described with regards to the parameters (default, study-specific) and the applied thresholds; please explicitly name the parameters, e.g. ‘association value’ or ‘false-positive rate’. For all software analysis of data from public databases, cite the database (along with date of access for databases as these are constantly updated), and species (e.g., human). If Figures/Tables contain data from a public database (e.g., Gene Ontology/KEGG), cite the source in the legend/title explicitly. For publically available sequences, provide the accession number.
The source of material used and relevant ethical framework for all experiments should be clearly identified (ethics approval and/or written informed consent). For tissues, explain how these were collected, handled and stored, and where they were from. For bacterial strains or cells, provide the name and supplier. For studies on humans, a minimum of information is required: number of subjects, age range, gender ratio, health status, matching between controls and disease patients with regards to the above parameters. Please note that ‘normal’ should be avoided for controls; rather, the precise health status needs to be described, e.g., ‘healthy’, or ‘individuals with no recorded tumor complication’. For manuscripts presenting studies on humans and animals, see 3.8 below.
For statistical analyses: when statistical analyses have been performed, the following information should be provided: the name of the statistical test used, the n number for each analysis, the comparisons of interest, the alpha level and the actual P-value for each test. It should be clear which statistical test was used to generate every P-value. Error bars on graphs should be clearly labeled, and it should be stated whether the number following the ± sign is a standard deviation or a standard error. The word ‘significant’ should only be used when referring to statistically significant results, and should be accompanied by the relevant P-value. Significance indicators should be used on graphs and tables, and should be described in the figure or table legend, clearly indicating which groups are being compared.
Please note that Figure legends are not expected to contain information already described in Materials and methods, except for image-specific information, for example, for microscopy, mention the type of image, e.g., fluorescence and the original magnification if scale bars are not used. Legends should provide information concerning what is shown in the figure(s)/figure parts. The x- and y-axes of the graphs must be clearly explained in the legends, and when P-values are provided to indicate probability, the comparison to which these P-values refer must be clearly stated.
If cell lines are used, authors are strongly encouraged to include the following information in the materials and methods section of their manuscript: i) Confirm that mycoplasma testing has been done for the cell lines used; ii) confirm that the cell lines used have been authenticated and state what method was used for the authentication; and iii) provide the source, supplier and, if available, catalogue number of all specific cell lines used in the study. The authors are strongly encouraged to submit a detailed methodology stating the maintenance and culture of cell lines according to international guidelines on good cell culture practice (fundamental techniques, mycoplasma contamination, passage number, etc.). Furthermore, information regarding misidentified or cross-contaminated cell lines must be provided and cross-checked from the International Cell Line Authentication Committee and ExPASy Cellosaurus databases in order to exclude their contamination with other cell lines or their incorrect identification. If a cell line has been previously reported to be contaminated or misidentified, an STR profile of the cell line used in the study must be available for evaluation by the journal’s editor.
Results
Discussion
Acknowledgements
Funding
Availability of data and materials
Authors' contributions
Ethics approval and consent to participate
Patient consent for publication
Competing interests
Authors' information (optional)
References
Footnotes should not be used.
For Review articles:
Abstract. This section should have 150‐300 words, be continuous (not structured) and without reference numbers.
May have different sections and sub-headings according to the subject matter.
The main headings of the review should be summarized as a numbered Contents section immediately following the Abstract.
3.3 Figures
Submission of figures to us implies that the images or parts thereof have not been published elsewhere (unless mentioned and/or cited in the text and permission has been obtained and provided to us).
Images showing any patient or patient’s scans should not contain information that might identify them, unless you provide written permission from the patient allowing use of the specific image.
We accept that figures in our journals are rarely simple, and that certain adjustments are acceptable to help show experimental results clearly. The guiding principle when preparing digital artwork should be to ensure that the version submitted to us is an honest and accurate representation of the original observation(s) and will not lead to possible misinterpretation of what was done experimentally.
The Editors may assess submitted images for unacceptable manipulation using forensic tools and other means. This might delay progress of your manuscript and/or lead to further investigations and action to preserve the integrity of the scientific record, such as not accepting or revoking a manuscript. We may request the original unmanipulated source files and may contact the author’s institution for assistance with enquiries to establish probity. Our guidance builds on that described by Rossner and Yamada (1).
If brightness, contrast or colour balance is altered, the change should apply to the entire image shown and not a selected part. For images from gels or filters, ensure that details are not lost from bright areas or obscured in dark areas.
No feature of a data image should be selectively enhanced, obscured, removed or added. If a composite image shows gels or blots with tracks from groups of samples analysed separately (or from different exposures) then make the grouping obvious using black or white lines and explain this in the figure legend. The boundaries of individual panels of a tiled image should be marked.
In the Methods or individual figure legends outline the changes you made to images and how. For example, “Figure 99. Light microscopy of a frozen section of a lesion stained with toluidine blue. Original magnification x100. Uneven illumination was corrected using a control image as described by Marty GD (2)”.
(1) Rossner M and Yamada KM: What's in a picture? The temptation of image manipulation. J Cell Biol 166: 11-15, 2004 (http://jcb.rupress.org/content/166/1/11).
(2) Marty GD: Blank-field correction for achieving a uniform white background in brightfield digital photomicrographs. BioTechniques 42:716-720, 2007 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17612294).
