Instructions to Authors
Table of contents
- Aims and scope
- How we publish
- Submitting
- Peer review process
- Publication and research ethics
- Publishing agreements and charges
- Preparing your manuscript
- Article types
- Changes to published papers
- Promoting your work
- Contact us
Aims and scope
Clinical Kidney Journal (CKJ) is an essential educational and training resource integrating clinical, translational and educational research into clinical practice. CKJ aims to contribute to a translational research culture among nephrologists and kidney pathologists that helps close the gap between basic researchers and practicing clinicians and promote sorely needed innovation in the nephrology field. CKJ is an official journal of the ERA (European Renal Association).
CKJ is committed to gender equality and reducing disparity in care which results from inequality. The journal is working to improve equity in the following ways:
- Diversifying the editorial board to include women and other underrepresented groups.
- From now (2024), asking all authors to provide sex stratified analyses, where appropriate and to acknowledge if a study is underpowered to identify sex differences. This will become mandatory in 2026.
- Creating a supplement dedicated to the issue of gender inequality – The Forgotten Sex
Gender equality is an issue for which we are all responsible and to support this, authors, reviewers, editors and readers are encouraged to please share their suggestions for inclusion with Kate Stevens (via [email protected]). Working together is likely to be significantly more effective in achieving equity.
CKJ may consider publication of high-quality, peer reviewed supplements. Please contact [email protected] in the first instance.
How we publish
CKJ is a peer reviewed fully open access journal publishing 12 issues per year online. All papers published in the journal are made freely available online under open access publishing agreements, with applicable charges. Please refer to the Publishing agreements and charges below.
Once a paper is accepted and the publishing agreement is signed, the journal will publish the Accepted Manuscript version of the paper (before copyediting and review of the final proof) within one week on the Advance Access page. This will be replaced in Advance Access with the Version of Record of the paper (after copyediting and proof review process) when it is available. The Version of Record will be removed from Advance Access when it is published in the currently open issue. Substantial changes to the published Accepted Manuscript may require a correction notice. The Version of Record requires a correction notice for any changes after it is published, even if it is not yet placed in an issue. See the definitions of the Version of Record and other versions of the paper for more details.
Submitting
CKJ is a fully open access journal receiving more than 1.3 million article downloads per year from across the globe and ranking in the top quartile of the urology & nephrology journals (Journal Citation Reports). We appreciate your interest in submitting your manuscript to CKJ and look forward to the opportunity to consider it. You can learn more about the benefits of publishing in the journal on Why publish your article Open Access with CKJ.
CKJ is an official publication of ERA (European Renal Association). To publish the journal, ERA partners with Oxford University Press (OUP), a not-for-profit publisher and a department of the University of Oxford. Learn more about how publishing with OUP reinvests in the scholarly community on the OUP Authoring page.
After preparing your manuscript according to the guidance in the Preparing your manuscript section, you can submit your work through the journal’s online submission site. If you have not used our submission site before, you will need to create an account. Additional help and instructions are available on the submissions site as you go through the submission process. Please contact us with any questions about submitting your manuscript.
Peer review process
The journal operates single-anonymized peer review, meaning that the identity of the authors is known to the editors and to the reviewers, but that the reviewers’ identities are known only to the editors and are hidden from the authors.
All submissions are seen by at least two members of the editorial team. At submission stage, some submissions are rejected without peer review if the paper fails to meet submission requirements, or if they are deemed to have insufficient priority for further consideration. Once a submitted manuscript passes initial assessment by the journal’s Editor-in-Chief. It will then be passed to a handling editor, who will oversee peer review and recommend a final decision. The Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision on the submitted manuscript.
Revised articles are usually sent for re-review by the same original reviewers. Revision of an article gives no guarantee of acceptance and in some cases revised articles are rejected if the improvements are not sufficient or if new issues arise.
Editors and reviewers must not handle manuscripts if they have a conflict of interest with an author or the content. Editors make every effort to avoid potential conflicts of interest in the assignment of other editors and peer reviewers. Articles submitted by editorial board members are handled in the same fashion as other articles subject to the following considerations: these articles are never assigned to the submitting editor, or an editor from the same institution; the submitting editor is unable to access details of their article through the online submission system; and, like other authors, the submitting editor will not know the identity of the handling editor or referees. For more information, please see the section on Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. During the peer review phase, your manuscript is typically sent to at least two external expert reviewers.
You may suggest potential reviewers at submission. However, there is no guarantee the suggested reviewers will be selected by the journal. Recommended reviewers should be experts in their field and able to provide an objective assessment of your manuscript without financial or interpersonal conflicts of interest with any authors. We encourage you to consider reviewers from a diverse range of backgrounds, including those from under-represented communities.
At the time of submission, you may request that specific individuals not be used as reviewers of your manuscript. Please do so in your cover letter, along with a brief explanation as to why you want them excluded. However, there is no guarantee these individuals will be excluded by the journal.
Statistical methods should be rigorous, and reporting of statistical findings should be accurate and complete. Editors may request an expert statistical review of any submission containing statistical analysis.
If your manuscript is accepted for publication, the reviewer comments will not be published alongside the paper.
For full details about the peer review process, see Fair editing and peer review or OUP author FAQs.
Decision
Your manuscript will receive one of the following decisions:
- Reject before review (at triage)
- Reject after review
- Minor revision
- Major revision
- Accept
Revision
If you receive a minor or major revision decision, you are granted 30 days for a minor revision and 90 days for a major revision to re-submit your manuscript. If you require a longer revision period, please contact [email protected].
