Author Guidelines

JOURNAL DESCRIPTION

The CAND Journal (CANDJ) is the official peer reviewed publication of the Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors (CAND). Published online four times per year, the CANDJ’s mission is to connect the evidence-informed practices of the naturopathic profession to members, naturopathic students, health care practitioners, interested parties, collaborators, government and the public. The Journal encourages submissions on a wide variety of topics in naturopathic medicine, including whole systems approaches, traditional, complementary and integrative medicine (TCIM), community and planetary health, and health equity. Learn More.

INTRODUCTION

We recommend authors review the Journal’s “Aims & Scope” prior to submission. Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of CANDJ will be reviewed.

CANDJ 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).

Before submitting your manuscript, please read the guidelines below. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned to the author.

Please also be sure to look over the Journal’s submission checklist before submitting.

Once ready to submit, visit our “Submissions” page to upload your submission to our online system. The Journal uses Open Journal Systems (OJS) as our online submission and peer review system. For instructions on how to submit your manuscript through the OJS system, please visit our “Submission Instructions & Process” page.

TYPES OF SUBMISSIONS

Outlined below are the types of submissions accepted to CANDJ, along with suggested word count, figures, tables and reference limits for each. For further details about the requirements of each article type, view the “Manuscript Preparation” section.

Article Type

Description

Suggested Word Count Limit (Excluding Abstract, Tables and References)

Other
Original Research* Investigations and original research that represent new and significant contributions and advances to the field. Includes clinical trials. 3000-4000 4–6 Tables/figures and a suggested limit of 50 references where appropriate
Reviews* Reviews of major areas or sub-areas in the field. Describes new developments, summarizes progress, or analyzes published evidence. Includes narrative reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses. Up to 5000 4–6 Tables/figures and a suggested 100-reference limit
Editorial Lead Editorial for the issue, typically by the Editor-in-Chief, who may call on other members of the Editor Staff or Editorial Board from time to time. 1500 1–2 Tables/figures and 4–8 references
Guest Editorials Comments from recognized experts on a specific topic and related to an article published in the same issue. Editorials are generally solicited by the Editorial Staff. 1500 1–2 Tables/figures and 4–8 references
Commentaries Opinions/views of recognized experts that are meant to be brief reflective pieces, calls for action and/or critiques. Commentaries are unrelated to a specific article and provide an opinion or view on a specific topic. Commentaries can address timely issues in the field. 1500 1–2 Tables/figures and 4–8 references
Short Reports* Brief reports of preliminary or limited results of original research or observations. The intent is to provide a forum for smaller scale research projects that would not meet the review standards of full-length Original Research manuscripts but would still provide a valuable contribution to the academic literature. 2000 2–4 Tables/figures and 15–20 references
Case Reports* Interesting or unusual cases seen, which have the potential to be instructive for those practicing in the field. 2000 3–6 Tables/figures and 25 references
Perspectives* Focused articles on topics of interest to a broad naturopathic audience but written from a personal viewpoint. Articles take the form of a review that provides the reader with an overview and background of the subject, gives personal insight into the advances and challenges, discusses opposing viewpoints, and makes recommendations for further investigation or actions. Different from a review, the Editors expect such pieces are forward-looking, thought-provoking, and informative about emerging ideas, treatments, and trends. Up to 4000 4–6 Tables/figures and a suggested 50-reference limit
Letters to the Editor Comments on work previously published in CANDJ. Letters must be submitted within one month of the online publication date of the article discussed to be considered. The Editors may invite a reply to the letter by the original author. The Editor may also consider publication of a letter that comments on other matters of interest to naturopathic medicine. This section is not considered to be an appropriate venue for publishing new data without peer review. Up to 750 Should not have tables or figures, and no more than 5 references

* Peer Reviewed Article Type

PEER REVIEW PROCESS

All manuscripts are to be submitted to CANDJ’s online submission system. The submitting author will receive an automated acknowledgment by email confirming the manuscript submission.

Manuscripts will first be screened by the Editorial and Production Manager to determine whether they are properly prepared according to the Journal’s manuscript preparation requirements. Manuscripts that do not do not meet the standards of the Journal will be returned to the authors for revision and resubmission.

Once manuscript preparation requirements are met, the Editor-in-Chief will make a first assessment of the manuscript submitted and check whether it fits the aims and scope of the Journal and is of sufficient academic quality.

Where papers are not considered suitable for peer review, authors will be notified promptly of the reason so that the work can be submitted elsewhere as appropriate.

Papers that pass the initial assessment by the Editor-in-Chief are sent to the Peer Review stage. All manuscripts at this stage (except for Editorials, Guest Editorials, Commentaries, and Letters to the Editor) will be sent out for review and at least two review reports per manuscript will be collected. Reviewers with appropriate and relevant subject matter expertise will be asked to complete their review within three weeks and extensions may be granted on request.

If an article is rejected for publication, or if after two rounds of revisions the reviewers are not able to come to agreement over acceptability for publication, a third reviewer may be assigned at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief or on request of the author. If requested by the author, both parties agree that the decisions after that third review will be final.

Authors should expect to receive an initial decision on their manuscript within 2–8 weeks of submission. If revision of the manuscript is required, the authors must submit within three weeks of the request. Authors should expect to participate in at least two rounds of review/revisions during the peer review process.

This Journal uses a double-anonymized review process, which means the identities of the authors are concealed from the reviewers, and vice versa. To facilitate this, authors must strictly adhere to our instructions for “Anonymizing for Peer Review” for Original Research, Reviews, Short Reports, Case Reports and Perspectives manuscript types. Manuscripts that do not follow our instructions will be returned to the author for proper anonymizing, which will delay the peer review process. For information about our peer review policies, visit our “About CANDJ” page.

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

CANDJ follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors’ (ICMJE) Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, which can be found at http://www.icmje.org/. Authors should refer to ICMJE’s “Preparing a Manuscript for Submission to a Medical Journal” guidelines in addition to the guidelines provided below.

Anonymizing for Peer Review

This Journal uses a double-anonymized review, which means that the author names and institutional affiliations are concealed from the reviewers, and vice versa, throughout the review process. Author anonymizing does not preclude authors from discussing their positionality, Indigeneity, or other sociodemographic identity markers.

To facilitate this, authors need to ensure their manuscripts are prepared in a way that does not give away their names and institutional affiliations. To help with this preparation please ensure the following are uploaded as separate files when submitting Original Research, Reviews, Short Reports, Case Reports and Perspectives to CANDJ:

  • A version of the manuscript which has had any information that compromises the anonymity of the author(s) removed or anonymized. This version will be sent to the peer reviewers.
  • A separate title page which includes any removed or anonymized material, along with other journal requirements. This will not be sent to the peer reviewers. Editorial, Guest Editorials, Commentaries, and Letters to the Editor do not require anonymizing.
  • A separate cover letter which serves to assure the Editors that the article and the authors meet the conditions of publication. This will not be sent to the peer reviewers. Editorial, Guest Editorials, Commentaries, and Letters to the Editor do not require anonymizing.

Additional Information to Help Prepare the Anonymized Manuscript

There are steps that need to be taken to ensure the manuscript is correctly prepared for double-anonymized peer review. To assist with this process the key items that need to be observed, where applicable, are as follows:

  • Remove identifying information including (but not limited to):
    • author names
    • author institution details
    • author contact details
    • ethics approval statements that refer to a specific institution or the names of institutions, participants, or geographic locations involved in studies
  • Use the third person to refer to any work previously undertaken by the author(s). For example, replace any phrases like “as we have shown before” with “… has been shown before.” In the list of references treat this type of citation information like any other citation (i.e., do not anonymize it).
  • Ensure that figures and tables do not contain any author or affiliation related identifiers.
  • Ensure that any references to funding sources are removed.
  • Anonymize the trial registration number and date.
  • Do not include acknowledgments, funding statements, or conflict of interest statements; this is instead included on the title page.
  • Remove identifying information from file names and document properties using Document Inspector.

Where relevant, identifying information should be removed and replaced with “[Anonymized for Peer Review].”

General Format and Presentation

Write the body of the manuscript as concisely as possible, adhering to the suggested word limits specified for the given manuscript type.

For section and subsection headings, please use the heading styles built into your word processing template.

LEVEL ONE HEADING
Level 2 Heading
Level 3 Heading

If further divisions of the text are required, use inline headings:

In-line Heading Level One: Paragraph text ....
In-line Heading Level Two: Paragraph text ....

