This Article Figures Only Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Smith, A. J. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Smith, A. J. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Editor’s Report for the Journal of Dental Research, 2005

Numerous exciting challenges have faced the Journal of Dental Research during 2005 as Open Access and other issues have developed. As publishers of the Journal, the IADR and AADR have engaged in important strategic decisions to ensure a strong future for the Journal and to maintain its leading position in the broad dissemination of the most pivotal science to the dental research community. We are indebted to President Paul Robertson for his leadership in moving the Journal to a sound financial position and extending its access as a membership benefit to all in IADR. From January, 2006, all IADR members will enjoy online access to the content of the Journal, including the featured Critical Reviews section, as a benefit of their membership in the Association. This represents an important development in the continuing need to adapt to the changing environment of scientific publishing and ensures a sound financial base from which to publish the Journal.

Last year, the Associations took the important step of adopting the DC Principles of Open Access and, in doing so, made available online all JDR published articles older than 12 months on an open access basis. This has contributed to much greater access to past issues of the Journal while still protecting its institutional and individual subscriber base. In adopting this stance, we have been able to achieve the laudable goal of broadening access, while simultaneously establishing a sound business model from which to operate the Journal. The most vocal advocates of open access believe that all research should be available immediately, free of charge, to anyone. Such a model inevitably imposes all of the costs of publication on the author and can lead to costs of the order of several thousand dollars per article when the present subsidies applied to many digital repositories are removed. A powerful argument against this business model is that it may lead to appreciable selectivity in what is published, since only the best-funded research groups will be able to afford the costs of publication. We believe that our present approach offers the optimal position in both extending access to the readers of the Journal while avoiding selectivity in who is able to publish therein by minimizing costs to authors.

The policies of research funding agencies have had a significant impact on the open access debate during the past year. It has been argued that research funded by government and public-funding agencies should be freely available to all, since it was supported from public funds. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the US was the first agency to adopt a policy whereby authors supported by NIH funds are required to submit a copy of their published material to a public digital repository within a 12-month period from first publication. This policy fits with the open access policy that the Journal has adopted, and we have tried to facilitate the situation for authors by agreeing to submit such articles automatically on their at the 12-month transfer point. The largest international medical charity, the Wellcome Trust, has taken a strong stance in favor of open access and has very recently announced that, from October, 2005, articles arising from research projects it funds must be deposited digitally within six months of publication. We are presently developing a suitable policy to allow such researchers to comply with these conditions. The main government research funding agencies in the UK, the research councils, are currently finalizing their policies on open access, and as these are clarified, together with those of many other research funding agencies around the world, we will adapt our own polices for the Journal to ensure that the researchers’ position is not compromised.

While public digital repositories, such as PubMedCentral, have been advocated to allow public access to published material, institutionally operated digital repositories are also increasing as self-archiving gains in popularity. Both the capital set-up and annual maintenance costs for such digital repositories are significant, which raises an important question: Will some of these repositories still exist several decades from now? Furthermore, identification of material available in these repositories will be very dependent on Internet search engines and appropriate search strategies, in contrast to our established publication models through journal portals. Such issues bear strongly on the custodianship of the scientific literature, and established journals generally have proved to be very effective guardians of this literature. As the first dedicated dental research journal and the leading journal in the field, the JDR has a particular responsibility in regard to this. The Legacy project to which I alluded in my last report has now come to fruition, and all issues of the JDR from Volume 1 (1919) to the present day are now available online through the HighWire Press site, with all material greater than 12 months old available freely to all. This represents a tremendous resource for the dental research community, and we hope that researchers will exploit this resource to its full potential. The Legacy project has been facilitated by a grant from the Gies Foundation, and the immense efforts of the Legacy task group and staff in the IADR Central Office, who are to be congratulated. This 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.

Looking back through the archive of JDR volumes shows how much the Journal has changed in appearance over the years. Starting with the January 2005 issue, we have introduced a new cover design, which features an image taken from each issue of the Journal with a maroon color scheme for the title banner to maintain the historical link with Critical Reviews in Oral Biology & Medicine. Sue De Angel in the Publications Dept. is to be congratulated for her creativity in creating such striking designs for the cover of each issue.

