Contemporary Oncology/Współczesna Onkologia is a scientific and educational, peer-reviewed, bimonthly journal which publishes Original papers on experimental and clinical oncology, Review papers, Editorials, Case reports and Letters to Editors.

The articles in this journal are published open access (OA)

Papers should be submitted to the Editorial Office by electronic
Editorial System at the following URL:

http://www.editorialsystem.com/wo

Articles should be submitted in English. They will be published both in paper and on-line.

The type of work, the authors and their affiliations, as well as title, abstract and key words (according to Index Medicus, minimum 4) should be entered in the appropriate places in the electronic submission panel. Please do not submit data on the authors (personal information and affiliations) in the file content of the work.

Preparation of manuscripts

Please follow the instructions relevant to type of manuscript being submitted.

Contemporary Oncology/Wspolczesna Onkologia uses graphical abstracts and one-sentence summaries to promote articles via email content, social media, newsletters and online search results. A graphical abstract should allow readers to quickly gain an understanding of the main take-home message of the paper and is intended to promote interdisciplinary scholarship, encourage browsing, and help readers identify more quickly which papers are most relevant to their research interests.

From 1 October 2015, papers should be submitted with graphical abstracts and one-sentence summaries. With time, graphical abstracts will become obligatory.

The graphical abstract should be one single-panel image (1020 × 680 pixels). Authors must provide an image that clearly represents the work described in the paper. A key figure from the original paper, summarizing the content, can also be submitted as a graphical abstract.

The one-sentence summary is a short non-technical summary stating the novelty of the research. The language used should be understood by non-specialist. Please ensure you use the third person, not first person.

• Original papers should be structured in the following order: Introduction, Material and methods, Results, Discussion, References. A Statistical methods section must be included where relevant in Material and methods section. The total length of the manuscript including figures and tables should not exceed 3000 words.

Abstracts of original papers should be structured (incorporating the following sections: Aim of the study, Material and methods, Results and Conclusions) and be between 200 and 250 words in length. As this may be the only part of the article read by some readers it must include sufficient detail for an adequate summary of the whole manuscript.

All references must be numbered consecutively, in square brackets, in the order in which they are cited in the text. References should contain names and initials of authors; if there are more than 8 authors, use et al. after three names; article title, Index Medicus abbreviation for the journal title, year of issue, volume and inclusive pages. Chapters in books or monographs should be cited as follows: names and initials of authors, chapter title, book title, name and initial of the book editor, volume, name of the publisher, place of publishing, year, pages. If you use Endnote or Citation Manager to organize your references, follow instructions for “Annals of Oncology”. Please delete website addresses from Word documents containing references generated automatically (using Endnote or Citation Manager) in order to avoid difficulties with conversion of references to PDF files.

Examples:

– article: McKay JA, Lloret C, Murray GI, Johnston PG, Bicknell R, Ahmed FY, Cassidy J, McLeod HL. Application of the enrichment approach to identify putative markers of response to 5-fluorouracil therapy in advanced colorectal carcinomas. Int J Oncol 2000; 17: 153-8.

– book: Zatoński WA. Nowotwory złośliwe w Polsce. Wiedza i Życie, Warszawa 1993.

– book chapters: Schranz D, Morkowski S, Abelev G. Affinity isotachoforesis on porous membranes. In: Affinity electrophoresis: principles and application. Bręborowicz J, Mackiewicz A (eds.). CRC Press, Boca Raton, Ann Arbor, London 1992; 61-70.

Figures should be provided as separate files (one figure – one file) in one of the following formats: .cdr, .tif, .jpg, .ai, .bmp or .eps. Images should be of the resolution of 300 dpi and in .tif or .jpg format. If a figure (image) has been published previously, the original source must be acknowledged and written permission to reproduce the material from the copyright holder must be submitted. Figure legends should be in English and included at the end of the manuscript (following references) in the Figure legends section.

Tables should be sent in as separate files with titles. Figure and table placement should be marked in the article; figure and table legends should be provided on separate pages.

• Reviews may have free-form layout. Authors are encouraged to use section headings for ease of reading. They do not have an introduction, methods, results or discussion sections. Type double-spaced. For instructions on references, tables and figures please refer to the section on original papers.

Reviews should have an unstructured abstract of up to 150 words.

• Editorials are written on invitation. For instructions on references, tables and figures please refer to the section on original papers. Editorials should have an unstructured abstract of up to 150 words.

• Letters to Editors may include up to 1000 words and 10 references. Do not include abstract nor subheadings. They may contain one figure or table. Letters to Editors could focus on a specific article that has appeared in recent issue of Contemporary Oncology/Współczesna Onkologia. Letters must be submitted within 4 weeks of the print issue date of the article.

Conflict of interest

Authors are expected to describe sources of the research founding, a role of potential sponsor in planning, executing and analysis of the study, and the influence (bias) the funding organization had on the content of the article. Other relationships (such as employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony) providing potential sources of conflict of interest in relation to the submitted article should also be disclosed.

Patients’ Rights and Informed Consent

When reporting experiments on human subjects, authors should indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 (concerning the ethical principles for the medical community and forbidding releasing the name of the patient, initials or the hospital evidence number) and with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national). Information regarding the ethical committee approval for conducting the research and the informed consents of patients for participating in the studies should be included in the methods section of those articles, in which the diagnostic intervention or the treatment result from non-routine procedures. The authors presenting case studies are obligated not to disclose patients’ personal data. Regarding photographs, in case of any doubt the picture inadequately protects the patient’s anonymity his consent is required for publication. Articles describing animal studies should contain information of being in accordance with local regulations (institutional and national).

