Molecular Imaging

This Journal recommends that authors follow the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing,
and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals formulated by the International Committee of
Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Please read the guidelines below then visit the journal’s submission site https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/mix to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.

Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Molecular Imaging will be reviewed.

As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original
work, that you have the rights in the work, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the
Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published
elsewhere, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of
any copyright works not owned by you.

Please Read the Manuscript Submission Guidelines below before submitting your manuscript here:
SUBMIT MANUSCRIPT

 

1. Open Access
2. Article processing charge (APC)
3. What do we publish?
   3.1 Aims & scope
   3.2 Article types
   3.3 Writing your paper
   3.3.1 Making your article discoverable 
4. Editorial policies
   4.1 Peer Review Policy
   4.2 Authorship
   4.3 Acknowledgements
   4.3.1 Writing assistance
   4.4 Funding
   4.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
   4.6 Research ethics and patient consent
   4.7 Clinical Trials
   4.8 Reporting guidelines
   4.9 Research Data
5. Publishing policies
   5.1 Publication ethics
   5.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
6. Preparing your manuscript
   6.1 Word processing formats
   6.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
   6.3 Supplemental material
   6.4 Reference style
   6.5 English language editing services
7. Submitting your manuscript
   7.1 How to submit your manuscript
   7.2 Title, keywords and abstracts
   7.3 Information required for completing your submission
   7.4 ORCID
   7.5 Information required for completing your submission
   7.6 Permissions
8. On acceptance and publication
   8.1 Sage Production
   8.2 Continuous publication
   8.3 Promoting your article
9. Further information

1. Open Access

Molecular Imaging is an open access, peer-reviewed journal. Each article accepted by peer review is
made freely available online immediately upon publication, is published under a Creative Commons
license and will be hosted online in perpetuity. Publication costs of the journal are covered by the
collection of article processing charges which are paid by the funder, institution or author of each
manuscript upon acceptance. There is no charge for submitting a paper to the journal.

For general information on open access at Sage please visit the Open Access page or view our Open
Access FAQs.

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2. Article processing charge (APC)

If, after peer review, your manuscript is accepted for publication, a one-time article processing charge
(APC) is payable. This APC covers the cost of publication and ensures that your article will be freely
available online in perpetuity under a Creative Commons licence.

The APC for this journal is currently  $2,175 USD.

The article processing charge (APC) is payable only if your article is accepted after peer review, before it is published. The APC is subject to taxes where applicable. Tax-exempt status can be indicated by providing appropriate registration numbers when payment is requested. Please see further details here.

SNMMI (Society for Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging) members receive a 50% discount on the APC.

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3. What do we publish?

3.1 Aims & scope

Before submitting your manuscript to Molecular Imaging, please ensure you have read the Aims
& Scope.

3.2 Article types

Molecular Imaging publishes Research Articles, Brief Reports, Reviews and Meeting Reports.

Research Reports are full length original articles.

Brief Reports are short, timely articles which may provide preliminary accounts of work of
special interest or complete accounts of work of limited scope. While there are no specific
length limitations for Brief Reports, authors are encouraged to keep them concise.

Authors wishing to contribute a Review should contact the Editor. Reviews should focus on a
recent development or issue in a single area, rather than attempt to exhaustively cover an entire
topic.

Meeting Reports should offer a synthesis of information presented at a scientific meeting that
would be of interest to the general readership.

3.3 Writing your paper

The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance their article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.

3.3.1 Making your article discoverable 

When writing up your paper, think about how you can make it discoverable. The title,
keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article through search
engines such as Google. For information and guidance on how best to title your article,
write your abstract and select your keywords, have a look at this page on the Gateway:
How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online

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4. Editorial policies

4.1 Peer review policy

Following a preliminary triage to eliminate submissions unsuitable for Molecular Imaging all
papers are sent out for review. The covering letter is important. To help the Editor in his
preliminary evaluation, please indicate why you think the paper suitable for publication. If your
paper should be considered for fast-track publication, please explain why.

The journal’s policy is to have manuscripts reviewed by two expert reviewers. Molecular
Imaging utilizes a single-anonymize peer review process in which the reviewer’s name and
information is withheld from the author. All manuscripts are reviewed as rapidly as possible,
while maintaining rigor. Reviewers make comments to the author and recommendations to the
Editor-in-Chief who then makes the final decision.

As part of the submission process you will be asked to provide the names of up to three peers
who could be called upon to review your manuscript. Recommended reviewers should be
experts in their fields and should be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript.
Please be aware of any conflicts of interest when recommending reviewers. Examples of
conflicts of interest include (but are not limited to) the below: 

• The reviewer should have no prior knowledge of your submission
• The reviewer should not have recently collaborated with any of the authors
• Reviewer nominees from the same institution as any of the authors are not permitted

You will also be asked to nominate peers who you do not wish to review your manuscript
(opposed reviewers).

Please note that the Editors are not obliged to invite any recommended/opposed reviewers to
assess your manuscript.

