THE RADPAC is an international, open-access, peer-reviewed journal devoted to the advancement of radiology and medical imaging sciences. The journal serves clinicians, researchers, educators, and allied health professionals involved in radiography, X-ray imaging, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), mammography, and related imaging modalities. The primary mission of THE RADPAC is to promote scholarly exchange and innovation by providing a rigorous, transparent, and ethical platform for the dissemination of high-quality scientific research and clinically relevant insights. These author guidelines are intended to assist contributors throughout the stages of manuscript preparation, submission, revision, and publication, in accordance with internationally accepted publication standards. Strict compliance with the journal’s formatting, ethical, and submission requirements ensures efficient editorial processing and preserves the scientific integrity and global impact of published work.
All manuscripts must be submitted exclusively through the SPJP E-Submission Portal. This integrated online system manages the complete publication workflow, from initial submission to final publication. Prospective authors are required to create an account prior to submission. Once registered, authors may upload manuscripts and supplementary materials, monitor submission progress, receive editorial decisions, and submit revised versions through the same platform.
THE RADPAC follows a structured, multi-stage editorial and peer-review process designed to ensure scientific rigour, fairness, transparency, and efficiency.
Upon receipt of a submission, the manuscript undergoes a preliminary assessment that includes:
Outcome: Manuscripts that fail to meet basic requirements are returned to authors for correction. Submissions that successfully pass the screening stage are forwarded for peer review within 2–3 days.
Manuscripts are evaluated through a rigorous double-blind peer-review system:
Decision Categories:
Authors invited to revise their manuscript must:
Timeline: Decisions on revised submissions are typically communicated within one week.
To safeguard the integrity and impartiality of the peer-review process, THE RADPAC has established strict conflict-of-interest protocols. Manuscripts submitted by Editorial Board members are managed directly by the Editor-in-Chief with full editorial discretion. Submissions authored by the Editor-in-Chief are handled independently by a designated Associate Editor under senior editorial oversight. If any potential conflict of interest is identified between an author and an assigned reviewer, such as prior collaboration or personal relationships, the editorial office will replace the reviewer to prevent bias. These measures ensure that all manuscripts receive an objective and equitable evaluation.
Authors may submit a formal appeal against an editorial decision under specific and substantiated circumstances. Acceptable grounds for appeal include a significant factual error in the evaluation, a demonstrable misunderstanding of the methodology or findings, or evidence of a procedural irregularity. Appeals must be submitted in writing to the Editorial Office within 14 days of the decision notification. The appeal must clearly outline the grounds for reconsideration and address the reasons provided in the original decision letter. Appeals are reviewed independently by a senior editorial committee, and the final and binding decision is issued by the Editor-in-Chief.
Appeals Contact: em@spjpublication.com, em@theradpac.com
THE RADPAC maintains a balanced intellectual property policy that protects author rights while supporting the broad dissemination of research. Authors retain copyright of their published work and may archive preprints and postprints in institutional or subject repositories. Authors may also reuse their material for teaching and future scholarly publications. The authors grant SPJ Publication an exclusive license for commercial reuse. All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, permitting non-commercial sharing and adaptation with appropriate attribution. Permission for commercial reuse must be obtained from permission@spjpublication.com
THE RADPAC upholds the highest standards of research integrity in line with international best practices. All submissions undergo mandatory similarity screening using iThenticate/Turnitin before peer review. Although a similarity index below 10% for self-similarity and 15% overall (excluding references) is generally acceptable, each manuscript is evaluated contextually. The journal follows a strict zero-tolerance policy toward plagiarism. Manuscripts containing substantial unoriginal content are rejected before publication. Plagiarism identified after publication results in retraction, institutional notification, and possible submission embargoes. Severe ethical violations may be reported to relevant oversight bodies. Ethical concerns may be reported confidentially to editor@spjpublication.com
Research Involving Human Participants: All studies conducted with human subjects must strictly adhere to the highest international ethical standards. This includes compliance with the ethical principles established in the Declaration of Helsinki (2013) and the specific guidelines for the protection of research participants issued by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Authors are also responsible for following all applicable institutional and national regulatory requirements.