Clinical trials

Contemporary Oncology is published in accordance with ICMJE policies and recommendations. The ICMJE requires - and recommends that all medical journal editors require - registration of clinical trials in a public trials registry at or before the time of first patient enrollment as a condition of consideration for article publication.

The ICMJE defines a clinical trial as any research project that prospectively assigns people or a group of people to an intervention, with or without concurrent comparison or control groups, to study the relationship between a health-related intervention and a health outcome. Health-related interventions are those used to modify a biomedical or health-related outcome; examples include drugs, surgical procedures, devices, behavioural treatments, educational programs, dietary interventions, quality improvement interventions, and process-of-care changes. Health outcomes are any biomedical or health-related measures obtained in patients or participants, including pharmacokinetic measures and adverse events.

The ICMJE accepts publicly accessible registration in any registry that is a primary register of the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) that includes the minimum acceptable 24-item trial registration data set or in ClinicalTrials.gov, which is a data provider to the WHO ICTRP.

In accordance with the ICMJE recommendations, the Editors of Contemporary Oncology require authors to provide all necessary information regarding the registered study when submitting the article for publication: name of the register, Main ID, Public Title, Date of Registration. The data provided by the author are verified by the editors.

More information on this can be found here https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/clinical-trial-registration.html

Source: ICMJE, Clinical Trials, https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/clinical-trial-registration.html

The scope of work of the authors

The journal applies procedures ensuring the originality of manuscripts in accordance with the criteria of the ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors) and WAME (World Association of Medical Editors). Therefore it is also necessary to provide information on the scope of input of each author to the publication, among others who is the author of the concept of the study, assumptions, methods, study protocol, and the like, as well as on the affiliation of each of the authors. The Editorial Office observes the highest standards of scientific publication and the cooperation with authors is based on the transparency of information on the actual input of persons/institutions in the development of the publication. The Contemporary Oncology/Współczesna Onkologia will not tolerate plagiarism in any form. All cases of ghostwriting and guest authorship will be liable for customary penalty as an indication of scientific negligence.

Review process

Manuscripts submitted to the Editorial Office are assessed by reviewers. The rules of review are in conformity with the guidelines of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (www.nauka.gov.pl). The Contemporary Oncology/Współczesna Onkologia has always used a double-blinded peer review process. The Editorial Office verifies that the submitted manuscript complies with the journal’s formal requirements and its profile. If the manuscript evidently does not match the profile of the journal, or if it fails to comply with the basic formal requirements, it is rejected at this stage. Manuscripts that receive positive in-house reviews are followed by peer review by at least two reviewers. The Editorial Office chooses the reviewers based on the subject of the submitted manuscript. The competences of a reviewer are confirmed by the academic achievements. The reviewer is independent of the author of the reviewed manuscript and the Editorial Office of the journal. An invited reviewer has 7 days to accept or decline the invitation to review.

The reviewers can refuse to review a manuscript if:

• he/she judges that the subject of the manuscript goes beyond his/her factual knowledge,

• he/she does not have the time required to prepare a review,

• a conflict of interest occurs between the Editorial Office.

In the review process following qualities are evaluated: the novelty of the manuscript, importance of obtained results, methods, statistical analysis and data quality, the presentation of results, the quality of discussion and appropriate selection of the literature. Evaluation takes place in the points system, on a scale of 1 to 6 (1 – lowest rate; 6 – highest rate), using a special form of reviews, which is avaiable only to the Editors. Besides, the review should include:

• conclusion on the overall assessment of the manuscript (accept without change, accept after minimal changes, rate manuscript once again after major changes or reject),

• final remarks.

The process of evaluation will not take more than 21 days. The recommendations of the reviewers are presented to the author in writing. The review procedure respects the principle of confidentiality.

Contemporary Oncology/Współczesna Onkologia may also consider high quality papers under the Fast Track Review scheme. This scheme relies on a dedicated group of top class reviewers to deliver a final decision on reviewed manuscripts within 3 weeks and the possibility of online publishing in next 2 weeks after acceptance. The authors need to indicate that they want to have their paper proceed as a fast-track review during the submission process. The scheme requires an additional fee to the standard one from authors (all together 500 Euro).

The Editorial Office reserves the right to reduce manuscripts and to make language corrections without consulting the author. Other changes are consulted with the authors. The Editorial Office sends manuscripts to the authors for authorization with a request to return them within 48 hours. Editors work to provide authors with a request to authorize and return it within 48 hours.

Proofs

Authors will receive a proof from an Assistant Editor. That proof should be corrected and returned within 48 hours, preferably by e-mail or fax. If the Publisher receives no response from the authors after 7 days, it will be assumed that there are no errors to correct and the article will be published.

The publisher acquires all copyrights, on an exclusive basis, to manuscripts published, including the right to publish in print, using electronic carriers or others, and on the Internet. Abstracts may be published without the Publisher’s permission.

Article Processing Charge (APC) - details

The fee applies only to the cost of preparing / developing the article for publication in the journal. The fee has no effect on the acceptance of the article for publication. All articles submit by editorial system are reviewed by independent experts outside the editorial office and based on their opinions are qualified or not for publication.
Please be informed that if the author decides not to publish the work, which was already accepted and paid, the fee paid will not be returned for reasons beyond the Publisher’s control.