Aims and scope
Aims and Scope
The journal publishes research on cancers of the colon and rectum. Scope is decided by the subject and the question, not by the method used to answer it.
- Journal
- Journal of Colon And Rectal Cancer
- ISSN
- 2471-7061
- Access
- Open access, CC BY 4.0
- Review
- Independent peer review
The statement
What the journal considers
Peer-reviewed research on cancers of the colon and rectum — tumor biology and genetics, prevention and screening, diagnosis and staging, surgical and systemic treatment, survivorship, and population outcomes.
Laboratory, clinical, epidemiological, health-services and methodological work are all eligible where the question concerns colorectal malignancy. A manuscript is assessed on whether it belongs to this subject and whether its evidence supports the claims it makes — two separate questions, applied in that order.
Manuscripts that pass editorial screening are sent for independent peer review. Single-blind by default; double-blind review is available on request.
In scope
The domains the journal covers
- Foundational and translational biology
- Molecular pathways and driver mutations, the tumor microenvironment, mechanisms of metastasis, hereditary syndromes, model systems, and work that carries a laboratory finding toward clinical evaluation or a clinical observation back to the bench.
- Risk, prevention and early detection
- Modifiable and inherited risk, chemoprevention, colonoscopy quality and outcomes, non-invasive and stool-based screening methods, and surveillance in Lynch syndrome and other high-risk groups.
- Diagnosis and staging
- Pathology, imaging and endoscopic assessment, molecular classification, liquid biopsy and circulating tumor DNA, and the staging decisions that follow from them.
- Surgical treatment
- Minimally invasive and robotic colorectal surgery, total mesorectal excision, organ-preservation strategies, emergency and exenterative surgery, and enhanced recovery protocols.
- Medical, radiation and multidisciplinary treatment
- Chemotherapy regimens, targeted therapy and immunotherapy, radiotherapy, neoadjuvant and adjuvant strategies, treatment resistance, and the multidisciplinary decisions that combine them.
- Biomarkers and methods
- Biomarker discovery and validation, measurement and statistical methodology, study design, and reporting methods, where the work makes a substantive contribution to colorectal cancer research.
- Survivorship, quality of life and supportive care
- Recurrence and long-term follow-up, functional and quality-of-life outcomes, supportive and palliative care, and the care of people living after treatment.
- Epidemiology and population outcomes
- Incidence and mortality trends, including early-onset disease, cohort and registry studies, and population-level outcomes research.
- Implementation, disparities and policy
- Health-services research, screening programs and their uptake, disparities in access and outcome, and policy research clearly connected to colorectal cancer.
The boundary
Where the boundary falls
Generic gastroenterology remains outside scope unless the work makes a substantive contribution to colon or rectal cancer. Subject fit is the first test; it is not a judgment on the quality of work that belongs elsewhere.
The journal's published record illustrates this scope; it does not mark its edge. A sound study on a question the archive has not yet covered is eligible on the same terms as one that extends an existing line of work.
Subject eligibility and evidential strength are assessed separately. A manuscript is not required to report a new biomarker, a prospective trial, external validation, immediate clinical utility or demonstrated therapeutic benefit to be in scope. The evidence a manuscript must carry is the evidence its own claims require.
Article types
What the journal accepts
Original Research
Full-length reports of clinical, observational, translational or laboratory investigation.
Review
Systematic reviews, meta-analyses and narrative reviews that synthesize current evidence.
Case Report
Clinical cases describing an unusual presentation or a novel therapeutic approach.
Perspective
Commentary on an emerging topic or a question of clinical practice.
Preparation requirements for each type are set out in the Instructions for Authors.
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