Insight submission guidelines for authors

Thank you for considering writing for Insight, the official CPD publication of the Society and College of Radiographers (SCoR). With more than 29,000 readers every quarter, Insight is the ideal platform for authors to share research, experiences and new perspectives with all SCoR members, including radiography practitioners, technologists, sonographers, radiography educators, students and researchers.

View the Insight and I&TP archive here

The Insight vision is to share research, knowledge, and timely evidence of best clinical practice while providing readers with opportunities for CPD relevant to the world of diagnostic radiography and therapeutic radiography. The emphasis is on practical applications of new ideas to inspire clinical practice, as well as encouraging role development and highlighting advanced practice.

Submissions are welcome from authors with any level of writing experience. Typical contributions include primary research articles, systematic and narrative literature reviews, case studies, posters and communication pieces to report new developments within the profession.

Your article will be reviewed by the Editorial Board and feedback provided. This is a collaborative process intended to develop the best possible article for you and the publication. Even the most experienced authors are asked for revisions, so please do not be discouraged by constructive feedback.
 

Please ensure your work meets the author guidelines before submitting. Once your article is complete, you can submit via the Insight online submissions portal

Quick guide

Article types

We consider a range of article types for publication:

• Correspondence A letter of upto 500 words in response to an article or previous correspondence in the publication, or raising an issue of interest for wider debate.

• Abstract If you are still formulating an idea and would like advice, please submit a short abstract of your proposed article and the Editorial Board will provide feedback.
• Personal reflection An article of approximately 1,500 words arising from personal reflection on professional practice of value to others.

• Case study An examination of an episode of care which is relevant and engaging (about 2,000 words).

• Review paper An article addressing a topical issue pertinent to clinical practice, including discussion papers (about 2,500 words).

• Research paper An article that outlines a research study or audit which has the potential to change clinical practice, impact on education or influence policy development (about 2,500 words).

• Poster A visual demonstration of your chosen topic.

If your work does not seem to fit these categories, please email the editor for guidance.

Visual elements

Illustrations, figures and images should be submitted as separate high resolution files at 300 dpi and at least 1mb in size. Captions should appear in the main text, not on images. Charts and tables should be submitted as editable text, not image files.

References

Referencing must be presented in the Vancouver style, numerically in the text in the order they first appear, and listed at the end of the article in the same order.

CPD activities

Please provide three points, questions, or activities for readers to reflect upon, answer or look up. These will become planned pathways on the Society’s online learning platform CPD Now.

Submitting

All work should be submitted to the Insight online submissions portal.

Review

Your work will undergo blinded peer review by the Editorial Board and you will receive helpful feedback and comments. Sometimes an article will be suitable for immediate publication but usually some revisions will be required.

Types of submission

Abstract/article idea

If you are formulating an idea and would like advice, a structured abstract can be submitted for review, and members of the Editorial Board will offer guidance on developing the full article. Structured abstracts should be no longer than 300 words and take the following format:

• Key words State up to six key words which reflect the content of the intended piece.
• Title This should be a concise description of the intended work, to give the reader a clear idea of what to expect in the article.
• Aim A short statement detailing the purpose of the article.
• Body A brief overview of the entire article describing the areas which will be reported (eg methods, results, outcomes).
• Conclusion State what conclusions may be drawn from the work, what any results may indicate, what the implications of the findings may be on clinical practice, and giving consideration to recommendations for future studies.
• References Include some key references to support the basis of the work.

Personal reflection

A reflection on your own personal experiences in practice, written in a formal academic style, from which others can learn. Please also provide three CPD activity points, questions, or activities for readers to reflect upon, answer or look up.

The article should:

• Take a clear line of argument
• Analyse (not just describe) your thoughts and feelings about the experience
• Refer to evidence from existing literature on the topic
• Discuss different perspectives
• Detail your own points of learning
• Suggest how your future practice might change

Case study

A case study is an intensive, systematic study on an episode of care, a person, a group of people or a unit^1,2 and may be written with the involved team. The case must be relevant to readers and support their learning and should therefore be engaging. It is not necessary to look for rare or exotic occurrences. In everyday practice, radiographers and students may encounter complications, unusual occurrences, ethical or management challenges, near misses and potential pitfalls. Such experiences result in reflection, learning and perhaps a review of practice from which other practitioners may also benefit.

Writing a case study

Case studies should be around 2,000 words, excluding references, CPD learning points, tables and figure headings.

Tip A summary of up to 150 words to summarise the case and outcome may help you to draw out the important elements.

The following headings should be used:

• Abstract Up to 150 words to summarise the case and outcome.
• Case presentation Brief description of the situation or patient presentation to capture key features about how the incident occurred, or patient presented, what were the main issues and why this is relevant.
• Management (May include sub-headings) Include actions that were taken to manage this experience with a brief explanation of what influenced your decisions and the resulting outcomes. If you needed to adapt practice guidelines, indicate where in the pathway and how this was done.
• Outcome Include follow-up data where possible to support readers’ understanding of the outcome. Indicate the follow-up period. State the impact.
• Discussion Include a brief review of similar published literature including relevant clinical guidelines and/or protocols.
• Learning points What did you learn from this case? Please give three to five points. This is the most important part of your case study.
• CPD activities Please also provide three points, questions, or activities for readers to reflect upon, answer or look up.

