Author Guidelines

Journal of Cancer & Allied Specialties is an open access electronic journal that publishes articles related to the field of cancer care. It is currently indexed in various respectable and worldwide recognized platforms, including but not limited to, PubMed, Google Scholars, Semantic Scholars, CORE (UK), Dimensions, and Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). 

The Journal recommends authors follow the Recommendation for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals formulated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Manuscript Submission Guidelines: Journal of Cancer & Allied Specialties

1.    Open Access

Journal of Cancer & Allied Specialties is an open access, double peer-reviewed journal. Each article accepted by the journal will be made freely available online. Please refer to the copyrights policy for more details. 

1.1. CopyRights Policy:

Authors retain copyright and grant the Journal of Cancer & Allied Specialties (JCAS) right-of-first publication. In addition, the work will be simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. This license allows others to share the work in whole or part (for non-commercial purpose), with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in JCAS.

Furthermore, authors are free to enter into separate contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work, with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.

Authors are permitted and encouraged to share their work online or in medical or scientific conferences prior to or during the submission process.

2.     Article Processing Charge (APC)

Journal of Cancer & Allied Specialties does not have any APC.

Note: Journal of Cancer & Allied Specialties does not have any article submission charges. 

3.     Article Types

Please read the following instructions carefully and ensure that your submission meets the requirements to avoid return or delay in consideration of your manuscript. Journal of Cancer & Allied Specialties publishes original manuscripts on all aspects of cancer care.

Article types accepted for submission include:

3.1.    Clinical Case Report:

Clinical cases with unique and uncommon findings can be submitted in this section. Manuscripts should include a structured abstract (introduction, case description, and practical implications) of no more than 350 words. The article should have sections on introduction, case description, diagnosis and management, and discussion. Total word limit excluding abstract and references is 3000 words. There are no restrictions on the number of references.

3.2.    Original Research Articles

Original research work performed in compliance with ethical guidelines will be published in this section. Authors are required to provide a structured abstract (introduction, materials and methods, results, and conclusion) of no more than 500 words. The article should have sections on introduction, material and methods, results, and discussion. Recommended word count, excluding abstract and references, is 4000 words. There are no restrictions on the number of references.

3.3.    Reviews (Systemic | Meta-analysis) *

Reviews of published literature and meta-analysis will be published in this section. Manuscripts are required to have an abstract that should consist of introduction, methods, results, and conclusion. Word count should not exceed 500 words. The article should consist of introduction, methods, results, and conclusion sections. The recommended word limit is 4000 words. There are no restrictions on the number of references.

* Narrative reviews are discouraged. However, they will be considered for review and publication if they focus on the latest information about the diagnosis and management of diseases and conditions, emphasizing what is new, typically written by senior experts in the field. The authors are advised to make a presubmission inquiry with the editorial office before submitting this type of manuscript. Manuscripts are required to have an abstract that should consist of importance, observations, and conclusion and relevance. Word count should not exceed 500 words. The article structure can vary depending on the topic. However, the recommended word limit is 4000 words. There are no restrictions on the number of references.

4.    Editorial Policies

4.1.    Peer Review Policy

The Journal of Cancer & Allied Specialties is a double-blinded peer-reviewed journal with a robust and rigorous multi-stage editorial screening and assessment process.

Once a manuscript is submitted, it undergoes a thorough and meticulous quality check for compliance with author guidelines by the editorial staff. Manuscripts are assessed for potential issues such as compliance with ethical standards as per the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki(if indicated), competing interest, financial disclosures, plagiarism, data availability, and other scientific and policy requirements. A submission may be returned to authors for clarifications or alterations at this stage.

Following the quality check, the relevant experts of the field subject manuscripts to critical assessment. The mandatory minimum number of reviewers is two, comprising of at least one member from the Editorial Board. Reviewers may recommend rejecting, inviting revision, or accepting the submitted manuscript.

Please note that in any papers where the member of the Editorial Staff or Editorial Board is an author, they will not be allowed to participate in the reviewing or editorial decision-making process of the manuscript.

4.2.    Authorship

It is the responsibility of the submitting author to ensure that all those individuals whose work contributed to the paper are acknowledged as contributing authors. Likewise, the manuscript should only be submitted for consideration once all authors give consent. 

The criteria for someone to be considered as an author of a manuscript for the Journal of Cancer & Allied Specialties are as follows:

• They have made a significant contribution to the concept or design of the work, or acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data.
• Drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content.

For further clarification, please refer to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) document on what constitutes authorship.