The Editor or members of the Editorial Board may occasionally submit their own manuscripts for
possible publication in the journal. In these cases, the peer review process will be managed by
alternative members of the Board and the submitting Editor / Board member will have no
involvement in the decision-making process.

Molecular Imaging is committed to delivering high quality, fast peer-review for your paper, and
as such has partnered with Publons. Publons is a third party service that seeks to track, verify
and give credit for peer review. Reviewers for Molecular Imaging can opt in to Publons in order
to claim their reviews or have them automatically verified and added to their reviewer profile.
Reviewers claiming credit for their review will be associated with the relevant journal, but the
article name, reviewer’s decision and the content of their review is not published on the site.
For more information visit the Publons website.

4.2 Authorship

Papers should only be submitted for consideration once consent is given by all contributing
authors. Those submitting papers should carefully check that all those whose work contributed
to the paper are acknowledged as contributing authors.
The list of authors should include all those who can legitimately claim authorship. This is all
those who:

(i) Made a substantial contribution to the concept or design of the work; or acquisition,
analysis or interpretation of data,
(ii) Drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content,
(iii) Approved the version to be published,
(iv) Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public
responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.

Authors should meet the conditions of all of the points above. Each author should have
participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the
content.

When a large, multicentre group has conducted the work, the group should identify the
individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. These individuals should fully
meet the criteria for authorship.

Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone
does not constitute authorship, although all contributors who do not meet the criteria for
authorship should be listed in the Acknowledgments section. Please refer to the International 
Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship guidelines for more information on
authorship.

Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.

4.3 Acknowledgements

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an
Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person
who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.

4.3.1 Third party submissions

Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:

• Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input
• Identify any entities that paid for this assistance
• Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.

Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.

4.3.2 Writing assistance

Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g. from a specialist communications company, do
not qualify as authors and so should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors
must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of
input – and identify the entity that paid for this assistance.
It is not necessary to disclose use of language polishing services.

Any acknowledgements should appear first at the end of your article prior to your Declaration of
Conflicting Interests (if applicable), any notes and your References.

4.4 Funding

Molecular Imaging requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion
under a separate heading. Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage
Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of
funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the
public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

4.5 Declaration of conflicting interests

It is the policy of Molecular Imaging to require a declaration of conflicting interests from all
authors enabling a statement to be carried within the paginated pages of all published articles.

Please ensure that a ‘Declaration of Conflicting Interests’ statement is included at the end of
your manuscript, after any acknowledgements and prior to the references. If no conflict exists,
please state that ‘The Author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest’.

For guidance on conflict of interest statements, please see the ICMJE recommendations.

4.6 Research ethics and patient consent

Medical research involving human subjects must be conducted according to the World Medical
Association Declaration of Helsinki.

Submitted manuscripts should conform to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct,
Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, and all papers
reporting animal and/or human studies must state in the methods section that the relevant 
Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board provided (or waived) approval. Please ensure
that you have provided the full name and institution of the review committee, in addition to the
approval number.

For research articles, authors are also required to state in the methods section whether
participants provided informed consent and whether the consent was written or verbal.

Information on informed consent to report individual cases or case series should be included in
the manuscript text. A statement is required regarding whether written informed consent for
patient information and images to be published was provided by the patient(s) or a legally
authorized representative. Please do not submit the patient’s actual written informed consent with
your article, as this in itself breaches the patient’s confidentiality. The Journal requests that you
confirm to us, in writing, that you have obtained written informed consent but the written consent
itself should be held by the authors/investigators themselves, for example in a patient’s hospital
record. The confirmatory letter may be uploaded with your submission as a separate file.

Please also refer to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Protection of Research Participants.

All research involving animals submitted for publication must be approved by an ethics
committee with oversight of the facility in which the studies were conducted. The journal has
adopted the Consensus Author Guidelines on Animal Ethics and Welfare for Veterinary Journals
published by the International Association of Veterinary Editors.

4.7 Clinical trials

Molecular Imaging conforms to the ICMJE requirement that clinical trials are registered in a
WHO-approved public trials registry at or before the time of first patient enrolment as a
condition of consideration for publication. The trial registry name and URL, and registration
number must be included at the end of the abstract.

4.8 Reporting guidelines

The relevant EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines should be followed depending on the type
of study. For example, all randomized controlled trials submitted for publication should include
a completed CONSORT flow chart as a cited figure and the completed CONSORT checklist should
be uploaded with your submission as a supplementary file. Systematic reviews and metaanalyses
should include the completed PRISMA flow chart as a cited figure and the completed
PRISMA checklist should be uploaded with your submission as a supplementary file. The
EQUATOR wizard can help you identify the appropriate guideline.

Other resources can be found at NLM’s Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives.

4.9 Research Data

Sage acknowledges the importance of research data availability as an integral part of the
research and verification process for academic journal articles.