Review paper

Review papers address topical clinical, ethical and policy issues that matter to radiographers, patients and health policymakers. The topic should be timely.

Writing a review paper

Review papers should be around 2,500 words, excluding references, CPD activities, tables and figure headings.

The following subsections should be considered in order to develop a structured paper:

• Introduction A succinct introduction is necessary to establish what is already known, identify the gap in the field and outline the motivation for the review. A good motivational statement will steer away from simply stating that ‘this has not been done before’. Include clear definitions of key terms, where appropriate. Outline what the structure will be and why this is helpful.
• Main content of review The content should analyse, synthesise and  interpret the literature to present a clearly reasoned argument. Use subheadings in the main body of the text so it is logical and easy to follow.
• Discussion and conclusion Include a discussion and conclusion section. A clear message is an important endpoint.
• CPD activities Please provide three points, questions, or activities for readers to reflect upon, answer or look up.

Research paper

Original research papers should be around 2,500 words, although up to 4,000 words is acceptable for a qualitative research paper. This excludes references, CPD activities, tables and figure headings.

Original research papers involve research or audit that may improve practice in the clinical environment, influence policy development, education and/or research. All submissions should include an abstract of 300 words (see format above). Research involving people should include relevant information about ethical issues. The article should be written in the standard scientific format:

• Abstract
• Introduction
• Method
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusion
• CPD activities Please also provide three points, questions, or activities for readers to reflect upon, answer or look up.

Poster

Posters are visual communication tools for engaging people in your research or clinical project. They may also be displayed in your department to raise awareness of your work and spread knowledge. Therefore, the design and physical appearance are important features for successful promotion.³

When published, your poster will appear as a quarter page image to showcase the design. The main text or a summary will appear alongside, and readers will be able to download the full poster  from the SCoR website.

For submission, poster files should be labelled with the author's name, and you will be asked to insert the text separately to the submission form.

Developing a poster

The poster should convey the main points about your work therefore the following headings should be included to organise your content:

• Title Your title should be brief, eye-catching and results-oriented. Avoid clever titles.
• Introduction This should be succinct, consisting of a few sentences providing sufficient context using the most relevant references. A lengthy review should be avoided. The aim(s), hypothesis or research question(s) should be presented at the end of this section.  
• Methods and materials This outlines your research design, procedures, group/participant characteristics, equipment/material and/or the chosen outcome measures. Include data analysis methods. Keep it brief, use bullet points, tables and figures where appropriate.
• Results Begin with the hypothesis or question(s) to remind your audience. Present an overview of your findings and include charts, graphs and figures where appropriate. Avoid too much text and keep paragraphs brief.
• Discussion/conclusions Address your aim(s)/ research question(s) explaining why your findings are important. How do your findings relate to previous work? How do they apply to your field? What should happen next? Be concise, use bullet points where appropriate.
• Citations and acknowledgments Use current references, avoid grey literature. Thank those that have helped you and funded your project. Declare conflicts of interest if appropriate.

Design tips

• Use a limited colour scheme that complements the rest of your poster.
• Use white space effectively to allow your audience to focus on the content.
• Use high quality photographs.
• Limit the use of clip art.

Visual elements

Images, figures, charts and tables should be numbered consecutively, in accordance with their appearance in the text, using Arabic numerals (1,2,3 etc.) and figures with multiple parts should be labelled alphabetically (eg 1a, 1b).

Insert a caption into the text when you first refer to an item. Captions should consist of a brief title and description and should include an explanation of any abbreviations and symbols used.

Do not include the caption on the image or figure itself.

Charts and tables

• These must be submitted as editable text - not in image formats eg screenshots.
• Reference must be made in the text but data presented in charts and tables should not be discussed elsewhere in the article to avoid repetition.
• Avoid shading-in table cells.
   

Photographs and medical images

• These should be original materials. Photocopies of photographs are not acceptable.
• People should not be identifiable in photographs (masking the eye area alone does not guarantee anonymity). If people are recognisable, a consent form from the subject for use of the photograph must accompany the submission.
• Label all photographs and medical images with the figure number and ensure correct orientation.
• Remove non-essential areas from the photograph or medical image.
• Copyright agreement and acknowledgments should be provided where necessary.

Diagnostic images

• These must be fully anonymised original files and consent gained in line with GDPR (see below).
• Resolution must be 300dpi and files approximately 1mb in size. Images downloaded from the internet are unlikely to be high enough resolution for print purposes. Please contact the editor for advice at [email protected] if such images are used in your work.
• All images usually produced for an examination should be included, ie two projections where this is normal practice, and be presented in the correct orientation, ie how they would be viewed in normal practice.
• Images must have the correct anatomical marker and, where technically relevant, the data on the image should identify projection eg AP/PA; erect/supine; slice orientation if cross sectional (eg sagittal/coronal/ transverse, etc).
• Information accompanying the image should include, where appropriate, relevant clinical history and clinical question (especially if the image is to be reported), source of the image (ie clinical image title/downloaded from the web, including website address).

