|
Community Oncology publishes articles related to clinical research in the community setting, the translation of research outcomes into delivery of high-quality care, and practice management issues. The journal has broad relevance to the problems faced by clinical practitioners, serving as a clinical and economic forum and resource for more than 31,000 practice-based oncologists, hematologists, oncology nurses, pharmacists, and administrators.
Brief Communications These brief commentaries on the practice of oncology include short case reports and interesting anecdotes. An opportunity to publish substantive musings and to interact with colleagues.
Challenging Cases/Rare Cancers are case reports from community oncologists, coupled with expert opinion and resources, on infrequently seen tumors. Case reports discuss how the community oncologist obtained information on treatment, followed by a brief review of current treatment by a specialist in that rare cancer, with a resource list of such specialists. This section provides an opportunity to network with other doctors who have treated rare cancers and who can provide the information that will help plan treatment decisions.
Community Translations summarizes pivotal new research findings and places them into the context of community clinical practice. How do the findings—so-called "translational research"—affect community clinical practice? Are they meaningful enough to warrant a change in your practice? What are the economic ramifications? Will insurance reimburse for the treatment? Is it a true new "standard of care?" In this department, a summary of trial findings, written by a seasoned science writer, is followed by commentary from a community oncologist who gives his or her perspective on how the new findings affect practice; a nurse who discusses ways to help patients deal with side effects of treatment; and a practice administrator who discusses reimbursement issues.
Controversies in Patient Management looks at the difficult questions and uncertainties that arise when delivering quality care in the community oncology setting. Many clinical calls are easy; there's no doubt about what should be done. Others are not so easy: the cost/benefit ratio is small; the convenience for the patient needs to be considered; reimbursement may be a problem. Here's how some specialists and community oncologists approach difficult medical, ethical, and economic questions.
Economics/Practice Management focuses on the most efficient use of medical resources. How to make your practice more efficient; how to give patients more for their money, not only in clinical care but in quality of life.
Original Contributions Peer-reviewed articles ranging from retrospective reviews to original observations and results of clinical trials conducted in the community oncology practice setting.
Practice Survival Skills focuses on the rewarding, exhausting, and exasperating effort it takes to maintain a successful practice. In medical and nursing school they don't always teach the communication and coping skills needed to survive dealing with a difficult patient, the diagnosis of a colleague's cancer, a shifting economic climate, problems with personnel. All that, decoded.
Psychosocial Oncology details the spiritual, psychological, social, and emotional side of cancer care.
Technology reviews technologic advances that make healthcare delivery more cost efficient and enhance patient care. Practical information on integrating technology into your practice.
Manuscripts should be sent to the journal as an e-mail attachment, addressed to Gail van Koot, Editorial Manager, G.Vankoot@Elsevier.com. Original contributions are subject to peer review in the usual manner. The Editors will initially review all submitted manuscripts. Acceptance will be based on originality and importance to the field of community oncology. Each manuscript will also be reviewed by two or more experts, and detailed comments from the reviewers are generally returned to the authors. Generally, articles will be published within 8 weeks of acceptance. Authors will be notified of acceptance, need for revision, or rejection of the manuscript within 4 weeks of submission. The Editors require that authors disclose all potential conflicts of interest.
Conflicts of Interest A conflict of interest exists when an author or the author's institution has financial or personal relationships with other people or organizations that inappropriately influence or bias his or her actions. Financial relationships are easily identifiable, but conflicts can also occur because of personal relationships, academic competition, or intellectual passion. A conflict can be actual or potential, and full disclosure to the Editor is the safest course.
All submissions to Community Oncology must include disclosure of all relationships that could be viewed as presenting a potential conflict of interest. The Editor may use such information as a basis for editorial decisions, and will publish such disclosures if they are believed to be important to readers in judging the manuscript.
At the end of the text, under a subheading "Conflicts of Interest," all authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of financial conflicts include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications, and travel grants within the past 3 years. If there are no conflicts of interest, authors should state that they have none. The corresponding author should state that he or she had full access to all the data in the study and had final responsibility for the decision to submit the paper for publication.
