Content and style of manuscripts
Use a clear and concise writing style and avoid jargon or long and complicated sentences that are hard to follow. Avoid the passive voice when the active voice may be more appropriate e.g. ‘The authors chose to examine patients because..’ rather than ‘Patients were chosen to be examined by the authors because...’.
Use International English spelling e.g. ‘ise’ not ‘ize’. Manuscripts should be double-spaced with a font size of 12. Use a margin of 4cm on the left hand side of the page. Pages should be numbered consecutively on the top right hand corner. Main headings should be in upper case and emboldened, subsidiary headings should be in lower case and emboldened.
1. Original Scientific Articles
Length of contributions: As a general guide, contributions should be no more than 3000 words, including Tables and Figures these generally count for 100-500 words depending on size.
Title page should contain the following information and be sent as separate document with authors’ names and address (es). Academic qualifications are not necessary.
Format:
Title - must be short and descriptive
Author(s) name(s) – Surname then initials of each author. Separate authors by ‘,’ and job titles
Institution – indicate with numbers the Institution associated with each author
Correspondence address- Address, telephone, fax and email of corresponding author
Key Words no more than six key words
Running Title
Abstracts: must be able to stand alone and be structured as indicated below. Abstracts should not include references or abbreviations and may be up to 250 words long.
Aim and objectives
Methodology - to include subjects - number of subjects and selection; setting, procedures including the nature of any interventions, main outcome measures,
Results
Conclusions
Main Document: Should be divided into the sections and in the following order:
Introduction
Material and Method
Results
Discussion
Conclusions
Acknowledgements
References
Tables
Figure Legends
Figures
Acknowledgements - Sources of institutional, private and corporate financial support for the work within the manuscript should be fully acknowledged, and any potential conflicts of interest noted. Specify contributors to the article other than the authors should be accredited. Acknowledge only persons who have made substantive contributions to the study. Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission from everyone acknowledged by name because readers may infer their endorsement of the data and conclusions.
Declaration of interest - Information concerning conflict of interest and sources of funding regarding your paper should be declared. This includes issues such as funding from an organisation or company directly for the research; funding you have received (or payment in kind) for any work you have been involved in or from an organisation or company that could be linked to the research; any consultation or advisory positions you may hold in an organisation or company involved in the research or an organisation involved in similar research; should be declared and any other situation that could be construed as a conflict of interest.
References - Authors have responsibility for the accuracy of the references both within the text and in the Reference section. Personal communication should be avoided but where essential will appear in the text only The Harvard style should be used. See Reference style for further information.
Tables –should be numbered in Arabic numbers e.g. 1, 2. Each Table should appear on a separate page in Word and have a legend which explains the content of the table without reference to the text. No vertical lines should be included in the tables. Where appropriate, consideration should be given to alternative ways of displaying data other than in tables, for example, as histograms.
Figures - These should be referred to in the text as ‘Figure’ and given Arabic numbers. Figures should be submitted electronically in TIFF, JPEG or EPS format at high resolution (at least 300dpi). If the manuscript is accepted following the peer review process, the original photograph may be requested for professional scanning. Important note: Patients should not be readily identifiable from their photographs. Their or their guardian’s written consent for publication must be obtained by the author and a copy sent to JDOH. It is not sufficient to block out the eyes of the person on the image. Colour illustrations are permitted. All Figure legends should be written on a separate page in the word processing package.
Abbreviations- The JDOH does not encourage the use of abbreviations, especially in the Abstract or Summary where they are difficult to interpret. Common abbreviations are accepted as follows; they should be written out in full at the first mention in the text e.g. Special Care Dentistry (SCD), cardiovascular system (CVS). If they are only mentioned infrequently, write out in full.
Numbers and Units: spell out numbers in full when they start a sentence or when less than 10, unless they are followed by a unit of measurement. Units must conform to the Systemè International d’Unités (SI).
Reference style
The reference style for JDOH is now the Harvard style for easier electronic reference management.
Author(s): family name followed first name(s) initials. There should be comma after each set of initials, except the last, which is to be followed by a period. This is followed by the year of publication then the volume number and then by the first and last pages in full.
Examples of Reference styles:
Original Scientific Articles: Author. Year. Article title. Journal Title volume (issue), pages.
Gordon, F., Morgan, M., Thompson, S. 2009. A survey of the quality and quantity of Special Care Dentistry Teaching, including Gerodontology, in Dental Schools of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Journal of Disability and Oral Health 10 (1), pp 3-10.
Books: Author. Year. Book Title. Place: Publisher.
Gorlin, R.J., Cohen, M.M. Jr, Levin, L.S. 1990. Syndromes of the Head and Neck. Third edition. New York: Oxford University Press.
