Instructions For Authors

Scope & Aims

The Journal of Diagnostic and Theranostic Imaging (The JODTi) is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access journal dedicated to advancing innovation in diagnostic imaging, radiology device technologies, and theranostic therapies. We publish high-quality original research, systematic reviews, short communications, case reports, and letters to the editor that contribute to the fields of radiology and nuclear medicine. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, molecular imaging (PET/CT, SPECT/CT, PET/MRI), conventional and advanced radiology modalities (e.g., CT, MRI, ultrasound, fluoroscopy), image-guided interventional systems (angiography suites, C-arm, hybrid ORs), radiopharmaceutical development, dosimetry, radionuclide therapies—such as Lutetium-177 (Lu-177), Iodine-131, and other key nuclear medicine applications—artificial intelligence in imaging, and novel theranostic applications. Manuscripts should present scientifically rigorous work with clear clinical or translational significance.

Manuscript Types & Word Limits

Type of ManuscriptWord Limit (Text Only)Abstract Word LimitReference LimitTable/Figure Limit
Original Research Article4,000400 40up to 6 tables/figures
Review Article5,000400 50up to 10 tables/figures
Short Communication2,000250 10up to 2 tables or figures
Case Report2,00025015up to 5 tables/figures
Letter to the Editor1,000–5up to 2 tables or figures
  • Original Research Articles: Maximum 4,000 words, excluding references, tables, and figure legends. Structured abstract required (Background, Methods, Results, Conclusions; max 400 words).
  • Review Articles: Maximum 5,000 words, excluding references, tables, and figure legends. Structured abstract required (max 400 words). Authors must include a search strategy and PRISMA checklist if systematic review.
  • Short Communications: Maximum 2,000 words, including up to two tables or figures combined. Unstructured abstract required (max 250 words). Focus on a single, novel observation or preliminary data set.
  • Case Reports: Maximum 2,000 words, including up to five tables or figures. Unstructured abstract required (max 250 words). Criteria: original or rare findings in diagnostic imaging or theranostics; must include clinical context, imaging interpretation, and discussion of novelty. Up to 15 references.
  • Letters to the Editor: Maximum 1,000 words, including up to five references and two tables or figures. No abstract permitted. Should comment on articles published in The JODTi or present brief observations of immediate interest to readers.

General Preparation

Language & Style

  • Manuscripts must be written in clear, concise American English. Authors whose first language is not English are encouraged to seek professional editing before submission.
  • Use inclusive and gender-neutral language.
  • Follow the International System of Units (SI) for measurements.
  • Define all abbreviations at first use; thereafter, use abbreviations sparingly.

Ethical Approval & Consent

  • Human Studies: Must adhere to the Declaration of Helsinki. Provide the name of the Institutional Review Board (IRB), approval number, and date. Include a statement:

“The study was approved by the [Name of Ethics Committee], Approval No. [XXX]. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants.”

  • Animal Studies: Must follow ARRIVE guidelines. Provide the name of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and approval number.
  • Patient Identifiers: Any potentially identifying information or images require written informed consent from the patient or legal guardian.

Authorship & Contributor Statements

  • All authors must meet ICMJE authorship criteria: substantial contributions to conception or design; or data acquisition, analysis, or interpretation; drafting or revising the manuscript; final approval; and accountability for the work.
  • Include ORCID iDs for all authors.
  • Provide a CRediT author statement (e.g., “FA: Conceptualization, Methodology; GB: Data curation; NE: Formal analysis; …”).
  • List all funding sources with grant numbers.
  • Disclose any conflicts of interest using the ICMJE form; if none, state “The authors declare no conflicts of interest.”

Clinical Trial Registration

  • All clinical trials must be registered in a public registry (e.g., ClinicalTrials.gov, EU Clinical Trials Register, or WHO ICTRP) before patient enrollment. Include the registration number at the end of the abstract.

