Is Your Paper Ready for CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians?
CA has the highest IF of any journal in the world, driven by the annual cancer statistics report. It is a solicited review journal. Original research is generally not accepted.
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Quick answer: CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians generally does not accept original research, and it considers an unsolicited review article only after the Editors approve a pre-submission outline and abstract.
The journal has a 2025 Journal Impact Factor of 685.2 (Clarivate, as printed on its Wiley metrics page), making it the highest-IF publication in the world, but that number is driven entirely by annual cancer statistics citations, not by a standard research submission process. If your question is whether your manuscript is ready for CA, the more relevant question is whether you have been invited to contribute or have an Editor-approved pre-submission outline.
The numbers that matter
Feature | CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians |
|---|---|
2025 Journal Impact Factor | 685.2 (highest globally) |
Publisher | American Cancer Society / Wiley |
Submission model | Mostly solicited reviews; unsolicited manuscripts only after Editor approval of a pre-submission outline and abstract |
2025 acceptance rate | 31% (Wiley journal metrics page) |
Scope | Clinical oncology reviews, cancer statistics |
Peer review type | Single-anonymous peer review after editor and associate editor screening |
Frequency | Bimonthly |
CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians carries a 2025 JIF of 685.2 (Clarivate, as printed on its Wiley metrics page), the highest of any academic journal in the world. According to the journal's author guidelines, most articles are solicited reviews, original research articles are generally not accepted, and an unsolicited manuscript can be submitted through ScholarOne only after the Editors approve a pre-submission outline and abstract. The IF is driven by the annual American Cancer Society cancer statistics report, which accumulates thousands of citations per year across oncology, epidemiology, and clinical medicine.
Readiness matrix
Because CA mostly commissions its content, "readiness" is really a question of access, not manuscript polish. Use this matrix to decide whether CA is even a possible target before you invest any time.
Readiness dimension | What CA requires | Your status |
|---|---|---|
Scope fit | An editorial invitation, or an Editor-approved pre-submission outline, for a defined review topic | |
Pathway | Invited review, an Editor-approved pre-submission proposal, or American Cancer Society authorship of a statistics or guideline article | |
Evidence and scope | A comprehensive, practice-oriented clinical synthesis for a broad audience | |
Package | A documented invitation or Editor-approved outline and abstract, not a finished manuscript | |
Risk and decision | Unsolicited manuscripts submitted without the Editor's approval of a pre-submission outline and abstract are returned without review |
Official requirements
Requirement | CA rule | Official source |
|---|---|---|
Submission model | Mostly solicited reviews; unsolicited manuscripts need Editor approval of a pre-submission outline and abstract, then go through ScholarOne | ACS / Wiley author guidelines |
Article types | Review articles, prospective high-impact Phase III randomized trials by pre-submission query, and American Cancer Society Cancer Statistics and guideline articles; Perspectives, Virtual Tumor Board and Patient Pages take no external submissions | ACS author guidelines |
Cost and APC | No submission, page or color fees; accepted papers are published under CC-BY-NC-ND at no charge, and an APC applies to authors who require another license, for example when a funder mandates one | ACS / Wiley author guidelines |
Manuscript format | Review articles of 7000 to 10000 words including references and tables, with an abstract of 250 words or less | ACS author guidelines |
Before you spend time on a CA submission, a CA scope and fit check confirms quickly whether your paper has any realistic pathway to this mostly solicited journal or belongs at an open-submission oncology venue instead.
What CA actually publishes
CA is not a research journal in the conventional sense. Understanding what the journal actually publishes is the first step in evaluating whether it is relevant to your work.
Invited comprehensive review articles. The core content of CA is comprehensive clinical review articles commissioned by the editorial board. These are typically lengthy, practice-oriented summaries of a major clinical topic: a cancer type, a treatment modality, a screening approach, or an emerging area in oncology care. The editorial board identifies gaps in clinical guidance and invites recognized experts to produce reviews. Review articles are generally solicited by the editors, but unsolicited proposals are considered if the Editors approve a pre-submission outline and abstract.
The American Cancer Society cancer statistics reports. The most-cited content in CA is the annual cancer statistics report, which CA publishes as one of two categories of articles from American Cancer Society authors. This report compiles incidence, mortality, and survival data for all cancer types in the United States. Unsolicited statistics manuscripts will not be considered for peer review or publication.
American Cancer Society clinical guidelines and evidence-based practice updates. CA publishes guidelines and practice updates developed by American Cancer Society panels. These come from American Cancer Society authors, and unsolicited guideline manuscripts will not be considered for peer review or publication.
Phase III randomized trials. CA accepts for consideration prospective high-impact randomized trials. Authors send a pre-submission query to the Editor, and the author guidelines say authors can expect an editorial response within 48 business hours.
Perspectives, Virtual Tumor Board and Patient Pages. Perspectives: Research in Context gives busy clinicians concise, practical information with insight from experts, Virtual Tumor Board features solicited cases on complex therapeutic decisions, and Patient Pages give general information to patients and caregivers. External submissions are not accepted for any of the three.