Chapter in book: Chapter Author(s). Year. Title of chapter. In: Book Editor ed/eds. Book title. Place: Publisher, chapter page numbers.
Griffiths, J.E. and Boyle, S. 1993. Oral assessment. In: Colour guide to Holistic Oral Care: a Practical Approach. Aylesbury: Mosby-Year Book Europe, pp 87-98.
Report or Web Document: Author or Editor (if available). Year. Title [Online-if online]. Place: Publishable (if available). Available at: web address of document [Accessed: day Month year].
Dalley, K. 2009. The Provision of Oral Health Care under General Anaesthesia in Special Care Dentistry A Professional Consensus Statement [Online]. UK: British Society for Disability and Oral Health. Available at: http://www.bsdh.org.uk/guidelines/BSDH_GA_in_SCD_2009.pdf [Accessed: 31May 2011].
In the main text of the manuscript:
One author: should be referred to in the text as: (Thompson, 2009).
Two authors: should be referred to in the text as: (Clarkson and O’Mullane, 1989).
Three or more authors: should be referred to in the text as (Shaw et al., 1995).
Multiple references need to be listed in chronological order.
Where an author has published more than one reference in any one year, these should be suffixed as 1987a or 1996a; b.
The author is responsible for the accuracy of the reference list at the end of the manuscript.
2. Case reports
These should be short and concise reports of one or a small series of clinical cases or of a novel technique. There should be a purpose to presenting the case, for example, a cautionary note for other clinicians or a new way of managing a particular situation.
The Abstract should be short (50 words maximum) and no references should be included. The Case report should include a short Introduction and then a Report of Case(s) to include details of patient/technique, investigations, differential diagnosis, treatment options and outcomes, ideally over at least 6 months. Discussion should be focussed and describe the importance of the case in regard to implications for oral healthcare and of relevant findings that have not previously been reported. The Conclusions should be short and there should be a maximum of 10 References. Key Words -no more than five key words and there should be a Running Title.
3. Review Articles
A review article should be a structured assessment of the literature using current papers (usually within the last decade) which have a good scientific background. The review should include a description of how the articles have been selected and if appropriate a full search strategy. The review should include analysis and comment on the literature reviewed and include a report of the results and an analysis of the quality of the literature reviewed.
The review would usually be approximately 4000-5000 words of text, excluding references. The review would need to undergo the standard peer review process of the JDOH therefore, acceptance cannot be guaranteed.
Additional Points
Peer Review: All papers will undergo initial screening for suitability for publication in JDOH by the Editor. Papers that are deemed suitable will be sent for peer review by two or more referees. If reviewers widely differ, a third reviewer is appointed. Additional specialist advice may be sought if necessary, for example from a bio medical statistician. The final decision to accept or reject, based on revised manuscript is made by the Editor.
Proofs and offprints/reprints page proofs will be sent to the corresponding author for checking of accuracy only, essentially typesetting errors. No substantial changes can be made to the paper at this stage. A rapid turn-around is required to keep to publisher’s deadlines. A CD of a PDF file of the paper, offprints, printed at the same time as the paper or reprints, printed subsequently and therefore a more costly option can be ordered by the author(s) at the time of acceptance of the page proofs. Copyright is normally signed over to the British Society for Disability and Oral Health at this stage. Photocopies can be made for educational purposes without the consent of the publisher.
Disclaimer: The Publisher, Editor and Editorial Board cannot be responsible for any errors or any consequences arising from the use of information that is published in the Journal of Disability and Oral Health. The views and opinions expressed in the Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Publisher, Editor and Editorial Board or policies of the British Society for Disability and Oral Health, the Irish Association of Disability and Oral Health or the International Association of Disability and Oral Health. The publication of advertisements does not necessarily constitute any endorsement by the Publisher, Editor and Editorial Board of the products advertised.
Confidentiality: The content of all manuscripts under review is kept confidential within the office of the Editor of the JDOH. Referees are requested to respect confidentiality throughout the peer review process until publication if the manuscript is accepted. Following acceptance all information relating to a paper will be kept confidential.
Copyright: All authors assign a Copyright Transfer Agreement of their article to the Journal of Disability and Oral Health upon acceptance. Single copies of papers can be made for personal use free of charge. Multiple copies can be made only after permission has been granted by Stephen Hancocks Ltd, 8.12 Aragon Tower, Longshore, London, SE8 3AH.
Manuscripts may be edited to improve clarity by the Editor who reserves the right to do so in order to conform to acceptable JDOH style and to the limits of space available. Proofs are supplied to the authors only for correction of typographical errors or misprints; no materials should be added or removed at this stage, except in exceptional circumstances.