Manuscript transfer
Receiving Transfers
The journal accepts original submissions as well as transfers from NDT. Reviewer reports maybe be included in the transfer with reviewer consent. Transferred manuscripts may be sent out for additional peer review, and a decision will be made on the manuscript based on the feedback from all consenting reviewers and the judgment of the editorial team of CKJ.
Screening for misconduct
Manuscripts will be screened using iThenticate to help detect publication misconduct including plagiarism and redundant publication.
Reviewer recognition
To promote recognition of the essential work done by reviewers, the journal offers reviewers the option to have their reviews verified and automatically listed on their Web of Science Researcher Profile.
Appeals and complaints
Authors may appeal an editorial decision. To do so, please contact the editorial office providing as much specific detail as possible about why the original decision should be reconsidered. The appeal should include:
- Author name
- Manuscript title
- Manuscript ID
- Decision date
- An explanation regarding why you feel that the decision was unfair
- Specific comments in relation to the reviewer reports
- Email and contact details
Every appeal will receive a response within a reasonable timeframe. Please do not resubmit your manuscript in the interim. We will only consider one appeal per manuscript.
To register a complaint regarding non-editorial decisions, the journal’s policies and procedures, editors, or staff, please contact us. Complaints will be taken seriously and will be carried forward following COPE guidelines and processes and/or sanctions will be enacted if deemed appropriate.
E-letters to the editor and responses (comments)
The journal welcomes E-Letters to the editor from readers offering relevant comments and providing objective and scholarly criticism of recently published articles in the journal. Contributions should be constructive, professional, and polite.
Correspondence relating to a published article can be submitted electronically through our 'Add comment' facility. This can be accessed through the CKJ website. Correspondents should access the relevant article on this site and use the ‘Add comment' button. When an e-letter is submitted online the author of the original article automatically receives notification that a comment has been submitted and is invited to respond promptly. Correspondents should register on the Oxford Academic Platform to be able to submit a comment.
Publication and research ethics
Authorship
Authorship is limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the design and execution of the work described. The journal requires authors to include an ‘Authors’ contributions’ section in all articles. Any contributors whose participation does not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged but not listed as an author. The journal may contact all listed authors at the point of submission to confirm their role. For a detailed definition of authorship, please see the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) definitions of authors and contributors.
Should your manuscript be accepted for publication, the corresponding author will be required to give signed consent for publication. The corresponding author will also be informed about the publication of the ‘Accepted Manuscript’ version and the final proof. Proofs must be returned by the corresponding author within 48 hours of receipt.
To accelerate publication, only one set of PDF proofs is sent to the corresponding author by email. This shows the layout of the paper as it will appear in the journal. It is, therefore, essential that manuscripts are submitted in their final form, ready for issue publication. Proofreading must be limited to the correction of typographical errors. Any other changes involve time-consuming and expensive work and may not be permitted at this stage. If additions are necessary, these may be made at the end of the paper in a ‘Note in Proof’. Major changes may be subject to editorial approval.
The journal does not allow ghost authorship, where an unnamed author prepares the article with no credit, or guest/gift authorship, where an author who made little or no contribution is listed as an author. The journal follows Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidance on investigating and resolving these cases. For more information, please see the OUP Publication Ethics page.
After manuscript submission, no authorship changes (including the authorship list, author order, and who is designated as the corresponding author) should be made unless there is a substantive reason to do so. The editor and all co-authors must agree on the change(s), and neither the journal nor the publisher mediates authorship disputes. If individuals cannot agree on the authorship of a submitted manuscript, contact the editorial office at [email protected]. The dispute must be resolved among the individuals and their institution(s) before the manuscript can be accepted for publication. If an authorship dispute or change arises after a paper is accepted, contact OUP’s Author Support team. COPE provides guidance for authors on resolving authorship disputes.
After submission, changing who is designated as the corresponding author will be permitted only where there is a substantive reason to do so. For the avoidance of doubt, changing the corresponding author in order to access Read and Publish funding is not permissible. For more information on Read and Publish funding, see the Publishing agreements and charges section.
AI tools
Natural language processing tools driven by artificial intelligence (AI) do not qualify as authors, and the journal will screen for them in author lists. The use of AI (for example, to help generate content or images, write code, process data, or for translation) should be disclosed both in cover letters to editors and in the Methods or Acknowledgements section of manuscripts. Please see the COPE position statement on Authorship and AI for more details.
ORCID
Authors are encouraged to provide their ORCID iDs (Open Researcher and Contributor IDs) at submission and take advantage of the benefits of participating in ORCID.
If you do not already have an ORCID iD, you can register for free via the ORCID website.
As ORCID identifiers are collected, they are included in papers and displayed online, both in the HTML and PDF versions of the publication, in compliance with recommended practice issued by ORCID.
ORCID functionality online allows users to link to the ORCID website to view an author’s profile and list of publications. ORCID iDs are displayed on web pages and are sent downstream to third parties in data feeds, where supported.
If you have registered with ORCID, you can associate your ORCID iD with your submission system account by going to your account details, entering your ORCID iD, and validating your details. Learn more about ORCID and how to link it to your account.
Group Authorship
Groups (also known as corporate, organization, or collective names) who meet authorship criteria should be included in the main author list. Every individual in the group should fully meet the criteria for authorship. At least one individual must be designated on behalf of the group as the primary point of contact during the peer-review and production processes, as well as for correspondence following publication. You may list this individual separately in the main author list if desired. A complete list of the individual members of the group must be included in the manuscript under Collaborators.