The invited review model explained
The editorial model at CA is fundamentally different from a standard peer-reviewed journal. At a standard journal, researchers submit manuscripts, editors evaluate them, and a peer review process determines acceptance or rejection. At CA, the editorial team identifies what the journal needs and goes to find the people to write it.
This inversion of the standard model means that the concept of "readiness" works differently here. A manuscript is not "ready for CA" in the same sense it might be "ready for Journal of Clinical Oncology." The question at JCO is whether your study is strong enough to compete for one of its slots. The question at CA is whether the editorial board has identified your topic as a gap in their coverage and has determined you are the right person to fill it.
Most researchers encounter CA through citations in clinical literature. The journal's visibility, combined with its extraordinary JIF, makes it an aspirational target. But the gap between aspiration and realistic access is significant. The submission model is largely closed to unsolicited contributions, which need the Editors' approval of a pre-submission outline and abstract.
The cancer statistics report
The annual report is the most important content CA produces, both scientifically and institutionally. According to the 2026 report, the American Cancer Society estimates the numbers of new cancer cases and deaths in the United States each year using incidence data collected by central cancer registries, compiled by the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries from registries in the National Cancer Institute's SEER program and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Program of Cancer Registries, and mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics.
The report covers incidence, mortality, and 5-year relative survival rates across all major cancer types, with breakdowns by age, sex, race, and geography. It is released in the first issue of each year and is one of the most frequently cited documents in biomedical research. The citation volume from this single annual publication is the primary driver of CA's JIF.
The Cancer Statistics articles come from American Cancer Society authors, and unsolicited statistics manuscripts are not considered.
CA vs. oncology journals that accept research
For researchers with standard oncology research manuscripts, the relevant journals are categorically different from CA.
Feature | CA | JCO | JAMA Oncology | Annals of Oncology |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Publisher | ACS/Wiley | ASCO/Wolters Kluwer | AMA/Elsevier | ESMO/Elsevier |
2025 Journal Impact Factor | 685.2 | ~44.7 | ~23.9 | ~80.4 |
Acceptance rate | 31% (2025) | ~15% | ~10% | 12% |
Submission model | Mostly solicited; Editor approval needed for unsolicited | Open submission | Open submission | Open submission |
Scope | Clinical review | Clinical oncology | Clinical oncology | European oncology |
Accepts original research | Generally no | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Publisher-reported acceptance figures link to their source. Elsevier catalog figures were checked in October 2026; the catalog does not specify the reporting period or submission denominator.
Per the American Society of Clinical Oncology's author information, JCO is commonly estimated to accept about 15% of submissions and requires that original research report clinically meaningful results with direct implications for patient care. Selectivity estimates commonly place the journal at about 10% of submissions and prioritizes research that will change clinical practice or substantially advance clinical knowledge. Annals of Oncology, the European Society for Medical Oncology's flagship journal, is commonly estimated to accept about 18% of submissions with particular emphasis on European patient populations and treatment practices.
Readiness check
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Common Mistakes in Our Pre-Submission Review Work with CA Manuscripts
For manuscripts targeting CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, four patterns generate the most consistent submission-stage problems worth understanding before you commit to the process.
Submitting unsolicited original research to a mostly solicited journal. According to CA's author guidelines, most articles are solicited reviews and original research articles submitted for publication are generally not accepted for peer review. We see this pattern in manuscripts we review more frequently than any other CA-specific issue.
Researchers submit well-executed clinical oncology studies, complete with rigorous methods, figures, and statistical analysis, to CA because the JIF signals a top-tier venue, without recognizing that the submission model largely forecloses unsolicited contributions. In our experience, roughly 80% of manuscripts researchers ask us to evaluate for CA fall completely outside the journal's submission model.
Submitting unsolicited review articles.
Per CA's author guidelines, review articles are generally solicited by the editors, and unsolicited reviews are considered only after the Editors approve a pre-submission outline and abstract. We see this in roughly 65% of researchers targeting CA, who assume that since the journal publishes reviews, it accepts review proposals. Unsolicited manuscripts submitted without the Editor's approval of a pre-submission outline and abstract are returned without review.
Treating CA's IF as a benchmark for standard research journal accessibility. CA's 2025 IF of 685.2 reflects the citation velocity of the annual cancer statistics report rather than the competitiveness of the peer-reviewed research published in the journal.
We see this in roughly 55% of researchers who include CA in a tier analysis of oncology journals, placing it at the top of a list alongside JCO and Annals of Oncology as if the three share a comparable submission pipeline, even when the manuscript's abstract, cover letter, and reference list are genuinely strong. In practice an unsolicited manuscript submitted without the Editor's approval of a pre-submission outline and abstract is returned without review.
Asking the editorial office for an invitation instead of sending the required pre-submission outline. CA's author guidelines require pre-submission correspondence, consisting of an outline and abstract describing the proposed article, which the Editors review before any unsolicited manuscript can be submitted for peer review. Authors are asked to email an abstract, the full author list, the manuscript length and information about the author to the Editorial Office, and the guidelines discourage submitting finished manuscripts before or at the time of proposal review.
