All other enquiries relating to publication of the Journal should be directed to the publisher:

proctg For information about manuscripts after acceptance, contact Glenda Proctor, Editor, CMA Journals; for information about advertising, contact Nancy Pope, Coordinator, Display Advertising, or Beverley Kirkpatrick, Classified Advertising Manager.

Overview

The Canadian Association of Radiologists Journal publishes original manuscripts, in English or French, pertaining to diagnostic imaging. Submitted manuscripts should not contain previously published material and should not be under consideration for publication by another journal.

The following guidelines are based on instructions outlined in the "Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals" (CMAJ 1997;156(2):270-7). Acceptance of articles is based on a combination of peer and editorial review; all reviews are conducted in a blinded fashion. Accepted manuscripts will be edited for conformity with Journal style (including grammar, syntax and punctuation), as well as for clarity. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author for each manuscript to review these editorial revisions on page proofs provided by the publication office, and to obtain the coauthors' approval of the final version of the paper. Before publication, all authors are asked to sign a document transferring copyright to the Canadian Association of Radiologists.

All accepted manuscripts become the permanent property of the Canadian Association of Radiologists and may not be published elsewhere, in whole or in part, without written permission from the Canadian Medical Association, PO Box 8650, Ottawa ON K1G 0G8.

Reprints of articles published in the Journal may be purchased by the authors and others; no reprints are provided free of charge. A reprint order form is sent to the corresponding author with the proofs.

General Guidelines

Major Papers

Abstract: Itemizes concisely (in 250 words or fewer) the purpose, methods, results and conclusions of the study.

Introduction: Briefly describes the purpose of the investigation and explains its importance.

Methods: Describes the materials used or subjects, as well as the imaging protocols and other methods. Outlines in detail any statistical methods used.

Results: Presents the results in a clear and logical fashion. If tables and graphs are used, they should summarize the data presented in the text.

Discussion: Describes the relevance of the findings outlined in the Results section, presents the limitations of the statistics and other methods, and clearly elucidates the important outcomes of the study.

Case Reports

A case report is a brief description of a special case with applications beyond the patient described in the paper.

Format: No abstract. The introduction should be a short paragraph stating the background and interest of the case. Only 1 case should be described. A second patient should be described only if required to elucidate the discussion or findings on the first. The radiologic aspects should be emphasized, and clinical information should be limited to that required for an understanding of the case. The discussion should be short, focusing on the relevance of the radiologic methods. An extensive review of the literature is not appropriate.

Length: Maximum of 5 double-spaced pages, including the references but not including the title page or the figure legends.

References: No more than 15.

Figures: Up to 4. The legends must not repeat information provided in the text.

Pictorial Essays

A pictorial essay is an article that conveys its message primarily through illustrations and their legends.

Format: No abstract. The introduction should define clearly the message of the article. It should be no longer than half of one double-spaced page.

Length: Maximum of 10 double-spaced pages, including the references but not including the title page or the figure legends.

References: No more than 15.

Figures: Up to 30.

Editorials

Although most editorials are written at our invitation, we welcome unsolicited submissions and suggestions for topics and contributors. Editorials should be no more than 1000 to 1500 words long. They require a succinct and confident style, a clear point of view and a degree of balance of the author or authors' arguments, with no more than 10 references. In general, only unsolicited editorials are peer reviewed.

Current Controversies

Opinions and commentaries are articles that deal with controversial issues that are of interest to Radiologists.

Format: The manuscript should include a title page but no abstract. Headings may be used.

Length: Maximum of 5 double-spaced pages.

References: No more than 5.

Tables and Figures: Up to a total of 4.

Technical Notes

A technical note is an article giving a brief description of a technique or procedure. It may also refer to the modification of a technique, procedure or equipment of interest to Radiologists.

Format: No abstract. A brief introduction of no more than 1 paragraph should describe the general background. The discussion should include the uses of the technique or equipment. Headings may be used. Literature reviews and long case reports are not appropriate.

Length: Maximum of 5 double-spaced pages, including the references but not including the title page or the figure legends.

References: No more than 8.

Figures: Up to 2.

Letters to the Editor and Replies

Letters to the Editor may discuss subjects of general interest to Radiologists. They may also offer constructive criticism of a published article. In the latter situation, authors will be given an opportunity to reply. Letters and replies should not reflect on the integrity, competence or sincerity of others.

Format: The title should be short and relate to the subject of the letter. The manuscript should indicate whether the submission is a "Letter to the Editor" or a "Reply." All letters should be double-spaced with no greeting or salutation and should be printed on plain paper (without letterhead). The names of the authors and their affiliations should appear at the end of the letter. The letter need not be signed.

Length: Maximum of 2 double-spaced pages, including references.

References: No more than 4.

Figures: Up to 2.

Tables and Acknowledgements: Not appropriate.

Number of Authors: Up to 4.

Itemized Checklist

Before a manuscript is submitted, the authors should ensure compliance with each item in the following checklist. This checklist is provided for the corresponding author's reference, and a completed copy of the list should be included with all submitted manuscripts, including Technical Notes, Current Controversies, Letters to the Editor and Replies.

General

• Three copies of the manuscript (1 original and 2 copies) and 3 complete sets of figures are provided.

• The manuscript, including the title page, the abstract, the references, the figure legends and the tables, is word-processed double-spaced on 216 × 279 mm (8.5 × 11 in.) paper. The right-hand margin is not justified. The manuscript has not been printed on a dot-matrix printer.