Plagiarism & Preprint Policy

  • All submissions undergo iThenticate similarity checking. Similarity should not exceed 15% (excluding references, methods).
  • Submission of manuscripts previously posted on a recognized preprint server (e.g., medRxiv, bioRxiv, Research Square, arXiv) is permitted, but authors must cite the preprint and provide its DOI.

Manuscript Structure

Title Page

  1. Title: Concise, descriptive, and no longer than 200 characters (including spaces).
  2. Running Title (optional): Maximum 40 characters (including spaces).
  3. Authors: Full names (first name, middle initial, last name) followed by ORCID iD for each author.
  4. Affiliations: Department, institution, city, and country for each author. Use superscript numbers to match authors and affiliations.
  5. Corresponding Author: Full postal address, telephone number (including country code), and email address.
  6. Word Counts (optional): Total word count of the manuscript (excluding references, tables, and figure legends); number of tables; number of figures; number of references.
  7. Keywords: Provide 3–6 keywords, listed alphabetically, ideally using MeSH terms.
  8. Funding: List all funding sources, including grant numbers.
  9. Author Contributions: Provide a CRediT taxonomy statement, e.g., “FA: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing—original draft; GB: Data curation, Formal analysis; NE: Investigation, Supervision; …”
  10. Conflict of Interest: State “The authors declare no conflicts of interest” or detail any relevant disclosures.
  11. Clinical Trial Registration (if applicable): Registry name and registration number (e.g., “ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01234567”).
  12. Meeting Presentations (if applicable): “Portions of this work were presented at the [Conference Name], [Date], [Location].”

Abstract & Keywords

  • Original Research & Review Articles: Structured abstract with four headings:
  1. Background (≤ 80 words): Brief context and rationale.
  2. Methods (≤ 120 words): Study design, population, imaging protocols, analysis.
  3. Results (≤ 120 words): Key findings with quantitative data.
  4. Conclusions (≤ 80 words): Main take-home points.
    Maximum 400 words.
  • Short Communications: Unstructured or structured abstract, maximum 250 words, summarizing purpose, key methods, principal findings, and significance.
  • Case Reports: Abstracts may be submitted in either structured format (e.g., with subheadings such as Introduction, Case, Discussion, Conclusion) or unstructured format (single paragraph), not exceeding 250 words.
  • Review Articles: Structured abstract (identical format to Original Research), maximum 400 words. Should outline the scope, methods of literature search, major findings, and conclusions.
  • Keywords: 3–6 terms, listed alphabetically, matching MeSH terms if possible.

Main Text

  1. Introduction (approx. 10% of word count)
  • State the problem, review relevant literature (last 5 years, if possible), and clearly define the objective or hypothesis.
  1. Materials and Methods
  • Use subheadings to improve clarity. Possible subheadings:
    • Study Design and Population: Describe prospective vs. retrospective design, inclusion/exclusion criteria, sample size calculation.
    • Radiopharmaceuticals and Imaging Protocol: Provide radionuclide, administered activity (with units in MBq or mCi), imaging device details (e.g., PET/CT model, SPECT/CT model), acquisition parameters (e.g., uptake time, scan duration, reconstruction settings).
    • Image Analysis: Define how images were interpreted (e.g., software, ROI placement, SUV calculations, reader blinding).
    • Statistical Analysis: Specify statistical tests, software used (including version), and threshold for significance (e.g., p < 0.05).
    • Ethical Approval: Restate IRB information and consent procedure.
  1. Results
  • Present findings in logical order, following methods.
  • Use text to describe key results, referring to tables and figures (e.g., “As shown in Table 1, the mean SUVmax was …”).
  • Provide absolute numbers, percentages, confidence intervals, and p-values where applicable.
  • If subgroups exist (e.g., male vs. female, lesion types), present subgroup analyses clearly.
  1. Discussion
  • Interpret findings relative to existing literature.
  • Discuss clinical or translational implications, strengths, and limitations of the study.
  • Suggest future research directions.
  1. Conclusions (max 200 words)
  • Summarize the main conclusion without repeating details from the Discussion.
  • Emphasize the novelty and potential impact on clinical practice or further research.

