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Research Through the Years—the Foundation for Dentistry TodaySchool of Dentistry, University of Birmingham, St Chad’s Queensway, Birmingham B4 6NN, UK; a.j.smith{at}bham.ac.uk "Research is the mainspring in the chronometer of science. It is the register of a profession’s achievement and standing. With it there is life, growth, and effectiveness, and enthusiasm in those who devote themselves to the high calling of a profession. Without research, however, empiricism, stagnation, inefficiency, and discouragement impair the usefulness of those who earnestly seek to render their best professional service." The above paragraph is reproduced from the first article in the first issue of the Journal of Dental Research in 1919, written by William J. Gies, and it highlights many of our aspirations for dental research. When the JDR was first published, there was no journal devoted primarily to dental research, and it filled an important gap in the literature. It is fitting that, as well as being the first journal to focus on dental research, it is still the leading journal in dentistry some 85 years later. From humble beginnings in 1919, the Journal has gone from strength to strength, and through the years has reported some of the most pivotal and important findings in dental research. While knowledge and technology in dental research have moved forward since 1919, the archive of JDR volumes through the ensuing years has provided an invaluable foundation to our knowledge today. It is important that we grasp the opportunity to look back and reflect on these earlier reports, both to ensure that present-day research is robustly based on sound principles, and to avoid "re-inventing the wheel" by unnecessary repetition of research already performed. Increasingly, researchers are dependent on electronic searching and accessing of the scientific literature. With the immense volume of literature now available, this technology provides us with powerful tools to "interrogate" the literature effectively. However, the recent move to online publication of journals has meant that many of the archives of different journals are not readily available in electronic format, thus constraining the opportunities for this technology to be exploited. Recognizing these constraints, the IADR set up a "Legacy" task group to drive the digitization of the entire archive of the JDR, from its inception in 1919. This task has been facilitated by a grant from the Gies Foundation and reflects the continuing influence of William J. Gies on dental research, even today. The care and diligence of the Legacy task group and staff in the IADR Publications Department have allowed us to digitize the entire JDR archive, and this is now available for access by researchers. Importantly, our concordance with the DC Principles of Open Access means that this archive is available for free and open access to all. Current content will be released from access control 12 months after publication. And, since online subscription to the JDR becomes an IADR membership benefit as of January 1, 2006, all members will then have electronic access to every paper ever published in the Journal. This provides the research community with a tremendous resource and allows for easy searching of the most pivotal research in the field over the last 85 years from any computer in the lab or office. Our commitment to the enduring custody of the JDR archive will protect this resource for the use of future generations of researchers and provides a rich legacy from those of previous generations. We hope that researchers will exploit this resource and that it provides the chronometer of science within dental research predicted by William J. Gies at the Journal’s inception. — Anthony J. (Tony) Smith Editor-in-Chief
Journal of Dental Research, Vol. 84, No. 10,
870 (2005)
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