To facilitate the review process, manuscripts must be in Microsoft Word format. Use a common typeface such as Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, or Times in 11 or 12 points. Special or mathematical characters and Greek letters that are not on a standard keyboard must be created by using the Symbol font. Pages should be consecutively numbered, beginning with “1”.

Focus on the content rather than the look of a submission. Simpler is always better. During the copyediting process all extraneous formatting will, in any case, be stripped from the file to ensure smooth intake into the layout program used by the typesetter.

All manuscript submissions must contain the following items, when applicable:

The linked sections below provide further instructions for preparation of these items.

Cover Letter

A cover letter must be included with each manuscript submission. It should be a single page and serves to assure the Editors that the article and the authors meet the conditions of publication. Authors are also welcomed to include a brief explanation of the findings of the paper, why it is suited for the Journal and any other information that may be useful to the Editors. The cover letter must include the following:

  • The affiliation and contact information of the corresponding author.
  • A statement that each author meets all four criteria for authorship recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), that all individuals who meet these criteria are listed as authors, and that all coauthors have reviewed and approved the manuscript prior to submission.
  • A confirmation that the manuscript has not been previously published, is not before another journal for consideration; nor will it be until after such time the manuscript has either been withdrawn from further consideration or it has been decided that the manuscript will not be published in CANDJ, or an explanation has been provided to the Editor.
  • Full details on any possible previous or duplicate publication of any content of the paper (if applicable).
  • Declare and describe any use of artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted technologies, such as generative algorithms, chatbots, or language models (if applicable).

Title Page

The title page, which is not sent out for peer review, should include:

  1. The title of the article.
  2. The full names of the authors (written as full name, initial(s), and surname), with highest academic degree(s) attained. Omit “candidate,” “fellow,” and “diplomate” designations, but include “registered” designations. Note: Authors are responsible for ensuring the designations/titles provided comply with any regulatory requirements in the jurisdiction in which they are regulated/licensed, or, in unregulated jurisdictions, comply with any applicable health legislation.
  3. The Open Researcher and Contributor Identification (ORCID) for each author, if available.
  4. The affiliation or affiliations for each author. For each affiliation, include the name of the department (if any), the institution, the city, and the province (if Canada, using the official postal abbreviation) or the state (if applicable) and country where the work was done. Link the authors to their designations using superscript numbers.
  5. A shortened version of the title for use as a running header (no more than 60 characters).
  6. The usual full name of the corresponding author, with postal address, e-mail address, and telephone number(s). Note: All published manuscripts include the corresponding author's contact information (name, postal address, and email), to ensure accountability and transparency. For privacy reasons, we do not recommend including a home address.
  7. The heading “Statements of Declaration” and include the following statements (Note: statements marked with an asterisk (*) must also appear within the text of your article, in the appropriate location and anonymized (if applicable), but should also be included in your title page so they are easily accessible to the Editor):
    1. Acknowledgements (if none to declare then list “Not Applicable” – see journal policies on Acknowledgements)
    2. Funding (even if there are none to declare – see journal policies on Funding)
    3. Conflicts of Interests Disclosure (even if there are none to declare – see journal policies on Conflicts of Interests Disclosure)
    4. Ethics Approval and Informed Consent to Participate* - All papers reporting human studies must include a statement on ethics approval and consent (even where the need for approval was waived). If the research involves animals, a statement on ethics approval must be included (even if waived). If your manuscript does not report on or involve any animals, humans, or human data, please state “Not applicable”. See journal policies on Research Ethics and Informed Consent.
    5. Consent to Publish* - If your paper contains any individual person’s data in any form (including any individual details or images), consent for publication must be obtained from that person, or their parent, legal guardian, or next-of-kin. If your manuscript does not contain data from any individual person, please state “Not applicable” in this section. All presentations of case reports must have consent for publication. See journal policies on Research Ethics and Informed Consent.
  8. A word count for the text only (excluding abstract, figure legends, tables and references).
  9. The number of figures and tables.

For a sample template that can assist you in the proper preparation of the title page, please click here.

Post-Size Abstract (Optional)

Within the title page, authors are requested to provide a post-size abstract, along with the hashtags or accounts they suggest that the Journal mention when sharing their work. The post should summarize the key message or findings of the article and include any relevant hashtags. Posts can be up to a maximum of 200 words; however we encourage authors to keep in mind best practices for social media which include brevity and making content easy to read.

We also encourage authors to use appropriate hashtags and @mentioning authors, institution, funders, etc. to help increase the discoverability of a post. Refer to the Social Media section for more information.

Abstract and Key Words

For Original Research and Review Articles (Systematic and Meta-Analyses), include a structured abstract of no more than 250 words. Use these subheadings, or the headings suggested by the relevant reporting guidelines:

  • Background (or Objective)
  • Methods
  • Results
  • Conclusions (or Summary)
  • Trial Registration (for clinical trials only; include registry and number)

For Short Reports, Case Reports, Perspectives, and Narrative Review Articles, include an unstructured abstract of no more than 250 words that summarizes the objective, main points, and conclusions of the article.

Do not include abstracts for Editorials, Guest Editorials, Commentaries and Letters to the Editor.

An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. The abstract should not contain any undefined abbreviations or references.

After the abstract, list up to eight key words or phrases for indexing. The key words should be different from those used in the title. A list of key words is required for all articles, except for Editorials, Commentaries and Letters to the Editor. Present the key words in one paragraph, separated by semi-colons, with a period at the end. Only the first key word should be capitalized.

Text

Organization

Organize the text using the applicable structure from the list set out here. Acknowledgements, Conflict of Interest Disclosures, and Funding Statements are to be included in the title page for anonymizing purposes. The statements will be inserted before the references should your manuscript be accepted for publication.

Original Research Articles
Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, References, Figure Legends, Tables, and Appendices (if applicable). Additional descriptive subheadings may be used if appropriate.

Review Articles
For meta-analyses and systematic reviews: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, References, Figure Legends, Tables, and Appendices (if applicable). Additional descriptive subheadings may be used if appropriate.

For narrative reviews: Introduction, Text (may include Results and Discussion), Conclusions or Summary, References, Figure Legends, Tables, and Appendices (if applicable). The headings for narrative reviews will vary with the topic.

Short Reports
Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, References, Figure Legends, Tables, and Appendices (if applicable). Authors may insert a short summary/conclusion section following the discussion section if they wish. In some cases, results and discussions sections may more appropriately be combined than separated (at the author’s discretion).

Case Reports
Introduction, Case Description, Discussion, References, Figure Legends, Tables, and Appendices (if applicable). Authors may insert a short summary/conclusion section following the discussion section if they wish.

Perspectives 
Introduction, Text (include headings in the text body), Conclusions or Summary, References, Figure Legends, and Tables.

Commentaries and Guest Editorials
Text (with limited or no subheadings), References, Figures Legends, and Tables.

Letters to the Editor
Text (with limited or no subheadings) and References.

Abbreviations

Use abbreviations sparingly and keep to those commonly used in the field. All acronyms and initialisms are to be spelled out on first use in the abstract, the text, and in each table or figure, with the abbreviation following in parentheses. If the term is repeated less than five times in the text, all instances must be spelled out. Abbreviations used in the body of the article should be indicated in the abstract, tables, and figures, even if they are used only once or twice in these sections, spelling out the first instance.

Do not explain abbreviations for units of measurement [3 mL, not 3 milliliters (mL)] or standard scientific symbols. Abbreviate names of tests and procedures that are better known by their abbreviations than by the full name. Abbreviate units of measurement when they appear with numerals (measured in milliliters, but 10 mL). Use abbreviations in figures and tables to save space. Explain all abbreviations used in the figure legend or table footnote.

Units of Measurement

Use SI units throughout. When units other than SI units are widely used, they can be indicated in parentheses after the SI unit. In tables, specify the units for a column or row in the column or row stub rather than in every entry in the column or row.

Proprietary and Generic Names for Drugs and Natural Health Products

Generic names must be used for all pharmaceutical drugs. Include the proprietary name in the following cases: if it is more commonly known than the generic name; to differentiate among drug forms; if a specific trade preparation was used in a study or involved in an adverse effect. If the proprietary name is used, the name and location of the manufacturer must be given in parentheses in the text. Instruments and medical devices may be referred to by proprietary name; the name and location of the manufacturers must be given in parentheses in the text.

