Canadian Association of Radiologists Journal

The Canadian Association of Radiologists Journal (CARJ) is a peer-reviewed, Medline-indexed publication that presents a broad scientific review of radiology in Canada. Since its first publication in 1950, the journal has been dedicated to publishing articles pertaining to current, cutting-edge diagnostic and therapeutic radiology as well as guidance on emerging techniques and technologies. The CARJ brings the latest information to subscribers four times per year, online and in print. The journal publishes a variety of article types, including original research, reviews, guidelines and editorials. CARJ doesn't consider case reports for publication. Studies should be relevant to radiologists' clinical practice.

Submit Your Article

For additional information pertinent to CARJ authors, please visit the Sage Author Gateway

For additional information pertinent to CARJ peer reviewers, please visit the Sage Reviewer Gateway.

Jump to: CARJ Policies | Publication Options | Article Types and Requirements | Submission Process | After Acceptance               

 

Article Types and Requirements

Original Research Articles

Data-driven original research of interest to the radiology community. This category includes all hypothesis driven research such as: randomized trials, diagnostic test accuracy studies and systematic reviews (+/- meta-analysis). Systematic review protocols must be registered in PROSPERO and adhere to PRISMA (or PRISMA-DTA) reporting guidelines. Other research categories are encouraged to register their study protocols with the appropriate agency (e.g., clintrials.gov) and use the reporting guideline relevant to their study design. Reporting guidelines can be found on the EQUATOR Network site.

Research Letters

Research letters are original research articles presented as focused reports. Letters must not duplicate other material published or submitted for publication. They will be peer-reviewed in the same manner as Original Research articles.

Review Articles

Review articles cover the existing state of understanding in a specific research area or topic.

Guidelines

The CAR Journal publishes guidelines on behalf of the Canadian Association of Radiologists, CAR Affiliates, and guidelines co-published by those bodies in collaboration with other societies.

Editorials

Editorials are invited by the CAR Journal Editorial Office. These Editorials reflect the opinion of the author, who is an expert in the field. The CAR Journal welcomes unsolicited proposals, please contact the Editor-in-Chief (eic@car.ca) for further information. 

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor (by up to four authors) may discuss subjects of general interest to radiologists. They may also offer constructive comments or questions of a published article. In the latter situation, critiqued authors will be given an opportunity to reply. 

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Additional Notes and Inclusions

Word count

• Refers to main body of the article

• Excludes abstract, tables/figures/figure legends, and references

Authorship

• Limited to 4 for Editorials and Letters to the Editor

• Co-authorship must be indicated on the title page and cover letter upon submission.

• Authors’ primary affiliations listed on the title page must start with authors’ university, followed by their department and then any other affiliations.

IMPORTANT: Ask your co-authors to provide you with their ScholarOne-linked email address, which you will use to add them when submitting your manuscript.

Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.

Cover letter

• The cover letter should be addressed to: Michael N. Patlas, MD, FRCPC, Editor-in-Chief, Canadian Association of Radiologists Journal
• Co-First Authorship should be highlighted in the letter.

Title page

The title page should include the following information:

• Title: Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.

• Short title: Please supply an abbreviated version of the title for the running head. The short title should be no more than 45 characters long (including spaces).

• Author names and affiliations: Provide the author’s full name, university affiliation followed by any other affiliations, and email address. We do not publish credentials.
  NOTE: Indicate if there are co-first authors.

• Corresponding author: Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. Contact details must be kept up to date by the corresponding author and must be reflected in ScholarOne.

• Keywords: Provide a list of no more than 6 relevant key words. Avoid general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, 'and', 'of'). Do not use abbreviations. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes (not required for editorials or letters to the editor).

• Acknowledgements: Collate acknowledgements on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise. List individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance, or proofreading the article, etc.)

• CARJ is unable to verify and add ORCIDs after an article is accepted, including during proofing. All authors must login to the submission platform to link their ORCID accounts with their ScholarOne account. For instructions, contact info@carjonline.org

Abstract

• Should not contain references or abbreviations or institutions/affiliations

• Abstracts for original research articles should be structured (purpose, methods, results, conclusions)

Summary Statement

• CARJ requests a summary statement to promote your article on social media.

