Please note that Precision Radiation Oncology is a fully open access journal. All articles accepted for publication will be published open access under a creative commons license, making them immediately freely available to read, download and share. The Article Publication Charge is currently waived for all manuscripts submitted to the journal. For more information on the Wiley Open Access publishing program visit the Wiley Open Access page.
Thank you for your interest in Precision Radiation Oncology. Please read the complete Author Guidelines carefully prior to submission. Note that submission implies that the content has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere except as a brief abstract in the proceedings of a scientific meeting or symposium. Once you have prepared your submission in accordance with the Guidelines, manuscripts should be submitted online at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/pro6. We are looking forward to your submission.
The submission system will encourage authors to use an ORCID iD (a unique author identifier) to help distinguish their work from that of other researchers. Click here to find out more.
Aims and ScopeThe editors welcome submissions in the form of Original Articles, Clinical Guidelines, Consensus, Commentaries, Editorials, Reviews, Meeting Reports, Case Reports, Brief Reports, Research Letters, Letters to the Editor, and Perspective.
Precision Radiation Oncology is supported by the Sino-American Network for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology and the Chinese Anti-Cancer Association.
Review ProcessWiley's policy on confidentiality of the review process is available here.
Manuscripts are assigned sequentially to Associate Editors. An Associate Editor solicits reviewers (typically, two external reviews are sought). The reviewers’ evaluations and Associate Editor’s comments are compiled by the Editor-in-Chief for disposition and transmittal to the authors.
The Editor-in-Chief will advise authors whether a manuscript is accepted, should be revised or is rejected. Minor revisions are expected to be returned within four weeks of decision; major revisions within two months. Manuscripts not revised within these time periods are subject to withdrawal from consideration for publication unless the authors can provide extenuating circumstances.
A number of manuscripts will have to be rejected on the grounds of priority and available space. A manuscript may be returned to the authors without outside review if the Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editor find it inappropriate for publication in the Journal. Similarly, the Editors may expedite the review process for manuscripts felt to be of high priority in order to reach a rapid decision. Such ‘fast-track decisions’ will normally occur within one week of receipt of the manuscript.
The Editor-in-Chief’s decision is final. If, however, authors dispute a decision and can document good reasons why a manuscript should be reconsidered, a rebuttal process exists. In the first place, authors should write to the Editor-in-Chief.
Data Sharing and Data Availability
This journal expects data sharing for manuscripts submitted after June 15th, 2024. Review Wiley’s Data Sharing policy where you will be able to see and select the data availability statement that is right for your submission.
The journal requires that you include in the manuscript details IRB approvals, ethical treatment of human and animal research participants, and gathering of informed consent, as appropriate. Please review Wiley’s policies on human studies, animal studies, clinical trial registration, biosecurity, and research reporting guidelines.
This journal follows the core practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and handles cases of research and publication misconduct accordingly (https://publicationethics.org/core-practices).
Plagiarism Detection
This journal uses iThenticate’s CrossCheck software to detect instances of overlapping and similar text in submitted manuscripts. Read Wiley’s Top 10 Publishing Ethics Tips for Authors and Wiley’s Publication Ethics Guidelines.
Contributions from anyone who does not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed, with permission from the contributor, in an Acknowledgments section (for example, to recognize contributions from people who provided technical help, collation of data, writing assistance, acquisition of funding, or a department chairperson who provided general support). Additional information such as ‘X and Y should be considered joint first author’ or ‘X and Y should be considered joint senior author’ may be added as a footnote to the Author Listing/in the Acknowledgements.
Associate your ScholarOne account with your ORCID iD
Group collaborations
If your research was conducted by a very large collaborative group please list all names and these will be published in an appendix to the article.
