Journal of Current Oncology and Medical Sciences (JCOMS) is an Open Access, peer-reviewed journal that publishes original articles, review articles, case reports, and all types of articles in all branches of oncological sciences and also general medicine which is related to oncology, cancer research, and diseases with inflammation and inflammatory origination.

JCOMS is a part of Zabansaraye Parsian Novin Mehr Institute (Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance) and is supported strongly by this institute.

♦ Preparing your paper: 

Your article must be within the scope of the journal’s topical coverage and meet the required quality standards. If these criteria are not met, the article will not undergo peer review.

Please carefully review the journal’s Aims and Scope to confirm that your article is appropriate for this publication.

Additionally, ensure that you have provided all the necessary files for your manuscript submission.

All necessary files have been uploaded:

– Title page:

– Blinded Manuscript:

– Graphical Abstract (Required for a review article)

– Cover letter

– Author’s information form

– Supplemental files (where applicable)

♦ Main manuscript file:

• Title page

– Title: Concise and informative

– Author names and affiliations: Please clearly indicate the given name(s) and family name(s) of each author. Present the authors’ affiliation addresses i.e., institution,(department), city, (state), country

– Corresponding author (Ensure that the e-mail address is given and that contact details are kept up to date by the corresponding author)

The article should include a section titled “Statements and Declarations” at the end of title page. If a particular declaration is not applicable to the submission, the section heading should still be included, followed by the text “Not applicable”. The editorial office may request justification if a declaration is marked as not applicable.

This section should contain the following subsections:

• Statements and Declarations

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments of people, grants, funds, etc. should be placed in a separate section on the title page. The names of funding organizations should be written in full.

As an appendix to the text, one or more statements should be specified.

– The contributions that should be acknowledged but do not justify authorship, acknowledgment of technical help; and acknowledgment of financial and material support, specifying the nature of the support.

Author contributions

As part of the submission process, you will be asked to list the specific contributions of each author to the work. This information should be included in the title page under the heading “Author Contributions”, which should be placed after the Acknowledgements section.

The available roles to assign to authors include:

– Conceptualization

– Data curation

– Formal analysis

– Funding acquisition

– Investigation

– Methodology

– Project administration

– Resources

– Software

– Supervision

– Validation

– Visualization

– Writing – original draft

– Writing – review & editing

Not all of these roles may apply to every manuscript, and individual authors may have contributed through multiple roles. The information you provide during submission will then be included under the Author Contributions heading in the final published article.

Funding

Information that explains whether and by whom the research was supported.

Ethical considerations

This section is about making sure your research follows ethical guidelines. Here you should explain how you got ethics approval for your study, even if you mentioned it before in your methods section. If you didn’t need approval, you need to say that explicitly. There are resources available to help you write this part, including examples of what to say.

For studies involving people, their data, or human and animal tissue, you must say which ethics committee or review board approved your research. If they didn’t require approval, you need to explain that too.  Be sure to mention the committee’s full name and institution, along with any approval numbers. You can also add this information to your methods section if it applies.

The JCOMS follows the flowcharts of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The Journal also follows the guidelines mentioned in the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals issued by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). 

Studies in humans and animals

If the study involves human subjects, the author must ensure the work was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, which outlines the ethical principles for research involving human participants.

The manuscript should follow the recommendations in the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, including aiming for the inclusion of representative human populations (considering sex, age, and ethnicity).

The author must include a statement that all procedures were performed in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines, and were approved by the appropriate institutional review committee(s). This statement should provide the date and reference number of the ethical approval(s).

The author must also include a statement that informed consent was obtained from human subjects who participated in the study. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be protected.

For studies involving human organs or tissues, the author must provide evidence that they were procured in line with the WHO Guiding Principles on Human Cell, Tissue and Organ Transplantation. The source of the organs or tissues used in the research must be transparent and traceable.

For all animal experiments, the authors must comply with the ARRIVE guidelines and relevant national and international regulations, such as the U.K. Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, 1986, EU Directive 2010/63/EU, or the National Research Council’s Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. The authors must clearly indicate in the manuscript that these guidelines have been followed.

The sex of the animals used in the study must be specified, and where appropriate, the influence or association of sex on the study results should be reported.

Consent to Participate

The article should include a section titled “Consent to Participate” that provides information on participant consent. This should state whether informed consent was obtained in written or verbal form.

