Submissions

Author Guidelines

The editorial policy

Radiology and Oncology is an international, peer-reviewed, open access, multidisciplinary journal publishing original scientific and review articles in radiology, oncology and related biomedical fields.

The journal covers diagnostic and interventional radiology, oncologic imaging, nuclear medicine, radiotherapy, clinical oncology, experimental oncology, radiobiology, medical physics, radiation protection and related translational research. Manuscripts addressing broader scientific, clinical or methodological topics relevant to radiology, oncology and cancer research may also be considered, provided that they fall within the journal’s scope.

Radiology and Oncology welcomes submissions from authors worldwide and aims to promote the international exchange of scientifically sound, ethically conducted and clinically or translationally relevant research. The journal publishes original scientific articles and review articles. Case reports are not accepted.

Submitted manuscripts must be original, must not have been published previously and must not be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Authors are responsible for the accuracy, integrity and ethical compliance of the submitted work. Accepted and published articles may be reused only in accordance with the applicable Creative Commons licence and proper citation requirements.

Submission of the manuscript

Manuscripts must be submitted through the journal’s online submission system, Editorial Manager, available through the journal website: https://www.radioloncol.com. Manuscripts must be written in English and prepared in accordance with these Instructions for Authors. Use of the journal manuscript template is strongly recommended at initial submission. Where applicable, submissions must also include alternative text (alt text) for all figures, charts, diagrams, images and other non-text elements, as described below.

In case of technical problems with the online submission system, please contact Sašo Trupej at saso.trupej@computing.si. For editorial questions, please contact the Editor at gsersa@onko-i.si.

Submitted manuscripts undergo initial editorial screening for completeness, suitability for the journal’s aims and scope, adherence to ethical requirements and compliance with the journal’s basic submission requirements. Manuscripts that are incomplete, outside the scope of the journal or not compliant with the journal’s requirements may be returned to the authors for correction or declined without external peer review.

Manuscripts considered suitable for peer review are sent to independent expert reviewers. Radiology and Oncology uses a single-blind peer review model: reviewers know the identities of the authors, while reviewer identities are not disclosed to the authors. Authors are asked to suggest 3–4 potential reviewers in the cover letter; however, these suggestions are not binding, and the final selection of reviewers is the editor’s responsibility.

Based on the reviewers’ comments and the editor’s assessment, the editorial decision may be to request revisions, accept the submission or decline the submission. The editorial board may request scientific, structural, language, grammatical or stylistic revisions when necessary. There are no separate submission or peer-review charges. Article processing/publication charges are described below.

Before production of the accepted article, authors may be required to submit the final version of the manuscript using the journal template and fully compliant with these Instructions for Authors. This includes correct document structure, complete figure captions, properly formatted tables, alternative text for all non-text elements and references formatted according to the journal’s required style, including DOI or PMID where available.

All accepted articles are subject to a publication fee of 1500 EUR plus VAT. Exceptionally, a waiver or reduction of the publication fee may be negotiated with the editorial office at the time of manuscript submission.

Manuscripts submitted by multiple authors are reviewed on the assumption that all listed authors meet the journal’s authorship requirements, approve the submitted manuscript, agree to its submission and are accountable for the integrity and accuracy of the work. The corresponding author is responsible for communication with the journal and for keeping all co-authors informed throughout the submission, review and production process.

Open access policy

Articles are published online as open access on the journal website and on the reference-global.com platform: https://reference-global.com/journal/RAON. Published articles are also permanently archived in the Digital Repository of Slovenian Research Organizations (DiRROS): https://dirros.openscience.si/ and in the Digital Library of Slovenia (dLib.si): https://www.dlib.si/.

Radiology and Oncology supports open access to research data. Authors are encouraged to make the data underlying their published article available in a recognized public, institutional or subject repository, unless restricted by ethical, legal, privacy, confidentiality or intellectual property considerations. Where data cannot be openly shared, authors should state the reason and describe any available controlled-access arrangements.

The journal may provide technical support for depositing research data in the DiRROS repository. Deposited data may receive a catalogue entry and a persistent DOI identifier. Authors retain the rights to their research data and should cite deposited datasets in the reference list, where applicable.

Preparation of manuscripts

Radiology and Oncology considers manuscripts prepared in accordance with the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, which supersede the former “Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals”. Direct link: https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/.

Authors are encouraged to follow relevant reporting guidelines, where applicable, including CONSORT for randomized trials (https://www.consort-spirit.org/), PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (https://www.prisma-statement.org/prisma-2020), STROBE for observational studies (https://www.strobe-statement.org/) and ARRIVE for animal research (https://arriveguidelines.org/arrive-guidelines).

The manuscript should be written in grammatically and stylistically correct English. Abbreviations should be avoided. If their use is necessary, they should be explained at the first time mentioned. The technical data should conform to the SI system. The manuscript, excluding the references, tables, figures and figure legends, must not exceed 5000 words. The total number of figures and tables is limited to 8. The text should be organized into the following sections: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, and Discussion. Exceptionally, the Results and Discussion sections may be combined. Each section should start on a new page, and all pages should be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals. For ease of review, manuscripts should be submitted as single-column, double-spaced text with numbered lines. Use of the journal manuscript template is strongly recommended at initial submission. Manuscripts submitted without the template may still be considered for peer review if they meet the journal’s basic submission requirements.