The group name will be entered for a PubMed Central (PMC) citation. The names of the individual members of the group will be entered as collaborator names for PMC citation, in the order in which they are published in the paper. If an individual is named both in the main author list and as a member of the group, they will appear in PMC as both an author and a collaborator. In order to be indexed as collaborators, the names of the consortium or working group members should be listed in an Appendix in the main text document, before the Reference list. The consortium or working group should also be included in the main author list. PubMed will list the names of individual group members who are authors or collaborators. There should be a note associated with the author list clearly stating that the individual names are elsewhere in the paper and whether those names are authors or collaborators. Collaborator names are searchable on PubMed in the same way as authors. PubMed rules for this can be found here.
Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest
Authors
The journal requires all authors to disclose any potential conflict of interest at the point of submission. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to ensure that conflicts of interest of all authors are declared to the journal.
A conflict of interest exists when the position, activities, or relationships of an individual, whether direct or indirect, financial or non-financial, could influence or be seen to influence the opinions or activities of the individual. For more information, refer to OUP’s definition of conflict of interest.
The journal follows the COPE guidance for any undisclosed conflict of interest that emerges during peer review, production, or after publication.
The corresponding author must submit a completed and signed International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) disclosure of potential conflicts of interest (COI) form for each author at initial submission. A form must be submitted even if there are no interests to disclose, in which case the disclosure form and manuscript should state “none declared.” In addition, the manuscript must include a concise and accurate summary of any conflicts of interest declared in the ICMJE forms. All forms should either be sent in ONE email to the editorial office or uploaded with the other manuscript files as 'supporting document' during the submission process.
Peer reviewers
Individuals that have a conflict of interest relating to a submitted manuscript should recuse themselves and will not be assigned to oversee, handle, or peer review the manuscript.
If during peer review an editor, reviewer, or author becomes aware of a conflict of interest that was not previously known or disclosed they must inform the Editor-in-Chief immediately.
Editors and editorial board members
At initial submission, the corresponding author must declare if the Editor-in-Chief, an editor, or an Editorial Board Member of the journal is an author of or contributor to the manuscript. Another editor without a conflict of interest will oversee the peer review and decision-making process. If accepted, a statement will be published in the paper describing how the manuscript was handled.
Previously published material
You should only submit your manuscript(s) to the journal if:
It is original work by you and your co-author(s).
It is not under consideration, in peer review, or accepted for publication in any other publication.
It has not been published in any other publication.
It contains nothing abusive, defamatory, derogatory, obscene, fraudulent, or illegal.
The submitting author must disclose in their cover letter and provide copies of all related or similar preprints, dissertations, manuscripts, published papers, and reports by the same authors (i.e., those containing substantially similar content or using the same, similar, or a subset of data) that have been previously published or posted electronically or are under consideration elsewhere at the time of manuscript submission. You must also provide a concise explanation of how the submitted manuscript differs from these related manuscripts and papers. All related previously published papers should be cited as references and described in the submitted manuscript.
The journal does not discourage you from presenting your findings at conferences or scientific meetings but recommends that you refrain from distributing complete copies of your manuscripts, which might later be published elsewhere without your knowledge.
For previously published materials including tables and figures, please see the Reusing copyrighted materials section.
Preprints
As an author, you retain the right to make an Author’s Original Version (preprint) available through various channels and this does not prevent submission to the journal. If accepted, the authors are required to update the status of any preprint, including adding your published paper’s DOI. For full details on allowed channels and updating your preprint, please see our Author self-archiving policy.
Reusing copyrighted material
As an author, you must obtain permission for any material used within your manuscript for which you are not the rightsholder, including quotations, tables, figures, or images. In seeking permissions for published materials, first contact the publisher rather than the author. For unpublished materials, start by contacting the creator. Copies of each grant of permission should be provided to the editorial office of the journal. The permissions agreement must include the following:
- nonexclusive rights to reproduce the material in your paper in Clinical Kidney Journal
- rights for use in print and electronic format at a minimum, and preferably for use in any form or medium
- lifetime rights to use the material
- worldwide English-language rights
Permission information should be detailed in the cover letter and in the figure legend.
Your paper will be published under an open access licence but if it contains third-party material for which you have not obtained open access re-use permissions, this must be stated clearly by supplying a credit line alongside the material with the following information:
- Title of content
- Author, Original publication, year of original publication, by permission of [rightsholder]
- This image/content is not covered by the terms of the Creative Commons licence of this publication. For permission to reuse, please contact the rights holder.
Our publisher, Oxford University Press, provides detailed Copyright and Permissions Guidelines, and a summary of the fundamental information.
Misconduct
Authors should observe high standards with respect to research integrity and publication ethics as set out by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Falsification or fabrication of data including inappropriate image manipulation, plagiarism, including duplicate publication of the author's own work without proper citation, and misappropriation of work are all unacceptable practices. Allegations of ethical misconduct, both directly and through social media, are treated seriously and will be investigated in accordance with the relevant COPE guidance.
If misconduct has been established beyond reasonable doubt, this may result in one or more of the following outcomes, among others:
- If a submitted manuscript is still under consideration, it may be rejected and returned to the author.
- If a paper has already been published online, depending on the nature and severity of the infraction, either a correction notice will be published and linked to the paper, or retraction of the paper will occur, following the COPE Retraction Guidelines.
- The relevant party’s institution(s) and/or other journals may be informed.
Manuscripts submitted to the journal may be screened with plagiarism-detection software. Any manuscript may be screened, especially if there is reason to suppose that part or all the of the manuscript has been previously published.
COPE defines plagiarism as “when somebody presents the work of others (data, words or theories) as if they were their own and without proper acknowledgment.”
COPE defines redundant/overlapping publication as “when a published work (or substantial sections from a published work) is/are published more than once (in the same or another language) without adequate acknowledgment of the source/cross-referencing/justification,
or
when the same (or substantially overlapping) data is presented in more than one publication without adequate cross-referencing/justification, particularly when this is done in such a way that reviewers/readers are unlikely to realise that most or all the findings have been published before.”