This should be clearly stated if the requirement for informed consent was waived by the relevant ethics committee or institutional review board (e.g., consent was deemed impossible or impractical to obtain).

If participant consent is not applicable to the manuscript, the section heading should still be included, followed by the text “Not applicable”.

Consent for publication

If the manuscript contains any data, images, or videos from an individual person, the article must include a statement confirming that the participant(s) or their legally authorized representative provided informed consent for publication. Non-essential identifying details should be omitted from the publication. The actual written informed consent document should not be submitted with the article, as that would breach the participant’s confidentiality.

The authors should confirm in writing to the journal that they have obtained written informed consent to publish, but the consent document itself should be kept on file by the authors/investigators, such as in the patient’s medical record.

This confirmatory letter from the authors may be uploaded as a separate file with the manuscript submission, in addition to the statement within the manuscript text confirming that consent for publication was obtained.

If consent for publication is not applicable to the manuscript, the section heading should still be included, followed by the text “Not applicable”.

Declaration of conflicting interest

All authors must disclose any financial or personal relationships they have with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence or bias their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include:

– Employment

– Consultancies

– Stock ownership

– Honoraria

– Paid expert testimony

– Patent applications/registrations

– Grants or other funding

For guidance on how to properly declare conflicts of interest, see the journal’s policy on conflict of interest statements and the ICMJE recommendations.

If the authors have no conflicts of interest to declare, the statement should state: “The author(s) declared there are no potential conflicts of interest.”

Declaration of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process

This guidance applies only to the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process, not their use for data analysis or drawing insights as part of the research.

Where authors utilize these AI technologies to improve the readability and language of their writing, they must maintain human oversight and control. Authors should carefully review and edit the AI-generated output, as it can contain inaccuracies, omissions, or biases.

Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies should not be listed as authors or co-authors, nor should they be cited as authors, as authorship implies responsibilities that can only be attributed to and performed by humans.

Authors are required to disclose the use of these technologies in their manuscript by including a statement at the end, in a new section titled “Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process.” The statement should specify the name of the tool/service used and the reason for using it.

This disclosure requirement does not apply to basic grammar and spell-checking tools. If there is nothing to disclose, no statement is needed.

Ultimately, the authors remain fully responsible and accountable for the content of the published work.

Data availability policy

The journal is committed to promoting openness, transparency and reproducibility in research. To this end, the journal has the following data-sharing policy:

– Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to share their research data in a relevant public data repository.

– Include a data availability statement in the manuscript that links to the shared data. If it is not possible to share the data, use the statement to explain why.

– Cite the data in the references section of the manuscript.

The goal of this policy is to facilitate access to research data and enable the verification and replication of research findings.

• Blinded manuscript

• Abstract

The abstract should concisely state the purpose of the research, the main results, and the major conclusions. Since the abstract may be presented independently from the full article, it must be able to stand on its own. Additionally, the use of non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be minimized in the abstract. If any such abbreviations are used, they must be defined at their first mention within the abstract itself.

The length of the abstract should be restricted to 250 words for case reports and brief reports and 350 words for original articles. For Original articles, the abstract should be structured with the following sub-headings: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Conclusion. For case reports and case series, Introduction, Case presentation and Discussion. The abstract should not contain any undefined abbreviations or unspecified references.

• Graphical abstract

The graphical abstract is mandatory for all review articles. The graphical abstract is a concise, visual representation of the article’s contents, designed to grab the attention of a broad audience.

The graphical abstract should be submitted as a separate file during the online manuscript submission process.

The image size requirements are a minimum of 531 x 1328 pixels (height x width), or proportionally larger. The image should be readable when displayed at a size of 5 x 13 cm, using a standard screen resolution of 96 dpi. Acceptable file types for the graphical abstract include TIFF, EPS, JPEG, PNG, PDF, or Microsoft Office file formats.

The graphical abstract provides a high-level, visual summary of the article, making it easier for readers to quickly understand the study’s key concepts and findings at a glance. This helps increase the visibility and appeal of your work to a diverse audience.

• Keywords

Immediately following the abstract, provide a maximum of 6 keywords that capture the core concepts of the work. Avoid using general or plural terms, as well as keywords that combine multiple distinct ideas (e.g. “and”, “of”).

• Introduction

State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.

• Materials and methods

Provide sufficient details to allow the work to be reproduced by an independent researcher. Methods that are already published should be summarized, and indicated by a reference. If quoting directly from a previously published method, use quotation marks and also cite the source. Any modifications to existing methods should also be described.