For natural health products (NHPs), botanical medicines and all TCIM formulas, CANDJ’s guidelines align with the appropriate CONSORT extensions (http://www.consort-statement.org/extensions). For botanical medicines, refer to the CONSORT extension for reporting herbal interventions. These recommend Latin binomial names for each herbal ingredient or medicine along with their common name(s) (where practical), the part of the plant used, the proprietary product name(s) and the name of the manufacturer of the product, where applicable, as well as whether the product used is licensed or registered in the country where the study has taken place.

The CONSORT extension for reporting Chinese herbal medicine formulas recommends including the names of substances in at least two languages (Chinese Pinyin, Latin, or English), as well as the source, processing method, and dosage form (e.g. decoctions, granules, powders). For patent proprietary formulas, the proprietary name, manufacturer name, lot number, as well as name and percentage of added materials should also be listed.

Where proprietary NHP or TCIM formulas are concerned, we recommend that those names are listed in both the title and abstract of the submission, to avoid confusion over specific products/formulations used in clinical and research-based submissions, and to standardize indexing for these formulas.

Referencing Professionals in the Field of Naturopathic Medicine

To ensure terminology complies with Canadian regulatory requirements and for consistency in our published works, CANDJ adopts a standardized policy for referencing professionals in the field of naturopathic medicine. For all papers submitted to the Journal the term ‘naturopathic doctor’ must be used when referring to professionals within North America. When referring to professionals outside of North America, the term ‘naturopath’ must be used.

Use of English Language

All papers are published in English, and authors who are not fluent in English are advised to seek editorial help before submitting their papers. This will help to ensure that the academic content of the paper is fully understood by the Journal’s editors and reviewers. Specific names, places, concepts, or terms in a language of origin other than English, may be included where appropriate in alignment with the Indigenous Languages Act of Canada.

Spelling

Use Canadian spelling. In this context, “Canadian” spelling means using “–our” and “–re” word endings (“rigour,” “centre”) and doubled consonants in most verb forms (“signalling,” “modelling”). However, “–ize” and “–yze” are the preferred verb endings (“characterize” not “characterise” and “analyze” not “analyse”), and diphthongs are not used (for example, “hemoglobin” not “haemoglobin” and “diarrhea” not “diarrhoea”). Use the serial comma (sometimes called the “Oxford” comma).

Special Characters

Certain symbols that are frequently used in medical publications (Greek and mathematical symbols primarily) do not usually import correctly from word processing files into page layout programs. Authors can feel free to use these symbols, but during the copyediting process, they will be changed into codes that the page compositor can locate in a search-and-replace operation to drop the correct symbols into the laid-out pages. On no account should the codes added by the copyeditor be altered by the author during the author’s copyedit review step. (Some examples of these codes are “xxa” for alpha, “xx>” for “greater than or equals,” and “xxby” for the multiplication symbol.)

References

CANDJ adheres to the American Medical Association (AMA) reference style (11th edition). Please review the guidelines on AMA to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.

General Rules

  1. The accuracy of references is the responsibility of the author(s). Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa).
  2. To allow us to create links to abstracting and indexing services, Crossref, PubMed Central and PubMed, please ensure that data provided in the references are correct.
  3. List all authors and/or editors up to 6; if more than 6, list the first 3 followed by "et al."
  4. Use journal abbreviations as provided by PubMed/Medline. An authoritative list of journal title abbreviations can be found online by searching the National Library of Medicine Catalogue: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals.
  5. In article titles, capitalize only the first letter of the first word, proper names, and abbreviations that are ordinarily capitalized in the reference.
  6. Include citations of unpublished material in the text, not in the references [for example, papers presented orally at a meeting; unpublished work (personal communications, papers in preparation and not yet accepted for publication)].
  7. When available, the use of the DOI is preferred over URL. A DOI is guaranteed to never change and can therefore use as a permanent link to any electronic article. As per Crossref’s display guidelines, DOIs are always to be displayed as a full URL link in the form https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx, and not preceded by “doi:” or “DOI:”. If a DOI is listed instead of a URL, it is not necessary to include the date accessed.
  8. Number the reference list consecutively, using Arabic numerals, in the order in which the references are first cited in the text. Citations appearing in tables and figures must fit into the numbering sequence from the point at which the table or figure is first mentioned in the text.

Citing References in Text

  • Use superscript numbers within text, without parentheses.
  • The superscript number is inserted into the document immediately next to the fact, concept, or quotation being cited.
  • Superscript reference numbers are placed after periods and commas and before colons and semicolons. Example:
    • Some physicians choose to store prescription pads in locked cabinets8; others keep them in their coat pocket at all times.9
  • Reference numbers should be in sequence.
  • Use a hyphen to join the first and last numbers of a closed series.
  • Use commas without spaces to separate other parts of a multiple citation.
  • In narrative citations, where you mention the author's names as part of the sentence, place the reference number next to the author's names. For example: Research conducted by Smith7 showed a correlation between...
  • If a reference is used multiple times in one paper, use the same number throughout.

Sample References

For guidance on how to use the AMA style guide, refer to https://researchguides.uic.edu/ld.php?content_id=54861424 and https://libguides.usc.edu/ld.php?content_id=54130825. Also refer to samples of common reference formats below.

Journals

Print Journal Article

Format: Author(s). Article title. Abbreviated Journal Name. Year;volume(issue):pages.

Example: Nathan JP, Grossman S. Professional reading habits of pharmacists attending 2 educational seminars in New York City. J Pharm Practice. 2012;25(6):600-605.

Online Journal Article (URL Only)

Format: Author(s). Article title. Abbreviated Journal Name. Year;volume(issue):pages. Accessed date. URL (no period after the URL)

Some online journals do not have page numbers. Use the article number instead.

Example: Siris ES, Miller PD, Barrett-Connor E, et al. Identification and fracture outcomes of undiagnosed low bone mineral density in postmenopausal women: results from the National Osteoporosis Risk Assessment. JAMA. 2001;286(22):2815-2822. Accessed April 4, 2007. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/194457

Online Journal Article (DOI)

Format: Author(s). Article title. Abbreviated Journal Name. Year;volume(issue):pages. DOI (displayed as a full URL link in the form https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx, and not preceded by “doi:” or “DOI:”)

Example: Propper L, Cumby J, Uher R, et al. Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder in offspring of parents with depression and bipolar disorder. Br J Psychiatry. June 2017;210(6):408-412. http://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.117.198754

Online Journal Article (Publish-ahead-of-print)

Format: Author(s). Article title. Abbreviated Journal Name. Published online month day year. DOI

Example: Papastergiou J, Folkins C, Li W. Community pharmacy-based A1c screening: a Canadian model for diabetes care. Int J Pharm Pract. Published online December 16, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijpp.12228

Website

Format: Author(s). Title of specific item cited (or, if unavailable, give the name of the organization responsible for the site). Name of Web Site. Publication date. Updated date. Accessed date. URL (no period after the URL)

Note: You can only cite the information that is available. You MUST include the date you accessed the site.

Examples:

Citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers

At present, ICJME / AMA do not provide guidelines for citing teachings or personal communications from Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers. In recognition of the value of these sources of information, CANDJ follows the citation templates below taken directly from: MacLeod, Lorisia. James Smith Cree Nation. “More Than Personal Communication: Templates For Citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers.” KULA: Knowledge Creation, Dissemination, and Preservation Studies. 2021;5(1): https://doi.org/10.18357/kula.135.

Format: Author(s). Nation/Community. Treaty Territory, if applicable. Where they live, if applicable. Topic/subject of communication. Personal oral/written communication. Month day year.

Example: Cardinal, D. Goodfish Lake Cree Nation. Treaty 6. Lives in Edmonton. Oral teaching. Personal communication. April 4, 2004.

Tables

Authors are asked to keep each table to a reasonable size; very large tables packed with data simply confuse the reader. The same data should not be presented in both a table and a figure.

Tables are to be numbered using Arabic numerals in the order in which they are cited in the article text. Tables should also have a title (above the table) that summarizes the whole table; it should be no longer than 15 words. Every table column and row should be provided with an explanatory title stub, with units of measure applicable to the row or column clearly indicated.

Tables must be formatted using the table tool in a word processing program to ensure that columns of data remain aligned when the file is sent electronically for review. Tables must not be embedded as figures or spreadsheet files.

Table legends follow the table body and should be as concise as possible. Footnotes follow the table legend and should be indicated using superscripted lowercase letters (a, b, c, and so on). Tables (together with their footnotes and legends) should be completely intelligible without reference to the text.