(2) Invited Reviews
Word limit: 5000 words maximum including abstract but excluding references, tables and figures. Abstract: 250 words maximum, unstructured (no use of sub-headers). References: no limit. Figures/tables: minimum 1 image or figure. Description: Reviews are comprehensive analyses of specific topics. They are submitted upon invitation by the Editors. Proposals for reviews may be submitted; however, in this case authors should only send an outline of the proposed paper for initial consideration. Both solicited and unsolicited review articles will undergo peer review prior to acceptance.
(3) Clinical Guidelines / Consensus
Word limit: 5000 words maximum including abstract but excluding references, tables and figures. Abstract: 250 words maximum, unstructured (no use of sub-headers). References: no limit. Figures/tables: minimum 1 image or figure. Description: Guidelines need to be the product of a large group of individuals who are recognized authorities in their field. Guidelines / Consensus will be written by a working party to include a steering committee (usually at least 4 members) and other authors representing a wide range of those with special relevant expertise as well as those whose everyday practice will be influenced by the guidelines / consensus.
(4) Editorials
Word Limit: 1500 words maximum. Abstract: not required. References: 5 maximum. Description: Proposals for Editorials may be submitted; however, in this case authors should only send an outline of the proposed paper for initial consideration.
(5) Commentaries
Word limit: 1500 words maximum excluding references. Abstract: not required. References: 20 maximum, including the article discussed. Figures/tables: 2 maximum. Description: Commentaries, upon Editor’s invitation, discuss a paper published in a specific issue and should set the problems addressed by the paper in the wider context of the field. Proposals for Commentaries may be submitted; however, in this case authors should only send an outline of the proposed paper for initial consideration.
(6) Research Letters
Word limit: 800 words excluding references. Abstract: none. References: 8 maximum. Figures/tables: 2 maximum. Description: Research Letters should report original findings in an intermediate fashion between an abstract and an article. These submissions must not duplicate other material published or submitted for publication. In general, Research Letters should be divided into the following sections: To the Editor (which serves as an introduction), Methods, Results, and Comment. Research Letters considered for publication will undergo peer review.
(7) Letters to the Editor
Word limit: 500 words maximum. Abstract: not required. References: 5 maximum. Figures/tables: 1 maximum. Description: Letters must offer perspective to content published in Precision Radiation Oncology. A Letter must reference the original source, and a Response to a Letter must reference the Letter in the first few paragraphs. Letters can use an arbitrary title, but a Response must cite the title of the Letter: e.g. Response to [title of Letter]. This ensures that readers can track the line of discussion. Letters to the Editor are not subjected to peer-review. Submissions may be edited for length, grammatical correctness, and journal style. Authors will be asked to approve editorial changes that alter the substance or tone of a letter or response.
(8) Case Reports
Word limit: 1000 words maximum including abstract but excluding references, tables and figures. Abstract: 250 words, unstructured (no use of sub-headers). References: 20 maximum. Figures/tables: 4 maximum. Description: New observations of diseases, clinical findings or novel/unique treatment outcomes relevant to practitioners in radiation oncology. The text should be arranged as follows: Introduction, Case Report, and Discussion. Only cases of exceptional interest and novelty are considered.
(9) Meeting Reports
Word limit: 3000 words maximum including abstract but excluding references, tables and figures. Abstract: 250 words maximum, with sub-headers. References: no limit. Figures/tables: no limit, but 8 figures should be sufficient. Description: Brief reports of symposia and conferences in cancer research. Reports must be submitted within 2 months of the meeting date in order to maintain their timeliness. Only those Meeting Reports dealing with topics of interest to the readership and that contain novel information and insights from the meeting are accepted for publication. A Meeting Report should be a thoughtful, critical commentary which shows an appreciation of the connections among the various presentations and reveals the consensus, if any, which emerged at the meeting. Before submitting a full Meeting Report, authors should only send an outline of the proposed paper for initial consideration.
(10) Brief Reports
Word limit: 1500 words including abstract but excluding references, tables and figures. Abstract: 250 words, unstructured (no use of sub-headers). References: 35 maximum. Figures/tables: 4 maximum. Description: Manuscripts containing pertinent and interesting observations concerning radiation oncology research and reports on new observations or studies that do not warrant publication as a full research article will be considered for the Brief Reports. These submissions will undergo full peer review.