• Results

Results should be clear and concise.

• Discussion

This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature

• Conclusion

The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section

• Footnotes
  Footnotes should be used sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the article. Many word processors can build footnotes into the text, and this feature may be used. Otherwise, please indicate the position of footnotes in the text and list the footnotes themselves separately at the end of the article. Do not include footnotes in the Reference list.
• Figures

– All figures are to be numbered in the order they are first mentioned in the text, and uploaded in this order

– Figure parts should be denoted by lowercase letters (a, b, c, etc.).

– Each figure should have a concise caption describing accurately what the figure depicts. Include the captions in the text file of the manuscript, not in the figure file.

– Figure captions begin with the term Fig. in bold type, followed by the figure number, also in bold type.

– When preparing your figures, size figures to fit in the column width.

– If you include figures that have already been published elsewhere, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format.

Figure File Types

We accept the following file formats for figures:

– EPS (suitable for diagrams and/or images)

– PDF (suitable for diagrams and/or images)

– Microsoft Word (suitable for diagrams and/or images, figures must be a single page)

– PowerPoint (suitable for diagrams and/or images, figures must be a single page)

– TIFF (suitable for images)

– JPEG (suitable for photographic images, less suitable for graphical images)

– PNG (suitable for images)

– BMP (suitable for images)

– CDX (ChemDraw – suitable for molecular structures)

Figure Size and Resolution

– Width of 600 pixels (standard), 1200 pixels (high resolution).

– Width of 85 mm for half page width figure

– Width of 170 mm for full page width figure

– Maximum height of 225 mm for figure and legend

– Image resolution of approximately 300 dpi (dots per inch) at the final size

– Figures should be designed such that all information, including text, is legible at these dimensions. All lines should be wider than 0.25 pt when constrained to standard figure widths. All fonts must be embedded

Figure File Compression

– Vector figures should if possible be submitted as PDF files, which are usually more compact than EPS files.

– TIFF files should be saved with LZW compression, which is lossless (decreases file size without decreasing quality) in order to minimize upload time.

– JPEG files should be saved at maximum quality.

– Conversion of images between file types (especially lossy formats such as JPEG) should be kept to a minimum to avoid degradation of quality.

• Tables

– All tables are to be numbered using Arabic numerals.

– Tables should always be cited in text in consecutive numerical order.

– For each table, please supply a table caption (title) explaining the components of the table.

– Identify any previously published material by giving the original source in the form of a reference at the end of the table caption.

– Footnotes to tables should be indicated by superscript lower-case letters (or asterisks for significance values and other statistical data) and included beneath the table body.

• Abbreviations

Abbreviations should be defined at first mention and used consistently thereafter.

• References style

It is crucial to ensure that every reference cited in the text of the manuscript is also included in the reference list, and vice versa.

JCOMS follows the Vancouver reference style. In the text, references should be cited using superscript numerals in the order in which they appear. If cited only in tables or figure legends, number them according to the first identification of the table or figure in the text. In the references list, the references should be numbered and listed in order of appearance in the text. Cite the names of all authors when there are six or fewer; when seven or more authors, list the first three followed by et al. All citations mentioned in the text, tables or figures must be listed in the references list. Names of journals should be abbreviated in the style used in Index Medicus. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all references.

– Standard Format for Journal Articles:
Author Surname Initials. Title of article. Abbreviate journal titles. Date of Publication; Volume Number (Issue Number): Page Numbers.

– The titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the style used in Index Medicus.

– Use the complete name of the journal for non-indexed journals.

– Avoid using abstracts as references.

– Information from manuscripts submitted but not accepted should be cited in the text as “unpublished observations” with written permission from the source.

– Avoid citing a “personal communication” unless it provides essential information that is otherwise unavailable from public sources. In such an event, the name of the person and the date of communication should be cited in parentheses in the text.

– For scientific articles, contributors should obtain written permission and confirmation of accuracy from the source of personal communication.

– Always use the standard abbreviation of a journal’s name according to the ISSN List of Title Word Abbreviations.

• Author’s information form

Please download the Author’s information form and submit it with your manuscript.

• Cover letter

Manuscripts should be submitted with a letter covering the below-mentioned issues:

– A summary explanation of the importance of the manuscript.

– The points that will be added to the literature by publishing the manuscript.

– Certifying that all co-authors have read and approved the final draft of the manuscript submitted to JCOMS.