• All manuscript pages are numbered consecutively, beginning with the abstract page. The authors' names do not appear on the manuscript pages; an abbreviated manuscript title should be given.

• Informed consent has been obtained from the patients who participated in clinical investigations, and a copy of the signed consent form is provided. If experiments were performed on animals, a copy of the appropriate approval from an animal ethics committee is provided.

• Système international (SI) metric measurements are used throughout or the SI equivalent is given in parentheses.

• The names and locations (as city and province or state) of equipment manufacturers are given. Generic names are provided for drugs and contrast media.

• A letter, signed by all authors and stating that the manuscript has not been published previously nor is it under consideration by any other journal, is submitted with the manuscript. The letter discloses any commercial interest of the authors in the subject of the study.

• The manuscript is accompanied by signed letters of permission from any patient whose photograph appears in the illustrative material and any individual whose contributions to the article are acknowledged in the manuscript, as well as from the copyright holder(s) of previously published material (e.g., tables, illustrations and lengthy quotations) that is being reproduced, with or without modification, in the submitted article.

• Upon acceptance, the final version is submitted on a 3.5-in. diskette in WordPerfect or MS Word for MS DOS or Windows. The final paper copy and electronic versions are identical. The file name(s) and the word-processing program are specified.

Title Page

• The title page includes the title of the article; the names and complete addresses (including postal or zip codes), of all authors; the current addresses of authors who have moved since the study was performed; and acknowledgement(s) of Grant(s) or other assistance. The corresponding author is identified, and his or her current address, telephone number, fax number and email address are provided.

• An abbreviated version of the title is supplied.

• A list of relevant medical subject headings (MeSH headings used in Index Medicus and MEDLINE) is provided.

• A "blind" title page, giving only the title without the authors' names, is included with each copy of the manuscript for use in the review process.

Abstract

• A structured abstract is provided for major articles. The abstract is organized under the following headings: Objective, Subjects or Materials and Methods, Results, and Conclusion.

• No abbreviations are used, and no references are cited.

References

• The references are typed double-spaced starting on a separate page and are numbered consecutively in the order in which they appear in the text.

• All references that appear in the reference list are cited in the text. Reference citations are given in angle brackets (e.g., <24>) or superscript²⁴ and appear at the end of the sentence with the relevant text or after the names of the authors cited. A word-processing footnote function has not been used.

• The number of references does not exceed 35.

• Unpublished data, including papers submitted but not yet accepted for publication, are not cited as references but are cited parenthetically in the text.

• Papers presented at meetings are not cited as references (e.g., 15. Jones FR. Stereotaxic mammography [presentation]. 58th annual meeting of the Canadian Association of Radiologists, June 4 to 7, 1995, Montreal).

• Journal titles are abbreviated according to Index Medicus and MEDLINE.

• Inclusive page numbers (e.g., 111-3) are given for all references.

• The general style and punctuation of references follows the format illustrated in the following references (all authors are listed when there are 6 or fewer; if there are 7 or more authors, the first 6 are listed and followed by "et al").

  Journal article:

  1. Duong H, Tanpieri D, TerBrugge KG, Leblanc R, Melançon D, Olivier A, et al. Transcranial Doppler ultrasonographic changes after embolization of cerebral arteriovenous malformations. Can Assoc Radiol J 1994;45:447-51.

  Chapter in a book:

  2. Rifkin MD. Prostate cancer: general considerations. In: Rifkin MD, editor. Ultrasound of the Prostate. New York: Raven Press, 1988:141-55.

Tables

• Each table is word-processed using the table function on a separate page. Each table has a short descriptive title. Tables do not exceed 2 pages in length, and each contains at least 4 lines of data.

• Tables are numbered in the order in which they are cited in the text.

• Abbreviations are defined in an explanatory note below each table.

• Tables are self-explanatory and do not duplicate data given in the text or figures.

• All tabular arithmetic (e.g., percentages, totals and differences) has been checked for accuracy and agrees with information outlined in the text.

• Written permission has been obtained to republish, with or without modification, any previously published tables, and a copy of the correspondence is provided with the manuscript.

Figures and Legends

Specifications for electronic submission of figures [PDF format]

PDF Specifications [PDF format]

• Three complete sets of original figures are submitted in a labelled envelope. Figures have not been affixed to sheets of paper or to hard cardboard.

• The figures are clean, glossy prints, uniform in size and magnification, with white borders. Each individual print is not larger than 127 × 178 mm (5 × 7 in.).

• Each figure citation in the text pertains to a single illustration.

• Each figure is labelled on the back with the figure number and an arrow indicating the top.

• For black and white line drawings and images, the labelling information is provided on a gummed label affixed to the back of the print.

• Colour images: images submitted in colour will be printed in colour at the discretion of the editor. The author will be asked to cover the cost of a colour separation for each colour figure (currently Can$140).

• The authors' names do not appear on the figure labels.

• Only arrows, letters and other pointers have been used on the figures. Symbols are uniform in size and style.

• Line drawings have been done in black ink on a white background. The same size of type has been used on each line drawing. Line drawings are submitted separately, as for other illustrations, and are not incorporated into the body of the text. Drawings are either originals or print-outs from a laser printer. Photocopies are not acceptable.

• Written permission has been obtained to republish any previously published illustrations, and a copy of the correspondence is provided.

• Each figure is accompanied by a descriptive legend. The legends are word-processed double-spaced, and the figures are numbered in the order in which they are cited in the text.

• For histologic photomicrographs, the stain used and the original magnification are provided.