After acceptance, authors may be required to submit a final version prepared in the journal template and fully compliant with these Instructions for Authors, including correct document structure, use of predefined styles, accessible tables, descriptive hyperlinks and alternative text for all non-text elements.

The manuscript template is available in Editorial Manager and on the journal website:

https://www.radioloncol.com/index.php/ro/about/submissions

The Title page should include a concise and informative title, followed by the full name(s) of the author(s); the institutional affiliation of each author; the name and address of the corresponding author (including telephone number and e-mail address), and an abbreviated title (not exceeding 60 characters).

The title page should be followed by an abstract page. The abstract should not exceed 250 words and should summarize the rationale for the study, the experimental or methodological approach, the major findings, including specific data where appropriate, and the principal conclusions. Structured abstracts are required. Authors should provide 3–6 keywords for indexing purposes. Slovenian-speaking authors are requested to provide the title and abstract in Slovenian in a separate file.

The text of the research article should then proceed as follows:

• Introduction should summarize the rationale for the study or observation, cite only essential references, and clearly state the aim of the study.
• Materials and methods should provide sufficient information to allow the study or experiments to be repeated. New methods should be described in detail.
• Results should be presented clearly and concisely without repeating the data shown in figures and tables. Emphasis should be placed on clear and precise presentation of the results and their significance in relation to the aim of the investigation.
• Discussion should interpret the results rather than simply repeat them, explain their significance, and draw conclusions. It should discuss the results in the context of previously published work.

Charts, Illustrations, Images and Tables

Charts, illustrations, images and tables must be numbered consecutively and referred to in the text. The preferred location of each chart, illustration, image or table should be indicated in the manuscript.

Charts, illustrations and images submitted electronically must be of sufficient quality for publication. Illustrations and charts should preferably be prepared as vector graphics, created in CMYK colour space, using Century Gothic as the preferred font, and saved in .AI, .EPS or .PDF format. Images should be at least 2,000 pixels on the longer side and saved in .TIF format at maximum quality. Colour charts, illustrations and images are encouraged and are published without additional charge.

For accessibility purposes, all figures, charts, diagrams, images and other non-text elements must be accompanied by alternative text (alt text). Alt text should briefly describe the essential visual information needed to understand the figure in the context of the manuscript. It should not simply repeat the figure caption and should not begin with phrases such as “image of” or “picture of”. If the figure is fully described in the caption or in the main text, the alt text may state “See caption” or “See main text”. For complex figures, charts or diagrams, authors may also provide a longer description where necessary.

Authors should submit alt text together with the manuscript, preferably in the figure list or in the appropriate field of the manuscript template. Each figure should therefore include: figure number, figure caption, alt text and, where applicable, a long description.

Figures, charts and diagrams should not rely on colour alone to convey information. Where relevant, authors should use labels, symbols, patterns or other visual distinctions in addition to colour.

Any information that could identify a patient must be removed or masked in images, unless written informed consent for publication has been obtained.

Tables should be typed double-spaced, with a descriptive title. Where appropriate, units of measurement should be included in column headings. Tables should be submitted as editable text and not as images. Tables should include clearly identifiable header rows and should avoid merged or split cells where possible.

Figures and tables may be uploaded as separate files.

References

References must be numbered consecutively in the order in which they first appear in the text. Reference numbers should be cited in the text as superscript Arabic numerals.^1-4

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of their references.

References to the Abstracts and Letters to the Editor must be identified as such. Papers in preparation, manuscripts submitted for publication, unpublished observations and personal communications should not be included in the reference list. If essential, such information may be cited in the appropriate place in the text.

References should follow Vancouver/NLM style (Index Medicus). DOI numbers should be included where available. PMID may be included when a DOI is not available.

All authors should be listed when there are six or fewer authors. When there are seven or more authors, list the first six authors followed by “et al.”.

For websites, online guidelines, legal documents and other non-journal sources, references should include the responsible author or organization, title, indication that the source is available online, year or date of publication or update where available, date accessed, and URL.

Examples of references for journal articles^1,2, books³ and book chapters⁴ are provided below:

1. Jesenko T, Omerzel M, Heller LC, Cemazar M. Between defence and delivery: the DNA sensing response to gene electrotransfer. Radiol Oncol 2025; 59: 467-76. doi: 10.2478/raon-2025-0063
2. Markovic G, Resnik N, Janev A, Zupancic D, Grubelnik G, Debeljak M, et al. The role of focal adhesion kinase in bladder cancer: translation from in vitro to ex vivo human urothelial carcinomas. Radiol Oncol 2025; 59: 349-67. doi: 10.2478/raon-2025-0052
3. Hall EJ, Giaccia AJ. Radiobiology for the radiologist. 8^th Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer; 2019.
4. Hall EJ, Giaccia AJ. Cancer biology. In: Lauren Pecarich, editor. Radiobiology for the radiologist. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer; 2019. p. 274-309.