While widening access has been the major focus of the first part of this report, it has been a critical phase in the continuing development of the Journal and its adaptation to a changing environment. This is important if the JDR is to maintain its leading position and continue to disseminate some of the most pivotal research in the dental field. We have seen an up-turn in the Journal’s Scientific Impact Factor [SIF], which has risen to 3.131 (Journal Citation Reports, 2004). Together with Critical Reviews in Oral Biology & Medicine (SIF 3.642), these journals published by the Associations continue to hold the premier positions in the field of dentistry. The inclusion of two manuscripts from Critical Reviews in Oral Biology & Medicine in each issue of the JDR now provides the content of both journals together in a single publication. I am delighted that Dr. Olav Alvares continues as the editor for the Critical Reviews section, ensuring that the high standards we have come to expect from these reviews are maintained. Following Dr. Marty Taubman’s appointment as Associate Editor for the Discovery! Section of the Journal, the first articles under his guardianship are just starting to be published, and we look forward to the fascinating insight these will reveal into the leading role played by various scientists in a wealth of discoveries. The Associate Editors play a key role in the editorial team, and I am very grateful to Dr. Jocelyne Feine of McGill University for her continuing and valuable contributions as Associate Editor for the Clinical section. Following the international search for an Associate Editor for the Biomaterials & Bioengineering section, an impressive slate of potential candidates was identified, and I am delighted to report that Dr. Larry Katz from the University of Missouri-Kansas City was appointed to this position. He brings a wealth of experience and tremendous enthusiasm to the post, and we both warmly welcome him and look forward to his further development of this section of the Journal. We are grateful to the many erudite applicants for this position, reflecting the strong state of health in research within this field. The Search Committee—led by Dr. Tilly Peters and comprised of Drs. Dan Smith, John Keller, Jack Ferracane, and Jeremy Mao—undertook their task with great thoroughness and insight, and we are indebted to them for their service in this role.

Our electronic submission and review system (http:/jdr.msubmit.net/) is used to manage all manuscripts now and has sustained a record level of submissions of 942 manuscripts in total (through November), 503 of which were newly submitted manuscripts. We continue to see a wide global submission pattern of manuscripts (Fig. 1), reflecting the strong international base to the Journal’s authorship. The overall acceptance rate in 2005 has been 31.7%, compared with 33.6% in 2004 (Fig. 2). The pattern of manuscript submissions to the different sections of the Journal remains strong (Fig. 3). We appreciate the need for timely review of manuscripts, and we have been able to achieve an average time to decision in the system of a little over 3 months. Following acceptance, articles usually appear in print within approximately 3 months.

View larger version (10K): [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 30 Nov 2005—accepted manuscripts may have been submitted during a previous year]

View larger version (20K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 3. Distribution of JDR Manuscript Submissions by Category [manuscripts submitted from 01 Oct 2004 to 30 Nov 2005]

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 indebted to them for their support and the dedication with which they undertake their duties. Natasha Power, Editorial Assistant (p/t) in Central Office, provided valuable service during the past year, and we wish her well as she moves from Central Office to a new position elsewhere. I am pleased to welcome Katie Brennan, who succeeds her. The efficient and friendly teamwork from Linda Hemphill, Sue De Angel, and Norm Hayden in the Publications Department has been crucial to every stage of the management of manuscripts and the publication of each issue. The many changes and challenges facing the Journal during the past year have been achieved and addressed through contributions from all of the staff in Central Office, especially Executive Director Christopher Fox and Deputy Executive Director Robert "Skip" Collins, whose leadership and valuable support have been central to our publishing activities.

The JDR has been able to respond well to the changing research and publishing environment and is well-positioned to continue to provide the lead in publication of the most novel and innovative science in dental, craniofacial, and oral health research. We must continue to be responsive to the needs of the research community, and I welcome communication (a.j.smith{at}bham.ac.uk) at any time as to how we can best serve your needs and maintain the position of the JDR at the forefront of the dental literature.

REFERENCE

• Journal Citation Reports 2004, Institute for Scientific Information, Philadelphia, 2005.

Journal of Dental Research, Vol. 85, No. 1, 8-10 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/154405910608500101


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This Article Figures Only Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Smith, A. J. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Smith, A. J. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?