All tables (including their associated title, footnotes, and legends) should appear in consecutive numerical order after the references and any figure legends. All tables will be placed close to their text citations during article layout. All tables must be cited in the article text.

If the table is taken from a copyrighted publication, the author(s) must secure permission from the copyright holder, appropriate credit must be given as a table footnote, and a corresponding reference must appear in the reference section.

Figures

Format

Illustrations, pictures, and graphs, should be supplied in the highest quality and in an electronic format that helps us to publish your article in the best way possible. All images MUST be at or above intended display size. The following resolutions are optimal:

  • Line drawings, minimum 800 dpi
  • Combination (Line Art + Halftone), 600 dpi
  • Illustrations and photographs, 300 dpi

Authors should supply electronic versions of the figure content in TIFF, GIF or JPEG (photo only) format. Other formats, such PDFs, may be used, but are not preferred. Drawings made in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint are discouraged, because the display of such drawings varies with the settings of each computer used to view the file. There is no guarantee that such figures will reproduce exactly as intended by the author.

Save each figure in a separate file without its title or legend and use simple file-naming conventions (for example, Figure 1, Figure 2A).

There is no cost for publishing full colour graphics.

Submission

All figures should be individually uploaded in the online submission process and not embedded within the manuscript.

Figure Legends

Figures are to be numbered using Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, and so on) in the order in which they are cited in the article text. If a figure has several panels, each panel should be identified using an uppercase alphabetic character (A, B, C, and so on). Each figure should have a title and an explanatory legend that clearly identifies the meaning of any symbols, arrows, numbers, or abbreviations used in the illustration. The legend should permit the figure to be understood without reference to the text.

Title and legend information for each figure should be included with the article text, grouped and placed at the end of the manuscript, after the reference list. All figures will be placed close to their text citations during article layout. Make sure that each figure is cited in the article text.

Appendices

Appendices appear at the end of the manuscript and allows an author to include more detailed information that would interrupt the flow of the main body of the article (e.g. survey/questionnaire sample, large tables). Appendices are reviewed, edited, typeset and part of the published version of record. This material must be integral to the understanding and interpretation of the article.

If using appendices, label them with numbers: Appendix 1, Appendix 2, etc. Start each appendix on a new page, and make sure each appendix is referenced in the text in numerical order. Appendices should be placed after the references and will be published as part of the main manuscript. A maximum of two appendices are permitted and the total number of pages for all appendices combined cannot exceed 6 pages.

If content included as appendices is not essential to the understanding of a manuscript, the Editors may request that it be removed from the manuscript.

Supplemental Material

Overview

CANDJ allows authors to include supplemental materials, such as additional appendices, figures, and tables, The amount of supplemental material should be limited and justified. Supplemental materials may only be provided for Original Research and Review articles.

The purpose of supplemental material is to enhance the understanding of a manuscript, but it is not integral to that understanding. In other words, a manuscript must stand on its own without the supplemental material. If content submitted as supplemental material is essential to the understanding of a manuscript, the Editors may request that it be moved to the manuscript. Likewise, it may be asked to be removed if it doesn’t contribute substantively to the conclusions of the paper.

Editors and Reviewers will evaluate supplemental material using the same standards that are used for the rest of the manuscript if appropriate. Editors will have the ultimate responsibility for determining whether the supplement is appropriate and acceptable. Supplements of excessive length will not be approved. If the manuscript is accepted for publication and if the material is deemed appropriate for publication by the Editors, it will be posted online at the time of publication with the article.

Supplemental material files will be published online as supplied by the author. They will not be checked for accuracy, copyedited, typeset, or proofread. The responsibility for scientific accuracy and file functionality remains with the authors. Files cannot be altered, nor new supplemental information added, after the paper has been accepted for publication unless requested or approved by the Editor.

How to Supply Supplemental Material

All supplemental material must be submitted in a single PDF file and uploaded with the manuscript submission. The PDF can be no more than 10 pages in length (excluding the title page) and 10 MB in size.

Supplemental material containing very large datasets should be cited in the text with a URL to the material hosted on an author-affiliated website or data repository or may appear with a note that the data is available upon request to the author.

All references cited within the supplemental material must be included in a separate reference section, including those that also were cited in the main manuscript. They should be formatted just as in the main manuscript and numbered and cited consecutively in the supplemental material.

There will be no opportunity to edit your supplemental material once published online; thus, the last version supplied upon acceptance, will be the one published. No changes can be made after this unless approved or requested by the Editor or Production Manager.

Supplemental material must be submitted as separate files from the rest of the manuscript during the online submission; select "Supplemental Material" as the "File Type" when uploading the files.

Formatting Requirements

Formatting requirements for each supplemental material type are outlined below:

Supplemental Appendices: Text should be set in Times New Roman font, 12 point in size, and single-spaced. The main heading of the online-only text should be in 12 point and boldface; subheadings should be in 12 point and underlined.

Supplemental Tables: Supplemental tables should be inserted in the document and numbered consecutively according to the order of citation as Table S1, Table S2, etc. See also instructions in the section Tables above. If a table runs on to subsequent pages, repeat the column headers at the top of each page. Wide tables may be presented using a landscape orientation.

Supplemental Figures: Supplemental figures should be inserted in the document and numbered consecutively according to the order of citation as Figure S1, Figure S2, etc. See also instructions in the section Figures above. Wide figures may be presented using a landscape orientation. Each supplemental figure should comprise no more than a single 8.5" x 11” PDF page and be large enough to be legible when that page is opened.

Referencing Supplemental Material in Your Manuscript

Authors must ensure that each piece of supplemental material is referred to at least once in the manuscript. We ask that you label and number the item as you normally would but add a prefix S to the number (e.g. Appendix S1, Figure S1, Table S2, etc.). Refer to each piece of supplemental information within the text of the main manuscript using the file name and the term “supplemental material” (e.g. see Figure S1 and Table S3 in the supplemental material).

Finally, at the end of the reference list within your manuscript text, include a statement which lists all supplemental material provided with the article. For example:

Supplemental material linked to the online version of the paper at candjournal.ca:

  • Appendix S1
  • Figures S1, S2
  • Table S1

Copyright

Supplemental material is subject to the same copyright agreement as the associated manuscript. Follow the copyright policies for the published manuscript when replicating information included in the supplemental material. Authors must ensure the necessary permissions are obtained before including any third-party supplementary material with their submission.

PERMISSIONS

Please note it is the responsibility of the author(s) to obtain permission from the copyright holder(s) to reproduce figures, tables, or excerpted text, that have previously been published elsewhere. This includes a full bibliographic reference to the original publication and an acknowledgement that the material is reproduced with permission from the rights owner. Authors are responsible for any fees that may be incurred by securing permission to reproduce or adapt material from other published sources. Permission should be obtained prior to submission, and evidence of permission should be supplied by the author at the time of submission. Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to originate from the authors.

Likewise, it is the responsibility of the author(s) to ensure that Indigenous Protocols are followed when seeking permission to publish Indigenous cultural property such as Oral Traditions or Traditional Knowledge, in accordance with the principles of First Nations principles of OCAP®, a registered trademark of the First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC), and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

EDITORIAL POLICIES FOR AUTHORS

CANDJ is committed to ensuring the highest ethical standards in all aspects of publication. The Journal follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors’ (ICMJE) Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, which can be found at http://www.icmje.org/. In addition, CANDJ follows guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) on ethical guidelines for research and publication, found at https://publicationethics.org/.

Authorship and Contributorship

Criteria for Authorship

Only those persons who contributed directly to the intellectual content of the manuscript should be listed as authors. Based on the ICMJE recommendations, authors must meet all the following criteria:

  1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
  2. Drafting the work or reviewing it critically for important intellectual content; AND
  3. Final approval of the version to be published; AND
  4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Holding positions of administrative leadership, contributing patients, and collecting and assembling data, are not, by themselves, criteria for authorship. Other persons who have made substantial, direct contributions to the work but cannot be considered authors should be listed in the Acknowledgments section.

Group Authorship

When a large multi-author group has conducted the work, the group ideally should decide who will be an author before the work is started and confirm who is an author before submitting the manuscript for publication. All members of the group named as authors should meet all four criteria for authorship, including approval of the final manuscript, and they should be able to take public responsibility for the work and should have full confidence in the accuracy and integrity of the work of other group authors. They will also be expected as individuals to provide conflict-of-interest disclosures.