• Please provide a < 280-character (one or two-lines) summary statement of the main points of your article, your findings and/or conclusion.

Visual Abstract Information

• CARJ develops visual abstracts for original research and review papers to use for promotion on social media. Example 1 and Example 2.

• Visual abstracts will be confirmed with authors during the production phase of articles accepted for publication, via communication between the Journal office and the corresponding author.

• Provide 3 or 4 brief key points or “take home” messages. Do not repeat your summary statement. Spell out all acronyms in full on first usage.

• Please do not repeat your summary statement.

• Identify which figure (or figure part) should be used in your visual abstract.

• The information will be used to develop the visual abstract for all original research and review articles.

Main Manuscript Document

• Because CARJ’s peer review is double blinded, it is important to mask the authors’ institution and/or affiliation. Perform a word search of your manuscript for location/institution/affiliation and make the necessary revisions. Examples of acceptable phrasing include:

  • Data were collected from first-year social work students enrolled in a graduate-level program at a Canadian university.

  • This research was approved by the Institutional Review Board of a large Canadian university.

• Introduction: Briefly describes the purpose of the investigation and relevant background information including knowledge gaps.

• Methods: A statement on ethics approval must be included. Describes the materials used and/or participants, as well as the imaging protocols and other methods. Outlines in detail any statistical methods used. The names and locations (as city and province or state) of equipment manufacturers are given. Generic names are provided for drugs and contrast media. Where relevant authors should adhere to standardized reporting guidelines (refer to EQUATOR Network for further details).

• Results: Presented in a clear and logical fashion. If tables and graphs are used, they should summarize the data and not be repeated in the text.

• Discussion: Describes the relevance of the findings outlined in the results section. Puts the results in the context of what other studies have found, presents the limitations of the statistics and other methods, and clearly demonstrates the important outcomes of the study.

• Conclusion: may be replaced by a bulleted list of key points, at the discretion of the author

References

• CARJ uses AMA Style for its references.

• Authors are responsible for the accuracy of cited references.

• Citations from internet sources should provide the name of the author(s), the title of the web page, the URL, the page’s original publication or creation date, and the date the page was last accessed.

• Cited journal articles are retrievable (i.e., published online or in print). Do not cite manuscripts in preparation, under review or revision, or accepted but not yet published in some form.

Tables

• Number tables consecutively in order of their appearance in the main manuscript document.

• Include a short descriptive title for each table.

• Place footnotes to tables below the table body with superscript lowercase letters.
  o    Avoid vertical rules

• Submit each table as a separate Word file (.docx).

• Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in tables do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article.

Figures (Images, charts and graphs)

• Number figures consecutively in order of their appearance in the main manuscript document.

• Include a descriptive legend for all figures and the legend should include:
  o    A brief title, not on the figure itself
  o    A description of the illustration explaining all symbols and abbreviations used

• Submit each figure as a separate file.

Funding Declaration

All research articles should have a funding acknowledgement statement included in the manuscript in the form of a sentence under a separate heading entitled ‘Funding’ directly after your Acknowledgements and Declaration of Conflicting Interests, if applicable, and prior to any Notes and References. Learn More

Supplemental Materials

CARJ accepts the submission of supplemental material for original research, review articles, and guidelines. Please submit through ScholarOne. For more information about parameters and permissions, please see the Sage Author Gateway.  

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Submit Your Article

CARJ is hosted on a web-based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. The platform guides you through the process step-by-step. All correspondence is sent by email, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision.

All manuscripts and letters must be submitted online to: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/carj

IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. For assistance with ScholarOne accounts, please email the Journal Office. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online, please visit ScholarOne Online Help.

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After Acceptance

Contributor Form

Corresponding authors will receive an automated email instructing them to complete a contributor form on behalf of their colleagues. This form must be completed for the article to proceed to production.