3.3.1 File format
Acceptable
TIFF without layers and preferably using Lempel–Ziv–Welch (LZW) compression as it does not reduce image quality.
JPEG (only if originally saved at the highest quality).
Unacceptable
Images imported or copy pasted into Word or PowerPoint
BMP, GIF, PCT, PNG or low quality JPEG files originally saved at low quality.
3.3.2 Color mode
Acceptable
Color figures: Use RGB as this will offer the best reproduction of your data in the final PDF version of your article on screen. CMYK mode is also acceptable. Fluorescence images must be submitted for publication in color.
Black and white figures and line art: grey scale mode or RGB mode.
Combination figures with colour images and line art: RGB mode.
PLEASE NOTE
Color figures are welcome but must be submitted only if reproduction in color is intended (a charge will apply).
There is a charge of Euro 390 per each published page containing color.
Changing color figures to black and white following evaluation is NOT possible.
3.3.3 Image size
Image size is measured in centimeters or inches
Create your figures at the size (width) at which they will be printed
8.00 cm (3.15 in) wide for a single-column figure
17.00 cm (6.70 in) maximum for a double-column (full page width) figure
Maximum height 20.00 cm (7.87 in)
Empty white space surrounding a figure should NOT be included when calculating image size. Images should therefore be cropped (cut) as close to the outside edges of the figure as possible.
If a figure is too wide or contains too much information to be fit within 17 cm while keeping details clearly visible, figures must be divided into several clearly labeled separate parts.
3.3.4 Image resolution
Image resolution in this context is simply a measure of the number of pixels per inch (also called dots per inch, dpi) defining the image and does not relate to the quality of an image in terms of focus, contrast and legibility.
Images must be clear, of good contrast and legible at the size they are to appear in the journal.
Images should be AT LEAST 300 dpi, at the size at which they will be printed (8 or 17 cm wide).
Insufficient image size and/or resolution (dpi) will result in poor quality (blurred) printed figures if they are upscaled.
3.3.5 Exporting/capturing/saving figures
Figures may be produced by scanning, digital photography, or exporting from scientific software or a program such as PowerPoint.
Scanning
use a good quality scanner set to scan in RGB for color images or grey scale for line art or to scan gel images, at a resolution of at least 300 dpi and with the output file type set preferably to TIFF, or JPG highest quality (lowest compression).
Digital photographs
Set simple cameras to a ‘fine’ or ‘extra fine’ setting to help ensure that images have sufficient pixels.
Exporting
When exporting from scientific graphing software, choose settings to ensure the highest possible final size and resolution with lines of sufficient thickness to be seen at final printed size.
When exporting from PowerPoint, DO NOT choose ‘Save as TIFF’ from the Save as dialogue box as this will NOT result in an image of sufficiently high resolution. Instead, save the individual slide image as a PDF (from the Print dialogue box), THEN open the PDF with image editing software, such as Photoshop or GIMP, and when prompted specify 300 dpi resolution. Finally, save the resulting image as a TIFF (with LZW compression).
Note: figures initially scanned, photographed or exported at an insufficient size and resolution cannot be improved by upscaling, i.e., artificially increasing the resolution of a low-quality figure. Using image-editing software to keep the figure size the same while raising the dpi will NOT improve its quality.
3.3.6 File size
If saved according to our guidelines, files will rarely exceed 10 MB.
To reduce the file size of images:
Ensure figures are the exact width and height they should be for publication (not smaller), make sure the figures are saved at no more than 300 dpi.
Ensure that layers in the image have been flattened.
Save black and white figures as grey scale.
Ensure that TIFF are saved with LZW compression.
Consider saving files as highest quality JPEGs. These may be smaller files than TIFF with LZW compression, but will lose some detail.
Try using a compression or stuffing utility, such as WinZip or StuffIt.
3.3.7 Figure labels
Font size
Labels must be sized in proportion to the image, sharp and clearly legible.
When figures are prepared at the correct size (8 or 17 cm at 300 dpi) the font size for labels should be 8‐10 points.
If the figure is saved at a size larger than that needed for printing, the font size of labels must also be larger to maintain the correct proportions.
If labels cannot fit on an 8‐cm‐wide page unless the font size is smaller than 8 points, the figure must be prepared as a double column figure (14‐17 cm wide). If labels cannot fit on the 17‐cm‐wide page unless the font size is smaller than 8 points, the figure must be split into several parts.
Font style and appearance
Labels must be saved using standard fonts (Times New Roman, Times, Arial, Helvetica or Symbol font).
The labels should be of the same font and size in all figures. Also, the numbering should be of the same font and size in all figures.
Labels should be evenly spaced and aligned, easy to see (including exponential numbers around figure axes), and NOT faded, broken, or distorted by JPG compression artifact. Do NOT use light grey color lines or labels.
There must be strong contrast between labels and their background (e.g., labels placed over shaded bar graphs should be in a color that stands out against the shading, NOT blend in with it). Whenever possible, labels should be placed in black font on a white background. Consider using a black label with a white stroke applied to create contrast.
Letters of labels must NOT be overlapping, condensed, expanded, have unnecessary gaps between them or be otherwise irregularly spaced, and must NOT be stretched (distorted) horizontally or vertically.
Labels must NOT overlap or be concealed by other parts of the image, or be cropped (cut off) by the edge of the figure.
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