Guidelines for Developing Manuscripts

The BCSC has developed guidelines for successfully creating and publishing collaborative scientific papers (PDF) for its own use. These guidelines describe procedures for facilitating efficient manuscript development and submission for publication. They have also developed a list of frequently cited publications that may be helpful for your project.

• Requirements for Using BCSC Data for Publication
• Manuscript Acknowledgements
• Standard Paragraph on Patient Confidentiality
• Examples of Different Acknowledgments for Using BCSC Pooled Data
• Suggested Text for Methods Section

Requirements for Using BCSC Data for Publication

1. Collaborate with designated members of the SCC in data analyses.
2. Acknowledge BCSC for their contributions to the manuscript.
3. Submit final draft of abstract or manuscript to the Steering Committee or designee(s) for approval before submission for peer review. If the author group includes an NCI scientist, clearance from NCI must also be obtained before the manuscript is submitted for peer review. This review process usually will be completed within 2-4 weeks.

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Manuscript Acknowledgements

Acknowledging the Funding Source

Manuscripts that use BCSC data must cite the BCSC grant and contract numbers including (at a minimum) the sites that contributed data to the project. An SCC member can assist investigators with the appropriate numbers to cite. Typically, it will be reasonable to cite all BCSC grant and contract numbers even if not all sites contributed specific data to the project, as all grants contributed to the development of the BCSC infrastructure. For example: "Data collection for this work was supported by the National Cancer Institute-funded Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (U01CA63740, U01CA86076, U01CA86082, U01CA63736, U01CA70013, U01CA69976, U01CA63731, U01CA70040, HHSN261201100031C)."

Diana L. Miglioretti
Group Health Research Institute
U01CA86076

Rebecca Hubbard
Group Health Research Institute
HHSN261201100031C

Tracy Onega
Dartmouth Medical School
U01CA86082

Gary Cutter
UAB School of Public Health
U01CA63736

Berta M. Geller and Brian Sprague
University of Vermont
U01CA70013

Karla M. Kerlikowske
U. California, San Francisco
U01CA63740

Deirdre A. Hill
University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
U01CA69976

Diana SM Buist
Group Health Research Institute
U01CA63731

Louise Henderson
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
U01CA70040

Acknowledging Cancer Registries

Manuscripts that use BCSC data must cite the cancer registries that contributed data to the individual registries for their project. An SCC member can assist investigators with the appropriate registries to cite. As the full cancer registry citation text can exceed allowances by journals, authors may be interested in using the following (shorter) citation:

"The collection of cancer and vital status data used in this study was supported in part by several state public health departments and cancer registries throughout the US. For a full description of these sources, please see: http://breastscreening.cancer.gov/work/acknowledgement.html"

Acknowledging the BCSC and Investigators

The BCSC and investigators appreciate acknowledgment of efforts to collect and make available this valuable data resource. If journals will allow acknowledgments, the BCSC suggest the following two options in addition to listing the grant numbers described above:

"We thank the BCSC investigators, participating women, mammography facilities, and radiologists for the data they have provided for this study. A list of the BCSC investigators and procedures for requesting BCSC data for research purposes are provided at: http://breastscreening.cancer.gov/."

AND/OR

"Contributions of BCSC as a whole may be recognized by including it in the title or adding "...for the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium" to the end of the list of named authors."

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Standard Paragraph on Patient Confidentiality

For all acknowledgments, if the journal requires information about IRB approvals and other protections please include the recommended wording:

"Each registry and the Statistical Coordinating Center (SCC) have received institutional review board approval for either active or passive consenting processes or a waiver of consent to enroll participants, link data, and perform analytic studies. All procedures are Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliant and all registries and the SCC have received a Federal Certificate of Confidentiality and other protection for the identities of women, physicians, and facilities who are subjects of this research."

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Examples of Different Acknowledgments for Using BCSC Pooled Data

If one or more authors are BCSC members:

"This work was supported by the National Cancer Institute-funded Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (U01CA63740, U01CA86076, U01CA86082, U01CA63736, U01CA70013, U01CA69976, U01CA63731, U01CA70040, HHSN261201100031C). The collection of cancer and vital status data used in this study was supported in part by several state public health departments and cancer registries throughout the US. For a full description of these sources, please see: http://breastscreening.cancer.gov/work/acknowledgement.html. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Cancer Institute or the National Institutes of Health. We thank the participating women, mammography facilities, and radiologists for the data they have provided for this study. A list of the BCSC investigators and procedures for requesting BCSC data for research purposes are provided at: http://breastscreening.cancer.gov/."

If BCSC Investigators are not authors:

"Data collection for this work was supported by the National Cancer Institute-funded Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (U01CA63740, U01CA86076, U01CA86082, U01CA63736, U01CA70013, U01CA69976, U01CA63731, U01CA70040, HHSN261201100031C). The collection of cancer and vital status data used in this study was supported in part by several state public health departments and cancer registries throughout the US. For a full description of these sources, please see: http://breastscreening.cancer.gov/work/acknowledgement.html. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Cancer Institute or the National Institutes of Health. We thank the BCSC investigators, participating women, mammography facilities, and radiologists for the data they have provided for this study. A list of the BCSC investigators and procedures for requesting BCSC data for research purposes are provided at: http://breastscreening.cancer.gov/."

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Suggested Text for Methods Section

We encourage you to include one of the following statements in the methods section:

"Data for this study was obtained from the BCSC Research Resource, funded by the National Cancer Institute. More information is available at: http://breastscreening.cancer.gov/."

OR

"Data were obtained from the National Cancer Institute-funded BCSC Research Resource (http://breastscreening.cancer.gov/)."

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