Preparing CME Tests

Authors who are asked to prepare a CME exercise must

  (a) provide three learning objectives for the exercise,
  (b) write 10 multiple-choice questions, and
  (c) provide an answer key.

Authors of unsolicited manuscripts should also submit a CME exercise to avoid delays in the review process. Manuscripts for AIRP Best Cases, editorials, historical anecdotes (Scenes from the Past), Invited Commentaries, Lifelong Learning, the Oncodiagnosis Panel, and Special Reports generally do not have CME exercises.

Authors must provide three learning objectives.
Each objective should be phrased as an action that a reader should be able to fulfill after reading the article. Use quantifiable action verbs such as "list," "identify," "recognize," "describe," and "discuss" to write the learning objectives.

Authors must write 10 multiple-choice questions, each with only four answer choices.
For each question, the authors must cite one reference for the correct answer. The reference should be in the list of references for the article. Two of the 10 questions should be image based; that is, the question should direct the reader to a specific image in the article and pose a problem answerable upon review of the image. For example, the image-based question below tests readers' understanding of distinctive characteristics of hepatocellular adenoma:

Which of the following findings is the most specific in differentiating hepatocellular adenoma from focal nodular hyperplasia, as shown in Figure 11?

a. Presence of a pseudocapsule.
b. Preferential enhancement in the hepatic arterial phase.
c. Decreased signal intensity on out-of-phase T1-weighted images compared with that on in-phase T1-weighted images.
d. Multiplicity of lesions.

Authors are strongly encouraged to refer to the CME Question Writing Guidelines (PDF) before writing their questions.

For more guidance, see "Writing Multiple-Choice Questions for Continuing Medical Education Activities and Self-Assessment Modules" (RadioGraphics 2006; 26:543–551) [Full Text][PDF].

Authors must provide an answer key
Answers to test questions must be clearly stated in the article (incorrect choices should also be disproved in the text). The correct answer and its location within the text should be shown by using brackets or braces to demarcate the appropriate sentence(s), preceded by a boldfaced label, CME #1a, CME #2c, etc. Do not insert annotations for CME answers in the margin of the manuscript, and do not use the Comment feature of MS Word for these annotations.

The 10 questions, answer key, and three learning objectives should be submitted as a separate document file.