Note: If concerns of ghost, guest, or gift authorship are raised, the journal will follow recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Similarly, the journal will act in accordance with COPE guidelines to handle any potential authorship disputes, which may take place before or after publication.

4.3.    Acknowledgments

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the Acknowledgements section.

4.4.    Funding

All research articles should have a funding acknowledgment in the form of a sentence as follows, with the funding agency written out in full, followed by the grant number in brackets:

This work was supported by the Shaukat Khanum Research Fund [grant number XXX].

Where no specific funding has been provided for the research, the journal recommends the authors to use the following sentence:

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

4.5.    Declaration of conflicting interests

A 'Declaration of Conflicting Interests' statement is required at the end of every manuscript. It should be included after the acknowledgments, and prior to the references. If no conflict exists, authors are advised to write 'The author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest'.

4.6.    Research ethics and patient consent

Medical research involving human subjects must be conducted according to the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki. Furthermore, submitted manuscripts should be compliant with ethical standards as per the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).  

All studies reporting animal or/and human studies are required to state in the materials and methods section that the relevant Institutional Review Board provided (or waived) approval. Kindly ensure to add the full name of the institutional committee, in addition to the approval number.

For original research articles, authors are required to declare in the materials and methods section whether participants provided informed consent. Similarly, they need to mention if the consent was written or verbal.

For clinical case reports, the author(s) are required to state the information regarding informed consent in the manuscript text. Likewise, a statement will be required regarding whether written informed consent for patient information and images to be published was provided by the patient(s) or a legally authorized representative.

For animal-based investigations, authors need to indicate whether institutional or national standards for the care and use of laboratory animals were followed. These should be in accordance with the International Association of Veterinary Editors' Consensus Author Guidelines on Animal Ethics and Welfare.

4.7.    Clinical Trials
Journal of Cancer & Allied Specialties conforms to the guidelines and requirements of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) that mandate all clinical trials have to be registered in a WHO-approved public trial-registry at the time or prior to the enrolment of the first patient as a condition of consideration for publication. The trial registry name and URL and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract, and in the materials and methods section of the manuscript.

5.      Publishing Policies

5.1.    Publication Ethics

Journal of Cancer & Allied Specialties encourages authors to refer to ethical guidelines set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

5.2.    Plagiarism

Journal of Cancer & Allied Specialties (JCAS) considers any breach of best practice in a publication such as the issue of copyright infringement or plagiarism very seriously. JCAS pursues to protect the rights of its authors and will investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of its publications. 

Likewise, to protect its reputation against malpractice, all submitted articles are checked for plagiarism using a duplication-checking software during the initial quality review. If an article is suspected of plagiarizing other work, appropriate action as per COPE and ICMJE guidelines will be taken. This may include publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article, taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.

5.3.    Use of Copyrighted Material

Permission of original author and publisher must be obtained for direct use of material (text, photos, drawings) under the copyright that is not owned by the authors (Up to 100 words of prose material can be quoted without obtaining permission, provided the material quoted is not the essence of the complete work.)

Please note that authors are responsible for applying for permission for electronic rights for all borrowed materials and are responsible for paying any fees related to the applications of these permissions.

5.4.    Prior Publication

Prior publication of research as a thesis, presentation at medical or scientific conferences, or posting on preprint servers will not preclude consideration of your manuscript.

5.5.    Data Availability

Journal of Cancer & Allied Specialties (JCAS) may request authors to submit (anonymized) study data for inspection or verification.

6.      Preparation of Manuscript

6.1.    Formatting

Journal of Cancer & Allied Specialties requires all manuscripts to be submitted in Word format. The text should be double-spaced throughout with a 1-inch margin all around. The text should be in Arial font and 11 or 12 points.

All figures/images and tables are to be uploaded as separate files. It is important to ensure that they are not embedded in the main text file.

Any manuscripts submitted without following these guidelines will be returned to the author without peer-review, thus delaying the evaluation process of the manuscript.

6.2.    Manuscript Preparation Guidelines 

Cover letter: Each manuscript submitted must be accompanied by a cover letter. The corresponding author should sign the cover letter, and it should contain the following statement: "The corresponding author takes full responsibility for the data presented in this study, analysis of the data, conclusions, and conduct of the research. The corresponding author had full access to those data and has maintained the right to publish any and all data independent of any third party."

Title Page: This should include the title of the article and the name, degrees, title, and professional affiliation of all authors. And the full address, email address, and contact number of the corresponding author.

