Please download and print the instructions prior to the preparation and then electronic submission of your manuscript. Once all of the preparation is complete and you have all of the information and files ready for submission, please go to the JCDP Electronic Submission Homepage and register as an author. Then, follow the steps for submission until you have reviewed each file and are ready to finalize the submission as described. The manuscript review process will then begin and you can monitor it at your homepage at the JCDP electronic submission site. PDF of Manuscript Preparation Guidelines   Click here  to view the Manuscript Preparation tutorial.   Click here  to view the Biosketch Preparation tutorial. PDF of Electronic Submission Instructions

MISSION

The mission of the Journal of Contemporary Dental Practice is to provide an international peer-reviewed forum for oral healthcare and related professionals to contribute to the dental literature.  The guiding principle of the journal is to lead dental professionals to new thinking for the twenty-first century with content that is sound in principle and science. Journal content will foster prevention intervention strategies for disease control.

Manuscripts submitted to this journal are extensively reviewed by the editorial staff and anonymously reviewed by volunteer experts in dental subjects related to the content of submitted articles.  This independent review is designed to ensure the accuracy of the content and is either evidence-based or based on sound clinical observation, professional experience, and documentation.

MANUSCRIPT SELECTION

Effective July 1, 2005 the Journal of Contemporary Dental Practice will only consider manuscripts that are directly relevant to the practicing general dentist, dental hygienist, or dental assistant.  Authors are advised to indicate the relevance in a statement of clinical significance within the abstract of the manuscript.

The selection of manuscripts is based on the Mission of the journal.  Manuscripts whose focus is on providing direct benefit to the practicing dental professional in general clinical practice are chosen for review by volunteer dental professionals with expertise in the topic covered in the manuscript.  These experts independently evaluate and make recommendations to the editorial staff regarding the appropriateness for publication in the journal using a double-blind process.

Other factors considered in the selection process include the accuracy and timeliness of the content, the potential contribution of new knowledge of significance to the dental literature, and the prior publication history of articles on the same topic.

Manuscripts are to be submitted in English.  It is the responsibility of the author to ensure that the quality of the text is publication-ready in order for reviewers and the editorial staff to be able to understand the information presented.  Failure to meet this standard may result in the unnecessary disqualification of your manuscript.

If assistance is needed to prepare the English text of your manuscript prior to submission, we suggest the use of American Journal Experts (AJE), a company which provides this service for a FEE.

AJE is an independent company without a business relationship with the Journal of Contemporary Dental Practice.  You can visit their website at:  http://www.journalexperts.com/.

AJE has subject-expert editors that will check your manuscripts for spelling errors, grammar, punctuation, misplaced modifiers, changes in tense, problems with parallelisms, and use of inappropriate language.  In addition, they will ensure your text reads with a natural flow and sentence structure is well constructed.

Enter the code “JCDP1” into during registration for your account with them to receive a 10% discount.

TYPES OF MANUSCRIPT CONSIDERED

The following are the formats of articles that are considered for publication in the Journal of Contemporary Dental Practice:

1. Original Research Articles:  Full length (1500-2500 words) articles based on original research, the results of which have not been published previously and the findings are of direct benefit to the practicing general dentist, dental hygienist, or dental assistant in either the care of patients or the management of a care facility.  Authors must designate the type of research such as systematic review, randomized clinical trial, cohort study, case-control study, laboratory research or "other".

2. Literature Review Articles:  Full length (1500-2500 words) articles based on review of the current literature, the results of which have not been published previously and the findings are of direct benefit to the practicing general dentist, dental hygienist, or dental assistant in either the care of patients or the management of a care facility.

3. Experienced-Based Articles:  Shorter (1000-1500 words) articles based on the experience or observations of a professional, which are of benefit to the general dentist, dental hygienist, or dental assistant.  Such articles include, but are not limited to, innovative practice management strategies, clinical techniques, and descriptions of public health program innovations and case reports.  Non-patient study submissions such as technology implementation or projects, diagnostic technologies and professional development are welcome.  The article must be based on sound principles, established science, or law.

THE PUBLICATION PROCESS

Once a manuscript is prepared in the proper format described below it is submitted online by the author.  Information on this procedure is presented later.

The submitted manuscript is reviewed by the editorial staff and a panel of volunteer experts in the field related to the topic of the manuscript.  At the conclusion of the peer review process, a manuscript is either rejected, provisionally accepted pending revisions, or accepted as written.  Progress of the manuscript review process can be monitored by the author using the author's homepage at the online submission website for the journal.

A provisionally accepted manuscript will contain recommendations for the author to address and re-submit before final acceptance is granted.  Once accepted, the manuscript is edited, graphics are developed, and a final draft of the article is posted on the journal staging website for the author’s final review and comment prior to publication.

Letter of Assurance and Copyright Transfer

Authors are requested to provide a letter containing the statement of copyright transfer as well as a statement of assurance that the author and all co-authors concur with the following:

1. The manuscript has been approved for submission to the Journal of Contemporary Dental Practice by all authors.

2. The text and images in the manuscript submitted are the original work of the author(s).

3. A photograph in which a person is identifiable requires the written permission of that person to publish their image.  The author warrants the submission of such photographs is assurance the written permission is on file.