COPE defines citation manipulation as “behaviours intended to inflate citation counts for personal gain, such as: excessive self-citation of an authors’ own work, excessive citation to the journal publishing the citing article, and excessive citation between journals in a coordinated manner.”
Data fabrication is defined as intentionally creating fake data or misrepresenting research results. An example includes making up data sets.
Data falsification is defined as manipulating research data with the purpose of intentionally giving a false representation. This can apply to images, research materials, equipment, or processes. Examples include cropping of gels/images to change context and omission of selected data.
If notified of a potential breach of research misconduct or publication ethics, the journal editor and editorial office staff may inform OUP and/or the author’s institutional affiliation(s).
Ethical research
The journal follows Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines on ethical oversight. We take research integrity seriously, and all research published in the journal must have been conducted in a fair and ethical manner. Wherever appropriate, the journal requires that all research be done according to international and local guidelines.
Human subjects and patient consent
When reporting on human subjects, you should indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Helsinki Declaration, which were developed by the World Medical Association. For non-interventional studies, where ethical approval is not required or where a study has been granted an exemption by an ethics committee, this should be stated within the manuscript with a full explanation. Otherwise, manuscripts must include a statement in the Methods section that the research was performed after approval by a local ethics committee, institutional review board and/or local licensing committee, or that such approval was not required. The name of the authorizing body and any reference/permit numbers (where available) should also be stated there. Please be prepared to provide further information to the editorial office upon request.
CKJ follows the ICMJE guidelines for patient reporting. Human subjects must give written informed consent, or if they are minors or incapacitated, such consent must be obtained from their parents or guardians. The patient must read and sign the patient consent form. This consent form must be archived by the authors for seven years. Completed consent forms are NOT to be submitted to the journal. Completed forms should be held by the treating institution according to locally approved procedures. A statement indicating that approved consent has been achieved will be published with the article.
Consent forms should cover not only study participation but also the publication of the data collected. Also, any patient or provider information should be anonymized to the extent possible; names and ID numbers should not be used in the text and must be removed from any images (X-rays, photographs, etc.). Please note blanking out an individual’s eyes in a photograph is not an effective way to conceal their identity. In studies where verbal, rather than written, informed consent was obtained, this must be explained and stated within the manuscript. If informed consent is not required or where a study has been granted an exemption, this must be included in the Methods section along with the name of the authorizing body. If the patient or relatives of a deceased patient cannot be traced and consent cannot be obtained, the case can only be considered for publication if it is sufficiently anonymised. The journal does not routinely collect consent forms, but authors should be prepared to provide written consent forms signed by the participants or other appropriate documentation to the editorial office upon request. For further guidance and examples, please refer to COPE’s guidance on consent.
Clinical trials
Clinical trials should be registered before enrolment of the first subject in accordance with the criteria outlined by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). When reporting primary or secondary analyses from a clinical trial, follow these criteria:
- Provide the trial registration number at the end of the Abstract.
- When the trial acronym is first used in the manuscript, provide the registration number and a link to the trial registration, which should be cited as a reference.
- If your data have been deposited in a public repository and/or are being used in a secondary analysis, please state at the end of the Abstract the unique, persistent data set identifier, and repository name and number.
- When submitting the manuscript, you must disclose any protocol alterations and all posting of results of the submitted work or closely related work in registries.
- If you are planning to submit a clinical trial protocol, please refer to the SPIRIT statement and COMET handbook.
- In reporting randomized clinical trials, you must comply with published CONSORT guidelines.
Where available, registration numbers should be provided not only for the trial you are reporting but also for any other trial mentioned in the manuscript. When the trial acronym is first used in the manuscript, provide the registration number and a link to the trial registration, which should be cited as a reference.
Animal subjects
Studies involving animals require approval from the relevant institutional ethics committee or institutional animal use and care committee, and the research must be conducted in accordance with applicable national and international guidelines. All such manuscripts must include a statement in the Methods section providing details of the name of the committee(s) that approved the study, as well as the permit or animal license numbers where available. Where a study has been granted an exemption, this must be stated in the Methods section along with the name of the authorizing body. Please be prepared to provide further information to the editorial office upon request.
ARRIVE guidelines
You are encouraged to consult the ARRIVE guidelines recommended by the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3R).
Euthanasia or Anaesthesia Methods
Where applicable, any euthanasia or anaesthesia methods must be carried out in accordance with applicable veterinary guidelines. These methods must be described in detail in the manuscript.
Laboratory Animals
Manuscripts describing research involving laboratory-based animals must include details on housing, husbandry, and steps taken to reduce suffering. In studies where experimental animals were euthanized, details must be provided on humane endpoints. Details on the planned behavioural observations or physiological measurements used to determine the humane endpoint must be described. You are advised to consult the NC3Rs guide on Humane Endpoints and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Guidelines for the Humane Slaughter of Animals.
C4DISC partnership
The journal, the ERA, and OUP aim to create a community that fosters diversity, equity, and inclusion. As part of our commitment to these principles, OUP is a proud partner of the Coalition for Diversity & Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC). C4DISC works with organizations and individuals within the scholarly communications landscape to foster equity, inclusion, diversity, and accessibility across the publishing industry and its published outputs.
The journal is proud to adopt the Joint Statement of Principles of C4DISC.
Inclusive language and images
As defined by the Linguistic Society of America, “Inclusive language acknowledges diversity, conveys respect to all people, is sensitive to differences, and promotes equal opportunities”. We encourage you to consider using inclusive language and images when preparing your manuscript. For guidelines, please see the C4DISC Guidelines on inclusive language and images.