Some large multi-author groups designate authorship by a group name, with or without the names of individuals. When submitting a manuscript authored by a group, the corresponding author should specify the group name if one exists and clearly identify the group members who can take credit and responsibility for the work. These individuals should be included as co-authors alongside the group name in the authorship byline. To ensure all individuals are correctly acknowledged, note the following:

  • On the title page, list any study group at the end of the author listing, preceded either by "for" or "on behalf of" and followed by an asterisk, such as: "on behalf of the XXX Study Group*."
  • Add the following line: “*A complete list of study group members appears in the Acknowledgments.”

Authorship Considerations for Indigenous Peoples and Communities

For authorship considerations related to publishing content that concerns Indigenous Peoples, manuscripts should include substantial contributions from Indigenous authors/collaborators, as well as follow CANDJ author guidelines regarding permissions, ethics related to Indigenous content and culturally appropriate practices, and rights of Indigenous authors and communities. Authors may list a larger circle of Indigenous collaborators and/or communities in the acknowledgements in recognition of the co-construction of knowledge and/or as part of a community-determined process to ensure consent, permissions, and integrity.

Role of the Corresponding Author

The corresponding author is the one individual who takes primary responsibility for communication with the Journal during the manuscript submission, peer review, and publication process. Only one author can be the corresponding author. The role of the corresponding author is to:

  • meet submission requirements and submit the manuscript to the Journal
  • ensure all authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript prior to submission
  • ensure that all of the Journal’s administrative requirements are met – including submission of all required forms
  • ensure the Journal’s ethical policies are met by all authors
  • distribute decision letters, reviewer comments, and other messages from the Journal, and distribute proofs among co-authors for review
  • return corrections and ensure that all authors approve each version of the article
  • be available after publication to respond to critiques of the work and cooperate with any requests from the Journal for data or additional information should questions about the paper arise after publication.

Author Affiliations

Authors should identify their institution(s) as the facility where the work was performed and executed. Changes in an author’s affiliation after the work was completed but prior to the submission or publication of the manuscript should be noted by including an asterisk as a superscript to the name in the author listing, as well as a corresponding footnote on the title page indicating “Current Affiliation” listing the new affiliation. Corrections to affiliations or contact information due to relocation after publication is not permitted.

Indigenous authors are encouraged to list their Indigenous cultural identity (including information about Indigenous People, Nation, Clan, etc.) in our author affiliations in addition to, or in place of, institutional affiliation.

Changes to Authorship

Authors should carefully consider the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the Editor. To request a change, the Editor must receive the following from the corresponding author: (1) the reason for the change in author list and (2) written confirmation (email or letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal, or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed. Only in exceptional circumstances will the Editor consider the addition, deletion, or rearrangement of authors after the manuscript has been accepted. If the manuscript has already been published in an online issue, any requests approved by the Editor will result in a corrigendum.

Name Change Requests

As per COPE guidance, name changes are available to authors on request, without the need for legal documentation, unnecessary barriers, burdens, or labour being placed on the author making the request.

Authors can update their names in published articles for reasons such as gender transition, marriage, divorce, religious conversion, or personal preference. The Journal is committed to inclusivity, confidentiality, and minimizing administrative burden. No legal documentation or justification is required, and authors need only submit a request via email with their article details and desired name change.

The Journal will update all online versions, including PDFs, metadata, and indexing records, and will coordinate with indexing services where possible. A correction notice will not be issued unless requested, and co-authors will not be notified unless the requesting author specifies otherwise.

Name changes will be applied discreetly and retrospectively to all previous publications upon request. Authors may contact the Editor-in-Chief (editor@candjournal.ca) for assistance. This policy aligns with best practices to ensure authors’ rights while maintaining academic integrity and inclusivity.

Use of Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Technologies

At the time of submission, Authors are required to disclose if artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted technologies, including but not limited to generative algorithms, chatbots, or language models, were used in the preparation of their manuscript. This disclosure should be comprehensive, detailing the specific tools employed and how they were used, both in an accompanying cover letter and within the appropriate section of the submitted work. For example, and as per the ICMJE, if AI was used for writing assistance, describe this in the acknowledgment section, and if used for data collection, analysis, or figure creation, describe this in the methods section.

Contributions generated with AI-assisted technologies will not be considered for authorship recognition. The primary responsibility for ensuring the validity and accuracy of content produced with AI assistance rests with the human authors.

Authors are also fully responsible for ensuring the originality of their submitted work, including all components such as text and images generated by AI-assisted technologies, and must ensure proper attribution of all material, accompanied by full citations where applicable.

The use of AI in submitted manuscripts is subject to evaluation by the Editors and reviewers to ensure it is applied appropriately and transparently. If AI misuse is discovered, either before or after publication, the article may be retracted to uphold the standards of scientific integrity.

CANDJ’s policy follows the recommendations of the ICMJE on the use of AI-assisted technologies and the COPE position statement on Authorship and AI Tools. This policy will be subject to periodic review and adaptation to keep pace with advancements in AI technology and changes in ethical standards. Authors are encouraged to stay informed about evolving best practices in AI research from the COPE and the ICMJE.

Duplicate Submission and Publication

Duplicate or redundant submission is the same manuscript (or the same data) that is submitted to different journals at the same time. International copyright laws, ethical conduct, and cost-effective use of resources require that readers can be assured that what they are reading is original. Manuscripts that are submitted to CANDJ should not have been previously published or under consideration elsewhere.

Duplicate publication is publication of a paper that overlaps substantially with one already published, without clear, visible reference to the previous publication. Prior publication may include, but is not limited to, the release of information in the public domain through preprint servers, abstracts or posters displayed at scientific meetings, institutional websites, or other publicly accessible platforms.

On the title page, give full details of any possible previous or duplicate publication of any content of the paper, and provide a copy or link to any document that might be considered previous publication. Any reference to or use of previously published material must be explicitly acknowledged in the manuscript and the authors must obtain permissions where necessary. Previous publication of a small fraction of the content of a paper does not necessarily preclude it from being published, but the Editors need information about previous publication when deciding how to use space in the Journal efficiently; they regard failure of full disclosure by authors of possible prior publication as a breach of scientific ethics.

Plagiarism, Self-Plagiarism, and Screening

Plagiarism is using someone else’s work, ideas, or words without proper credit. This includes copying or paraphrasing significant portions of another work without citation, failing to credit sources, presenting another author's work as one's own, or manipulating data.

According to COPE, self-plagiarism (text-recycling) is defined as “reusing one’s own previous writing without being transparent about this or appropriately referencing/quoting from the original.” While limited self-referencing is acceptable, with proper citation, in cases like methodological descriptions, theses, and preprints, excessive duplication can undermine academic integrity. Unacceptable forms include:

  • Duplicate publication (publication of a paper that overlaps substantially with one already published)
  • "Salami slicing" (splitting one study into multiple papers)
  • Reusing substantial portions of prior work (e.g., introduction, discussion, or results) without citation
  • Failing to disclose related prior publications upon submission

Authors are responsible for properly citing their previous work, obtaining permission for substantial overlap, disclosing related publications at the time of submission, and ensuring their work offers a unique contribution to the field.

CANDJ is a member of Similarity Check, a plagiarism detection initiative by Crossref and powered by iThenticate and screens all submissions for plagiarism. Any article displaying more than a 15% level of duplication (excluding references) will be investigated and further action will be decided upon by the Editors on a case-by-case basis. Editors handle cases according to the guidelines outlined by COPE (http://publicationethics.org/) for duplicate publication and plagiarism. In cases of self-plagiarism, the Journal evaluates on a case-by-case basis and follows COPE’s endorsed guidelines on “Text recycling guidelines for editors”.

Acknowledgments

Contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgments section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, writing assistance, or a department chair who provided only general support. Because acknowledgment may imply endorsement by acknowledged individuals of a study’s data and conclusions, the corresponding author must obtain written permission to be acknowledged from all acknowledged individuals.

Any acknowledgments should appear within the title page of your manuscript, to maintain the integrity of the double-anonymized review. If you do not have anyone to acknowledge, please write "Not applicable" in this section. The acknowledgments statement will be published in the article prior to the references, along with the Funding and Conflicts of Interest Disclosure(s) statements.