Article Processing Charge (APC)

• • • Original article

    These are reports of original experiments/research conducted by the authors. Original research must add to the body of knowledge on the subject and should adhere to ethical principles throughout the procedure. Studies using human or animal subjects must have ethical approvals.

    Original articles should not exceed 5,500 words including abstract, references, figure legends, and tables. The number of tables, figures, and references should be appropriate to the manuscript content. Authors whose first language is not English are advised to have their manuscripts checked carefully before submission.

    Abbreviations of standard SI units of measurement should be used.

    Sections of an original article are: (1) title page, (2) abstract, (3) keywords, (4) introduction, (5) methods, (6) results, (7) discussion, (8) acknowledgments, (9) conflicts of interest, (10) references, (11) figure and video legends, (12) tables, (13) figures, and (14) videos whenever applicable.

     

    • Short communication

    A small-scale study that includes important new information may be published as a short communication. It usually carries an abstract of up to 150 words, a body of up to 800 words, up to 2 tables or figures, and essential references.

    Sections of a short communication paper are: (1) title page, (2) abstract, (3) keywords, (4) introduction, (5) methods, (6) results, (7) discussion, (8) acknowledgments, (9) conflicts of interest, (10) references, (11) figure and video legends, (12) tables, (13) figures, and (14) videos whenever applicable.

     

    • Commentary

    Commentaries discuss the findings, implications, and/or outcomes of specific research or wider research on a general topic. They elaborate on or offer original ideas about a specific paper or a widely-researched subject. Commentaries differ from reviews in that they represent the author’s original ideas and suggestions instead of reporting and comparing the previous research. Word count should not exceed 1500 in the commentaries, excluding the references.

    Sections of a commentary include (1) title page, (2) keywords, (3) text, (4) acknowledgments, (5) conflicts of interest, and (6) references.

     

    • Editorial 

    Editorials are usually written by the editor in chief, deputy editor in chief, an associate editor, or a guest editor and are intended to represent the official opinion of the journal (or the guest editor) or introduce supplements, special issues, or new ideas relevant to the journal. In limited circumstances, individuals other than the individuals listed here may propose an editorial topic if they wish. Word count should not exceed 1500 in the commentaries, excluding the references.

    Sections of an editorial include (1) title page, (2) keywords, (3) main manuscript (4) acknowledgments, (5) conflicts of interest, (6) references.

     

    • Letter to the editor

    Letters commenting on, questioning, or criticizing articles recently (within the past 4 issues) published in JCOMS or expressing views on relevant topics will be considered for publication. Word count should not exceed 1500 in the commentaries, excluding the references.

    Sections of a letter to the editor are (1) title page, (2) keywords, (3) text, (4) acknowledgments, (5) conflicts of interest, and (6) references.

     

    • Case report and case series

    Case reports include case reports/studies of patient(s) and describe a novel approach or add important insights into mechanisms, diagnosis, or treatment of a disease. Case reports are limited to 1,500 words including references. A case report manuscript should include (1) title page, (2) structured abstract (including background, case presentation, and conclusion), (3) keywords, (4) introduction, (5) case presentation, and (7) discussion. It should also contain discussion, acknowledgments, references, and illustrations (if applicable) as explained for the original articles.

    All ethical considerations according to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines, especially the informed consent in case reports, should be included at the end of the text just before the references.

     

    • Review article

    A review article provides a detailed, thorough examination and summary of the literature on a specific topic. Review articles are limited to 7,000 words, including references, and should include the following sections: (1) title page, (2) structured abstract, (3) keywords, (4) introduction, (5) methods (search strategy), (6) results, (7) discussion, (8) acknowledgements, (9) conflicts of interest, (10) references, (11) figure legends, (12) tables, and (13) figures, (14) graphical abstract, whenever applicable.

     

    • Clinical experience

    In this type of manuscript, the authors explore a debate in the clinical dilemma by presenting one or more patients whose records are presented in the tumor board or multidisciplinary team (MDT) session of the hospital. The clinical decision which is made in the sessions are argued in this type of the manuscripts according to the scientific evidence.

    Section of review article: (1) title page, (2) abstract, (3) keywords, (4) introduction, (5) case presentation, (6) question, (7) discussion, (8) acknowledgments, (9) conflicts of interest, (10) references, (11) figure legends, (12) tables, and (13) figures whenever it would be applicable.