Accessibility
Written, visual, and audio content in your submission should be accessible to all. Please see the C4DISC guidelines for making text, images, charts, tables, and audio and video accessible.
Availability of data and materials
The journal requires all authors, where ethically possible, to publicly release all data and software code underlying any published paper as a condition of publication. Authors are required to include a data availability statement in their paper. When data and software underlying the research article are available in an online source, authors should include a full citation in their reference list. For details of the minimum information to be included in data and software citations see the OUP guidance on citing research data and software.
Whenever possible, data should be presented in the main manuscript or additional supporting files or deposited in a public repository. Visit OUP’s Research data page for information on general repositories for all data types, and resources for selecting repositories by subject area.
Data availability statement
The inclusion of a data availability statement is a requirement for papers published in the Journal. Data availability statements provide a standardized format for readers to understand the availability of original and third-party data underlying the research results described in the paper. The statement should describe and provide means of access, where possible, by linking to the data or providing the required unique identifier.
More information and example data availability statements.
Authors may request an exception to the policy due to legal, privacy, ethical, or other limitations or restrictions. Exceptions will be made at the discretion of the journal. Please notify the editorial office at [email protected] when submitting your manuscript if you wish to request an exception. If an exception is granted, a data availability statement must still be included in your paper specifying what cannot be shared and explaining why.
Data and software citation
CKJ supports the Force 11 Data Citation Principles and the recommendations of the FORCE11 Software Citation Implementation Group. When data and software underlying the research article are available in an online source, authors should include a full citation in their reference list.
For details of the minimum information to be included in data and software citations see the guidance on Citing research data and software.
Choosing where to archive your data
Authors are highly encouraged to select a repository that issues DOIs as this helps to facilitate persistent linking to the dataset from the research article. You may refer to online resources such as FAIRsharing.org and re3data.org for lists of data repositories, including information on certification status and services offered.
Digital Preservation
Content published in the journal will automatically be deposited into digital preservation services, including CLOCKSS, the Global LOCKSS Network, and Portico. This ensures the long-term preservation of your work. Through LOCKSS, participating institutions can sustain access to content if the Journal were to otherwise be unavailable, even for a short period of time. Should the journal ever cease to publish, or content would otherwise become permanently unavailable, long-term access to the archives of CLOCKSS and Portico would be triggered. Until such a trigger event were to occur, this content is not available to the public through CLOCKSS and Portico.
Self-archiving
Self-archiving refers to posting a copy of your work on a publicly accessible website or repository. Under certain circumstances, you may self-archive versions of your work on your own webpages, on institutional webpages, and in other repositories. For information about the journal's policy, and to learn which version(s) of your paper are acceptable for self-archiving, please see our Author self-archiving policy.
Publishing agreement and charges
Authors, please read each section on the publishing agreement and charges carefully.
Publishing agreement
After your manuscript is accepted, you will be asked to sign a licence to publish through the Journals Licencing and Online Payments portal. The journal is fully open access, meaning all papers in the journal are published under an open access licence. The corresponding author will need to arrange payment of an open access charge to publish in the journal. This charge allows all published papers to be immediately and freely available to all readers immediately upon online publication. Editorial decisions occur prior to this step and are not influenced by payment or ability to pay.
Papers can be published under the following:
- Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY)
- Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial licence (CC BY-NC)
Please see the OUP guidance on Licences, copyright, and re-use rights for more information regarding these publishing agreement options.
Complying with funder mandates
Please note that some funders require open access publication as a condition of funding. If you are unsure whether you are required to publish open access, please do clarify any such requirements with your funder or institution before selecting your licence.
Further information on funder mandates and direct links to a range of funder policies.
Charges
Open access charges
Please see the details of open access licences and charges. As the journal is fully open access, you must pay the open access charge or request to use an institutional agreement to pay the open access charge through the Journals Licencing and Online Payments portal.
- CC BY, CC BY-NC licence: €2951
- CC BY, CC BY-NC licence ERA member discount: 33%
- CC BY, CC BY-NC licence - editorial comments (not invited) and exceptional cases: €1475
- CC BY, CC BY-NC licence ERA member discount - editorial comments (not invited) and exceptional cases: 33%
- CC BY, CC BY-NC licence – CKJ Review (on invitation only), letter to the editor, editorial comment (on invitation only): €0
- CC BY licence available for articles funded by the Wellcome Trust, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and UKRI only
OUP has a growing number of open access agreements with institutions and consortia, which provide funding for open access publishing (also known as Read and Publish agreements). This means corresponding authors from participating institutions can publish open access, and the institution may pay the charge. Find out if your institution has an open access agreement.
To be eligible for one of OUP’s Read and Publish agreements, the corresponding author must provide their qualifying institution as their primary affiliation when they submit their manuscript. After submission, changing the corresponding author in order to access Read and Publish funding is not permissible.
Corresponding authors based in countries and regions that are part of the developing countries initiative receive a full waiver of their open access charge. For further details, please see our open access waiver policy.
Member discounts
Corresponding authors who are members of the ERA may be eligible for discounts on publication charges. Please provide your member identifier when prompted as you submit your manuscript.
Member open access charge:
- CC BY, CC BY-NC licence ERA member rate: €1869
- CC BY, CC BY-NC licence ERA member rate - editorial comments (not invited) and exceptional cases: €935
Colour charges
The journal does not charge for colour.
Page charges
The journal does not have page charges.
Preparing your manuscript
General guidelines on preparing your manuscript for publication can be found on OUP’s Preparing and submitting your manuscript page. Specific instructions for CKJ can be found below.
Study Funding
You must fully declare all funding information relevant to the study, including specific grant numbers, under a separate subheading following the acknowledgements.