Role of the Funding Source, When Relevant All sources of funding should be declared as an acknowledgment at the end of the text. Authors should describe the role of the study sponsor(s), if any, in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the paper for publication. If the funding source had no such involvement, the authors should so state.
Community Oncology conforms, in general, to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (N Engl J Med 1997;336:309–315). The decision to publish a manuscript, commentary, case report, or letter to the editor is solely the responsibility of the Editors.
Article Length Original contributions should generally not exceed 18 double-spaced pages in length (approximately 3,700 words), including the title page, abstract, references (maximum, 25 to 30), and any tables or figure legends. The following types of articles should not exceed 6 to 8 double-spaced pages in length (approximately 1,300 to 1,700 words) with up to 15 references: Controversies in Patient Management, Economics/Practice Management, and Technology. The following types of articles should not exceed 8 to 10 manuscript pages (approximately 1,700 to 2,100 words) with up to 15 references: Practice Survival Skills, Psychosocial Oncology, and Challenging Cases/Rare Cancers.
Title Page The title page should include the title of the paper, each author's full name and professional degree(s), the academic and/or clinical position of each author, and his/her primary affiliation(s), including location. The mailing address, telephone and fax number, and e-mail address of the corresponding author should be clearly indicated on the title page.
Abstract Full-length research articles and reviews should include a brief (up to 150 words), unstructured abstract or summary of the article.
Key Points Generally, the following types of articles require a "Key Points" box, summarizing the key ideas in the article in four to six brief sentences: Controversies in Patient Management, Economics/Practice Management, Psychosocial Oncology, Technology, and in some cases Challenging Cases/Rare Cancers.
Units and Abbreviations Use conventional units, not SI units, for units of measure and standard medical or pharmaceutical abbreviations (see, for example, AMA Style Manual, Ninth Edition). All non-standard abbreviations and acronyms should be written out the first time they are used.
Drug Names Trade names of drugs that are not available generically should be provided in parentheses the first time the drug is mentioned; thereafter, the generic (USAN) name only should be used. Omit trade names in abstracts, tables, and figures.
Tables and Illustrations Tables and figure legends should be placed after the References. Tables and figures must be accompanied by a legend or caption explaining exactly what they show. All tables and figures should be cited chronologically in the text using Arabic numbers. Acronyms and abbreviations used in a table or illustration but not in the text should be explained in a footnote. If a table or illustration has been reprinted, a letter of permission from the copyright holder must be provided by the corresponding author upon acceptance of the manuscript.
Wherever possible, illustrations should be provided in electronic form, either as attachments to an e-mail message or, for very large illustrations (over 10 Mb), on a Microsoft Windows-formatted CD-ROM disk. Images may be supplied in EPS, TIFF, JPG, Adobe PDF, Photoshop, Illustrator, or PowerPoint format. Macintosh PICT files are not acceptable. Photographs and other illustrations submitted in hard-copy form should be identified on the back and bear the corresponding author's name. The top of the illustration should be indicated. Illustrations will not be returned unless requested.
References must be cited in the text and listed sequentially at the end of the manuscript. Periodical titles should be abbreviated in conformance with the abbreviations provided in the latest edition of List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus, available at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/serials/lji.html.
References in this journal generally conform to AMA style. Please note that in citing references there should be no periods or spaces between the authors' initials, and commas should be used only to separate authors' names. If there are more than six authors, list the first three, followed by "et al." Omit periods after journal abbreviations. Titles of journal articles should be typed in all lower case except for the first letter. Titles of books should be typed with initial capitals.
Article example:
Budman DR, Berry DA, Cirrincione CT, et al. Dose and dose intensity as determinants of outcome in the adjuvant treatment of breast cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 1998;90:1205–1211.
Book example:
Miaskowski C, Portenoy RK. Fatigue. In: Berger A, Portenoy RK, Weissman DE, eds. Principles and Practice of Supportive Oncology. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2002:141–153.
If you have any questions, please contact Randi Londer Gould, Managing Editor, Community Oncology, Elsevier Oncology, 46 Green Street, 2nd Floor, Huntington, NY 11743; telephone: (631) 424-8900 ext 312; fax: (631) 424-8905; e-mail: R.Gould@Elsevier.com.