4. Product images created by the manufacturer or images taken from another publication must also have the permission of the owner of the original work on file by the author.  A courtesy statement citing the source of such an image must be included in the legend accompanying the image.

5. Submission of a manuscript and related materials by the author constitutes the transfer, assignment, and conveyance to the Journal of Contemporary Dental Practice copyright to the work in the event the manuscript is accepted for publication.  Submission of these materials warrants the work is original and any borrowed graphics, photographs, text, or other materials to be included in the publication have been expressly approved for publication in the Journal of Contemporary Dental Practice by the lender of such materials.

The signed letter with all author’s signatures can be uploaded as a scanned image along with the manuscript during the electronic submission process.

Click here to see a sample letter.

Acceptance Notice

Although the Journal of Contemporary Dental Practice is an online journal, the editorial staff is committed to providing authors with tangible documentation of the acceptance of their manuscript by the peer-review committee.  Upon acceptance for publication of a submitted manuscript, the author will receive a formal notice of acceptance and an estimate of when it will be published.

Reprints

The author will receive ten color reprints of the article in standard publication format.  Authors can either download or print additional copies of their articles directly from the journal.  The button for this purpose is labeled, “Download Article PDF”, and is located under the abstract of the article.  (Note:  Acrobat Reader is required for this function.  It can be downloaded free.  See the “Toolbox” link at the end of the navigation menu on the left side of the screen.)

Additional Information

For more information about preparing and submitting a manuscript for publication, we suggest reading:

The Art of Scientific Writing: How to Get Your Research Published!
W. Patrick Naylor, DDS, MPH, MS; Carlos A. Muňoz-Viveros, DDS, MSD

The purpose of this article is to provide potential authors with a contemporary guide to scientific writing.

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION GUIDELINES

Introduction

The preparation of a manuscript for the journal differs from the traditional format used for print publishing because the manuscript is submitted electronically online by the corresponding author.  Using an online manuscript submission system helps to expedite the peer review process and allows authors to track the progress of their manuscript during the review.

The electronic system functions by extracting critical information submitted by authors, and this information is used to generate correspondence, operate a manuscript tracking system, and to automatically assemble an anonymous manuscript for the double-blind peer review.  As a result, authors need to create separate files for the following items:

	The Manuscript
	Images (Photographs, charts, graphs, drawings)
	Supplemental Media (Video, animation, audio)
	Author Biographical Summary (Biosketch)

All manuscripts are submitted electronically and must be organized into a specific format described here.  Before reading the details of manuscript preparation viewing the following tutorial is recommended.

Click here  to view the Manuscript Preparation tutorial.

The Manuscript

General Requirements

Microsoft Word 95 or higher document file must be used to submit a manuscript.  The text must be double spaced with 1" margins and justified to the left-hand margin.  Avoid using "styles" or document templates.  The "Normal" Word format is recommended.  (Arial 12 pt text is preferred.)  Text must be divided into appropriate sections as listed above with each section labeled with a bold heading.

Hyperlinks

Authors may not embed actual hyperlinks to other web sites within the text of the article due to the risk of losing the links in the processing of the manuscript.  If a hyperlink is essential, the web site address (URL) must be included and placed in parentheses following the text to be linked.  (The parentheses indicate a link is to be established in the article during manuscript processing.)
Authors may choose to have the actual web site address displayed in the text and linked by including it within a sentence.  Examples include the following:

	The American Dental Association (http://www.ada.org) has supported the concept of waterline safety for the public.
	The American Dental Association web site can be found at:  http://www.ada.org.

Title

The title of the manuscript should appear at the top of the first page.  The title must clearly state what the article is about.  Clever titles should be avoided.

Author Names

Do not include author names in the manuscript.  They are to be placed in the biographical (biosketch) file described below.

Abstract

All articles must include a structured abstract of approximately 100 to 200 words and only include material appearing in the main body of the manuscript.  Structured abstracts vary according to the type of article.  All abstracts must be organized into a structured format appropriate to the type of article using the headings listed in the following table:

Primary Research	Literature Reviews	Case Reports	Clinical Techniques
Aim Materials and Methods Results Conclusions Clinical Significance	Aim Background Review Results Conclusion Clinical Significance	Aim Background Case Description Summary Clinical Significance	Aim Background Technique Summary Clinical Significance

Keywords:  A list of three to ten keywords contained in the article must be listed below the abstract.  A minimum of three keywords are required, and they should contain the type of research such as systematic review, randomized clinical trial, cohort study, case-control study, laboratory research, or "other".  (These will be used to search for your article on PubMed and other Internet resources.)

(During the electronic submission process authors will be asked to copy and paste the abstract and the keywords into corresponding text boxes on the submissions pages.)