Funding

CANDJ requires all authors to declare the sources of funding that supported the conduct of the research and/or preparation of their manuscript. This includes financial or in-kind support from funding bodies, sponsors, industry, and other collaborators. The role of the funding organization, if any, in the collection of data, its analysis and interpretation, in the writing of the manuscript, and in the right to approve or disapprove publication of the finished manuscript must be briefly described. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement then this should be stated in the statement as follows “The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript”. If the article did not receive funding, this should also be stated as “This research did not receive external funding”. Please include this information under a separate heading entitled ‘Funding’ directly after any Acknowledgements and Conflicts of Interest Disclosure (if applicable) within the title page of your manuscript, to maintain the integrity of the double-anonymized review. The funding statement will be published with the article directly after the Acknowledgements and Conflicts of Interest Disclosure(s) and prior to the references.

Conflicts of Interest

Public trust in the scientific process and the credibility of published articles depend in part on how transparently conflicts of interest are handled during the planning, implementation, writing, peer review, editing, and publication of scientific work. A conflict of interest exists when professional judgment concerning a primary interest (such as patients' welfare or the validity of research) may be influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain). Perceptions of conflict of interest are as important as actual conflicts of interest.

Financial relationships are the most easily identifiable conflicts of interest and the most likely to undermine the credibility of the journal, the authors, and of science itself. However, conflicts can occur for other reasons, such as personal relationships or rivalries, academic competition, and intellectual beliefs. Agreements between authors and study sponsors that interfere with the authors’ access to all of a study’s data or that interfere with their ability to analyze and interpret the data and to prepare and publish manuscripts independently may represent conflicts of interest and should be avoided.

In the interest of transparency, authors are required to disclose all relationships/activities/interests listed below that are related to the content of your manuscript. As per ICMJE, “related” means any relation with for-profit or not-for-profit third parties whose interests may be affected by the content of the manuscript. Disclosure represents a commitment to transparency and does not necessarily indicate a bias. If you are in doubt about whether to list a relationship/activity/interest, it is preferable that you do so. The time frame for disclosure is within the past 36 months.

  • Grants or contracts from any entity
  • Royalties or licenses
  • Consulting fees
  • Payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers’ bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events
  • Payment for expert testimony
  • Support for attending meetings and/or travel
  • Patents planned, issued or pending
  • Participation on a Data Safety Monitoring Board or Advisory Board
  • Leadership or fiduciary role in other board, society, committee or advocacy group, paid or unpaid
  • Stock or stock options
  • Receipt of equipment, materials, drugs, medical writing, gifts or other services
  • Other financial or non-financial interests

All authors must disclose if any conflict of interest exists or declare if they have none. The Conflicts of Interest Disclosure is required for all manuscripts and will be published. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to ensure that all co-authors adhere to this policy and to confirm whether they have any conflicts to declare.

The following statement must be included in the title page of your manuscript under the heading “Conflicts of Interest Disclosure”.

“I/We have read and understood the CAND Journal’s policy on conflicts of interest disclosure and declare the following interests: [list them or state that you have none].”

Examples:

No competing interests
“We have read and understood the CAND Journal’s policy on disclosing conflicts of interest and declare that we have none”

Competing interests disclosed
“We have read and understood the CAND Journal’s policy on disclosing conflicts of interest and declare the following interests: AA has received speaker fees from BBB company. CC has received fees as an advisory board member for DDD company. EE’s institution receives funding from FFF Company for a trial in which he is co-investigator."

In order to assist authors in the formation of their disclosure statements, and to help standardize authors’ disclosures across journals, we recommend that all authors download and complete a copy of the ICMJE disclosure form, which is available from http://www.icmje.org/disclosure-of-interest/. It is not mandatory to complete this form but encouraged. A summary statement derived from the information entered in this form can be provided to the corresponding author.

Research Ethics and Informed Consent

In addition to CANDJ’s policies below, please also refer to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Protection of Research Participants. Editors reserve the right to reject any submission that does not meet these requirements. If concerns in the conduct of research are discovered after publication, the Journal staff will investigate and, where appropriate, issue a correction or retraction. The Journal reserves the right to contact the author’s institution, ethics committee or other appropriate body in relation to these concerns.

Research Involving Human Subjects

All investigators must ensure that any study involving humans, including patients, their samples, data or any other study involving human participants, has been performed in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration as revised in 2013 and approved by an appropriate ethics review committee. If doubt exists whether the research was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration, the authors must explain the rationale for their approach and demonstrate that the local, regional or national review body explicitly approved the doubtful aspects of the study. For those investigators who do not have formal ethics review committees, the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki must be followed.

Ethics approval for all studies must be obtained before the research is conducted. Authors must be prepared to provide further information to the Editors upon request.

Ethics Approval Statement
A statement, including the name of the ethics committee and the approval number where appropriate, must appear in the Methods section (or Case Description for case reports) in all manuscripts reporting human research. If a study was granted exemption from requiring ethics approval, this must be detailed in the manuscript, including the name of the ethics review committee and reasons for the exemption. The statement should be anonymized for peer review.

Examples:

  • This study/case/case series received ethical approval from [Institutional Review Board (IRB)/Ethics Committee] (Approval Number: XXX).
  • The need for ethical approval was waived by [IRB)/Ethics Committee] due to [Reason for Waiver].
  • Ethical approval was not obtained for this study because [Reason].
  • Our institution does not mandate ethics approval for the publication of individual cases or case series.
  • The IRB deemed this protocol exempt on [Date] based on [Reason].
  • This research did not fall under IRB approval requirements due to [Reason].

Informed Consent for Participation in Research Studies
For research involving human subjects, informed consent to participate in the study must be obtained from participants (or their legal guardian) and a statement to this effect should appear in the manuscript, or that an ethics committee (that must be identified by name) approved the study and, if applicable, granted a waiver for consent.

Examples:

  • All participants provided written informed consent before participating in the study.
  • The requirement for informed consent was waived by [Institutional Review Board /Ethics Committee] (Approval Number: XXX) due to [reason for waiver, e.g., minimal risk nature of the study, use of anonymized data].
  • Given the involvement of [vulnerable population, e.g., elderly individuals, persons with disabilities], additional safeguards were implemented to ensure informed consent. Participants, or their legally authorized representatives, provided written informed consent prior to participation.

Informed Consent for Publication
All individuals have a right to privacy that must not be infringed without informed consent. Identifying information, including patients' names, initials, or hospital numbers, must not be published in written descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) or next of kin (if deceased) gives written informed consent for publication. For manuscripts that include any personal information and/or images of patients, authors must obtain signed informed consent to publish from patients (or their relatives/parents/guardians) before submitting to CANDJ. If identifying characteristics are altered to protect anonymity, authors should provide assurance that the alterations do not distort the scientific purpose. In some cases, complete anonymity is difficult to achieve, and informed consent to publish must be obtained if there is any doubt. A statement confirming that consent to publish has been received from all participants should appear in the manuscript, for example:

The authors affirm that informed consent was obtained from the human research participants for the publication of the images shown in Figures 1 and 2, with all identifying details anonymized.

The process of obtaining consent to publish includes sharing the article with the individual (or whoever is consenting on their behalf), so that they are fully aware of the content of the article before it is published. Authors must disclose to these participants that the published content will be available via the Internet and might be available as well in print after publication and in sublicensed and reprinted versions (including translations).

Please do not submit the patient’s actual written informed consent with your article, as this breaches the patient’s confidentiality. The consent must be stored and archived by the authors/investigators themselves. A sample of the consent letter may be uploaded with your submission as a separate file.

Case Reports and Case Series: If a manuscript contains a case description of an individual patient or case series, the author must confirm on submission that they have obtained fully informed, voluntary, and written consent to publish from the patient(s). If a patient is deceased or incapable of providing informed consent, they must have obtained consent from their next-of-kin, beneficiary, parent, or legal guardian. A statement to confirm consent to publish was obtained must be included within the case description of the manuscript. Example statements, include:

  • “Written informed consent for publication was obtained from the patient/study/participant/parent/guardian/next of kin.”
  • “The patient provided informed consent for the publication of this case report, which includes details regarding their medical treatment and clinical progress. All identifying information has been anonymized to ensure patient confidentiality.”

Research Involving Animals

Studies involving animals must be conducted and reported according to internationally accepted standards such as the Weatherall report and Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments (ARRIVE) guidelines. We recommend that authors follow the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

When reporting experiments on animals, all research submitted for publication must be approved by an ethics committee with oversight of the facility in which the studies were conducted.