Authorization for the use of human participants or experimental animals

When reporting research involving human participants, human biological material or identifiable human data, authors must state that the study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki: https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki/.

The manuscript must include the name of the approving ethics committee or institutional review board, the approval number where available, and a statement confirming that informed consent was obtained where required. Clinical trials must include the clinical trial registration number.

Patient privacy must be protected. Identifying information, including names, initials, hospital numbers, images or other details that could identify a patient, must not be published unless scientifically necessary and unless written informed consent for publication has been obtained.

Retrospective clinical studies must be approved by an accredited institutional review board, committee for medical ethics or other equivalent body, unless formal exemption has been granted. These statements should appear in the Materials and Methods section.

Research involving animals must be conducted in accordance with applicable national and institutional regulations and with Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2010/63/oj/eng.

Authors must state the name of the committee approving the animal experiments and confirm that all experiments were performed in accordance with relevant regulations. Measures taken to minimize animal suffering and reduce the number of animals used should be described where appropriate.

These statements should appear in the Materials and Methods section or, for contributions without this section, within the main text or in the captions of relevant figures or tables.

License to Publish and Copyright

For publication of accepted articles, authors are required to complete and submit the journal’s License to Publish. A properly completed License to Publish, signed by the corresponding author on behalf of all authors, must be submitted as one scanned file by e-mail to gsersa@onko-i.si for each accepted manuscript.

Authors who publish with Radiology and Oncology retain the copyright to their published articles and agree to make their work available under the applicable Creative Commons licence.

Since Issue 4, 2022, articles published in Radiology and Oncology have been distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Under this licence, users are permitted to copy, share, distribute, reproduce, adapt and build upon the published work in any medium or format, including for commercial purposes, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original author(s), the original publication in Radiology and Oncology is cited, a link to the licence is provided, and any changes made are indicated.

Reuse of the published work must comply with the terms of the CC BY 4.0 licence. Any reuse, adaptation or redistribution must be properly attributed and must not be presented as approved by the author(s), the journal or the publisher. Users must not add legal or technical restrictions that would prevent others from using the work under the same licence terms.

Further information on the CC BY 4.0 licence is available here:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

For articles published before Issue 4, 2022, the applicable licence and copyright terms should be confirmed from the individual published article, issue, archive record or publishing agreement applicable at the time of publication.

Conflict of interest

Authors must disclose all real, potential or perceived conflicts of interest that could influence, or be perceived to influence, the submitted work. Conflicts of interest include financial and non-financial relationships, including employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, patents, grants, personal relationships, academic competition or institutional affiliations.

The conflict-of-interest statement must be included in the manuscript and/or cover letter. If there are no conflicts of interest, this should be stated explicitly. Authors may use the ICMJE Disclosure of Interest form: https://icmje.org/disclosure-of-interest/. Editors and reviewers must decline handling or reviewing a manuscript if a conflict of interest prevents an objective assessment.

Use and disclosure of AI and AI-assisted technologies in scientific writing

When authors use artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process, the following principles apply:

• AI and AI-assisted technologies may be used to improve readability and language. They must not replace the authors’ primary responsibility for scientific reasoning, data analysis, interpretation of data and drawing valid conclusions.
• AI and AI-assisted technologies must be used under human supervision and control. Authors must carefully review and edit any AI-generated output, as such tools may produce content that appears authoritative but may be incorrect, incomplete, biased or misleading.
• AI and AI-assisted technologies must not be listed as authors or co-authors and must not be cited as authors. Authorship carries responsibilities and accountability that can only be attributed to humans.
• Authors must disclose the use of AI and AI-assisted technologies in the manuscript, as described below. An appropriate disclosure statement should appear in the published paper. Authors remain fully responsible and accountable for the accuracy, integrity and originality of the content of the manuscript.

Disclosure notes:

Authors must disclose the use of AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process by adding a statement to the main manuscript file at the time of submission. The statement should be placed at the end of the manuscript, before the reference list, in a separate section titled 'Statement on the Use of AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in the Writing Process'.

This disclosure requirement does not apply to the use of basic tools for checking grammar, spelling, formatting or references; however, the use of AI or AI-assisted technologies for generating, rewriting, summarizing, translating or substantially editing manuscript text must be disclosed.

Suggested statement:

“During the preparation of this manuscript, the author(s) used [NAME TOOL / SERVICE] for [PURPOSE]. After using this tool/service, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as necessary and take full responsibility for the content of the manuscript.”

Page proofs

Page proofs will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author. The corresponding author is responsible for checking the proofs carefully and returning a list of essential corrections to the editorial office within three business days of receipt.

Only essential corrections of typographical, grammatical or production errors are permitted at this stage. Substantive changes to the manuscript are not allowed after acceptance unless specifically approved by the editor.