Style
The journal follows Oxford SCIMED style. Please refer to these requirements when preparing your manuscript after initial review.
Pre-submission language editing
You may wish to use a language-editing service before submitting to ensure that editors and reviewers understand your manuscript. This is not a mandatory step but may help to ensure that the academic content of your paper is fully understood by journal editors and reviewers. Language editing does not guarantee that your manuscript will be accepted for publication. If you would like information about such services please visit our Author Resources page. There are other specialist language editing companies that offer similar services and you can also use any of these. Authors are liable for all costs associated with such services.
Submission of a clinical trial, epidemiological observational study, or systematic review
Please refer to the following statements or documents if you are planning to submit:
A clinical trial protocol: SPIRIT statement and COMET handbook. Please also see the Clinical trials section above.
Clinical trial results: CONSORT statement and COMET handbook. Please also see the Clinical trials section above.
An epidemiology study: STROBE statement
A systematic review/meta-analysis: PROSPERO statement
For experimental animal research, authors may want to register their study on https://preclinicaltrials.eu/. This registration is not mandatory but strongly advised. Please also see the Animal subjects section above.
Title page
Your manuscript must contain a title page with the following information:
- Manuscript title and running head
- Authorship list with author names
- Author affiliations
- One corresponding author, including email address and, if available, the X handle and/or ORCID ID
Titles
The CKJ editorial policy aims at having short article titles. Please note that your title might be changed by the Editor-in-Chief before publication.
Running head
A running head is an abbreviated version of your paper's title. This should be a maximum of 50 characters including spaces.
Author names
For all authors, first name and last name should be written in full (no degrees).
In the cover letter and in a separate ‘authors’ contributions’ section, the individual contribution of each co-author must be detailed.
Manuscripts should also bear the full name and email of the author to whom the proofs and correspondence should be sent (the corresponding author).
Abbreviations
Authors should not use abbreviations in the title and headings. Abbreviations should be spelled out after their first use in the text. Authors are advised to refrain from excessive use of uncommon abbreviations, particularly to describe groups of patients or experimental animals.
Trade names
Non-proprietary (generic) names of products should be used. If a brand name for a drug is used, the British or International non-proprietary (approved) name should be given. The source of any new or experimental preparation should also be given.
Text abstracts
Text abstracts must be written in English.
Graphical, video and audio abstracts
Authors of Original articles are encouraged to submit a graphical, video, and/or audio abstract in addition to a text abstract for their manuscript at initial submission.
Selected papers may also be invited to record a short presentation video using Panopto. If selected, authors will receive separate instructions from the editorial office.
Graphical abstracts
A graphical abstract is a single figure prepared by the authors that summarizes the key point(s) of an article and serves as a visual introduction to encourage interest in the content.
Format: PowerPoint. The CKJ GA template is available for download.
When preparing your graphical abstract, keep in mind that they are ideally suited for promoting your article on social media, so text should be large enough to be read in that context, and text kept to a minimum as space is limited. The graphical abstract should not be one of the key images, figures or graphs from the paper. Please also consider the accessibility of your graphical abstract to all readers. See OUP’s Guidelines for making figures accessible.
Graphical abstracts are peer reviewed and published as part of the article online and in the PDF. It also appears in the table of contents and some other journal pages including in search results.
If the quality is not sufficient the editors reserve the right to reject the graphical abstract for publication and publish a standard text abstract only.
Your graphical abstract should be submitted as a separate file, selecting the appropriate file type designation in the online submission system. The file should be named “graphical_abstract”. Please see OUP's guidance on appropriate file format and resolution for graphics.
Video abstracts
Video abstracts should be a short presentation summarizing the key messages in the paper. The video abstract could be the author(s) speaking directly to the camera, or a slideshow of key messages with or without an audio commentary.
Format: mp4, landscape
Resolution: highest possible
Length: 5 minutes maximum
Video abstracts are peer reviewed and published as part of the article online and a link to the video abstract is included in the PDF.
Ensure that the recording is of sufficient quality and that any audio/sound is clear before submission. if the quality is not sufficient the editors reserve the right to reject the video for publication and publish a standard text abstract only.
Your video abstract should be submitted as a separate file, selecting the appropriate file type designation in the online submission system. The file should be named “video_abstract”.
Audio abstracts
Audio abstracts should provide a short verbal summary of the key messages in the paper.
Format: mp3, audio bitrate at least 160kbps
Length: 5 minutes maximum
Audio abstracts are peer reviewed and published as part of the article online and a link to the audio abstract is included in the PDF.
Ensure that that recording is of sufficient quality and that any audio/sound is clear before submission. if the quality is not sufficient the editors reserve the right to reject the audio for publication and publish a standard text abstract only.
Your video abstract should be submitted as a separate file, selecting the appropriate file type designation in the online submission system. The file should be named “audio_abstract”.
Videos
Selected papers may be invited to record a short presentation video using Panopto. If selected, authors will receive separate instructions from the editorial office.
Tables
All tables must be numbered consecutively, and each must have a brief heading describing its contents. Any footnotes to tables should be indicated by superscript characters. Tables must be referred to in the main text in running order. All tables must be simple and not duplicate information given in the text.
Figure preparation
Please submit your figures as separate files in one of the following formats: EPS, AI, SVG, Excel, Photoshop, PowerPoint, or PDF. After acceptance, the figures will be redesigned by CKJ’s in-house medical illustrator. Authors will receive the redesigned images for approval before publication.
For useful information on preparing your figures for publication, go to Preparing and submitting your manuscript. The journal reserves the right to reduce the size of illustrative material. Any photomicrographs, electron micrographs or radiographs must be of high quality. Wherever possible, photographs should fit within the area of 169 x 235 mm (full page) or within the column width of 82 mm. Photomicrographs should provide details of staining technique and a scale bar. Patients shown in photographs should have their identity concealed or should have given their written consent to publication.