Required Documentation: Authors must provide clear and verifiable evidence of ethical approval. This includes submitting the name of the approving Institutional Review Board (IRB) or independent ethics committee, the official approval number, and the date of approval. Documentation of informed consent obtained from all participants is mandatory, along with a description of the specific measures implemented to ensure participant confidentiality and data protection. For Case Reports, Case Series, or any manuscript containing potentially identifiable patient information (including clinical images), obtaining written, informed consent specifically for publication is compulsory. A statement confirming that such consent was secured must be included within the manuscript text.
Clinical Trial Registration: To promote transparency, reduce bias, and prevent redundant research, IJMI requires the prospective registration of all clinical trials.
Registration Requirements:
Policy on Animal Research: Innovative Journal of Medical Imaging does not accept manuscripts reporting research conducted on animal subjects. The journal's scope is exclusively dedicated to human medicine, clinical imaging sciences, and related technological innovations for human application. Any manuscript based primarily on animal experimentation will receive an administrative rejection upon initial editorial screening and will not be sent for peer review. Authors are advised to consider this policy prior to submission.
A Data Availability Statement is required for every manuscript submitted to IJMI. This statement must clearly explain how other researchers can access the data from your study. You may state that your data is publicly available in an online repository (please include the link or accession number), that it is included in the supplementary files of your submission, that it is available from you upon a reasonable request, or that it cannot be shared due to specific ethical, legal, or commercial restrictions (which you must justify).
THE RADPAC adheres strictly to ICMJE authorship guidelines. Authors must have made substantial contributions to the study, participated in manuscript drafting or critical revision, approved the final version, and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work. Individuals contributing only through supervision, funding, technical assistance, or language editing should be acknowledged rather than listed as authors. The corresponding author is responsible for verifying authorship eligibility.
Authorship is considered final upon submission. Changes are permitted only in exceptional circumstances and require written consent from all original and proposed authors. Requests must be submitted to em@spjinternational.co, and final approval rests with the editorial office.
Manuscripts must be organised in the following order:
THE RADPAC publishes Original Research Articles, Review Articles, Systematic Reviews, Case Reports, Case Series, Technical Notes, and Letters to the Editor. Each category has defined word limits, abstract requirements, reference limits, and table/figure allowances as specified by the journal.
Original Research Article: This category is for manuscripts presenting novel findings from empirical studies or technological innovations in medical imaging.
Review Article: Review Articles provide a comprehensive and critical synthesis of existing literature on a particular topic within medical imaging.
Systematic Review: Systematic Reviews use explicit, reproducible methods to systematically search, select, appraise, and synthesise all relevant studies on a specific research question.
Case Report: Case Reports describe a novel, instructive, or rare imaging presentation of a single patient that provides valuable learning points for the clinical community.
Case Series: Case Series present a collection of several related cases to identify a pattern, illustrate a novel technique, or describe an emerging phenomenon.
Technical Note: Technical Notes are concise articles focusing on a methodological innovation, a new imaging technique, protocol modification, or preliminary findings from a brief observational study.
Letter to the Editor: Letters to the Editor are brief communications that comment on or critique a recently published article in IJMI, or raise a succinct point of general interest to the readership.
Cover letter addressed to the Editor-in-Chief
Complete title page
Blinded main manuscript
High-resolution figures (≥300 DPI)
Editable tables
Supplementary materials (if applicable)
Reporting guideline checklists (CONSORT, PRISMA, STROBE, CARE)
Ethical approval documents
Copyright permission letters (if required)
Following acceptance, manuscripts enter production, including copyediting and typesetting, typically completed within 2–3 weeks. Authors receive PDF proofs and must return corrections within 48 hours. Articles are published online ahead of print and later assigned to an issue.
THE RADPAC maintains a transparent correction policy. Minor errors are corrected silently. Substantive errors are addressed via corrigenda. Publisher errors are corrected through errata. Serious issues may result in expressions of concern or retraction. Authors must report errors promptly, ideally within 72 hours of discovery.
References must be numbered sequentially by first citation, follow Index Medicus journal abbreviations, include DOIs where available, and provide access dates for online sources.
General Principles:
Author Listing Protocol:
Reference Examples:
Editorial Office: editor@theradpac.com
Appeals: em@spjpublication.com
Permissions: permission@spjpublication.com
Technical Support: support@spjpublication.com
Submission Portal: https://ms.spjinternational.co/index.php/mso/index
Last Updated: 26 January 2026