(11) Perspectives
Word limit: 1000 words excluding references, tables and figures. Abstract: not required. References: 5 maximum. Figures/tables: 1 maximum. Description: Perspectives provide personal but balanced view point on a matter of controversy, usually with a suggestion for further research. They are intended to stimulate discussion.
Article Preparation Support
Wiley Editing Services offers expert help with English Language Editing, as well as translation, manuscript formatting, figure illustration, figure formatting, and graphical abstract design – so you can submit your manuscript with confidence.
Also, check out our resources for Preparing Your Article for general guidance about writing and preparing your manuscript.
Writing for Search Engine Optimization
Optimize the search engine results for your paper, so people can find, read and ultimately cite your work. Simply read our best practice SEO tips – including information on making your title and abstract SEO-friendly, and choosing appropriate keywords.
• Units: All measurements must be given in SI or SI-derived units. For more information about SI units, please go to the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) website.
• Abbreviations: Must be used sparingly – only where they ease the reader’s task by reducing repetition of long, technical terms. Initially use the word in full, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. Thereafter use the abbreviation only.
• Trade names: Must be used sparingly – only where they ease the reader’s task by reducing repetition of long, technical terms. Initially use the word in full, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. Thereafter use the abbreviation only.
Parts of the manuscript
The manuscript should be presented in the following order: (i) title page, (ii) abstract (iii) key words, (iv) text, (v) acknowledgements, (vi) conflict of interest declaration (vii) references, (viii) tables (each table complete with title and footnotes) (ix) figure legends, (x) appendices (if relevant). Figures and supporting information should be supplied as separate files.
Title page
The title page should contain:
(i) a short informative title that contains the major key words. The title should not contain abbreviations (see Wiley’s best practice SEO tips)
(ii) the names of all author
(iii) the institutional affiliations of all authors;
(iv) a short running title (no more than 40 characters, abbreviations are permitted)
The present address of any author, if different from that where the work was carried out, should be supplied in a footnote.
Abstract
The length of abstracts must adhere to the word count specifications under the section Manuscript Categories. The abstract should state the main problem, methods, results, and conclusions. It must be factual and comprehensive. The use of abbreviations and acronyms should be limited and general statements (e.g. ‘‘the significance of the results is discussed’’) should be avoided.
Keywords
Three to five key words should be supplied below the abstract, in alphabetical order, and should be taken from those recommended by the US National Library of Medicine’s Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) browser list.
Ethical Statement
Starting from submissions in September 1, 2021, all eligible articles should have an explicit statement that includes information on ethical approvals and consent to participate and publish. Articles submitted before this date should contain the relevant information in the Methods section of the article.
Acknowledgements
This should include sources of support/funding, including federal and industry support. All authors who have contributed to the manuscript must be acknowledged any federal and industry support/funding received. Medical writers, proofreaders and editors should not be listed as authors, but acknowledged here in the acknowledgements section.
Conflict of Interest statement
All articles are required to include a conflict of interest statement. See section on ‘Ethical Considerations’ for details of what to include. Authors without conflicts of interest should include a statement confirming there are no conflicts of interest to declare.
References
The American Medical Association (AMA) system of referencing should be used see the AMA Manual of Style for details. All references should be numbered consecutively in order of appearance and should be as complete as possible. In text citations should cite references in consecutive order using Arabic superscript numerals. Sample references follow:
In-Text examples:
Diabetes mellitus is associated with a high risk of foot ulcers.1-3
Several interventions have been successful at increasing compliance.11,14-16
The data of Smith et al18 is further evidence of this effect.
As reported previously,1,3-6
The results were as follows4:
Journal article (1-6 authors):
1. King VM, Armstrong DM, Apps R, Trott JR. Numerical aspects of pontine, lateral reticular, and inferior olivary projections to two paravermal cortical zones of the cat cerebellum. J Comp Neurol 1998;390:537-551.