Authors must include a statement within the manuscript to provide details of the name of the ethics committee that approved the study and include the permit or animal license numbers where available. Where a study has been granted an exemption from requiring ethical approval, this should be stated along with the name of the ethics committee which provided the exemption, and the reasons for exemption.

Indigenous Content and Culturally Appropriate Practices

All authors and investigators should ensure that the planning, conduct, and reporting of research involving and/or concerning Indigenous Peoples, communities, identities, language, history, practices, Traditional Knowledge, Oral Traditions, cultural information, heritage, artefacts, and/or Protocols, as well as research conducted on First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and/or Indigenous Peoples’/Nations’ lands is in accordance with the Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS 2) Chapter 9 and meets the following criteria:

  1. Include substantial contributions from Indigenous authors/collaborators;
  2. Provide Indigenous community-determined evidence of appropriate collaboration, consultation, participation, engagement, agreements, and ethics with relevant Indigenous Peoples prior to initiation of research, the nature and extent of which shall be determined jointly by the researcher(s) and the relevant community, and a description of this process included in the methods section unless the research relies exclusively on publicly available information with no expectation of privacy or protected by law;
  3. Ensure that research elevates Indigenous communities and Peoples and is relevant to community needs and priorities;
  4. Ensure that authorization for research and the use of Traditional Knowledge is voluntary, and based on free, prior, and informed consent involving a local Elder or other recognized Knowledge Holder;
  5. Submit a statement of permission regarding ownership to rights, use of Traditional Knowledge and/or a letter of support from Indigenous community for primary research that directly involves an Indigenous community or organisation, as applicable;
  6. Unless otherwise specified by community, style guidelines should follow the terminology, capitalization, and other editorial principles and best practices as described in Younging G. Elements of Indigenous style: a guide for writing by and about Indigenous Peoples. Brush Education; 2018.

Data Sharing

Authors of original research articles submitted to CANDJ are encouraged to share their research data that supports the results stated in the manuscript, unless prevented by ethical, legal, privacy or confidentiality matters. Authors wishing to do so may deposit their data in a publicly accessible repository. Authors should ensure that data shared are in accordance with consent provided by participants on the use of confidential data. When data is available in a publicly accessible repository, a data availability statement should be included in the manuscript under a separate heading labelled “Data Availability Statement” in the Methods section. This should, wherever possible, include a link to and citation of any datasets analyzed or generated in the study.

Citation format of dataset in the reference list:
[dataset] Authors. Year. Dataset title; Data repository or archive name; Version (if any); Persistent identifier (eg. DOI).

Sample Data Availability Statement if included in public repository:
The data presented in this study are openly available in [repository name] at [doi], reference number [reference number].

NOTE: As per ICMJE guidelines, data sharing is a requirement for Clinical Trials submissions. See our “Clinical Trials” section for details.

Citation Manipulation

CANDJ strictly opposes any form of citation manipulation, including:

  • Coercive citation requests by editors or reviewers, where authors are pressured to cite specific works for reasons unrelated to academic merit.
  • Citation stacking, where authors, institutions, or journals excessively cite their own work or each other’s to artificially boost citation metrics.
  • Unnecessary citations introduced for personal, institutional, or journal impact factor gains rather than genuine scholarly contribution.
  • Reciprocal citation arrangements, where authors or journals agree to cite each other’s work without legitimate scholarly justification.

All contributors must follow the COPE Guidelines on Citation Manipulation, ensuring that citations are added based on academic relevance rather than self-interest or external pressure.

Reporting Guidelines

There are several reporting guidelines available for different types of studies. Authors are expected to adhere to the minimum reporting guidelines hosted by the EQUATOR Network when preparing their manuscript. We have outlined some guidelines below, but for the full list visit the Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research (EQUATOR) website. The EQUATOR wizard can help you identify the appropriate guideline, as well as the different extensions. Other resources can be found at NLM’s Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives.

Clinical Trials

The ICMJE defines a clinical trial as any research project that prospectively assigns people or a group of people to an intervention, with or without concurrent comparison or control groups, to study the relationship between a health-related intervention and a health outcome. CANDJ follows and endorses the ICMJE’s clinical trial registration policy. The trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract.

Authors of randomized trials are encouraged to adhere to CONSORT guidelines appropriate to their trial design and refer to one of the official CONSORT extensions (http://www.consort-statement.org/extensions), when applicable. In particular, we would encourage authors to become familiar with the relevant CONSORT extensions for herbal medicines, acupuncture, and Chinese herbal medicine formulas. The manuscript should also include a CONSORT flow diagram as a figure, and the CONSORT checklist should be completed and submitted with the manuscript as a separate support file. To help ensure the study is appropriately indexed, authors should use the word "randomized" in the title.

The ICMJE also requires the inclusion of a data sharing statement. All clinical trials submissions to the Journal must include a data sharing statement as a separate heading in the methods section.

Observational Studies

Observational studies including case control, cohort, and cross-sectional studies. Authors are encouraged to adhere to the STROBE Statement and may optionally include a completed checklist as a separate supporting file.

Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses

Reports of systematic reviews and meta-analyses should adhere to the PRISMA Statement or alternative guidelines appropriate to the study design and include the flow diagram within the manuscript as a figure. It is recommended to include a completed checklist as a separate supporting file, but it is not required.

Case Reports

The CARE guidelines address completeness, transparency, and data analysis relevant to the reporting in case reports and point-of-care data. It is recommended to include a completed checklist as a separate supporting file, but it is not required.

Animal Studies

Authors of studies including animals are encouraged to adhere to the ARRIVE guidelines. It is recommended to include a completed checklist as a separate supporting file, but it is not required.

Sex and Gender Equity in Research

As per the ICMJE, authors are encouraged to refer to the SAGER guidelines for reporting of sex and gender information in study design, data analyses, results, and interpretation of findings.

PUBLICATION ETHICS AND POLICIES

CANDJ follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) core-practices. In addition, the Journal follows ICMJE’s Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, and as such it is expected of authors, reviewers and editors that they follow the best-practice guidelines on ethical behaviour contained within.

Appeals and Complaints

CANDJ follows the COPE guidelines on appeals to journal editor decisions and complaints about a journal's editorial management of the peer review process.

The Journal permits genuine appeals to Editorial decisions within 30 days of the decision notification. An author may appeal a decision by following the steps below:

  1. Send a rebuttal letter to the assigned Editor by email. Your letter should explain clearly why you disagree with the decision on your manuscript. Please provide specific responses to any of the Editor’s and/or reviewers' comments that contributed to the reject decision. Other items that may be included in your rebuttal letter are:
    1. new information or data that you would like the Journal to take into consideration.
    2. evidence if you believe a reviewer has made errors in their assessment of your manuscript.
    3. evidence if you believe a reviewer may have a conflict of interest.
  2. The Editor will consider your appeal. All appeal requests are handled on a case-by-case basis and the Editorial team’s decision is final.
  3. If your appeal is granted, the following steps will occur:
    1. Your manuscript will undergo further assessment by an independent reviewer.
    2. The Editors will make a final decision on your manuscript.

Where you, as an author, wish to comment or place a complaint on aspects of the Journal's editorial management or processes, the complaint should in first instance be handled by the Editor-in-Chief. If they are the subject of the complaint, please approach the CAND (Publisher).

Publication Misconduct

The Editors of CANDJ enforce a rigorous peer-review process along with strict Editorial Policies and standards to ensure the works published in the Journal are of high scientific quality and contribute to scholarly publishing. Unfortunately, cases of plagiarism, data falsification, undisclosed conflicts of interest, inappropriate authorship credit, and other issues do arise. The Journal’s Editors take such publishing ethics issues very seriously.

In the event that the Editor is made aware of any allegation of research and publication misconduct relating to a published article in CANDJ, the Journal will follow the COPE guidelines in dealing with allegations. If after an investigation there are valid concerns, the authors will be contacted and given an opportunity to address the issue. The Editor will discuss the suspected cases, in consultation with the CAND (Publisher), and reach a decision. Authors who are found to have engaged in scientific misconduct will be removed from further association with the Journal (as an Editor, Reviewer and/or Author) and reported to their institution.