Figure accessibility and alt text
Incorporating alt text (alternative text) when submitting your paper helps to foster inclusivity and accessibility. Good alt text ensures that individuals with visual impairments or those using screen readers can comprehend the content and context of your figures. The aim of alt text is to provide concise and informative descriptions of your figure so that all readers have access to the same level of information and understanding, and that all can engage with and benefit from the visual elements integral to scholarly content. Including alt text demonstrates a commitment to accessibility and enhances the overall impact and reach of your work.
Alt text is applicable to all images, figures, illustrations, and photographs.
Alt text is only accessible via e-reader and so it won’t appear as part of the typeset article.
Detailed guidance on how to draft and submit alt text.
Image acquisition and analysis
If primary experimental data are presented in the form of a computer-generated image, any editing must be described in detail. A linear (rather than sigmoidal) relationship between signal and image intensity is assumed. Unless stated otherwise, it will be assumed that all images are unedited.
Inappropriate manipulation of images to highlight desired results is not allowed. Please adhere to the following guidelines to accurately present data:
- No specific feature within an image may be enhanced, obscured, moved, removed, or introduced.
- The grouping of images from different parts of the same gel, or from different gels, fields, or exposures (i.e., the creation of a "composite image") must be made absolutely explicit by the arrangement of the figure (i.e., using dividing lines) and explained in the figure legend.
- Adjustments of brightness, contrast, or colour balance are acceptable if they are applied to the whole image and as long as they do not obscure, eliminate, or misrepresent any information present in the original, including the background.
- Non-linear adjustments (e.g., changes to gamma settings) must be disclosed in the figure legend.
- Alteration of brightness or contrast that results in the disappearance of any features in a gel (either bands or cosmetic blemishes) or similar alterations in other experimental images is strictly forbidden.
Authors should retain unprocessed images and metadata files, as the journal may request them during manuscript evaluation, and/or after publication should there be a query relating to a specific figure. Files that have been adjusted in any way should be saved separately from the originals, in a non-compressed format. Compressed formats, such as JPG, should only be used for presentation of final figures, when requested, to keep file sizes small for electronic transmission. The journal reserves the right to use image analysis software on any submitted image.
References
The references should be numbered in the order in which they appear in the text. References to published abstracts should be mentioned in the text but not in the reference list.
At the end of the article the full list of references should give the name and initials of all authors unless there are more than six, when only the first three should be given followed by et al. The authors' names should be followed by the title of the article, the title of the journal abbreviated according to the style of Index Medicus, the year of publication, the volume number and the first and last page numbers. References to books should give the title of the book, which should be followed by the place of publication, the publisher, the year and the relevant pages.
Examples
1. David S, Kumpers P, Lukasz A et al. Circulating angiopoietin-2 levels increase with progress of chronic kidney disease. Nephrol Dial Transplant 2010; 25: 2571–2576
Books:
2. Roberts NK. The cardiac conducting system and the His bundle electrogram. Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York, NY: 1981; 49-56
Chapters:
3. Rycroft RJG, Calnan CD. Facial rashes among visual display unit (VDU) operators. In: Pearce BG, ed. Health hazards of VDUs. Wiley, London, UK: 1984; 13-15
Note: In the online version of CKJ, there are automatic links from the reference section of each article to PubMed. This is a useful feature for readers but is only possible if the references are accurate. It is the responsibility of the author to ensure the accuracy of the references in the submitted article. Downloading references directly from Medline is highly recommended.
Supplementary material
Supporting material that is not essential for inclusion in the full text of the manuscript, but would nevertheless benefit the reader, can be made available by the publisher. There is no extra charge for the publication of online-only supplementary data/tables/figures. Such material should not be essential to understanding the conclusions of the paper but should contain data that is additional or complementary and directly relevant to the article content. Such information might include more detailed methods, extended data sets/data analysis, or additional figures/tables.
All text and figures must be provided in suitable electronic formats (please follow this link for instructions on the preparation of supplementary material). All material to be considered as supplementary material must be submitted at the same time as the main manuscript for peer review. It cannot be altered or replaced after the paper has been accepted for publication. Please indicate clearly the material intended as supplementary material upon submission. Also ensure that the supplementary material is referred to in the main manuscript where necessary.
Social media
The CKJ editorial office might promote your paper on the journal’s social media channels. Authors who have an X (formerly Twitter) account are encouraged to add their handle to the corresponding author details. If you want CKJ to organize a tweetorial about your paper, please contact the editorial office.
Article types
Editorial comment
Maximum 1500 words
No abstract
1 figure or table
Maximum 10 references
Editorials are usually solicited by the editors but may also be submitted without invitation but should be topical and highly focused.
Letter to the editor
Letters should be formatted in one continuous section
No abstract
No keywords
600 words
5 references
1 figure or 1 table
Please note that the journal no longer publishes Letters to the editor commenting on previous CKJ publications. Authors should submit any correspondence relating to a published article as an E-letter to the editor (comment).
CKJ Review
Word count: maximum 4000, excluding abstract (up to 250 words) and references
At least 4 figures or tables
Maximum number of authors: 10
Keywords: maximum 5
References: no maximum
CKJ Reviews are usually solicited by the Editor-in-Chief and are comprehensive analyses of specific topics in nephrology. Potential authors may suggest topics for CKJ Reviews for consideration by the Editor-in-Chief.