Journal article with more than six authors:
2. Geller AC, Venna S, Prout M, et al. Should the skin cancer examination be taught in medical school? Arch Dermatol. 2002;138(9):1201-1203.
Journal article with no named author or group name:
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Licensure of a meningococcal conjugate vaccine (Menveo) and guidance for use--Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), 2010. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2010;59(9):273.
Online articles not yet published in an issue:
4. Smith JJ, Fihn SD, White RH. Treatment of allergic rhinitis. Am J Med. In press; doi:10.1016/S0002-9343(00)00545-3.
Book
5. Voet D, Voet JG. Biochemistry. New York: John Wiley & Sons; 1990. 1223 p.
Book chapter:
6. Guyton JL, Crockarell JR. Fractures of acetabulum and pelvis. In: Canale ST, ed. Campbell's Operative Orthopaedics. 10th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Mosby, Inc; 2003:2939-2984.
Electronic book:
7. Rudolph CD, Rudolph AM. Rudolph's Pediatrics. 21st ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies; 2002. http://online.statref.com/Document/Document.aspx?DocID=1&StartDoc=1&EndDoc=1882&FxID=13&offset=7&SessionId=A3F279FQVVFXFSXQ . Accessed August 22, 2007.
Internet document:
8. American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2003. http://www.cancer.org/downloads/STT/CAFF2003PWSecured.pdf. Accessed March 3, 2003.
Please note that journal title abbreviations should conform to the practices of Chemical Abstracts.
Tables
Tables should be self-contained and complement, but not duplicate, information contained in the text. They should be supplied as editable files, not pasted as images. Legends should be concise but comprehensive – the table, legend and footnotes must be understandable without reference to the text. All abbreviations must be defined in footnotes. Footnote symbols: †, ‡, §, ¶, should be used (in that order) and *, **, *** should be reserved for P-values. Statistical measures such as SD or SEM should be identified in the headings.
Figure Legends
Legends should be concise but comprehensive – the figure and its legend must be understandable without reference to the text. Include definitions of any symbols used and define/explain all abbreviations and units of measurement.
Preparing Figures
Each figure should be supplied as a separate file, with the figure number incorporated in the file name and also showing within the figure.
Although we encourage authors to send us the highest-quality figures possible, for peer-review purposes we are happy to accept a wide variety of formats, sizes, and resolutions.
Click here for the basic figure requirements for figures submitted with manuscripts for initial peer review, as well as the more detailed post-acceptance figure requirements.
Graphical abstractsThe online table of contents will display a schematic figure to convey the core message of your paper, alongside a short abstract highlighting the major findings of the paper. Authors should submit a new and stand-alone image, not already included in the paper. Your graphical abstract should be simple, colourful and contain minimal text to attract additional readers. Your short abstract should consist of 2-3 sentences (max 500 characters with spaces) summarising the key findings presented in the paper. Graphical abstract entries should be submitted to Scholar One in one of the generic file formats and uploaded as ‘Graphical Abstract’ during the initial manuscript submission process. The image should be supplied as a tif or a pdf and fit within the dimensions of 50mm x 60mm, and be fully legible at this size.
Supporting Information
Supporting information is information that is not essential to the article but that provides greater depth and background. It is hosted online, and appears without editing or typesetting. It may include tables, figures, videos, datasets, etc. Click here for Wiley’s FAQs on supporting information.
Please note that the provision of supporting information is not encouraged as a general rule. It will be assessed critically by reviewers and editors and will only be accepted if it is essential.
• Manuscripts must be submitted online at: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/pro6
• Click here for more details on how to use ScholarOne
Precision Radiation Oncology is an Open Access journal. If your paper is accepted, the author identified as the formal corresponding author for the paper will receive an email prompting them to login into Author Services; where via the Wiley Author Licensing Service (WALS) they will be able to complete the license agreement on behalf of all authors on the paper.