References

  • Citation Style: Vancouver (numbered in order of appearance). In-text citations appear in parentheses (e.g., (1), (2–4)). For multiple citations, list as (1,3,5–7).
  • Reference List: Numbered consecutively. Include DOI when available. Use the following formats:
  1. Journal Article: Lynch SE, Crawford C, Hunt AL, et al. Granzyme B PET imaging predicts response to immunotherapy in obesity-associated breast cancer. J Nucl Med. 2025;66(5):1–10. doi:10.2967/jnumed.124.268938
  2. Book Chapter: Sarikaya I, Elgazzar AH. Endocrine imaging. In: Elgazzar AH, Sarikaya I, editors. Nuclear Medicine Companion. 2nd ed. Cham: Springer; 2024. p. 101–134. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-68074-8_4
  3. Web Page: World Health Organization. World health statistics 2025: monitoring health for the SDGs [Internet]. Geneva: WHO; 2025 [cited 2025 May 30]. Available from: https://www.who.int/data/gho/publications/world-health-statistics
  4. Conference Proceedings: European Association of Nuclear Medicine. Abstract book: EANM’24; 2024 Oct 19–23; Hamburg, Germany. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2024;51(Suppl 1)\:S1–S1026. doi:10.1007/s00259-024-06838-z
  • Additional Formats: For data sets, software, theses, consult the NLM Vancouver Quick Guide (updated 2025). Provide repository names and persistent identifiers (e.g., DOI).

Figures, Tables & Legends

Figures

  • File Format: JPEG, JPG, or PNG. Minimum 300 dpi for color/grayscale; 600 dpi for line drawings. Figures may be submitted either as separate “Fig1.jpg,” “Fig2.png,” etc., or embedded within the Word manuscript.
  • Color Mode: RGB for online publication; specify CMYK if intended for print.
  • Size: Maximum width 17.5 cm (one-column) or 8.5 cm (two-column layout). Avoid “stretching” or “shrinking” PDFs.
  • Labels & Panels: Each figure must be numbered (Fig 1, Fig 2, etc.) and divided into panels (A, B, C, D) as needed. Label panels in the top left corner using a sans-serif font, size ≥ 8 pt.
  • Legends: Legends should be included in the manuscript, placed directly beneath each table and figure as captions.. Each legend should:
  1. Define abbreviations and symbols.
  2. State the methodology briefly (e.g., “PET/CT images obtained 60 minutes after injection of 370 MBq ¹⁸F-FDG”).
  3. Be concise (≤ 300 words per figure).
  • File Naming (optional): Name files sequentially as “Fig1.jpg,” “Fig2.png,” etc., matching figure numbers in the text.

Tables

  • Format: Editable Word tables (no embedded images). Avoid horizontal lines except for header and footer.
  • Numbering & Title: Number tables consecutively (Table 1, Table 2…). Place the title above the table in bold.
  • Footnotes: Provide explanatory footnotes (e.g., “*Data are presented as mean ± SD; †p < 0.05 vs. control.”). Define all abbreviations in footnotes.
  • Layout: Limit column width to ensure readability. Avoid splitting tables across pages.
  • Supplementary: If a table is too large for the main article, designate as “Supplementary Table 1,” upload separately, and cite in the text.

Supplementary Material

  • Types: Videos (MP4), 3D models (OBJ/STL), large datasets (CSV, Excel), additional figures/tables.
  • Submission: Upload as separate files labeled “Supplementary Video 1,” “Supplementary Table 1,” etc.
  • Description: Include a brief description in the main text, e.g., “(see Supplementary Video 1 for dynamic imaging sequence).”
  • Accessibility: Materials must be accessible to all readers; avoid proprietary file formats unless no alternative exists.