Original article
Word count: maximum 3000, excluding abstract (up to 250 words) and references, tables and figures
Figures or tables: no limit
Maximum number of authors: no limit
Keywords: maximum 5
References: maximum 50
The order of original articles should be as follows:
- Title page including the title (please bear in mind that we prefer a title to be concise yet eye-catching) and details of all authors, including first and last name, and affiliation.
- (On a separate page) an abstract of ~250 words, which should consist of four sections: 'Background', 'Methods', 'Results' and 'Conclusions'. They should briefly describe, respectively, the problems being addressed in this study, how the study was performed, the salient results, and what the authors concluded from the study.
- The article must also contain three 'key learning points', which should be brief, descriptive and precise.
- What was known: In a maximum of three bullet point sentences (no more than 50 words each), please summarise the state of knowledge on this topic before your study was initiated and say why this study needed to be done.
- This study adds: In a maximum of three bullet point sentences (no more than 50 words each), provide a succinct answer to the questions “What do we now know as a result of this study that we did not know before?” and “What key message do you want to share with readers?”
- Potential impact: In a maximum of three bullet point sentences (no more than 50 words each) please provide a brief statement on the possible impact this may have on day to day occupational medicine practice and/or policy.
- Keywords: not more than 5, in alphabetical order, characterizing the scope of the paper, the principal materials, and main subject of work.
- On a new page: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgements, References, Table, Legends to figure and Figure. All pages should be numbered consecutively commencing with the title page. Headings (Introduction, Materials and Methods etc.) should be placed on separate lines.
Any statistical method must be detailed in the Materials and Methods section, and any not in common use should be described fully or supported by references. The name of the Ethics Committee that approved any study dealing with individuals must be added as part of the Acknowledgements and the approval number must be included in the Methods.
Exceptional case
Word count: maximum 750 words, with an abstract of up to 100 words
Maximum number of authors: 6
Maximum 1 figure or table
Keywords: maximum 5
References: maximum 5
The order of exceptional case papers should be as follows:
- Title page giving details of all authors, including first and last name, and affiliation.
- On a separate page an abstract of 100 words summarising the case and its importance.
- Keywords: not more than 5, in alphabetical order, characterizing the case.
- On a new page: Background, Case Report(s), Discussion, Patient Consent, Acknowledgements, References, Tables, Legends to figures and Figures. All pages should be numbered consecutively commencing with the title page. Headings (Introduction; Case report(s), etc) should be placed on separate lines. It is important that authors number their pages and lines prior to submission as reviewers will refer to particular pages/lines when providing their comments on the manuscript.
Exceptional cases should provide unique insight into the pathophysiology of disease or describe novel clinical observations. Descriptions of rare diseases will only be considered if they provide new information about the condition.
The name of the Ethics Committee that approved any study dealing with individuals must be added as part of the Acknowledgements and the approval number must be included in the Methods. Authors should demonstrate and confirm that written consent for publication of the case report was obtained from relevant patients.
Pro/Con debate
The two contenders should:
- Produce a compact description of their view (1500 words, 2 figures, or 1 figure and 1 table, and an abstract of maximum 100 words to be used by the moderator to compose the final abstract of the complete debate) and maximum 10 references.
- The contenders should not touch upon the relevance of the problem or discuss epidemiology and clinical relevance. This will be done by the moderator who will be responsible for writing a 500 words "introduction". The reviews of the two contenders should focus directly on the problem.
- A Conclusion and a Perspective should be included in the opposing views.
- These parts might be edited by the moderator, if needed.
- Finally, the moderator will pull the strings and provide a balanced view of the PROS and CONS of the two views and will produce an independent, balanced appraisal of the problem being contended.
- Only 1 author per part is allowed, no co-authors can be invited. Authorship will be shared by the contenders (with the specification that the two contributed equally to the review) and the moderator (the last author).
Pro/Con Debates are solicited by the Editor-in-Chief, but potential authors may suggest topics for Pro/Con Debates for consideration by the Editor-in-Chief.
E-letter to the editor (comment)
Correspondence relating to a published article can be submitted electronically through our 'Add comment' facility. This can be accessed through the CKJ website. Correspondents should access the relevant article on this site and use the ‘Add comment' button. When an e-letter is submitted online the author of the original publication automatically receives notification that a comment has been submitted and is invited to respond promptly. Correspondents should register on the Oxford Academic Platform to be able to submit a comment.
Changes to published papers
The journal will only make changes to published papers if the publication record is seriously affected by the academic accuracy of the published information. Changes to a published paper will be accompanied by a formal correction notice linking to and from the original paper.
As needed, we follow the COPE guidelines on retractions.
For more information and details of how to request changes, including for authors who wish to update their name and/or pronouns, please see OUP’s policy on changes to published papers.
Promoting your work
As the author, you are the best advocate for your work, and we encourage you to be involved in promoting your publication. Sharing your ideas and news about your publication with your colleagues and friends could take as little as 15 minutes and will make a real difference in raising the profile of your research.
You can promote your work by:
- Sharing your paper with colleagues and friends. Publishing in CKJ means that your paper is published open access, it will always be freely available to all readers, and you can share it without any limitations.
- Signing up for an ORCID iD author identifier to distinguish yourself from any other researchers with the same name, create an online profile showcasing all your publications, and increase the visibility of your work.
- Using social media to promote your work. To learn more about self-promotion on social media, see our social media guide for authors.
Find out how Oxford University Press promotes your content.
Contact us
For questions regarding submission and review, including appeals, you can reach the editorial office by email at [email protected].
For editorial enquires you may contact the Editor-in-Chief, Professor Jürgen Floege, by email at [email protected].
After your paper has been sent to production, you can contact [email protected] for questions regarding the production process or publication. Please see Changes to published papers if you need to request a substantive change to your published paper.
