Home Search Collections Journals About Contact us My IOPscience How to submit to Journal of Radiological Protection This content has been downloaded from IOPscience. Please scroll down to see the full text. 2011 J. Radiol. Prot. 31 (http://iopscience.iop.org/0952-4746/31/1/M05) View the table of contents for this issue, or go to the journal homepage for more Download details: IP Address: 176.9.124.142 This content was downloaded on 19/09/2014 at 08:27 Please note that terms and conditions apply. How to Submit to Journal of Radiological Protection Journal of Radiological Protection publishes articles (in English) on all aspects of radiological protection, including non-ionising as well as ionising radiation. Fields of interest range from research, development and theory to operational matters, education and training. The very wide spectrum of its topics includes: dosimetry, instrument development, specialised measuring techniques, epidemiology, biological effects (in vivo and in vitro) and risk and environmental impact assessments. Contributions will be considered for publication in Journal of Radiological Protection provided they (or substantially similar articles) have not been published previously, and they are not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Reports that are not available to the general public will not be regarded as prior publications. Articles based on theses or dissertations for degrees may be submitted, and articles expanding significantly on preliminary reports (such as abstracts or posters presented at conferences) are also acceptable. Articles that have been published previously in another language, or in a journal that is not widely available, may be submitted for consideration provided the editor of the source journal and the copyright holder give written approval and the origin of the article is declared in the manuscript. A copy of the original article and appropriate approvals must be included with the submitted manuscript. Journal of Radiological Protection subscribes to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Authors should consult the latest version of the Uniform Requirements that may be found at www.icmje.org. Special requirements Authors of all articles are required upon submission to disclose any potential conflict of interest with regards to the work reported (e.g. through employment, consultancies, industrial research contracts, stock ownership, equity interests, patent-licensing arrangements, honoraria, expert testimony etc) in their covering letter. This information may be made available, in confidence, to the referees during the peer review process. Further details on conflict of interest can be found at www.icmje.org. Authors should include all relevant information on conflict of interest in the Acknowledgments section of the manuscript. Manuscripts reporting studies of humans or animals should pay due attention to the ethical aspects of the study. Such studies must conform with local statutory requirements. Journal of Radiological Protection endorses fully the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki on Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects, the latest version of which may be found at www.wma.net/e/policy/b3.html. Where appropriate, a statement should be made that the study has been carried out with ethical committee approval. Studies involving experimental animals must attend to the welfare of the animals and the guidelines of the United Kingdom Co-ordinating Committee on Cancer Research (UKCCCR), www.nature.com/bjc/UKCCCR_Guidelines.pdf, provide a basis for welfare considerations. Authors should also be aware of Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources which may be found at www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/labrats. Please state if the work has been subject to animal ethics committee approval. The journal publishes software-based articles in good faith, and is not responsible for any QA problems. Authors are encouraged to declare the QA status of their software. Once an article has been submitted it should not be discussed publicly, particularly with the media, until published. This is to ensure that any article that attracts publicity is fully available to those wanting further information. Pre-publication discussion at scientific meetings not open to the public and circulation of pre-prints to professional colleagues is permissible, provided the status of the article is made clear. Pre-publication presentation of results to interested parties, such as the subjects of an epidemiological study, is acceptable, but the confidential nature of the results prior to publication should be emphasised. Articles should not be discussed with journalists before publication unless this has been agreed by the Editor. All material relating to articles to be published is embargoed until the day of publication. Further details can be found at www.icmje.org. Article types Articles in Journal of Radiological Protection are classified as follows: Paper Full reports of original research on a theoretical or practical subject. The work covered should be substantive in nature and the description should be comprehensive, allowing the reader to follow the study throughout all its stages, so that the work could be repeated from the description given in the paper. The context of the study within the general body of knowledge of the subject should also be given. A paper should not normally exceed the equivalent of 8500 words, including tables and illustrations. Review An authoritative article that comprehensively summarises the current state of knowledge in a particular area of relevance to radiological protection. Note A brief report of a single piece of work or technique or a short discussion of some aspect of radiological protection that adds to the existing literature. Notes can add information to previously published papers, or contain the early important results from work which is later written up as a paper. A Note should not normally exceed the equivalent of 2500 words, including tables and illustrations. Practical Matter article An account of a particular radiological protection problem encountered in industry, medicine or the environment, and a description of the resolution of this problem. Practical Matter articles are intended to provide assistance to those operational health physicists, hospital physicists, etc, who may encounter the same, or a similar, problem in their work. Opinion article Allows the discussion of an issue of topical interest in radiological protection which is broader and less formal than would be acceptable in a Paper or Review. Opinion articles should be concise and deal with a specific matter of relevance. Memorandum A report from an authoritative committee or organisation which provides information for those working in radiological protection. Letter to the Editor Comments upon work published previously in the Journal, or comments upon matters of interest, such as proposed changes to legislation or to international recommendations. A title for the Letter should be included. Letters to the Editor should be clearly marked ‘For Publication’. If a Letter to the Editor comments upon an article previously