Submission Process & Peer Review

1. Manuscript Preparation

  1. Blinded Manuscript
    • Remove all author identifiers (names, affiliations, acknowledgments) from the main document.
  2. Title Page (Separate File)
    • Contains full author details, as described under “Manuscript Structure → Title Page.”
  3. Cover Letter
    • Summarize the manuscript’s novelty and relevance to JODTi.
    • Confirm that the manuscript is original and not under consideration elsewhere.
    • Disclose any conflicts of interest.
    • Suggest up to three potential reviewers (include names, affiliations, and email addresses).
  4. Ethics Documentation
    • Provide IRB/ethics committee approval letters or “Declaration Form That the Article Does Not Require Ethics Committee Permission,” if applicable.
  5. Necessary Submission Forms
    • ICMJE Disclosure Form
    • Copyright Agreement and Acknowledgement of Authorship Form
    • Declaration Form That the Article Does Not Require Ethics Committee Permission
      • Purpose: For studies that legitimately do not require IRB approval (e.g., retrospective analyses of de-identified public data).
      • Required: Only if IRB approval is not needed; otherwise, upload the IRB approval letter instead.
      • Download Declaration of No Ethics Required
  6. Figures (JPEG/JPG/PNG) and Tables (Word)
    • Ensure all figure files adhere to format and resolution requirements. Figures may be submitted either as separate JPEG/PNG files (minimum 300 dpi; line drawings ≥600 dpi) named “Fig1.jpg,” “Fig2.png,” etc., or embedded within the Word manuscript.
    • Tables must be fully editable in Word format; no embedded images.
  7. Supplementary Material (if applicable)
    • Label all supplementary files clearly (e.g., “Supplementary Table 1,” “Supplementary Video 1”).

Online Submission (Editorial Manager)

  1. Title Page (Word or PDF)
  2. Blinded Manuscript (Word)
  3. Figures (JPEG/JPG/PNG)
  4. Tables (Word)
  5. Supplementary Material (if applicable)
  6. Cover Letter (Word or PDF)
  7. Ethics Approval Documentation (PDF)
  • Select the appropriate manuscript type and subject area. Provide 3–6 keywords, suggested reviewers (optional), and any uploaded cover letter text.
  • Authors will receive an automatic acknowledgment email with a manuscript ID.

Peer Review Process

  1. Initial Editorial Triage: The Editor-in-Chief (or full-time Editor) reviews for scope, novelty, and compliance with guidelines. Manuscripts failing basic criteria may be returned without review.
  2. Double-Blind Peer Review: Qualified reviewers (≥ 2) evaluate the manuscript for scientific merit, methodological rigor, and ethical compliance. Reviewer identities are concealed from authors; author identities are concealed from reviewers.
  3. Reviewer Comments: Typically returned within 2 weeks. Reviewers provide detailed feedback on methodology, data analysis, interpretation, and writing clarity.
  4. Editorial Decision: Options include Accept, Minor Revision, Major Revision, or Reject. Decision communicated to corresponding author via email.
  5. Revisions: Authors must respond to each reviewer comment point by point in a “Response to Reviewers” document and submit a revised, marked-up manuscript within 14 days of the decision. Failure to do so may result in withdrawal.
  6. Appeal Process: If authors believe a decision is unjust, they may submit an appeal letter to the Editor-in-Chief within 14 days, presenting factual evidence or addressing specific concerns.

Post-Acceptance & Publication

Copy-Editing & Proofs

  • Accepted manuscripts undergo professional copy-editing for grammar, style, and consistency.
  • Authors will receive a PDF proof to review within 48 hours of notification. Corrections are limited to typographical errors; no major content changes are permitted.
  • After final approval, the manuscript is prepared for OnlineFirst publication.

OnlineFirst & Quarterly Issues

  • OnlineFirst: Articles are made available online with DOI as soon as proofs are corrected.
  • Print/Issue Assignment: Final copyedited articles are compiled into quarterly issues published in March, June, September, and December. Authors are notified of their assignment.

Archiving & Indexing

  • Articles are deposited in PubMed Central, CLOCKSS, and other national or institutional repositories to ensure perpetual access.
  • The JODTi is indexed or under application for indexing in major databases (e.g., Scopus, Web of Science, MEDLINE).