Corrections and Retractions

When errors are identified in published articles, the Editor will consider what action is required in consultation with the CAND and/or Publishing Partner. Corrections are warranted for errors of fact that should have been recognized at the time of publication. Matters of debate and evolving science and methods are not errors. Amendments (if actionable) will be published through a formal online notice since they affect the publication record and/or the scientific accuracy of published information. The online article is part of the published record, and the original published version is therefore maintained. For peer-reviewed material, the amendments fall into the following categories:

Corrigendum (Author Errors): Author corrections will be judged on their relevance to readers and their importance for the published record and ethical responsibilities. Author corrections are published after discussion among the Editorial Staff and publishing team. The Journal will not usually publish a correction that does not affect the contribution in a significant way or if the issue does not considerably impair the reader's understanding of the contribution, such as a spelling mistake or grammatical error. The erratum notice will be published and made free to view in a journal issue and linked to the article of record that it corrects.

Erratum (Journal Errors): Addresses mistakes introduced by the Journal in production. Errata are generally not published for simple, obvious typographical errors, but are published when the error is significant (e.g. spelling of author name is incorrect). The erratum notice will be published and made free to view in a journal issue and linked to the article of record that it corrects.

Addendum: Includes an editor’s note or editorial expression of concern, which provides additional information about a paper that is crucial to the reader's understanding of the published contribution. It may be published in cases where we receive inadequate evidence of misconduct, an investigation has not been or would not be impartial or conclusive, or an investigation is underway, and the decision may not be made for a significant amount of time. Dependent on the urgency, the addendum notice may immediately be linked to the published article that it refers to, prior to being officially published in a journal issue.

Retraction: The Journal will consider issuing a retraction notice if we have clear evidence that the published findings are unreliable because of misconduct or honest author error, the findings have been published elsewhere without the appropriate permissions or justification, the publication constitutes plagiarism, and/or the publication reports unethical research. The article of record will be digitally watermarked “RETRACTED” and the retraction notice will be immediately linked to the published article that it refers to, prior to being officially published in a journal issue.

Post-Publication Discussions

CANDJ encourages post-publication discussions to foster ongoing dialogue and engagement with the research we publish. These discussions allow the academic community to share insights, critiques, and additional perspectives, contributing to the advancement of knowledge in the field.

We invite readers, researchers, and authors to submit Letters to the Editor to discuss published articles in the Journal. These letters may address issues such as:

  • Clarifications on points made within the article
  • Critiques of the methodology, results, or interpretations
  • Additional relevant data or insights not included in the original article
  • Counterarguments or alternative interpretations of the findings
  • Questions and open discussions about the implications of the research

Letters should be concise, evidence-based, and respectful, adhering to a 750-word limit and the Journal’s manuscript preparation guidelines. All submissions will be reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief for relevance, tone, and quality. All submissions should adhere to ethical standards of academic integrity. Defamatory language, plagiarism, or personal attacks will not be tolerated. In cases where responses from the original authors are submitted, these will be published alongside the letters, fostering a transparent and balanced dialogue.

AUTHOR FEES

There are no submission fees, publication fees or page charges for this journal.

COPYRIGHT AND AUTHOR RIGHTS

Effective June 1, 2025, authors retain copyright of their work upon publication in CANDJ and benefit from reuse rights under the terms of a Creative Commons license.

License to Publish and Rights Granted

By submitting a manuscript to CANDJ and upon acceptance, authors agree to grant the Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors (CAND), as publisher:

  • A non-exclusive license to reproduce, distribute, and display the article in all formats and media for purposes including indexing, archiving, and promotion.
  • An exclusive right to manage and authorize commercial uses of the final published work.

See the License to Publish form for more information.

Open Access and Licensing

All articles published on or after June 1, 2025, are made freely available online immediately upon publication and, unless otherwise specified, are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. Under this license:

  • Authors and non-commercial users may copy, distribute, display, share, and adapt the work in any medium or format.
  • Proper attribution must be given to the original author and source.
  • Non-commercial use only — the work may not be used for commercial purposes.
  • Changes must be clearly indicated, and no endorsement may be implied by reuse.

This license enables authors to share their work widely, including:

  • Posting their article on personal websites, institutional repositories, or academic social networks (see CANDJ’s Self Archiving Policy)
  • Reusing content in future publications (e.g., books, review articles, theses)
  • Distributing the work in teaching materials, conference presentations, or public talks
  • Sharing the article with peers, students, or stakeholders for educational or advocacy purposes

Read CANDJ’s Open Access FAQs to learn more.

Optional License: CC BY 4.0

Authors whose funding agencies or institutions require commercial reuse permissions may request to publish under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. This more permissive license allows unrestricted use, distribution, and adaptation, including for commercial purposes, provided proper attribution is given and modifications are indicated.

Requests to use the CC BY 4.0 license must:

  • Be clearly noted in the Comments to the Editor during the submission process.
  • Be agreed upon in writing.
  • Be confirmed prior to layout.

If no license is specified, the article will be published under the default CC BY-NC 4.0 license. Authors are responsible for ensuring that their chosen license meets the requirements of their funders or institutions.

Commercial Use and Permissions

While authors retain copyright, they grant CAND (the publisher) an exclusive right to manage and authorize commercial uses of the published work. All requests for commercial reuse (e.g., corporate reproduction, inclusion in paid products or services) must be directed to the publisher at candj@cand.ca. See “Permissions and Licensing” for more information.

Rights of Indigenous Authors and Communities

CANDJ recognizes that Indigenous authors and communities have the right to ownership, control, access, and possession over data collection processes and research conducted in their communities, and how this information is stored, interpreted, used, or shared, as recognized by the First Nations principles of OCAP®, a registered trademark of the First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC), and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Indigenous authors and relevant communities retain ownership, control, access, and possession of their related cultural knowledge, data, and information, provided there is full acknowledgment of its original publication in CANDJ. 

SELF-ARCHIVING POLICY

CANDJ is committed to the principles of open access and supports authors in the dissemination of their research. This self-archiving policy outlines the conditions under which authors may deposit copies of their work in institutional or subject-based repositories, personal websites, or other platforms.

Submitted Article (Pre-Print)

The Author’s submitted version is the non-peer reviewed version of an article as submitted for potential publication in CANDJ. Authors may make their pre-print article available through posting on their personal websites, an institutional repository, or their funding body’s designated archive, provided that upon publication, the Article Version of Record is acknowledged with a note or citation that includes author, year of publication, article title, journal title, digital object identifier (DOI), and a hyperlink to the Article Version of Record on the Journal website.

Accepted Article (Post-Print)

The Author’s accepted article is the version of the article that has been accepted for publication but has not undergone copyediting or layout. Authors may make their post-print article available through posting on their personal websites, an institutional repository, or their funding body’s designated archive, provided that upon publication, the Article Version of Record is acknowledged with a note or citation that includes author, year of publication, article title, journal title, digital object identifier (DOI), and a hyperlink to the Article Version of Record on the Journal website.

Published Article (Version of Record)

The final published article, with the journal’s formatting and typesetting, is the version of record. Authors may make the final published article available online e.g., to a preprint server, personal website, institutional repository, or their funding body’s designated archive, provided that the Article Version of Record is acknowledged with a note or citation that includes author, year of publication, article title, journal title, digital object identifier (DOI), and a hyperlink to the Article Version of Record on the Journal website.

Authors are responsible for ensuring compliance with any open-access mandates from their funding agencies or institutions. CANDJ reserves the right to amend this self-archiving policy. A current version will always be available on the journal’s website.

SOCIAL MEDIA

As a way of encouraging ongoing discussion within the field, the Journal will share published articles via its social media channels. To assist with our efforts of broadening the reach of articles published in CANDJ, Authors are encouraged to provide a post-size abstract for the Journal to use when sharing their article via its social media channels. It should summarize the key message or findings of the article and include any relevant hashtags.

Posts can be up to a maximum of 200 words; however, we encourage authors to keep in mind best practices for social media which include brevity and making content easy to read as this aids in greater engagement. Using appropriate hashtags and @mentioning authors, institutions, funders, etc. is an excellent way to increase the discoverability of a post. If a user has multiple platforms, please clearly identify which @mention should be used for each platform.

Authors are requested to provide a post-size abstract, along with the hashtags or accounts they suggest that the Journal mention when sharing their work. To facilitate the double-anonymized review process, this information should be provided within the title page of the manuscript. Learn more within our manuscript preparation guidelines here. 

Authors that provide social media handles benefit from the Journal’s promotions, expanding their reach well beyond the current publication. Please note that providing social media handles for publication is entirely optional. If authors are not comfortable with the Journal promoting their article along with their personal accounts, then please do not supply them. Authors that have any queries or concerns about sharing their article via social media may contact candjournal@sgpublishing.ca.

 

 

Author Guidelines Updated May 2025