Body of the Manuscript

The body of the manuscript must be organized into a format appropriate for the type of article using the headings listed in the following table:

Primary Research	Literature Reviews	Case Reports	Clinical Techniques
Aim Introduction Materials and Methods Results Discussion Conclusions Clinical Significance Reference	Aim Background Review Results Discussion Conclusion Clinical Significance Reference	Aim Background Case Description Discussion Summary Clinical Significance References	Aim Background Technique Discussion Summary Clinical Significance References

References

References must be listed on the reference list in the order they first appear in the article.

In order to maintain continuity of the scientific literature, the Journal of Contemporary Dental Practice requires use of the International Committee of Medical Editors Uniform Requirements which can be found at:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html

Examples of various types of references are provided at this website to assist you with proper reference formatting.

The names of all authors must be included in citations without using "et al".

Number references at the end of the sentence to which the reference is related.  Use commas to separate multiple reference numbers.  If more than one reference is contained in a sentence, then number the reference immediately following the text that refers to the reference.  For example:

"Bailey² found that 46% showed signs of metastasis while Varner³ found only 28%."

The references can be noted using superscript as well.  If you are uncertain about the correct abbreviation for any journal title used in your reference list, refer to a comprehensive listing by the National Library of Medicine at:

ftp://nlmpubs.nlm.nih.gov/online/journals/ljiweb.pdf

Figure Legends

A list of legends to accompany figures or images follows the reference list in the manuscript.  No figures are included in the manuscript itself as they are submitted individually as separate files.

Tables

Tables are placed in numerical order at the end of the manuscript.  The tables function in Microsoft Word is to be used for this purpose and rather than columns of tabbed information.

Multimedia Elements

If multimedia elements such as audio, video, and animations are to accompany the manuscript, the author must consult with the editor to determine the feasibility of such inclusions and the form in which they are to be submitted.

Images

Photographs must be in color; in focus, free of distracting artifacts, and consistent in exposure.  Place any required labels or arrows on images prior to uploading. Images must be at least 600 by 450 pixels (proportional height) in size when in landscape orientation with a resolution of at least 300 pixels per inch (25.4 mm).  Radiographs, drawings, and graphs can be in black and white but color is preferred.

File names for images must be clearly labeled according to the order in which they appear, (fig-01, fig-02 etc.).  Images can only be submitted in TIFF, PSD, and JPEG file formats.  If images are produced in PowerPoint, then they must be saved as a JPEG file before uploading during the submission process.

After the manuscript and images are uploaded to the journal submission website, the online software will place the images into the manuscript before it is peer reviewed.

Author Biographical Summaries

A few sentences of biographical information (biosketch) about each author are required for inclusion in the "About the Author" section at the end of all published articles. Before reading the details of the biosketch preparation viewing the tutorial below is recommended.

Click here  to view the Biosketch Preparation tutorial.

The biosketch information must be placed in a separate Word document with the first author listed first then co-authors listed in the order they are to appear in the published article.  The information for each author should include the following:

	First and last name of authors (in that order).  Please type the last name in all capital letters.
	Academic degrees.  (DDS, DMD, MS, MSc, MA, PhD, etc.)
	Academic and/or administrative rank if appropriate.  (Director, Chair, Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, etc.)
	Institution or organization affiliation.  (Dental school, hospital, private practice, military service, public health service, etc.).
	Research interests.
	Major organizational memberships.
	E-mail address
	Business or institutional address
	Business telephone number (including international calling codes)
	Business FAX number (including international calling codes)

One author must be designated as the corresponding author who assumes the responsibility of submitting the manuscript and corresponding with journal editorial staff.  A current e-mail address is essential for communication with the journal.

This biosketch document will be helpful to the corresponding author during the online submission process for it contains all author information required for the online registration and manuscript submission process.

Color photographs of all authors are preferred but not mandatory.  If the photograph of any author is not to be included, then indicate this after the authors name for example,  Nadia Nanda, DDS, MS (Photograph not to be included).  Formal portraits are preferable, but tasteful digital snapshots are acceptable.  Do not imbed author photographs in the biosketch document.  They are to be submitted as individual image files using the last name of the author as the file name.

Manuscript Preparation Tools

Print Version of the Preparation Guidelines

Click here to print a convenient printout of these manuscript preparation guidelines.

Checklist

A checklist is available to evaluate your manuscript and associated materials prior to submitting it to the journal using online software.

Click here to view and print the checklist.

Personal Assistance

If you need assistance with the submission of your manuscript at our electronic submission site, please contact:

Joseph E. Chasteen, DDS, MA
Editor
21519 Elm Drive
Brier, WA 98036

e-mail: manuscripts@thejcdp.com or editor@thejcdp.com

Click To Navigate Within "About The Journal" >> MISSION STATEMENT EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS .....Joseph E. Chasteen, DDS, MA .....Connie Lee Hastings-Drisko, DDS .....Jane L. Forrest, BSDH, RDH, EdD .....Gary F. Guest, DDS .....Mary Ann Haisch, RDH, MPH .....Mark E. Jensen, MS, DDS, PhD .....Salme E. Lavigne, RDH, BA, MS(DH) DDS MPH PhD .....Ann L. McCann, RDH, MS .....Carlos A. Munoz-Viveros, DDS, MSD .....Richard Niederman, DMD, MS .....John N. Williams, DMD, MBA MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION