Medical Physics Letters and Multimedia Files

Abstract

Recently, the editorial board of Medical Physics approved a new feature of the journal entitled Medical Physics Letters. This new feature permits rapid publication of short articles of overriding importance to research or clinical practice in medical physics. Preliminary studies that are scientifically sound and that yield important results are good candidates for Medical Physics Letters. A Letter is a succinct research paper; it is not a letter to the editor, which in Medical Physics is termed Correspondence. Medical Physics Letters should not exceed three (3) journal pages, and must be written clearly and in good English. They are reviewed in a few days with a recommendation of (1) Accept as is; (2) Accept with minor revisions; or (3) Reject. Only one revision is permitted for Letters that are accepted with minor revisions. Medical Physics Letters are archived and citable. Publication of a Medical Physics Letter does not preclude publication of a research article on the topic at a later time. The journal's editorial board believes that many medical physicists are engaged in research that could yield Medical Physics Letters. These physicists are encouraged to submit Medical Physics Letters as a way to gain early recognition of the significance of their research. A few potential authors of Medical Physics papers have expressed interest in submitting multimedia files as part of their manuscripts. These authors believe that the files are essential to the presentation and understanding of the science in the manuscripts. Multimedia files can accompany a manuscript submitted to Medical Physics, and will be examined as part of the review process for the manuscript. Multimedia files that can be submitted with a manuscript include QuickTime Non-Streaming, MPEG, or DV files. If the manuscript is published, the files will be archived with the manuscript in their original format. However, the archiving process places certain limitations on the types of files that can be submitted, as explained below. Digital video files can be submitted with Medical Physics articles and will be reviewed along with the articles. Acceptable file formats include QuickTime Non-Streaming (.qt or .mov), MPEG (.mpg), and DV (.dv). The preferred formats are .mov and .mpeg. Video files should be named [filename.xxx]. When saving a video file, authors should use the “Save As…” option and select .qt, .mov, .mpg, or .dv as the file type. If a digital video file is submitted, a representative “still” image from the file should be selected as a placeholder for the video file in PDFs and print. The extracted image should have reasonable clarity of fine lines and details. Acceptable file formats for still images are PS (.ps), EPS (.eps), and TIFF (.tif). Still images should be named [filename.xxx]. Supplemental video files can be submitted as AVI files, but these cannot be archived with an article since the compression algorithms used to create AVI files are proprietary and do not meet the archival policies and procedures of the American Institute of Physics (the publisher of Medical Physics). AVI files can be retained on-line for an indefinite period. Audio files may also be submitted to Medical Physics, and will be reviewed along with the article that they accompany. Acceptable file formats are PCM (.pcm), WAV (.wav), AIFF (.aif), and MP3 (.mp3) at 128 Kbs or greater. Audio files should be named [filename.xxx]. The acceptable file formats described above are playable with standard media players such as QuickTime and Windows Media Player. A media player should be used to check file properties and image/sound quality prior to submission. For video submissions, fonts, lines, and image details should be of sufficient size and weight to be visible when played at half size. File size should be limited to make download times reasonable since streaming formats are not acceptable at this time. A recommended size is 3–5 Mb for each multimedia file. Authors should use an acceptable compression codecs (compression-decompression algorithm) to reduce file sizes. Animation must be formatted into a standard video file. The nature of the media content, such as video or audio. The media file type, such as QuickTime, DV, MPEG, WAV, etc. The duration of the media object playing time (seconds) for video and audio. For video, the size of the video image (height width in pixels). The name and version of the software used to create the media object, such as ADOBE PREMIERE ELEMENTS v. 2.0.