published in the Journal (with the exception of another Letter to the Editor), then the author(s) of that article will be invited to reply to the Letter, and the Reply will normally appear in the same issue of the Journal in which the Letter is published. All persons listed as authors should have made a substantial contribution to the manuscript. Other contributors should be listed, with their permission, in the Acknowledgments section. Further details can be found at www.icmje.org. There are no page charges, and 25 offprints will be supplied free of charge to the corresponding author of each article published. Additional offprints may be purchased, in multiples of 25, provided that they are ordered by the time proofs are returned. Covering letter A letter signed by all the authors should accompany each submitted manuscript. This letter should give the classification of the manuscript (Paper, Note, etc). It should also state that the manuscript (or a similar version) has not been published and is not being considered for publication elsewhere. If the article has been published previously, for example in another language, then full details must be given, and a copy of the original article and appropriate permissions (including that of the copyright holder) enclosed with the manuscript. Copyright permission for the use of previously published material in a manuscript (e.g. a figure) should accompany the submission. Any conflict of interest should be declared in the covering letter as should any other special circumstances relating to the manuscript. By submitting a manuscript to Journal of Radiological Protection, authors are acknowledging that they are meeting their obligations as set out in these Instructions. Articles Full details of the requirements for articles can be found on the journal’s website at www.iop.org/journals/jrp. The article should include: • A title page with title of the article, name(s) of the author(s) and address(es) of the establishment(s) where the work was carried out, an indication of (and e-mail address for) the corresponding author, a short title which should not exceed 50 characters and, if not a Paper, the classification of the article; • An abstract, one paragraph in length, which should not normally exceed 200 words, which is a stand-alone, concise description of the content of the article; • Text broken into numbered sections, e.g. 1. Introduction, 2.Materials and Methods, 3.Results, 4. Discussion, etc, and, where necessary, subsections numbered 2.1 etc; • A list of references; • A set of tables with captions; • A list of captions for illustrations; • A set of illustrations with lettering added. Mathematical equations should be written on a separate line and numbered serially within the article (1), (2), etc, or within each section, e.g. (1.1), (1.2), etc on the right-hand side of the page, where reference is made to them in the text. Footnotes should be avoided whenever possible. If required, they should be used only for brief notes that do not fit conveniently into the text. Any acknowledgments should appear in an unnumbered Acknowledgments section immediately following the last numbered section of the article. Persons acknowledged must have given permission for their name to appear. Sources of funding and any conflict of interest should be declared in the Acknowledgments section. Authors of any cited Personal Communications must have given their permission for the information provided to be used in the paper. Abbreviations should be defined in full where first used. Appendices should be avoided whenever possible. If required, e.g. to describe an unusual methodology which has not been defined elsewhere, numbered appendices should be included on separate sheets. References and figures Please see the online Guidelines for authors. Tables Tables should be typed on separate sheets and numbered with Arabic numerals. Authors should ensure that data are arranged clearly in tables. Vertical rules should be avoided. Each table should have an explanatory caption appearing above it which should be as concise as possible. Explanatory footnotes (if any) should be placed immediately beneath the table. Units The International System of Units (SI) should be used. If it is necessary to refer to quantities in other units then the SI equivalent should also be given. Radionuclides Radionuclides should be written as, e.g., 129I, 99mTc, 239Pu etc except at the beginning of a sentence when the mass number should follow the element, e.g. `Strontium-90 concentrations were measured...’ Further details Authors who are submitting to Journal of Radiological Protection for the first time, or who require more details on presentation and style, should consult a recent issue of the Journal and the IOP Publishing website: http://www.iop.org/journals/jrp. Assessment procedure On receipt, submitted articles will be acknowledged and a reference number assigned which will appear in all future correspondence. Articles other than Opinion articles and Letters to the Editor will be sent to two independent experts in the subject, who as referees, advise the Editor on the acceptability of the article. Authors may be asked to revise their papers in the light of the referees’ comments. When submitting a revised version of the manuscript, clearly marked as such, a covering letter should be included detailing the response to each of the referee’s comments on a point-by-point basis. Reasons must be given for not adopting any points made by the referees. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to obtain the agreement of co-authors for any amendment made to the original manuscript. If referees give conflicting advice, a third senior referee may be asked to act as an adjudicator. If the referees recommend rejection, the author may appeal to the Editorial Board for further consideration. If a manuscript under revision is not received within six months, the article will be taken to have been withdrawn, unless the authors have previously written to explain any longer delay. Letters to the Editor and Opinion articles are published at the Editor’s discretion, although the Editor may seek the advice of an independent expert. Copyright Upon acceptance, authors will be asked to complete a form assigning the copyright in their articles to IOP Publishing Ltd. Further details may be found on the IOP Publishing website: www.iop.org/journals/authors/jrp. Authors must obtain written copyright permission from the relevant authority before reproducing previously published figures, tables or other material. If an article, or a substantially similar article, has been published previously (e.g. in another language) written copyright permission must be obtained from the relevant authority before submitting to Journal of Radiological Protection. A copy of written copyright permission must be included with the manuscript when submitted. The source of reproduced material must be acknowledged in the manuscript. News and Information All news and information including meeting reports, book/report/software reviews and meeting notices should be sent to the Deputy Editor at the address given on the title page of the Journal. Items should not normally be in excess of 1000 words.