References

• References must be listed according to the Vancouver system, a numeric system where the references are numbered sequentially as they occur in the text and correspondingly numbered in the reference list.
• In the text use superscript when citing references. The reference number should appear within the punctuation if it is at the end of a sentence ie before a full stop or quotation mark. Do not bracket the numbers.
• When listing references, they should be numbered in the style: number, full stop, reference eg 1. Milner RC
• If the reference appears more than once, use the original number assigned to it on subsequent appearances.
• Please do not use footnotes - these cannot be accepted.

In the reference list:

• All author names should be included. Where there are more than six authors, include the first six names followed by ‘et al’.
• Order the items within each reference as follows: author(s) surname, initials, title of article, title of journal abbreviated according to the style of Index Medicus, year of publication, volume number; issue number where applicable, first and last page numbers, website. Example: Milner RC, Snaith B. Are reporting radiographers fulfilling the role of advanced practitioner? Radiography 2017; 3(1):48-54. Available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radi.2016.09.001. Accessed 19 November 2020
• References to books should give the names of author(s), book title, edition number where applicable, place of publication, publisher and year. Example: Gunn C. Bones and Joints: A Guide for Students, Seventh edition. Edinburgh: Elsevier, 2018.
• References to a chapter in an edited book should include the names of authors, chapter title, name of editors, book title, edition number and place of publication, publisher name and year of publication. Example: MacKay R, Aitkenhead A, Proton Therapy, Hoskin P editor Radiotherapy in Practice: External Beam Therapy, Third edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019.
• References to a conference paper should include author and title of paper followed by ‘In’ and details of the conference. Example: Bleiker J, Knapp K, Morgan-Trimmer S, Hopkins S. Compassionate care in Radiography, In UK Imaging & Oncology Congress 2019, 10-12 June 2019, Liverpool, UK.

• Authors must verify references against the original documents before submission.
• Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list and vice versa.

CPD activities

Please provide three points, questions, or activities for readers to reflect upon, answer or look up. These will become planned pathways, or CPD plans, on the Society’s online learning platform CPD Now. This is a way of highlighting the important parts of your article for others to learn through in a broader sense, and reflect on how your article impacts on their practice.

Examples include: looking into pathways in their own organisation, looking through images for a pathology, thinking about other physiological processes that contribute towards a pathology, identifying practice within their own trust which could possibly be improved; policies or protocols to read.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

Although cases used in any publication will be anonymised, GDPR requires consent for the use of clinical details and images prior to publication⁴. There are specific requirements for gaining consent and it is advisable to contact your own Information Governance department, for advice on the process to be followed within your own organisation.

Submitting your article

All articles and abstracts should be submitted to the Insight online submissions portal

You will be asked to register on the system through which the whole submission and review process will be managed. You will be guided through the process step by step, inserting your text and additional elements in the formats detailed above.

Declaration

During the submission process you will be asked to declare any conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise, and to confirm that:           

• The work has not been published previously, except in the form of an abstract, as part of a published lecture or academic thesis 
• The work is not being considered for publication elsewhere       
• The work is solely the work of the authors named
• The work has been prepared following local guidance relating to the use of patient data and medical images      
• Patient consent has been sought and given, if necessary
• Ethical implications have been considered and, where appropriate, confirmation of ethical approval identified   
• Images obtained from clinical departments have had all identification removed to preserve patient and hospital anonymity
• Copyright permission has been obtained, where necessary, for all diagrams, photographs and images (if in doubt, contact the editor)

Review process

While reviewing your anonymised submission, the members of the board will be assessing:

• Relevance of the topic Is the content relevant to the current readership and to the objectives of Insight?
• Content Is the content applicable to the current situation in clinical practice?
• Structure Does the structure comply with the general format expectations?
• Standard of writing and coherence Is it easy to read and does it flow well? Does it make sense?
• Referencing Is it suitably referenced with current and relevant literature referenced in the correct way?
• Accuracy Are there any technical errors?

The reviewers will decide if the article needs revision prior to publication. Each reviewer will submit comments and you will be alerted when you can log in to view the comments. The Editorial Board aims to provide feedback within four weeks of submission. You will be expected to submit a revised version within four to six weeks depending on the changes requested.

References

1. Gustaffson J. Single case studies vs. multiple case studies: a comparative study (Thesis)  Halmstad, Sweden: Halmstad University 2017.

2. Woods NF, Calanzaro M. Nursing research: theory and practice. St. Louis: Mosby 1980.

3. Dragan I, Rowe N. What is the evidence that poster presentations are effective in promoting knowledge transfer? A state of the art review. Health Info Libr J 30(1):4-12. https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12015. Accessed 23 November 2020.

4. EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Available from. https://gdpr.eu/tag /gdpr/ Accessed 30 November 2020.