Peer review

Your manuscript will first go through an initial assessment. All contributions will be initially evaluated by a scientific editor for rightness to the Journal’s instructions and scope. If it does not meet the requirements specified in these guidelines, it will be sent back to you to make revisions before the peer review process. There is also a possibility that your manuscript could be rejected outright at this stage without going through peer review if it is outside the scope of the journal or otherwise unsuitable. Assuming it passes the initial evaluation, your manuscript will then proceed to the peer review stage.

This journal uses double-blind peer review. Submitted manuscripts will generally be reviewed by two or more experts who will be asked to consider the manuscript for publication, along with ethical and statistical Editors within a maximum of two weeks. The entire review procedure depends on receiving the Reviewers’ feedback. The handling Editors will reach a decision based on the Reviewers’ reports. The author can also suggest the names of potential qualified reviewers, but it is up to the editor to accept suggestions. The Editor-in-chief is responsible for the final decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of articles. The final decision of the Editors will be reported to the author(s).

Intentionally falsifying information for recommended reviewers such as a false name or email address, will result in the rejection of the manuscript.

Archiving

This journal uses PKP PN and the LOCKSS system to provide the long-term survival of Web-based scholarly publications, and to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and enables those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration.

Editorial independence

The Editor-in-chief makes the final decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of articles and we strongly ensure that we keep the editorial decision without the interference of personal, political, or financial interests.

The official partners of JCOMS were established as an independent entity that provides educational, health, and medical services to the population. Neither the partners nor their affiliated organizations interfere in the evaluation, selection, or editing of individual articles, either directly or by creating an environment in which editorial decisions are strongly influenced.

Retraction

The editorial team will evaluate retracting a publication if there is clear evidence of unreliable data or results, ethical violations come to light after publication, plagiarism, redundancy or duplicate publication.

Editors will consider retracting an article if:

1. There is clear evidence that the findings are unreliable, either due to major error (e.g. miscalculation, experimental error) or fabrication/falsification (e.g. data fabrication, image manipulation).
2. The article constitutes plagiarism.
3. The findings have been published elsewhere previously, and the authors failed to properly attribute sources, get permission to republish, or provide justification.
4. The authors published material or data they were not authorized to publish.
5. There are serious legal issues like copyright infringement, libel, or breach of privacy.
6. The research reported unethical conduct or breaches of the publisher’s ethics policies.
7. There is evidence of compromised peer review or manipulation of the editorial process.
8. There is evidence of authorship being sold.
9. There is evidence of citation manipulation.
10. The authors failed to disclose a major competing interest that would have materially affected the interpretation or recommendations.
11. There is evidence of any other breach of the journal’s policies, causing the editor to lose confidence in the article’s validity or integrity.

How Complaints and Appeals are Handled

JCOMS takes all allegations of research misconduct very seriously. We are committed to upholding the highest ethical standards in scientific publishing. We have established a fair and transparent process to handle complaints and appeals efficiently and effectively.

Steps in the Process:

1. Filing a Complaint:

    – Anyone can file a complaint regarding potential research misconduct associated with a manuscript submitted to or published in JCOMS.

  – Complaints can be submitted electronically by mail to journalofcoms@gmail.com.

    – The complaint should be in writing and include a detailed description of the alleged misconduct, along with any relevant evidence.

2. Initial Review:

    – The Editor-in-Chief will conduct an initial review of the complaint to determine if it warrants further investigation.

    – The complainant will be notified of the outcome of the initial review.

3. Investigation:

    – If the complaint warrants further investigation, a dedicated committee composed of unbiased experts in research ethics will be assembled to review the complaint and evidence.

    –  The committee may request additional information from the complainant, the author(s), and any other relevant parties.

    –  All parties involved will be given an opportunity to be heard.

4. Decision and Notification:

   -The committee will make a final decision based on the investigation’s findings.

    – The committee’s decision, along with a detailed explanation, will be communicated to the complainant, the author(s), and the Editor-in-Chief.

5. Appeals:

    – If the complainant or the author(s) disagree with the committee’s decision, they have the right to appeal the decision.

    – The Editor-in-Chief, in consultation with a separate appeals committee, will review the appeal and make a final decision.

– Confidentiality:

JCOMS will strive to maintain the confidentiality of all parties involved throughout the investigation process, to the extent possible, while ensuring a fair and thorough investigation.

More information on Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE): (https://publicationethics.org/)

 Revision 

 After acceptance 

– Sogand Vahidi

✉ so.vahidii@gmail.com