In our experience, roughly 40% of researchers targeting CA attempt to initiate the invitation process by reaching out directly. The author guidelines ask for an outline and abstract describing the proposed article.
Before determining that CA is the right target for your oncology work, a CA manuscript scope and fit check identifies quickly whether your paper belongs in CA or in a standard oncology research journal like JCO, JAMA Oncology, or Annals of Oncology.
When CA fits your work
CA is relevant to your work in four specific circumstances.
You received a direct editorial invitation. If the CA editorial board or a member of the editorial team has specifically invited you to write a review article on a defined topic, that invitation establishes the pathway. Proceed with the invited article as specified in the invitation.
The Editors approved your pre-submission outline and abstract. If you sent the outline and abstract, with the full author list, manuscript length and information about the author, to the Editorial Office and the Editors approved it, you can then submit the manuscript through ScholarOne. The same pre-submission query applies to a prospective high-impact randomized trial.
You are writing a Cancer Statistics article as an American Cancer Society author. CA publishes these articles from American Cancer Society authors, and unsolicited statistics manuscripts will not be considered.
You are an American Cancer Society author writing about the Society's guidelines. CA publishes articles from American Cancer Society authors describing its guidelines for cancer prevention and cancer survivorship care, and unsolicited guideline manuscripts will not be considered.
In any other circumstance, your oncology manuscript belongs in JCO, JAMA Oncology, Annals of Oncology, Cancer, or another journal with an open submission model. A CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians submission readiness check can confirm whether your specific paper has any realistic pathway to this journal before you invest further time.
Where to Submit Instead of CA
In essentially every case other than an editorial invitation or an Editor-approved pre-submission proposal, your oncology work belongs at a journal with an open submission model. Route it to one of these instead:
- Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) for flagship clinical oncology research (IF ~42, ~15% acceptance)
- JAMA Oncology for practice-changing clinical studies (IF ~20, ~10% acceptance)
- Annals of Oncology for clinical oncology; verify current publisher metrics rather than relying on an estimated acceptance rate
- Cancer for a broader scope with higher acceptance rates
A CA scope and fit check confirms in seconds whether your paper has any realistic pathway to CA or should route to one of these open-submission journals.
Submit if CA is the right venue
- You received a direct editorial invitation from the CA editorial team for a specific review topic
- The Editors approved your pre-submission outline and abstract
- You are an American Cancer Society author of the cancer statistics report
- You are an American Cancer Society author of a guideline article for CA
Think twice if
- You are submitting an original research manuscript in clinical or basic oncology
- You are submitting an unsolicited review article on a topic you chose independently, without an approved pre-submission outline
- Your inclusion criteria is that the journal's IF of 685.2 appears at the top of your oncology journal ranking list
- You have neither an invitation from the editorial board nor an approved pre-submission outline
- You plan to send a finished manuscript instead of a pre-submission outline and abstract
Frequently asked questions
Generally no. With the exception of the American Cancer Society's Cancer Statistics articles, original research articles submitted for publication are generally not accepted, and most CA articles are solicited reviews. CA does consider prospective high-impact randomized trials through a pre-submission query to the Editor. If you have a research manuscript, Journal of Clinical Oncology, JAMA Oncology, or Annals of Oncology are the appropriate targets.
CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians has a 2025 Journal Impact Factor of 685.2 (Clarivate, as printed on the journal's Wiley metrics page), making it the highest-IF journal in the world. This number is driven almost entirely by annual citations to the American Cancer Society cancer statistics reports, which are among the most-cited documents in biomedical science. The IF is not a meaningful signal for individual manuscript submission.
Most CA articles are solicited reviews that the editors commission, and American Cancer Society authors write the Cancer Statistics and guideline articles. An unsolicited manuscript can be submitted through ScholarOne only after the Editors approve a pre-submission outline and abstract sent to the Editorial Office; unsolicited manuscripts submitted without that approval are returned without review. CA also considers prospective high-impact randomized trials through a pre-submission query.
CA is written for clinical oncologists, primary care physicians, and other healthcare professionals who need clear summaries of cancer epidemiology, clinical practice updates, and evidence syntheses. The journal prioritizes accessibility for clinicians over methodological depth for researchers. This is why invited reviews are comprehensive, practice-oriented, and written for a broad clinical audience rather than subspecialty experts.
For clinical oncology research, Journal of Clinical Oncology (IF approximately 42) is the flagship option. JAMA Oncology (IF approximately 20) is another high-impact choice. Annals of Oncology (IF approximately 65) is the leading European clinical oncology journal. Cancer (IF approximately 5) is a broader option with higher acceptance rates. Each has different scope and selectivity.
Sources
- 1. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians - Author Guidelines, American Cancer Society.
- 2. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians journal homepage, Wiley.
- 3. Clarivate Journal Citation Reports (2026 release for the 2025 Journal Impact Factor), Clarivate.
- 4. Journal of Clinical Oncology author information, ASCO.
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