Molecular Imaging requests all authors submitting any primary data used in their research
articles alongside their article submissions to be published in the online version of the journal, or
provide detailed information in their articles on how the data can be obtained. This information
should include links to third-party data repositories or detailed contact information for third-
party data sources. Data available only on an author-maintained website will need to be loaded
onto either the journal’s platform or a third-party platform to ensure continuing accessibility.
Examples of data types include but are not limited to statistical data files, replication code, text
files, audio files, images, videos, appendices, and additional charts and graphs necessary to
understand the original research. The editor(s) can also grant exceptions for data that cannot
legally or ethically be released. All data submitted should comply with Institutional or Ethical
Review Board requirements and applicable government regulations. For further information,
please contact the editorial office.

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5. Publishing policies

5.1 Publication ethics

Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to
refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the
Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway.

5.1.1 Plagiarism

Molecular Imaging and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches
of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and
we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to
protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked
with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarized
other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient
acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to
take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction);
retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's
institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.

5.1.2 Prior publication

If material has been previously published, it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage
journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be
considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in
doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.

5.2 Contributor's publishing agreement

Before publication Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s
Publishing Agreement. Molecular Imaging publishes manuscripts under Creative Commons
licenses. The standard license for the journal is Creative Commons by Attribution NonCommercial
(CC BY-NC), which allows others to re-use the work without permission as long as
the work is properly referenced and the use is non-commercial. For more information, you are
advised to visit Sage's OA licenses page.

Alternative license arrangements are available, for example, to meet particular funder
mandates, made at the author’s request. 

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6. Preparing your manuscript

6.1 Word processing formats

The preferred formats for your manuscript are Word, RTF, XLS. LaTeX files are also accepted.
Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our
Author Gateway. The text should be double-spaced throughout and with a minimum of 3cm for
left and right hand margins and 5cm at head and foot. Text should be standard 10 or 12 point.

6.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics

For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please
visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines.

Figures supplied in color will appear in color online.

6.3 Supplemental material

This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images
etc.) alongside the full-text of the article. These will be subjected to peer-review alongside the
article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplementary files,
which can be found within our Manuscript Submission Guidelines page. 

6.4 Reference style

Molecular Imaging adheres to the Sage Vancouver reference style. Please review the guidelines
on Sage Vancouver to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.

If you use EndNote to manage references, you can download the Sage Vancouver output file
here.

6.5 English language editing services

Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript
formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit
Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.

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7. Submitting your manuscript

7.1 How to submit your manuscript

Molecular Imaging is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review
system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/mix to
login and submit your article online. 

IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to
create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely
that you will have had an account created. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript
online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.

7.2 Title, keywords and abstracts

Please supply a title, short title, an abstract and keywords to accompany your article. The title,
keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article online through online search
engines such as Google. Please refer to the information and guidance on how best to title your
article, write your abstract and select your keywords by visiting the Sage Journal Author
Gateway for guidelines on How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.

7.3 Information required for completing your submission

Provide full contact details for the corresponding author including email, mailing address and
telephone numbers. Academic affiliations are required for all co-authors. These details should
be presented separately to the main text of the article to facilitate anonymous peer review.

You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the
submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must
match what appears on your manuscript. At this stage please ensure you have included all the
required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files
(including reporting guidelines where relevant).

7.4 ORCID

As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process
Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID
provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every
other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key
research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages
between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized. 

The collection of ORCID IDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission
process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID iD you will be asked to associate that to
your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all
co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes
seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems
are automatically updated. Your ORCID iD will become part of your accepted publication’s
metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID iD is published with
your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from
there link to your other publications.

If you do not already have an ORCID ID please follow this link to create one or visit our
ORCID homepage to learn more.

7.5 Information required for completing your submission

You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors
via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These
details must match what appears on your manuscript. The affiliation listed on the
manuscript should be the institution where the research was conducted. If an author has
moved to a new institution since completing the research, the new affiliation can be included
in a manuscript note at the end of the paper. At this stage please ensure you have included
all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files
(including reporting guidelines where relevant).

7.6 Permissions

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission from copyright holders for reproducing any
illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further
information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please visit our
Frequently Asked Questions on the Sage Journal Author Gateway.

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8. On acceptance and publication

If your paper is accepted for publication after peer review, you will first be asked to complete the
contributor’s publishing agreement. Once your manuscript files have been checked for Sage Production,
the corresponding author will be asked to pay the article processing charge (APC) via a payment link.
Once the APC has been processed, your article will be prepared for publication and can appear online
within an average of 30 days. Please note that no production work will occur on your paper until the
APC has been received.

8.1 Sage Production

Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the
production process. Proofs will made available to the corresponding author via our editing portal
Sage Edit, or by email to the corresponding author and should be returned promptly.  Authors are
reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names,
affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest
statements, if any, are accurate.

8.2 Online publication

One of the many benefits of publishing your research in an open access journal is the speed to
publication. With no page count constraints, your article will be published online in a fully
citable form with a DOI number as soon as it has completed the production process. At this time
it will be completely free to view and download for all. Articles are batched every month, and
are then available in the Archive.

8.3 Promoting your article

Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is
as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help
you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice. 

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9. Further information

Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the Manuscript Submission
process should be sent to the Molecular Imaging editorial office as follows:

Kristina.Moulton@sagepub.com 

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