The primary aim of this Journal is to provide a forum for the exchange of clinical and scientific information for the oncology community in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the Arab region. Preference is given to studies on oncological issues that affect the Arab region in general. We however accept manuscripts coming from any country provided that they are original in context, relevant to current global cancer issues, interesting, properly formatted and well-written using formal and medical English language grammar (United States).

General Guidelines in Manuscript Preparation

1. Type of Manuscript – it should be stated whether the manuscript is an: a) Original Study b) Case Report or c) Review Article

2. Manuscript Title – should be short and concise expressing the core topic of the paper. Titles should not exceed 50 words and should not include the name of the study institution inappropriately;
   A short running title should be provided and must not exceed 1 line of text. This short title appears on the header of the article when printed.

3. Main Authors, Corresponding Author and Contributors/Investigators - only the names of persons who have actual and substantial inputs to the preparation of the study should be listed as main authors.  Those who assist, review, or perform minor tasks should be mentioned only as Contributors or Investigators in the Acknowledgment portion at the end of the paper. 
   Main authors should provide their complete name, degrees and specialization, affiliation to institutions, business address and email. A Corresponding Author should be named to handle all official communications about the manuscript during the review and after publication of the article.

4. Ownership of publication - When submitting your manuscript for publication in the journal, it should be accompanied by a statement clearly stating that your manuscript was not previously published in any other journal and/or under consideration for publication in the future. In case the paper has been previously published, a letter of acceptance from the relevant journal editor should be attached with the manuscript;
   The GJO reserves the right to ownership of the articles after publication. Any manuscript that has violated copyrights and intellectual property rights as approved by international conventions will automatically be rejected and the authors blacklisted from submitting any manuscript to the GJO in the future.

5. Ethical Standards - Clinical reports involving human studies or patients must contain certifications that it has been reviewed by the Ethics Committee of that institution, and that it has been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in an appropriate version of the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki. It should also state clearly that all persons gave their informed consent prior to their inclusion in the study. No details that might disclose the identity of the subject under study should be mentioned. A patient must not be recognizable in photographs unless a written consent of the subject has been obtained.
   Reports on animal experiments must state that the Principle of Laboratory Animal Care were followed. The GJO reserves the right to reject any manuscript that do not comply with any of the above requirements.

6. Abstract and Keywords – abstracts should be short and concise and should not exceed 500 words unless necessary. Keywords are words or phrases that represent the concept, terminology, field of oncology, or acronyms of great significance in the paper.

   • For Clinical studies and other original studies, the abstract should contain executive summaries of the a) Background/Introduction/Objective b) Patients and Methods, c) Results d) Discussion and Conclusion.

   • For Case Reports and Review Articles, the abstract do not need to be partitioned into sections but should contain the complete summary of the paper highlighting the important points of the report.

7. Major sections of a Manuscript – the manuscript should be divided clearly into sections as follows:
   For Clinical Studies and other Original Studies: a. Introduction b. Patients and Methods or Methods only c. Results d. Discussion and Conclusion e. Acknowledgment (optional) f. Ethical Statement (optional) g. References h. Tables i. Figures For Case
   Reports/Review Articles: a. Introduction b. Case Presentation/Case Series; for Review Articles, Sub-Headings of the topic c. Discussion and Conclusion d. Acknowledgment (optional) e. Ethical Statement (optional) f. References g. Tables h. Figures

8. Digital Format – manuscripts should be written and saved in Microsoft Word© (any version) with the following writing style:
   • Paper Size – A4 • Margins – Normal
   • Paragraph style - indented, double-spaced, full justification
   • Language – English (US)
   • Font – Times New Roman, 12 pt. for paragraph text; 14 pt., bold, for Title

9. References must start in a new heading and should be:

   • Numbered consecutively in the text by the order in which they appear on the text

   • References in text, tables and legends should be identified by Arabic numbers appearing in the text in brackets or parenthesis and superscripted. E.g. list⁽³⁾ (Vancouver Style).

   • The names and initials of all authors should be listed. Journals listed should be abbreviated according to the index Medicus format.

   • The number of references should preferably not exceed 40 for review articles, 30 for original articles or studies and 15 references for case reports.
     Examples of correct forms of References:
     Example 1. Journal (Three Authors should be listed before using et al)
     Merrick GS, Buter WM, Dorsey AT, el al. Seed visibility in the prostatic and periprostatic region following brachytherapy. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2000; 46:215-220.
     Example 2. Chapter in a book
     Holl DF.   Morphine   in   malignant   pain.   In: Smith F, Covino DM, eds, Acute pain. London: Butterworth’s, 1990; 200–210.
     Example 3. Monographs
     Tito BD, Regional block, 5th Edn. Springfield, Madison Charles D. Thomas, 1989.
     More examples can be found in the Vancouver Style document linked in this guideline.

10. Graphs and other images – Graphs, charts and other illustrations produced by other applications like MS Excel and Powerpoint should be saved in MS Word in their original link and format as clearly as possible. Pictures and other graphic files should have 24- bit colour depth and a dimension of not less than 1200 x 800 and saved in JPEG or PNG formats. Figures should be numbered accordingly as they appear on the text. Titles/labels of each Figure should be placed at the bottom of the Figure.
    Graphs and Illustrations should be included or embedded into the main document after the References and need not be saved as a separate file during submission.

11. Tables must supplement not duplicate, information in the text itself and be self explanatory.

    • Each table should have a Number and Title text placed at the bottom.

    • References from the main text to any Table or Figure should be placed at the end of a sentence in between square brackets. e.g. (Table 2).

    • A table or illustration that is published elsewhere should be accompanied by a reproducibility statement from the authors and publishers.

    • Tables should be included or embedded into the main document after the References/Graphs or Illustrations and need not be saved as a separate file during submission.

12. Manuscript Submission – manuscripts can be submitted thru:

Online – on the GJO website at http://www.gffcc.org/journal/submit.html

Email - to gffccku@yahoo.com with a covering letter and attachments

Post – manuscripts should be saved on CDs with printed copies sealed in an envelope and mailed to:

Dr. Khaled Al Saleh
Editor-in-Chief
The Gulf Federation for Cancer Control
P.O. Box 26733, Safat 13128, State of Kuwait