Instructions For Author

Comprehensive guidance for preparing colorectal cancer manuscripts.

Journal of Colon and Rectal Cancer publishes original research, clinical trials, systematic reviews, surgical technique studies, and outcomes research focused on colon and rectal cancer.

Manuscripts should demonstrate clinical relevance, transparent reporting, and validated outcome measures.

• Title page with author affiliations and corresponding author details
• Structured abstract with objectives, methods, results, and conclusions
• Introduction outlining clinical context and research gap
• Methods detailing patients, interventions, and measures
• Results with clear statistical reporting and effect sizes
• Discussion addressing implications, limitations, and future work
• Conclusion summarizing clinical or surgical impact

• Use clear headings and consistent terminology
• Define abbreviations and clinical scales at first use
• Provide units for all outcomes and assessments
• Submit tables in editable format with descriptive titles
• Include figure legends with sample sizes and methods

• Use validated staging and pathology reporting
• Describe surgical approach and perioperative care
• Report neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy details
• Provide statistical rationale and handling of missing data
• Disclose comorbidities and concurrent treatments

• Provide ethics approval and informed consent statements
• Include data availability statements and repository links
• Describe any access restrictions for sensitive data
• Disclose conflicts of interest and funding sources
• Register clinical trials where applicable

• Ensure references are complete and consistent
• Include DOIs when available
• Match in text citations with reference list entries
• Use standard citation formats and abbreviations

After editorial screening, manuscripts proceed to single blind peer review. Clear reporting accelerates decisions.

Provide a structured abstract that includes objectives, methods, results, and conclusions. Abstracts should clearly state the clinical relevance of the findings for colorectal cancer care.

Select keywords that improve discovery, including tumor location, staging terms, and therapy types. Use consistent terminology across the title, abstract, and main text.

• Aim for concise abstracts that report primary outcomes
• Include key numeric results with effect sizes
• Provide 5 to 8 specific, clinically relevant keywords
• Avoid abbreviations unless defined and standard

Report statistical methods in enough detail to enable replication. Provide justification for sample size, power calculations, and handling of missing data.

• Specify primary and secondary endpoints
• Report confidence intervals and exact p values
• Describe adjustments for multiple comparisons
• Explain model assumptions and validation methods
• Provide software and version information

Clinical trials and interventional studies should include registration numbers and compliance statements. Observational studies should document cohort selection and consent or waiver details.

• Register trials in recognized public registries
• Describe randomization and allocation concealment
• Report adverse events and safety monitoring
• Provide protocol deviations and amendments

High-quality figures improve clinical interpretation. Imaging and pathology figures should include scale bars, labels, and clear legends describing measurement methods.

• Submit figures in high-resolution formats
• Describe imaging modalities and acquisition parameters
• Provide the pathology grading systems used
• Include statistical annotations on charts

Revision responses should address reviewer points in a tracked response document. Provide data availability statements and confirm that datasets or code are accessible for verification.

If data are restricted, describe the access process and provide contact information for requests.

Supplementary materials should be clearly labeled and referenced in the main text. Data and code repositories must be cited with persistent links or DOIs to ensure long term access.

• Provide a data availability statement in the manuscript
• Label supplementary tables and figures clearly
• Explain any data access restrictions

Clinical studies must include informed consent statements or IRB waiver details. When reporting patient data, ensure privacy protections and de-identification procedures are described.

• Describe the consent process for prospective studies
• Explain waiver criteria for retrospective analyses
• Confirm compliance with local regulations

Ethics compliance is essential for colorectal cancer research. Include IRB or ethics committee approvals, consent procedures, and patient safety monitoring details. If the data are retrospective, explain the consent waiver and describe how patient privacy was protected.

Studies involving surgery, radiation, or systemic therapy should document adverse event reporting and any stopping rules used in the protocol.

• State the ethics approval number and institution
• Describe the consent process and the language used
• Report adverse events and safety monitoring
• Clarify data de identification procedures