Revised September 2022
Part One: General Information for Authors
The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association invites submission of research articles, clinical case reports, clinical techniques, evidence-based reviews, perspectives, and practice management articles. Articles are accepted with the understanding that they have not been submitted elsewhere and are submitted solely to the MDA Journal. All articles accepted and published by the MDA become copyright property of the Michigan Dental Association in print and electronic media formats.
The following criteria are guidelines for submission of material. Please note that adjustments may be made to these guidelines upon request or as required. In general, feature article manuscripts should range between 1,500 and 3,000 words. Exceptions may be made for special circumstances.
All articles will be peer-reviewed through a single blind review process, where the reviewed knows the author’s identity but the author(s) are not aware of the reviewer’s identity. Authors should expect to be asked to make additions or alterations based on reviewer comments.
The Journal seeks to publish articles in the following areas:
General research and review articles: Reports of detailed investigations of interest to dentistry, including clinical and laboratory research, evidence-based reviews, diagnosis and treatment of dental disease, and studies in dental economy and education. Articles must be appropriately referenced. Text should range between 625 and 2,000 words although longer manuscripts will be considered.
Clinical case reports: Succinct reports of cases and clinical observations.
Clinical techniques: Descriptions of practical applications of methods or techniques. These articles may range from 625 to 2,000 words.
Practice management articles: Descriptions of methods used in planning and administration of office and practice procedures. Benchmarks and resources are desirable and should have citations.
Perspectives of opinion: Essays on current issues in dentistry. References are unnecessary. Text should not exceed 675 words.
Letters to the editor: All letters must be signed. Length should normally not exceed 250 words. All letters may be cut for length or content.
Part Two: Article Submission Guidelines
Manuscripts must be submitted in Microsoft Word files via email. Manuscripts should be formatted to fit on one side of an 8 ½- x 11-inch page with ample margins (at least one inch) on all four sides. Formatting should be minimal, as it will be removed prior to typesetting. Sorry, we cannot accept hard-copy only submissions. Articles should be submitted to the Journal edit
Christopher J. Smiley, D.D.S.
Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]
David Foe, M.A., CDE
Managing Editor
[email protected]
Questions may be directed to the managing editor at the same email address, or call 517-346-9421. A cover letter, naming one author as correspondent with an address, telephone number and email address, should accompany the manuscript.
Authors are expected to disclose any financial, economic, or professional interests that may have influenced positions presented in their articles. Such interests should be disclosed with the author acknowledgements. Compliance with the disclosure request will be inferred at the time of the submission of the article.
Peer review: All articles submitted except for certain invited articles, perspectives of opinion, and letters to the editor are subject to a single-blinded peer review process: the reviewer knows the identity of the author, but authors are not given the names of the reviewers. Following review by peers, the editor-in-chief makes a determination of whether to publish the manuscript. Authors may be sent recommendations for revision based on the reviews. The editor reserves the right to edit the manuscripts, to fit articles within available space, and to ensure conciseness, clarity and stylistic consistency. Edits will be provided to the authors prior to publication.
MDA, ADA, or CDA membership: All dentist authors must be members of the Michigan Dental Association, American Dental Association, or Canadian Dental Association.
Article titles: Titles should be descriptive, but concise and amenable to indexing. Note: The editors reserve the right to re-title all articles.
Abstracts: All clinical or research articles should include an Abstract of up to 150 words. This abstract will be published on or near the first page of the article.
Author credentials: Academic degrees, university affiliations, and a short (two or three paragraph) biography should all be provided upon submission. An “About the Author” box of two or three paragraphs will be published, along with a photograph of the author, if the article is accepted for publication. These should be included with the manuscript submission.
References: Follow reference style used in the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA). See issues of JADA for examples, or see the reference examples below. Submissions with incorrect references will be returned to authors for revision. Do not use automatic embedding of references in manuscripts submitted. Please note — References should appear on a separate page and included as a separate file.
Reference examples:
References for articles:
1. Andersson M, Razzoog ME, Oden A, Hegenbarth EA, Lang BR. Procera: a new way to an all-ceramic crown. Quintessence Int 1998;29:285-96.