Use titles that describe the main aspect and design of the study (i.e., randomized controlled trial, case-control study, cohort study, case report, etc.). Similarly, authors may include the main findings or interpretation of the investigation if they deem appropriate.

Abstract: It should be structured. If you are submitting a clinical case report, the abstract should include an introduction, case description, and practical implications, and it should be of no more than 300 words.

For original clinical studies, authors are required to provide a structured abstract consisting of an introduction, materials and methods, results, and conclusion section. It should be of no more than 500 words.

For systematic review articles (with or without meta-analysis) abstracts should consist of introduction, methods, results, and conclusion sections, and be of no more than 500 words.

For narrative review articles, abstracts should consist of importance, observations, and conclusion and relevance. Word count should not exceed 500 words. 

Keywords: Include 4-8 keywords at the end of the abstract, and before the introduction section. These should ideally be MeSH descriptors, but non-MeSH descriptors can also be used.

Introduction: The introduction should summarize the rationale and purpose of the study, and pertinent references should support this. The introduction section should clearly state the aim and working hypothesis of the study.

Materials and Methods: For studies involving humans, authors are required to describe how participants were selected and enrolled, including the sites or setting from which they were recruited. The authors should describe study procedures including any details of interventions (if applicable), measurement and classification of main exposure (if applicable) and outcomes, and other data collection techniques. They may consider the use of a figure to show study processes. The authors should report how many individuals were eligible, how many declined to participate, and how many were lost to the follow-up. For studies that have numerical data and use statistical inference, they are required to include a section that describes details of the statistical analyses (how groups were compared, model-building strategies, specific software(s) used, etc.).

Results: Authors are advised to describe the sample and provide characteristics of the study population. The findings of the primary outcome should be presented first, followed by the result of secondary outcomes, exploratory outcomes, and subgroup analyses. Consider presenting the main results in tables or figures and avoid repeating the same numbers in the text, tables, and figures.

Discussion: Authors are advised to structure this section of the manuscript such that it includes, a summary of the main findings (primary outcomes first followed by secondary outcomes), discussion on how the findings compare with previously published studies, a brief description on potential biological mechanisms (if applicable), clinical, scientific or public health implications, strengths and limitations, unanswered questions and suggestions for further targeted research (if applicable).

Acknowledgments: This section can be used to acknowledge anyone who has made substantive contributions to the study.

Funding: Studies are required to state all sources (if any) of funding.

References: All references must be cited in the text and numbered in order of appearance. The reference list should appear at the end of the article in a numeric sequence. It should be typed in double space. Journal of Cancer & Allied Specialties uses Vancouver Reference Style. Do not include unpublished data or personal communications in the reference list. Kindly ensure none of the information (journal and author names) is in capital letters.

Figure Legends: All figures need to be submitted separately. However, figure legends should be grouped at the end of the text and typed double-spaced.

Ethics or Institutional Review Board Approval: All studies reporting animal or/and human studies are required to state in the material and methods section that the relevant Institutional Review Board provided (or waived) approval. Kindly ensure to add the full name of the institutional committee, in addition to the approval number.

Reporting Tools: Journal of Cancer & Allied Specialties requires authors to submit a completed checklist from the EQUATOR network along with their manuscripts. Please refer to the table below for more information:

For more details, please visit the EQUATOR network. 

Please note that any manuscript that is submitted without a filled out reporting guideline form will be returned to the author without peer-review, thus delaying the evaluation process of the manuscript.

Data Files: Authors can submit anonymized data set for readers or peer-reviewers, as a supplementary file. Likewise, it can be uploaded in a repository, and link can be shared in the manuscript.

7.      Submitting your Manuscript

Text files: These should be submitted in Word format.

Image files: These should be at least 600 dpi. They can be in .jpeg, .jpg, or. tiff format.

Files mandatory at the time of submission:

1. Cover Letter
2. Title page (title, name of authors, affiliations, keywords, corresponding author)
3. Main document (structured abstract, main text, acknowledgments, funding, references, figure ligands)
4. Tables (word format)
5. Figures (at least 600 dpi, in .jpeg, .jpg, or. tiff files)
6. Completed relevant checklist from The EQUATOR Network
7. Any supplementary files

8.     Additional Information & Appeals

Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process, and appeals against editorial decisions should be sent to the Journal of Cancer & Allied Specialties editorial office as follows:

Khawaja S. Nasir

Managing Editor,

Journal of Cancer & Allied Specialties Editorial Office,

Email: editor@skm.org.pk

Note: These policies were last updated on 31.03.2023.