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Editor’s Report for the Journal of Dental Research, 2004

School of Dentistry, University of Birmingham, St Chad’s Queensway, Birmingham B4 6NN, UK; a.j.smith{at}bham.ac.uk

I am privileged to have been appointed as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Dental Research in succession to Dr. Mark Herzberg, who follows a long line of illustrious and erudite editors since the Journal’s inception in 1919. Dr. Herzberg led the JDR as Editor-in-Chief with great vision and scientific integrity. He has been responsible for numerous changes, such as the more concise format of the reports, their grouping into subject sections, online publication and submission of manuscripts, and the appointment of Associate Editors, among other developments. These changes have continued to build on the work of previous editors to develop the JDR as the leading forum for the dissemination of scientific research within dentistry. We are indebted to Dr. Herzberg for the rich scientific legacy with which he has endowed the JDR, and he has provided a strong base from which the Journal can continue to develop and serve the needs of the research community and broader field of dentistry.

The importance of research informing education and being translated into clinical practice has long been recognized, and the Journal will continue in this role from its position as the premier international, peer-reviewed publication in dentistry. Our scope encompasses dental, oral, and craniofacial research in health and disease from the basic science to the clinical levels, which positions us well to provide a cutting-edge view of research in dentistry. We continue to favor hypothesis-driven definitive research articles reporting original and novel research showing cause-and-effect relationships for experimental studies and explanatory/associative relationships for the observational/epidemiologic types of study. In this way, reports appearing in the Journal allow a pivotal stance to be adopted on a topic and provide mechanistic understanding of the data presented. The Journal had a Scientific Impact Factor [SIF] of 2.702 in 2003 (Journal Citation Reports, 2003) and continues to be rated the premier journal in the field of dentistry.

All manuscripts are now submitted electronically (http://jdr.msubmit.net/) and reviewed and managed through this Web portal. In 2004 (through November), we have sustained a high submission record with 848 submissions in total, of which 474 were newly submitted manuscripts. A wide global submission pattern of manuscripts (Figure 1) demonstrates the strong international base to the Journal’s authorship. The overall acceptance rate in 2004 was 33.6%, and this figure was 34.5% in 2003 (Figure 2). The pattern of manuscript submissions to the different sections of the Journal (Figure 3) remains strong, and we anticipate that the appointment of a new Associate Editor for the Biomaterials & Bioengineering section will help to further encourage submissions to this section of the Journal.

View larger version (11K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 1. Distribution of JDR Manuscript Submissions by Division/Section and Country (Country is that of Corresponding Author)

View larger version (20K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 2. JDR Submitted/Accepted Manuscripts by Year [manuscripts submitted/accepted from 01 Nov 2003 to 01 Nov 2004—accepted manuscripts may have been submitted during a previous year]

View larger version (14K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 3. Distribution of JDR Manuscript Submissions by Category [manuscripts submitted/accepted from 01 Nov 2003 to 01 Nov 2004 — accepted manuscripts may have been submitted during a previous year]

The change in Editor of the Journal this year has also coincided with other changes in the editorial office. After a number of years of capable leadership of the "Discovery!" essays section of the Journal, Dr. Irwin Mandel has decided to hand over the reins, and we are fortunate that Dr. Martin Taubman from The Forsyth Institute in Boston has taken over the Associate Editorship of this section of the JDR. Dr. Mandel has nurtured the "Discovery!" section to provide a unique view of dental research, and I know that Dr. Taubman will carry on this tradition and continue to develop the section to demonstrate the creativity and innovation that have been achieved. Shortly before my appointment, the Associate Editor for the Biomaterials & Bioengineering section, Dr. David Kohn from Ann Arbor, relinquished the position, and we thank him for his contributions. Consequently, a Search Committee— led by Dr. Tilly Peters and comprised of Drs. Dan Smith, John Keller, Jack Ferracane, and Jeremy Mao—was instituted to identify a new Associate Editor for this position. A strong field of applicants emerged from this search, and we anticipate confirming an appointment very shortly. Dr. Jocelyne Feine of McGill University continues as Associate Editor for the Clinical section, and I am very appreciative of her valuable support.

The merger of Critical Reviews in Oral Biology & Medicine with the Journal of Dental Research took effect in January, 2005. This is an exciting development, which will bring the content from the journals with the #1 and #2 Scientific Impact Factors (SIF) together in the one journal. Two Critical Reviews will be included in each issue together with the existing number of articles from the Journal of Dental Research. I am delighted that Dr. Olav Alvares has agreed to continue to provide his careful and skilful editorial guidance on the highly successful Critical Reviews and will formally be the Critical Reviews Editor for the newly merged Journal. As from the December, 2004, issue, we discontinued the Concise Review format of articles from the JDR submission process.

To coincide with the January, 2005, issue of the Journal, we introduced a new cover design. The IADR and AADR Boards had agreed to seek a new cover design some 12 months ago, and considerable creativity on the part of a number of people has moved us to a position where we now have an exciting new design. Initially, external design consultants were approached, but it was felt that they were not able to offer any further expertise than that already available within the organizations. Sue De Angel in the Publications Dept. at Central Office has been truly creative in a portfolio of designs that she has produced, and we have now agreed on the new design, on which we must compliment her. Each month, the design will incorporate an image taken from that issue of the Journal, and the title banner will be presented in the maroon color scheme of Critical Rreviews in Oral Biology & Medicine to maintain the link to its history.

The publication costs of the Journal remain under careful control, and it has been possible to effect some economies within the editorial office. This year, a submission fee for manuscripts has been introduced to offset the direct costs incurred by our third-party provider for the online submission system. The Editor has the capacity to waive this submission fee in cases of financial hardship. We will continue to monitor production costs carefully and provide an effective business strategy for the Journal.

Scientific publishing has faced significant challenge during the last 12 months with the increased momentum of the open access debate. While there is considerable support in principle to broaden access to the scientific literature, the business model to underpin open access publishing remains to be determined. The concept of "one size fits all" as a business model has received criticism from many quarters, and, as a result, several learned journal publishers have joined to propose a flexible model of open access—The DC Principles on Open Access (http://www.dcprinciples.org/)—which provide a very sensible and helpful way forward in the open access jungle. As joint publishers and owners of the Journal of Dental Research, the IADR and AADR Boards have agreed to sign on to the DC Principles, and from January, 2005, the Journal of Dental Research will make available online all prior published articles older than 12 months. This access will be free of charge. Major research funding agencies, such as the NIH and the Wellcome Trust, are presently undertaking consultations with regard to requiring research funded by these agencies to be deposited in their digital repositories for public access 6 months after acceptance for publication. A number of issues arise out of such moves, which have a significant impact on scientific publishing and the role of smaller publishers, such as learned societies. On behalf of the IADR and AADR Boards, we have made representations on this subject. The final published version of a research report in a journal represents the most definitive form of that research and requires robust documentation, which may not form a part of versions in public digital repositories. As a part of ensuring that the research published in the Journal meets robust criteria, we already ask authors to conform to the CONSORT guidelines where appropriate and are considering adoption of the requirement for International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number RegistrationI(http://www.controlled-trials.com/). As a part of making the findings of our research accessible to all, we are already scheduled to adopt open access according to the DC Principles for Free Access (see above) and are considering measures such as MIAME (http://www.mged.org/Workgroups/MIAME/miame.html) compliant databases to further improve rigorous dissemination of research published in the Journal.

Increasingly, electronic access to journal archives is becoming important for researchers. While all issues of the Journal of Dental Research since January, 2002, are available on the HighWire Press site in electronic format, we have now arranged for all issues back to Volume 1 (1919) to be included. This will obviously take some time for the necessary scanning, etc., but in due course—probably by March or April, 2005—we can look forward to electronic access to the whole print run of the Journal. Linda Hemphill and Christopher Fox in Central Office are to be applauded in their efforts to arrange the digitization of the back copies, and we are indebted to the ADEA Gies Foundation for their support in this venture. We are also grateful to Natasha Power in the Publications Dept for analyzing each issue and preparing the material for scanning.

The staff in Central Office, especially those in the Publications Department, play a critical role in the publication of the Associations’ journals, and I am very grateful for their support. Much of the editorial management of manuscripts is now undertaken in Central Office rather than having an editorial assistant based at the Editor’s institution. Norm Hayden has been promoted to the position of Publications Co-ordinator, and Natasha Power has been appointed as Editorial Assistant (p/t) in Central Office. I am especially grateful to these two individuals for all of the support they provide in the management of manuscripts and liaising with authors and reviewers, as well as for the great help from Linda Hemphill and Sue De Angel in getting each issue to press. Denise Setliff has made valuable contributions to the marketing of the Journal throughout the year. All of these individuals are fundamental to each stage of the publication process and ensure that a friendly and supportive service is provided in liaising with authors to ensure rapid and high-quality publication of their manuscripts. I am also extremely grateful to Executive Director Christopher Fox and Deputy Executive Director Robert "Skip" Collins for their valuable support and sage advice since taking office.

I am confident that the JDR is well-positioned to continue to provide the best forum for publication of the most novel and innovative science in dental, craniofacial, and oral health research. We have many new challenges to face, both in research and in scientific publishing, but the research community and the JDR provide a powerful partnership to address these challenges. I would welcome communication (a.j.smith{at}bham.ac.uk) with you at any time as to how we can best serve your needs and continue to keep the JDR at the forefront of the dental literature.

— Anthony J. (Tony) Smith

REFERENCES

Journal Citation Reports 2003, Institute for Scientific Information, Philadelphia, 2004

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