2. Josephson BA, Schulman A, Dunn ZA, Hurwitz W. A compressive strength study of an all-ceramic crown. J Prosthet Dent 1985;53:301-3.
3. Attin T, Knofel S, Buchalla W, Tutuncu R. In situ evaluation of different remineralization periods to decrease brushing abrasion of demineralized enamel. Caries Res. 201;35(3):216-222.
References for books:
1. Hasler E. The built environment, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press;2018.
2. Hurlbut JB. Experiments in democracy: human embryo research and the politics of bioethics, New York: Columbia University Press;2017.
3. Kerr DA, Ash MM, Millard HD. Oral diagnosis. 6th ed. St. Louis: Mosby;1984:55.
References for websites:
1. United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Background radiation. Available at: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/glossary/background-radiation.html. Accessed April 12, 2019.
2. American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry Council on Clinical Affairs. Policy on Eary Childhood Caries (ECC): Classifications, Consequences, and Preventative Strategies. Available at: https://www.aapd.org/research/oral-health-policies-recommendations/early-childhood-caries-classifications-consequences-and-preventive-strategies/. Accessed November 6, 2019.
Part Three: Photo/Image Submission Requirements
Digital illustration/photo requirement: All photos, drawings, or graphics must be of high quality for satisfactory reproduction.
- Only high-resolution (300 dpi) .jpg, .png, or .tiff digital images will be accepted.
- All photos or figures should be clearly marked with figure number in the name of the photo. If a figure contains two or more parts the figure number and each part should be indicated.
- Photos may be submitted via email or on CD, DVD, or flash drive. Email photos in their original size (high resolution). Do not embed images in text. Do not reduce the size of the photo or compress the photo when sending, as this will result in a low-resolution image.
- Graphic and photo submissions not meeting these requirements will be returned to the author.
- Drawings or graphics may be re-set by the MDA if accepted for publication.
- Do not send images copied from websites. Website images are low resolution (72 dpi) and will appear significantly smaller than how they appear on screen. Only submit the original, high resolution digital version of image files.
Example:
Tables: Tables should be logically organized and should supplement the information provided in the text. They should be numbered in the order of their mention in the text, and each should be included on a separate page with the table title and footnotes, if any.
Permissions: Permission of author and publisher must be obtained for the direct use of previously published material (text, photos, drawings). Up to 100 words of prose usually can be quoted without permission, provided the material quoted is not the essence of the complete work.
Photo releases: Waivers must be obtained for the publication of photographs showing persons or for photos copyrightable by photo houses. Photo releases are available upon request.
Copyright: Unless otherwise requested, all manuscripts and photos published in the Journal of the Michigan Dental Association become the property of the Michigan Dental Association. This ownership includes rights of publication on the Internet. Articles published in the Journal may be reproduced or reprinted only after written permission has been granted by the MDA.
Part Four: 10-Minute EBD Articles
Articles up to 1,500 words are intended for the Journal’s “10-Minute EBD” department. Follow this framework:
Title
10 Minute EBD: [PICO QUESTION]
Abstract (visual)
Clinical Case
- Describe the clinical presentation of a patient, and the uncertainty that leads to a clinical question.
PICO Question
- Using the clinical case, draft a question that expresses the uncertainty. The question should be framed in Population, Intervention/Exposure, Comparison, Outcome format. A sample framework for a PICO question is provided below:
“In [POPULATION], does [INTERVENTION] compared to [COMPARISON] result in [OUTCOME]?”
Literature Search Pathway
- Describe the literature search pathway used to find an answer to the PICO question.
- Ideally, at least 2 pathways should be described.
- The first should be a commonly used search engine, such as Google, and describe results and potential flaws with this approach.
- The second should used one of the evidence-based platforms. Examples may be PubMed, PubMed Clinical Queries, TRIP Database, ECRI (the current replacement for guidelines.gov) or the Cochrane Library.
- Describe the search terms used for each pathway.
- Describe the results found from each strategy, top 1-3 most useful articles, how the articles were obtained (free, purchase from publisher, through academic library, etc).
- Discuss key results from these articles.
- Screenshots of the literature search pathway may be used to describe how the key articles were found.
Evidence Summary
- In a brief paragraph (2-3 sentences), describe how your PICO question was addressed by the literature search.