Open Access

A Corresponding Author, whose primary affiliation is identified in ScholarOne™ as a Canadian university or research institute will receive an email inviting them to Choose the publication route for their article. All authors covered by an Open Access agreement should select a CCBY 4.0 Open Access license for their article. For more information, please email the Journal Office.

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Sage Production

Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be sent via Proof Central to the corresponding author and should be returned promptly.

Visual Abstracts

The CARJ develops visual abstracts for all original research and review articles, using a standard template and information provided at the time of article submission. These abstracts are drafted and confirmed with the corresponding author prior to publication online. For more information, please email the Journal Office.

OnlineFirst publication

OnlineFirst allows final revision articles (completed articles in queue for assignment to an upcoming issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a final journal issue which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication.

For more information please visit OnlineFirst Fact Sheet.

Access to your published article

Sage provides authors with online access to their final article. Corresponding authors receive an email with an e-access link when the article has been published online (OnlineFirst), and then again when the article is published in an issue. This link may be passed along to other authors.

Insights4Imaging Program

The CAR Insights4Imaging (i4i) CME program is no longer active, however, past i4i activities are still available through RAD Academy to CAR members. For more information, please visit here.(Return to TOP)

Publication Options

Open Access

The CARJ is a “Hybrid Open Access Journal.” This means that some of its content is published Open Access (OA), while other content is published behind a subscriber wall. Sage has several Open Access agreements with research networks in various countries.  

For Canadian authors, the CRKN Open Access Agreement includes all Canadian research universities. All papers originating from Canadian academic institutions can be published Open Access, with no cost to authors or departments, and no need to pay an Article Processing Charge (APC). Publishing papers OA also ensures that researchers adhere to the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications (any research funded by CIHR). 

How To Publish Open Access via Sage Choice 

• Ensure the corresponding author’s primary affiliation is identified in ScholarOne™ as a Canadian university or research institute and on the manuscript’s title page.
  • If not, it may not be possible to select the open access option without incurring additional costs.

NOTE: If a researcher is not covered by an existing OA agreement and wishes to make the work OA, two options are available: pay an article processing charge (APC) to have the work made OA at the time of publication or self-archive the work in a suitable repository to be made available after an embargo period has elapsed.

Figure 1: Login to ScholarOne platform, click on your name and select Email / Name from the dropdown menu

 

 

Contributors to the CAR Journal have two options: authors can pay an article processing charge (APC) to have the work made OA at the time of publication or authors can self-archive their work in a suitable repository to be made available after an embargo period has elapsed. Authors are encouraged to refer to an editorial in CARJ on resources for dissemination. 

Should a researcher not covered by an existing OA agreement wish to make his or her work OA, contributors to the CAR Journal have two options: authors can pay an article processing charge (APC) to have the work made OA at the time of publication or authors can self-archive their work in a suitable repository to be made available after an embargo period has elapsed.

ORCiD

As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.

The collection of ORCID iDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID iD you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID iD will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID iD is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.

For ORCIDs to be linked properly to all authors, the ORCiDs must be linked with author profile in ScholarOne™ at the time of submission of the manuscript. They cannot be added after the manuscript has been submitted. For assistance making changes to ScholarOne™ author profiles, please contact info@carjonline.org. 

How To Link my ORCiD to my ScholarOne journal account?

1. Log in to the CARJ submission site.

• contact info@carjonline.org if you would like your login information to be re-emailed to you

• contact info@carjonline.org if you do NOT have a S1 account and I will create one for you

1. Click your name at the top-right corner of the page.

2. In the drop-down menu select Email/Name.

3. Under the ORCID section, you will find two links: Create an ORCID iD and Associate your existing ORCID iD.

   1. If you already have an ORCID ID, select Associate your existing ORCID iD.

4. You will be directed to the ORCID site login page where you will need to log in using your ORCID account credentials

   1. If you have selected to create an account on the ORCID site, click Register Now

5. After logging in you will be automatically redirected to the ScholarOne submission site where it will show up a prompt with the following text:

You can update this account with data from your ORCID iD record that is not marked as Private. Name and e-mail fields will be imported to your account. Note: this will overwrite existing data. Would you like to update your account now?