Open Access & Licensing

  • The JODTi is fully open access, under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND) license.
  • Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right to publish. Third parties may share articles for non-commercial purposes without modification, provided the original source is cited.
  • No article processing charges (APCs) or page charges are required for submissions received before December 31, 2025. After this date, any changes to fee policies will be announced on the journal website.

Ethical & Legal Requirements

Adherence to Reporting Guidelines

  • Authors must follow relevant reporting checklists:
  • CONSORT for randomized controlled trials.
  • STROBE for observational studies.
  • PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
  • CARE for case reports.
  • SPIRIT for trial protocols.
  • Completed checklists should be submitted as supplementary files.

Informed Consent & Privacy

  • For identifiable patient information or images, authors must obtain written informed consent. If faces or unique identifiers are shown, ensure anonymity through black bars or cropping if necessary.
  • Confirm that patient confidentiality is maintained throughout.

Conflict of Interest & Funding Disclosure

  • All potential conflicts (financial or non-financial) must be disclosed on the Title Page. If none exist, state “The authors declare no conflicts of interest.”
  • A separate Funding Statement should list all sources of financial support, including grant numbers and funding agency.

Plagiarism & Duplicate Publication

  • The JODTI employs iThenticate to screen for text similarity. Similarity must not exceed 15% (excluding references, methods).
  • Manuscripts must be original and not under consideration elsewhere. Submissions that overlap substantially with previously published work will be rejected.

Data Availability

  • Authors are encouraged to deposit raw data, code, and additional materials in public repositories (e.g., Dryad, GitHub) and provide repository URLs and DOIs.
  • If data cannot be shared publicly (e.g., due to patient privacy), provide a rationale and describe how qualified researchers may request access.

Author Responsibilities

Authorship Accountability

  • All listed authors must have contributed significantly and must approve the final version.
  • The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors meet the authorship criteria, that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the final manuscript, and that all authors agree to be accountable for the work.

Originality & Ethical Conduct

  • Authors must ensure the work is original, accurate, and free of fabrication or plagiarism.
  • Any discovered errors post-publication must be promptly reported to the Editor for correction.

Use of AI Tools

  • Authors must disclose any use of artificial intelligence or AI-assisted technologies in manuscript preparation or data analysis in the Methods or Acknowledgments section.

Fees & Charges

  • No Submission or Publication Fees until December 31, 2025.
  • Color Figures: The online version is free of charge. If authors require color figures in the print version, page charges may apply (to be determined and communicated separately).

Checklist for Authors

Before submitting, authors should ensure the following items are complete:

  • [ ] Manuscript prepared in American English with consistent formatting.
  • [ ] Blinded manuscript (no author identifiers) and separate Title Page.
  • [ ] Cover Letter summarizing novelty, confirming originality, and suggesting reviewers.
  • [ ] Abstract formatted correctly (structured for Original/Review; unstructured for Short Communications and Case Reports).
  • [ ] Keywords provided (3–6).
  • [ ] Ethics approval statements and documentation or Declaration of No Ethics Required form uploaded.
  • [ ] Author contributions (CRediT) and ORCID iDs included on Title Page.
  • [ ] Conflict of Interest disclosed.
  • [ ] Funding sources and grant numbers listed.
  • [ ] Clinical Trial Registration number included in Abstract (if applicable).
  • [ ] Figures (JPEG/JPG/PNG) and Tables (editable Word) formatted per guidelines, with legends.
  • [ ] References formatted in Vancouver style with DOIs.
  • [ ] Plagiarism check performed (similarity < 15%).

Contact Information

For further inquiries regarding submissions, policies, or editorial procedures, please contact:

Editorial Office
The Journal of Diagnostic and Theranostic Imaging (The JODTi)
Editor Email: editor@thejodti.org
Info Email: info@thejodti.org
Phone: +90 –
Website: www.thejodti.com

Thank you for considering The JODTi for your manuscript. We look forward to reviewing your work and helping advance the field of diagnostic imaging and theranostics.