For more information on this journal’s licensing policy, please visit the journal’s Open Access page.
Article Publication Charge. The Article Publication Charge is currently waived for all manuscripts submitted to the journal.
Before your accepted article is published online, it goes through Wiley’s production process. Wiley does everything possible to publish your article quickly and to the highest possible standard, as well as taking you through what to expect at each stage of the process.
Accepted article received in production
Your article is received at the publisher for production to begin. You (corresponding authors) receive an email asking you to login or register with Author Services. The author will be asked to sign a publication license at this point.
Your publication checklist:
• Provide accurate proofreading and clearly mark any corrections as soon as possible.
• When prompted, ensure you acknowledge any funding support.
• Choose and arrange payment for open access as required.
• Sign a copyright license.
Copyediting and Typesetting
Wiley copyedit your article for style, grammar and nomenclature. Wiley also typeset your article, to make it look great.
Proofing and corrections
After copyediting and typesetting the article goes back to you. This is your chance to give your article a last look before it is published.
Authors will receive an e-mail notification with a link and instructions for accessing HTML page proofs online. Page proofs should be carefully proofread for any copyediting or typesetting errors. Online guidelines are provided within the system. No special software is required, all common browsers are supported. Authors should also make sure that any renumbered tables, figures, or references match text citations and that figure legends correspond with text citations and actual figures. Proofs must be returned within 48 hours of receipt of the email. Return of proofs via e-mail is possible in the event that the online system cannot be used or accessed.
Please note that you are responsible for all statements made in your work, including changes made during the editorial process and thus you must check your proofs carefully.
Early View
The journal offers rapid speed to publication via Wiley’s Early View service. Early View (Online Version of Record) articles are published on Wiley Online Library before inclusion in an issue. Note there may be a delay after corrections are received before your article appears online, as Editors also need to review proofs. Once your article is published on Early View no further changes to your article are possible. Your Early View article is fully citable and carries an online publication date and DOI for citations.
You can now order print copies of your article (instructions are sent at proofing stage).
Now is the time to start promoting your article. Find out how to do that here.
Article Promotion Support
Wiley Editing Services offers professional video, design, and writing services to create shareable video abstracts, infographics, conference posters, lay summaries, and research news stories for your research – so you can help your research get the attention it deserves.
Measuring the Impact of your Work
Wiley also helps you measure the impact of your research through our specialist partnerships with Kudos and Altmetric.
Wiley’s Author Name Change Policy
In cases where authors wish to change their name following publication, Wiley will update and republish the paper and redeliver the updated metadata to indexing services. Our editorial and production teams will use discretion in recognizing that name changes may be of a sensitive and private nature for various reasons including (but not limited to) alignment with gender identity, or as a result of marriage, divorce, or religious conversion. Accordingly, to protect the author’s privacy, we will not publish a correction notice to the paper, and we will not notify co-authors of the change. Authors should contact the journal’s Editorial Office with their name change request.
Appeals and Complaints
Authors may appeal an editorial decision if they feel that the decision to reject was based on either a significant misunderstanding of a core aspect of the manuscript, a failure to understand how the manuscript advances the literature or concerns regarding the manuscript-handling process. Differences in opinion regarding the novelty or significance of the reported findings are not considered as grounds for appeal. To raise an appeal, please contact the journal by email, quoting your manuscript ID number and explaining your rationale for the appeal. The editor’s decision following an appeal consideration is final.
To raise a complaint regarding editorial staff, policy or process please contact the journal in the first instance. If you believe further support outside the journal’s management is necessary, please refer to Wiley’s Best Practice Guidelines on Research Integrity and Publishing Ethics.
10. EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE
Jun Ma
Managing Editor
Precision Radiation Oncology
440, Jiyan Road, Jinan 250117, China
Email: cjcptmj@126.com
Tel: 86-531-67626704