1. To complete the process, click OK to update the journal’s ScholarOne Manuscript site.

2. Proceed to the User ID & Password step and click Finish to be sure that your account information is properly saved.

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CARJ Policies

Peer Review

The CARJ uses a double-blind peer-review process, which means that both the reviewer and author identities are concealed from the reviewers, and vice versa, throughout the review process.  

• The Title Page must be blinded (see details in 4. Prepare your Article).

• Do not self-identify your prior work. For example, do not state “as we have previously described,” [author’s reference]. Instead, suitable language would be, “Prior studies have shown… “[reference].

• Do not mention the author(s)’ institution or funding information in the manuscript.

• Blind the author(s)’ initials if they are readers.

Use of Large Language Models and generative AI tools

Large language models (LLMs) and generative AI tools can help authors in preparing their article for submissions, however they have limitations. These include objectivity, accuracy, contextual understanding, and training data. Authors are encouraged to read Sage’s publishing policy on ChatGPT and Generative AI and to follow these guiding principles:

• Indicate the use of language models in the manuscript
• Verify the accuracy, validity, and appropriateness of the content
• Provide a list of sources used to generate content and citations
• Be conscious of the potential for plagiarism
• Acknowledge the limitations of language models in the manuscript
• Should NOT be listed as an author

Authorship

CAR Journal agrees with the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) that authors must meet the following four criteria:

1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work.

2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content.

3. Final approval of the version to be published.

4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

The CAR Journal will allow only two first authors. If two authors contributed equally to the manuscript and request to share the first authorship, it should be stated in the cover letter during the initial submission of the manuscript. Each manuscript can only have one senior and/or corresponding author.

Changes to authorship

Authors are expected to carefully consider the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the journal Editor. To request such a change, the Editor must receive the following from the corresponding author: 

1. the reason for the change in author list and 

2. written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed.

Only in exceptional circumstances will the Editor consider the addition, deletion or rearrangement of authors after the manuscript has been accepted. While the Editor considers the request, publication of the manuscript will be suspended. If the manuscript has already been published in an online issue, any requests approved by the Editor will result in a corrigendum.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

All authors must disclose any conflicts of interest or perceived conflicts of interest. This may include, but not be limited to commercial affiliations, consultant affiliations, stock, equity, or patent/licensing interests. All funding sources, including grant numbers, must be disclosed. Learn more

Authors must disclose a summary declaration of interest statement in the Title Page. If there are no interests to declare then please state this: 'Declarations of interest: none'. This summary statement will be ultimately published if the article is accepted.

Research ethics and consent

Medical research involving human participants must be conducted according to the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki. The manuscript should be in line with the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals and aim for the inclusion of representative human populations (sex, age and ethnicity) as per those recommendations. The terms sex and gender should be used correctly.

CARJ does not consider case series or animal studies.

Clinical trials

If your study is prospective and was registered in a clinical trials registry such as ClinicalTrials.gov, then the trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract.

Publication ethics

We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics & Responsibility page on the Sage Author Gateway. 

Plagiarism

The CAR Journal takes issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. 

Prior Publication 

Upon submission, authors must confirm that their manuscript has not been published previously, is not currently in press, is not publicly available in any form or format, and is not under consideration elsewhere. Authors wishing to reproduce material appearing in other publications, such as figures, tables or limited text passages, must obtain appropriate permission from the copyright holder and reproduced material must be disclosed in the cover letter. 

Reporting Guidelines

The CAR Journal strongly endorses complete and transparent reporting of research. Authors should consult standardized reporting guidelines relevant to their research. For example, diagnostic accuracy studies should consult STARD 2015, systematic reviews should consult PRISMA (or its extension such as PRISMA-DTA), and randomized trials should consult CONSORT. The EQUATOR network is a comprehensive resource for authors to determine which reporting guideline is optimal for their research type. 

Permissions

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. Learn more  

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